Turk Thrust

[Turk Thrust]

24/06/2026 

Krysis, Timewave, Psirens, Kryten

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Also, I guess even if Doug was about to announce a novel, out of respect he might wait until Rob’s book was published before discussing it.

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Was he actually asked about a new Dwarf novel? Because if not, him making “no mention” is not terribly relevant.

I asked the moderator whether Doug discussed any new Dwarf projects. For example, a novel. The moderator said that he only talked them doing the stage show.

So, as you say, certainly not conclusive.

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I guess if they ever attempted a stage show, there are things they could do to make it easier for Robert.

If he has trouble with the lines, they could have a Starbug set with a monitor with all of his dialogue on it.

If they want to limit his time in the costume, they could have some scenes that are mostly the other characters with Kryten maybe interrupting on a screen. Something similar to the moment in Timeslides when he asks them to go to the photo lab.

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Ah. Commiserations.
But if you made that mistake, then that means you type out your score manually instead of copying it… ?

I normally copy it, but occasionally I try Smegle from a different computer where I am not logged in. Then later I type the result. 

#RedDwarf #Smegle 23/06/2026 

Krysis, Timewave, Camille, Psirens, The Inquisitor

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22/06/2026 

Come again?

22/06/2026 

Whoops. This is what I should have posted.

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He’s been saying that for about 10 years 

True, but I guess right now he feels that is the most likely way for (his) Dwarf to continue.

The moderator also said that Doug made no mention of him writing a new Dwarf novel.

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According to the moderator of the Hastings event, Doug said that there will be a Red Dwarf theatre/stage play in London.

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22/06/2026 

Krysis, Can of Worms, Twentica, Samsara, Give and Take

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21/06/2026 

The Last Day, Polymorph, Timeslides

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Craig’s delivery of this line works nicely.

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#RedDwarf #Smegle 20/06/2026 

Twentica, DNA

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I don’t think it’s very funny outside of the ending. 

The baked potato timer putdown and callback in Blue was a runner-up for me.

Yes, baked potato gag is a good one.

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The Smeghammer line is quite funny in Smeg Ups.

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Easily bubble era quality.
A nice gag. Paul Alexander’s I believe.

It’s plausible it’s a Doug contributed line so I’m claiming it.

In his Mr. Flibble interview, Paul Alexander named the spine gag and “salty goodness” as two of the jokes that he came up with that he was proudest of.

Edit: I’ve just checked that interview and it seems I have misremembered. He actually named “tennis girl” and “salty goodness”.

I do recall that Andrew Ellard once mentioned that the spine gag was Paul Alexander’s, but whether he knew that for certain, I don’t know.

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The Brylcreem gag made me smile.

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Easily bubble era quality.

A nice gag. Paul Alexander’s I believe.

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#RedDwarf #Smegle 19/06/2026 

DNA, Beyond a Joke

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I’ve only just realised that Todhunter says “you, Rimmer, are over one man” and not “only one man”

I used to think that he said, “you, Rimmer, are oh but one man.”

I thought he was just using old-timey English! :)

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I think one or two of the sound additions work ok. But obviously most feel out of place.

And there are moments when the picture looks a little more colourful.

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#RedDwarf #Smegle 18/06/2026 

Quite miraculous considering my usual dismal efforts.

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A very good friend of mine swears up and down he prefers the library music to the Goodall originals, specifically the countdown in Future Echoes. It is possible this is an always 30 year long campaign of trolling me, however.

I’m guessing Andrew Ellard as he says something similar in the documentary.

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It’s interesting to have some new material for Norman as Holly. Not that the material is very good (and including a much older Norman alongside himself was a quirky decision), but it’s amusing to watch from time to time.

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#RedDwarf #Smegle 17/06/2026 

Backwards, M-Corp, Balance of Power, The Promised Land

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#RedDwarf #Smegle 17/06/2026 

Ouroboros

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I think they would still have been in kitty school during VIII. ;)

And Chloë Annett’s Kochanski would have been in high school during series 1.

Sure, but there’s a bit of a difference.

Craig is around 7 years older than Chloe.

Danny is around 26 years older than the Cat Lady actresses at the end of Can of Worms.

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I am genuinely disappointed that it was just a dream. He could’ve picked them up in the years since VIII and just not told anyone. 

I think they would still have been in kitty school during VIII. ;)

(I’m aware that comment probably doesn’t make any logical sense.)

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15/06/2026 

Backwards, Thanks for the Memory, Queeg, Parallel Universe

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14/06/2026 

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#RedDwarf #Smegle 13/06/2026 

Ouroboros, Epideme, Beyond a Joke

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12/06/2026 

Ouroboros, Kryten, Timeslides

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11/06/2026 

Meltdown, Krytie TV, Epideme, Beyond a Joke, Duct Soup

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10/06/2026 

The Beginning, Trojan, Entangled

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As we are talking about crappy modern day references, how about Holly’s, “Never seen QPR play away then?”
Now as I typed the above, I was all set to knock it as a lame joke that doesn’t really have any basis. I’ve just checked, however, and QPR’s away form was a little below par during the 1998/9 season, so I actually kind of like that Doug (or Paul Alexander) put in such a time specific joke that will have failed to land for most people watching the show in all of the years since.

I think it doesn’t land at all if you’re not particularly interested in football. But as a fan of a mid table Championship football club (like QPR are these days), it lands more as a self-depreciating football fan joke.
If you take it that Holly is (somehow) a fan of Queens Park Rangers but to his despair they are rubbish away from home, it makes more sense in a sort of “moany, cloudy British whinging” sort of way.
I don’t think it bears any relation to QPRs away form in any particular time.

Well, it bears relation to them struggling towards the bottom of the second tier when the episode was written.

I wasn’t entirely serious that Doug or Paul would have analyzed the entire season’s fixture list.

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#RedDwarf #Smegle 09/06/2026 

Tikka to Ride

Being colour blind, it’s very rare for me to be able to spot the series on the first guess.

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As we are talking about crappy modern day references, how about Holly’s, “Never seen QPR play away then?”

Now as I typed the above, I was all set to knock it as a lame joke that doesn’t really have any basis. I’ve just checked, however, and QPR’s away form was a little below par during the 1998/9 season, so I actually kind of like that Doug (or Paul Alexander) put in such a time specific joke that will have failed to land for most people watching the show in all of the years since.

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Maybe if it was just “in the BBC” it would border on libel. Or is it slander. But it is an addition that makes the line flow worse and is therefore less funny. But it could avoid legal trouble by saying oh no we don’t mean the BBC today, just historically.

Yes, that’s what I was clumsily trying to say.

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One of the odder (kind of) modern references is the joke:

“It’s rarer than an un-groped bottom at the BBC in the 1970s.”

Now if it had been simply, “It’s rarer than an un-groped bottom at the BBC,” that would feel to me to have the rhythm of a decent joke. I’m not saying the wording is particularly funny, but the rhythm would have been ok.

I wonder whether “in the 1970s” was always part of the joke or put in there to clarify that they weren’t saying anything controversial about the present day.

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There is the odd thing like Rupert Murdoch and FIFA, and the JMC sort of internet shenanagins, and the iMac beach balls in Rimmer’s eyes, and the shut down/reboot sound for Red Dwarf, but I do struggle to think of any modern sort of pop culture references to things like bands or TV shows. You do have the bizarre “they are worse than the 1970s Leeds United team”, which sticks out as extremely odd to me. But that’s a reference to ten years before the show even started. Is it even a reference anybody would actually get? It doesn’t even sound funny. It doesn’t have a good flow to it.

Yes, they are still widely known as the dirtiest team in history (not that I am saying that is accurate) and it’s mentioned in any documentary about the club or Brian Clough. It was also referenced in the movie The Damned United.

I agree that is isn’t a funny joke in Dwarf, though.

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08/06/2026 

White Hole, Backwards, Beyond a Joke

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Yeah, I think the legitimate comments that can be made about Bodysnatcher are that Me2 was a stronger idea and too similar for both episodes to be broadcast. 

Also, the new ending with the fire doesn’t feel like Series One and if they’d been forced to finish it at the time (if the strike had never happened), they would have come up with something different.

But the idea of Rimmer hiding all of the discs except for Lister’s makes good logical sense and would have worked within the context of that first series.   

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#RedDwarf #Smegle 07/06/2026 

M-Corp

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Bodysnatcher gets a bit too insane. It’s a bit much, really. How much of that is in the original draft and how much was added later, I don’t know, but it doesn’t actually feel like a Series 1 episode to me. Then again it would have gone through further rewrites were it actually produced for Series 1, so who knows how it would have really ended up.

I think the stuff with the bunk catching fire was all added later.

And Rimmer alphabetizing the room feels very Series VII.

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I re-watched Bodysnatcher the other day and really enjoyed it.

It’s a shame that they didn’t keep certain elements of it for the show itself (as Rob and Doug said in their commentary).

Having Rimmer calling the register is a genuinely funny idea, but I imagine with the Series One audience it would have got very little response.

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I can’t disagree with any of the examples given so far, and I would add Justice as they made really good use of Holly (though the character has limited screen time).

I think the plotting at the start of that episode is some of the strongest in the show’s history and Holly plays a part in that in explaining that they can’t stop the process on the pod, it can’t be x-rayed, and then gets a laugh with the line, “you can take it as read that it probably wasn’t Babs.”

It was also Holly’s suggestion to go to the penal colony.

If Holly had stuck around for longer, the character could have been used more in this way and maybe we might have been spared a few of Kryten’s “best guesses.”

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#RedDwarf #Smegle 06/06/2026 

Part 1

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#RedDwarf #Smegle 05/06/2026 

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Yeah, for the longest time I couldn’t remember which Krysis, Siliconia and Mechocracy were.

I think one issue I have with Mechocracy is that the machines were just used too often in the Dave era imo. It’s interesting that they were forgotten about for so long and then became such a big part of the show again.

I like many ideas during Doug’s Dwarf, but having an almost unlimited number of guest stars and talking machines makes the show feel very crowded. Having one or two more episodes with just the 4 main actors might have allowed for some good character stuff.

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Well, it’s nice if some people enjoy the episode and, obviously, I agree it was a good thing that they didn’t directly mention any specific elections going on at that time.

But the theme of “don’t believe the populists” is so clearly related to what was happening at that time (and is still happening) that I can’t personally just watch it as a bit of Red Dwarf escapism. 

Of course, if I thought it was funny, that would help. :)

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The parallels with real life events are heavy handed
I could swear Doug said somewhere that there was no intended tie-in to that specific American election.

I don’t think it really matters. It’s so obviously saying, “Don’t believe the populists.” That would be fine if there was some interesting spin or twist, but the good guy wins and the bad guy gets his comeuppance. It’s not particularly interesting imo.

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