You know how there's a long and ignoble history of things like synopses, titles and even whole episodes of new Red Dwarf accidentally getting released before they're supposed to? Well, we'd been reliably informed that the title of the upcoming Special would be revealed on Monday March 16th, presumably with some degree of fanfare attached, and yet for some reason it's already out there online through official sources. And while none of the proper PR channels have drawn attention to it, it's pretty easy to stumble across completely accidentally, as evidenced in the comments on today's teaser article.

This presents us with somewhat of a dilemma - we don't want to scupper anyone's plans, but it's not our fault it's out there, and Red Dwarf fans are already talking about it, even on this very website. We're also aware that not everyone will want to know the title in advance for fear of spoilers, so we're hiding it behind the jump. [EDIT: You're free to mention it in the comments on this post, but nowhere else on the site until there's been a proper announcement, if you'd be so kind. Dave have now tweeted the title, so it's all official now and any comment restrictions are now lifted.] So if you don't want to know the score, look away now.

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Well, this has certainly given me a rod-on.

A twenty second teaser for the as-yet-untitled Red Dwarf Special has been released. And when teasers and trailers for new Red Dwarf get released, we like to go through them shot-by-shot in far more detail than is strictly necessary. This time we have but six proper shots to be getting on with, in a trailer that's effects-heavy and somewhat serious and dramatic in tone, hinting that the Special will have high stakes and grand scale. And lots of BIG SPACESHIPS.

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Stellar Rescue - Smart Breakdown Review featured image

You all know the feeling. You finally decide to act like an adult and get that breakdown cover and then you go months and months without any cause to use it. Well, thankfully Starbug's finally carked it again after eight months of smooth running and so the AA are back to get it back on the SPACE ROAD and give us all another little tranche of Dwarf to enjoy.

Most of Ian's excellent breakdown of Stellar Rescue could be copied and pasted here without changing much, and that's not particularly surprising. This was shot at the same time as the first advert and it follows pretty much the same structure, but it's still really fun to have new(ish) Red Dwarf gags while we wait for the Special later in the Spring.

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Ooh! Eight months and one day later, a second AA advert featuring the Red Dwarf crew has been released.  It’s time for another brand new minute of Red Dwarf, everyone.

We’ll have a review along at some point soon, but do let us know what you reckon in the meantime. There are also some new behind-the-scenes videos and photos on the AA website to keep you occupied.

G&TV Special: The Strangerers featured image

G&TV logoThe 15th of February is a date forever etched into the history books of both science-fiction and comedy. It's the anniversary of one of Britain's most beloved sitcoms, from a writing lineage that includes Spitting Image and Son of Cliché, and with a cast featuring the likes of Mark Williams, Jack Docherty, Sarah Alexander, Ricky Grover and Morwenna Banks. Yes, Rob Grant's The Strangerers debuted on Tuesday 15th February 2000, twenty years ago today.

Made by Absolutely Productions for Sky One, it was much-hyped as the channel's first foray into original comedy commissioning, but it's fair to say that it didn't quite make the same impact as Rob's previous sci-fi sitcom. It was never released on video or DVD, and has never been repeated since its original broadcast. But luckily, it's all on YouTube (albeit in off-air VHS quality, with the credits cut off and irritatingly in the wrong bastard aspect ratio), so let's all give it an anniversary airing and see if it's worth reappraising.

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Initial announcement? Check. Behind the scenes pictures? Check. First proper publicity stills? Check. The journey towards the broadcast of brand new Red Dwarf is progressing nicely, and it was about time for us to hit another milestone. While we're still waiting for an episode title, today TOS has furnished us with not only an official synopsis but also a list of guest cast. Hurrah! Let's go through it bit by bit, as is the tradition.

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Red Dwarf G.A.G Playthrough featured image

Many years ago, when a young teenage boy who for some reason liked to call himself "Ian The Smegmeister" first got home internet access, there was only one thing on his mind. But after that, I searched for all the information about my life-long obsession Red Dwarf as I could. I signed up for forums, chatted in chat rooms and delved deep into webrings, which sound a lot more sinister now than they did in the late 90s. It was undoubtedly the first step on a path that led to this place existing, for better or worse, and I'll always fondly remember and salute our fansite forefathers from that era, such as Smegweb, Red Dwarf World, The Red Dwarf Clearing House, Groovetown, and Planet Smeg among others.

Inevitably, most of those are long gone now (although the Wayback Machine is always useful), but the exception is Planet Smeg, which I accidentally stumbled across a few months ago while looking for something else, and was amazed to see was still online. Its USP back in the day was its collection of unofficial Red Dwarf games, lovingly created by site owner Greg Haywood. I had vivid memories of playing his magnum opus, the Red Dwarf Graphical Adventure Game (GAG), a javascript-based in-browser point and click adventure. 'There's no way that will still be online and functional in modern browsers', I thought. I was wrong. I fired it up and it was just how I remembered, only much wider.

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G&TV logoFollowing the sad news that the brilliant Nicholas Parsons has passed away at the grand old age of 96, I saw a tweet summarising the various short-lived attempts to bring his seminal Just A Minute to television. Despite it obviously being a BBC show, there were two series produced by Carlton for ITV in the mid-90s, and just one glimpse of that garish, neon-adorned set triggered a vivid childhood memory of watching an episode starring none other than Craig Charles. I looked it up and it turns out that memory is indeed accurate; he appeared once, alongside team captain and fellow Dwarf alumnus Tony Slattery, on 21st July 1995.

And that episode is... seemingly not online anywhere. Bah. Still, a handful of editions are on YouTube, including one from the first series that features not only the aforementioned Slattery, but also one time pub manager Arthur Smith, alongside a very young Graham Norton and Ann Bryson. Sod it, two guest stars is enough of a Red Dwarf connection to justify us featuring this, in tribute to its wonderful chairman.

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G&T News logo in the style of the 90s BBC 9 O'Clock News titlesForget Harry and Meghan, this is the real story. After nearly 17 years of writing on Ganymede & Titan – I started when I was a useless 21 year old, and I’m now a useless 38 year old – it’s time for me to hang up my steaming moon boots, mumble something about you all being people I met, and say goodbye.

Before we see a digitalised recording of my final moments, there’s going to be a lengthy tribute, interspersed with poetry readings, read by… hang on, “digitalised”? That sounds fairly archaic now, doesn’t it? And if the material is digitalised, why are there analogue tape artefacts when Lister fast-forwards the tape?

You really aren’t going to miss this kind of bullshit from me, are you?

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