Red Dwarf Season 11 - The small rouge one is back bitches!

[Savryc]

Might give it a punt but I'm not holding on to much hope. Good to see Craig Charles away from the fucking soaps at least.

 

[Sable]

X was pretty decent, so I'll watch XI .

Part of me wants another Polymorph, but I don't think it'd live up to other Polymorphs if there was one.

 

[TheImportantFart]

I've just realised Red Dwarf should be catnip for SJWs. The main character's black, as is Cat who's also a furry/otherkin and enjoys fashion despite being male, Kryten is male but technically a woman because he doesn't have male parts, and Rimmer has a disability because he's dead and a hologram. And when Kochanski comes in you have a woman too, not to mention Holly who transitions from man to woman. Why don't we see more SJWs embracing this show?

 

[Caddchef]

I've just realised Red Dwarf should be catnip for SJWs. The main character's black, as is Cat who's also a furry/otherkin and enjoys fashion despite being male, Kryten is male but technically a woman because he doesn't have male parts, and Rimmer has a disability because he's dead and a hologram. And when Kochanski comes in you have a woman too, not to mention Holly who transitions from man to woman. Why don't we see more SJWs embracing this show?

It's a comedy, SJWs have no sense of humour.

 

[XYZpdq]

It's a comedy, SJWs have no sense of humour.

Even worse the characters exist and don't make a big deal out of their whatevers.

I forget, does race even get mentioned in the show? I can recall them IDing the occasional crewman as Italian or whatever.

 

[HarryHowler]

I forget, does race even get mentioned in the show? I can recall them IDing the occasional crewman as Italian or whatever.

I don't recall any major references to race on-screen, although the creators were apparently concerned enough about the Cat's portrayal that they contacted Craig Charles (who they'd already worked with on some other show) to make sure it wasn't racist, and ended up casting Charles himself in the role of Lister.

Probably the most they tried doing in terms of looking progressive in the show itself was having Esperanto signage on the ship in the early seasons, but even that didn't last very long.

 

[Sable]

I like how the actor for the Cat was late as fuck to the audition, but didn't know.

He swaggered in in his dad's zoot suit and they basically hired him because of how accidentally nonchalant he was.

IIRC of course.

The actor also once did a song about pancakes.

 

[BurningPewter]

I think the most anti -SJW thing about Red Dwarf are the occasional jokes about transvestites and cross dressing in the early seasons, basically equating it with being deviant/perverted. That was of it's time though, I don't think they'd write them in now. I think it got more progressive such as bringing in Kochanski as a real flawed person to replace the "fantasy".

oh. I've just remembered..I was given a warning on the comic-book-resources forum for repeating the RD joke "moving faster than the springs on a Spanish honeymoon bed" regarding something about comics.

 

[XYZpdq]

oh. I've just remembered..I was given a warning on the comic-book-resources forum for repeating the RD joke "moving faster than the springs on a Spanish honeymoon bed" regarding something about comics.

yeah there were some "lol they're from Europe and not the UK" type jokes iirc

 

[sogdiananhero]

why would you watch red dwarf when there are loads of new anime coming out every year?

 

[TheImportantFart]

Worth mentioning Grant Naylor did a George Lucas by going back and remastering the first three season of Red Dwarf. This was done because they were unhappy with the way the early seasons looked and they wanted to update the effects so they'd be in line with the later series and the potential Movie (remember that?). And like with George Lucas, the remasterings only made the originals worse. However, I'd make the argument that the Red Dwarf remasterings were worse than the Star Wars Special Editions (but only slightly).

The model shots, which have aged surprisingly well for an early 90s show, were replaced with CGI which was bad at the time and has only got worse with age. Entire jokes were cut out for "pacing reasons" and a lot of the new ones that were added in with the aid of new effects were painfully bad. Part of the charm of Red Dwarf came from the fact it was cheap and cheerful. Trying to make it look like a Hollywood blockbuster undercuts a lot of the comedy.

The one good thing that came out of this is that Grant Naylor did what George Lucas wouldn't and admitted the remasterings were a failure. I've never seen the remastered DVDs being sold anywhere and whenever Red Dwarf airs on repeat, it's always the original episode that gets shown.

 

[XYZpdq]

Worth mentioning Grant Naylor did a George Lucas by going back and remastering the first three season of Red Dwarf. This was done because they were unhappy with the way the early seasons looked and they wanted to update the effects so they'd be in line with the later series and the potential Movie (remember that?). And like with George Lucas, the remasterings only made the originals worse. However, I'd make the argument that the Red Dwarf remasterings were worse than the Star Wars Special Editions (but only slightly).

The model shots, which have aged surprisingly well for an early 90s show, were replaced with CGI which was bad at the time and has only got worse with age. Entire jokes were cut out for "pacing reasons" and a lot of the new ones that were added in with the aid of new effects were painfully bad. Part of the charm of Red Dwarf came from the fact it was cheap and cheerful. Trying to make it look like a Hollywood blockbuster undercuts a lot of the comedy.

The one good thing that came out of this is that Grant Naylor did what George Lucas wouldn't and admitted the remasterings were a failure. I've never seen the remastered DVDs being sold anywhere and whenever Red Dwarf airs on repeat, it's always the original episode that gets shown.

I get the impression those were done in no small part for foreign market syndication, like that's what the Japanese dub used iirc.

 

[HarryHowler]

The Remastered versions did get released on DVD, but I think it was mainly in Australia and New Zealand, with just a few hundred or so copies sold in the UK. There's a bunch of Region 4 releases of it (called the Bodysnatcher Collection) floating around on eBay.

But yeah, looking at that chase scene from "Bodyswap," you have to wonder how in the living fuck anyone thought that was an improvement on what was in the original episode.

 

[Some JERK]

Worth mentioning Grant Naylor did a George Lucas by going back and remastering the first three season of Red Dwarf. This was done because they were unhappy with the way the early seasons looked and they wanted to update the effects so they'd be in line with the later series and the potential Movie (remember that?). And like with George Lucas, the remasterings only made the originals worse. However, I'd make the argument that the Red Dwarf remasterings were worse than the Star Wars Special Editions (but only slightly).

The model shots, which have aged surprisingly well for an early 90s show, were replaced with CGI which was bad at the time and has only got worse with age. Entire jokes were cut out for "pacing reasons" and a lot of the new ones that were added in with the aid of new effects were painfully bad. Part of the charm of Red Dwarf came from the fact it was cheap and cheerful. Trying to make it look like a Hollywood blockbuster undercuts a lot of the comedy.

The one good thing that came out of this is that Grant Naylor did what George Lucas wouldn't and admitted the remasterings were a failure. I've never seen the remastered DVDs being sold anywhere and whenever Red Dwarf airs on repeat, it's always the original episode that gets shown.

The remastered versions were on netflix for a while, but they ditched them. They were terrible.

I agree about the original model shots. They added to the the show for sure. No part of Red Dwarf was supposed to be plausible or serious, so having more realistic special effects would be completely out of place. I wouldn't have minded if you could actually see the fishing line holding up the ship models, or if the planets had smiley faces on them like old astronomical charts did. That would have been awesome.

 

[TheImportantFart]

If there's any Kiwis on here thinking about getting into the show, but aren't too sure, here's a quick series guide. You get a brief summary of each Series with a few critical thoughts and my personal pick for best and worst episode from each Series. A lot of this is my opinion, but hopefully some people find it useful.

Series I

Series I is often overlooked by Red Dwarf fans because the pacing's quite slow compared to the later series, the colour palette's a very drab grey and it's basically a series of bottle shows set entirely on the ship. It's definitely the most sitcom-y of all the Series, with only the occasional special effects shot to remind you it's a science fiction show too. However, don't let this put you off. Series I has some of the best character-based humour you'll ever see and despite the drabness of the surroundings, they'll grow on you if you give them a chance. This is also where everything gets started so if nothing else you should at least watch the Pilot.

Best episode: Me2

Worst episode: Future Echoes

Series II

Series II is also often overlooked, despite the budget getting a minor shot in the arm and the locations expanding to outside a few studio sets. That said, it's a fantastic Series and surpasses Series I in terms of overall quality. The humour gets even better as the characters begin to develop and the show starts to move away from pure sitcom to a more even mix of sci-fi and sitcom that will characterise later Series (although this Series is still quite sitcom-y).

Best episode: Thanks for the Memory

Worst episode: Stasis Leak

Series III

Series III and the next three Series are widely considered by fans to be classic Red Dwarf. This is where the show really starts to hit its stride as a science fiction-comedy show and a lot of changes come in. The colour palette is revised to be more dynamic, Kryten is introduced as a main character and the restrained humour of the previous two Series is replaced by lots of big, set-piece comedy that still manages to remain character-based most of the time. If you're not too sure about Red Dwarf, I recommend watching this Series first before going back to watch the first two Series, since this will give you a good impression of what Red Dwarf can be at its best. This is one of the strongest Series of the show, just behind Series V.

Best episode: The Last Day

Worst episode: Bodyswap

Series IV

Of the five great Series of Red Dwarf, Series IV is probably the weakest. This isn't to say it's bad - quite the opposite, but the quality is very variable with this one. When an episode in this Series is good, it's some of the best Red Dwarf has to offer. When an episode is bad, it's the worst thing this side of Series V, so proceed with caution.

Best episode: Dimension Jump

Worst episode: White Hole

Series V

For me, this is the pinnacle of Red Dwarf - the absolute best it has to offer. A lot of the most memorable moments in the show's history come from this Series alone (Mr Flibble, Duane Dibbley, the "Lister to Red Dwarf" scene, etc) and it's just an excellent Series in general. Of course, that only makes what comes next even more painful...

Best episode: Back to Reality

Worst episode: Demons and Angels

Series VI

I said Series VI was the last good Series of the show, but that's not strictly correct. It seems good only by virtue of the fact that the stuff which came next is so wretched. Compared to the first five Series, and particularly the previous Series, it's actually quite bad. The humour starts to shift away from clever, character-based jokes towards gross-out gags and recycled running jokes that get old very fast. The Series also starts to lean more towards science fiction rather than the even balance of comedy and sci-fi there was before. And sadly this trend only gets worse...

Best episode: Gunmen of the Apocalypse

Worst episode: Out of Time

Series VII

The worst Series of the show. It's boring, rarely funny, Rimmer leaves at the beginning and his replacement is severely lackluster. The show completely loses sight of the things that made it so good and is so unfunny in places you'd be mistaken for thinking it was just a bad English rip-off of Star Trek. Best just to forget about it really.

Best episode: um... Stoke me a Clipper, I guess...

Worst episode: All of the othe - okay, okay, Duct Soup

Series VIII

For a long time this was the final Series of Red Dwarf and it was not a good way for the show to go out. It's a marginal improvement on Series VII but that's hardly something to be proud of. If nothing else, Doug Naylor at least tried to make the humour more grounded in the characters and resurrect the Rimmer-Lister dynamic that produced so much comedy. But the magic was gone at this point and it becomes painfully obvious that we're just watching the shambling corpse of a show that had seen better days. If for nothing else, I'm glad Red Dwarf came back so that this isn't how the show ended.

Best episode: Cassandra

Worst episode: Only the Good...

Back to Earth (Series IX)

Calling this a series is tenuous but apparently that's the official state of things. Back to Earth isn't as bad as it could've been, but it's not very funny and I can't help but think that doing a pastiche of a film that made the point that the flame that burns twice as bright burns half as long (Blade Runner) is kind of foolish given Red Dwarf's current state. Also, ripping off "Back to Reality", the best episode of the show, does not endear me to this miniseries. It just makes me wish I was watching "Back to Reality" instead.

Series X

Not a storming return to form, but it would be optimistic to expect something that miraculous. This is a pretty by-the-numbers Series. Not outstandingly bad, but not particularly good either. I guess this is just what we'll have to settle for these days. Still, at least it's not embarrassingly bad.

Best episode: Trojan

Worst episode: Dear Dave

So there you have it. The new Series premieres on Thursday so get busy if you want to catch up.

 

[Ponderous Pillock]

Gunmen of the Apocalypse was the only episode from the show's entire run to win an award and perhaps sums to Red Dwarf best. No budget, funny characters and just a weird setting.

 

[TheImportantFart]

Gunmen of the Apocalypse was the only episode from the show's entire run to win an award and perhaps sums to Red Dwarf best. No budget, funny characters and just a weird setting.

This is probably gonna be an unpopular opinion, but I don't think Gunmen of the Apocalypse is that good, it's just the best of Series VI (it didn't exactly have stiff competition there). I just feel the episode tries to explore too many ideas in too little time and not all of them work. I definitely think it's overrated and it probably wouldn't breach my personal top 10. In another Series it would've been a "meh" outing.

 

[Dr. Tremolo]

So I've watched the first episode of XI. I enjoyed it, looking forward to the rest.
When it comes to talk of the remasters, I have a DVD of remastered Season 1 and yeah, I'm glad these aren't distributed anymore. One plot hole introduced by the remasters was that the eponymous ship's design was replaced by that of Series 8's, when in Series 8 if I remember right everyone was asking questions why does the ship look different now, with the explanation being that the nanobots rebuilt it using the original plans. CGI hasn't aged well. It's a good thing they ended up not using this shot in Series 7...

 

[XYZpdq]

A million years ago when series 8 was the holy shit new thing I caught it when the local PBS aired it. This was back when dinosaurs swam across oceans to smuggle our bootleg nerd shit so literally nobody had seen 8 yet.

So the area's limey nerd shit weirdos are all over at the guy who has a big living room's place we all watched the local PBS's marathon of all of 8 back-to-back.

"At least it isn't 7" was said many times that night. And that ending was much better with a crowd desperate to find something to like.

 

[Sable]

Would you like some TOAST?