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Post by Kingoji on Apr 14, 2009 21:02:23 GMT
I was always under the impression that "Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers" (the first book) and "Better Than Life" came before the TV show..?
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Post by charlesrocketboy on Apr 14, 2009 21:09:30 GMT
Nah, they came after.
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Post by Kingoji on Apr 14, 2009 21:15:09 GMT
Huh. The more you know.
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Post by The Doctor on Apr 14, 2009 21:41:41 GMT
They are fun books. I read the Omnibus aaaaaaaaaaaaages ago.
-Ralph
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Apr 15, 2009 17:36:53 GMT
I've too got the omnibus. As for where they fit in with the TV series the short answer is - they don't. They are a completly different continuity to the TV series that uses plots from the TV series. One example that proves that they are both different continuities are that the captain of Red Dwarf in the book is female whilst in the TV series the role is filled by a male. I also thought that the Better Than Life game in the book was far better than the one seen in the TV series.
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Post by Benn on Apr 15, 2009 17:50:41 GMT
Well, yeah, that's cuz it pretty much was the whole first half of the book.
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Dave
Empty
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Post by Dave on Apr 15, 2009 18:04:18 GMT
And paradise wasn't set in Rhyl  |
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Post by The Doctor on Apr 15, 2009 18:17:57 GMT
Time for the Rimmer song!
I liked series 7.
-Ralph
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Post by blueshift on Apr 15, 2009 19:12:25 GMT
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Post by The Doctor on Apr 15, 2009 19:17:03 GMT
It was the first series I saw. Yeah, it's weaker overall than the previous 6 but I have a soft spot for it. Series 8...best forgotten.
-Ralph
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Post by blueshift on Apr 15, 2009 19:22:03 GMT
It was the first series I saw. Yeah, it's weaker overall than the previous 6 but I have a soft spot for it. Series 8...best forgotten. -Ralph 5 and 6 were 'my' series. My mum and dad would tape them for me (they were on at 9 or some crazy late time) and I would watch them in the morning before school whilst eating my Coco Pops. Apart from the episode Holoship, which was about naughty wobbly things  |
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Nigel
Fusilateral Quintro Combiner
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Post by Nigel on Apr 15, 2009 19:29:16 GMT
Wow, this has sparked a lot of discussion! I'll add my two pennys' worth, if I may.
I found the whole thing very variable.
The first episode, I felt suffered from not being filmed with a live audience. An audience affects the performance (timing, pacing) and the general tone of the programme. They should have learned this lesson from series 7, where a lack of an audience was one of the main problems. There were jokes I felt I should have been laughing at, but the humour wasn't coming over properly; it felt like watching a read-through. The second half, I thought was better, with a plot and humour not unlike, say, the season 4 mark.
I watched the first episode on Friday but for various reasons didn't watch over the next two days, instead watching all three on the Monday repeat. (Actually, I watched the repeat of the repeat on Dave Ja Vu, though not the repeat of the repeat of the repeat later on in the evening. Just how many times were the episodes shown over the weekend?) I enjoyed the first episode more on the second viewing, perhaps because I knew what to expect.
I think that the TV-characters-that-find-out-they're-TV-characters plot generally doesn't work that well to begin with and had already been done more successfully by The League of Gentlemen. The idea wasn't helped here by placing the characters directly in our world rather than a fictionalised version of our world. For example, references to Dave cheapened the programme rather than enhanced it. As you might guess, because of the premise I found much of the second and third episodes weak, though not without some laugh-out-loud funny bits spotted around. I found the third episode the stronger of the latter two, with some season six style slapstick.
Personally, I clocked the despair squid parallel early on - Rimmer getting a streak of goo on his face was the giveaway. Possibly, this affected my viewing, as I was left watching with nagging is-it-isn't-it thoughts.
Humour (or lack of) aside, I thought it was very well made. The actors gave good performances and the production was very well done. Did anyone watch the Making Of? I appreciated the production quality all the more after watching that. In fact, the performance and production impressed me to the extent that I want to see more episodes - but the scripts need to be better.
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Post by The Doctor on Apr 15, 2009 20:19:50 GMT
Oh yeah, it was very well made.
I have been watching some older episodes on youtube. They still make me laugh. I was just watching 'Out of Time'. Great stuf.
-Ralph
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Post by Bogatan on Apr 15, 2009 20:27:05 GMT
Nigel I pretty much agree with everything you said. I still need to watch the making off but I was well impressed with the look of it on first watching. Memory of RD first attempt at CG still makes me queasy.
I think series 7's lack of Rimmer made his 3 appearances better, too much rimmer can get tiring even in the earlier series. Most of his best episodes are when Barrie isnt playing regular rimmer too.
Series 6 is my least favourite though I couldn't say why. 7 is fun as I remember and I liked the reboot in 8 a lot, it probably did suffer from the same lack of funny as the new episodes, but I liked the scifi side of the show a lot. Also having read the making of series 8 it helps to understand many of the flaws in the show and see what it could have been.
I still hope theres some explanation of the series 8 ending and how what appears to be original rimmer came back. I guess when the nanites rebuilt Red Dwarf they recreated the Rimmer hardlight hologram with it's memory right upto when Ace rimmer left. Then all the crew die at the end of 8 including Rimmer so Hollie switches on the Hologram Rimmer. Still doesnt explain how Lister, Cat and Konchanski survived.
Andy
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Post by The Doctor on Apr 15, 2009 21:16:24 GMT
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Post by blueshift on Apr 15, 2009 21:39:32 GMT
Yeah it looks like they picked a lot up in all the repeats they did, so not as bad as first thought. But quality wise I hope they dont pick it up |
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Post by Mark_Stevenson on Apr 16, 2009 12:17:46 GMT
I'm with Martin here. Just seeing the cast aboard the small rouge one gave me a tingle of pleasure (steady). Danny John-Jules appears to have been cryogenically frozen since '99, he hasn't aged a day! Yes, it was convoluted and joke-lite. I still enjoyed watching it though... The occasional special in the future would be welcome on my screen, and I should think that it's more than an outside possibility.
Yes, more gags would be good though.
Mx
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 16, 2009 13:57:27 GMT
Probably the best song to ever feature on Red Dwarf is this one:
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Post by The Doctor on Apr 17, 2009 17:21:27 GMT
ASDA has some of the original series DVD's at £7. Could be tempted.
-Ralph
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Apr 17, 2009 17:59:38 GMT
WH Smith has them cheap too.
Damn my skintness. Dare say I may pick them up circa pay day!
Andy
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Post by The Doctor on Apr 17, 2009 19:13:48 GMT
Viewing a few eps on youtube has reminded me how re-watchable they are.
-Ralph
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 18, 2009 18:16:08 GMT
I brought all eight series on DVD as each one was released. It must have cost me about £20 for each. If I'd have waited a while I could have got them cheaper off the net but I had to have them as they were released.
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Post by The Doctor on Apr 19, 2009 9:34:38 GMT
Used to have the DVD's of Series I-III (lost during a space crunch). Very well produced. Best treatment on a UK show I've seen, other than Doctor Who.
-Ralph
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Post by blueshift on Apr 19, 2009 12:40:19 GMT
The DVDs are fantastic, though the menus can be a bit annoying.
For a second Ralph, I misread that as you really liking the 'remastered' seasons 1-3 which were horrid!
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Post by The Doctor on Apr 19, 2009 14:15:09 GMT
Nay. The 'remastered' versions were shite, and missed the point completely.
-Ralph
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Apr 19, 2009 19:32:21 GMT
I've got the original VHS releases of the Re-Mastered series and I agree they aren't the best. Picture is better and they added a nice illustrated bit into one of the episodes that depicted the war between the cat race but other than that they were appalling. The new style Red Dwarf was horrid as were the 'grasshopper' version of the Blue Midget and some good bits from some of the episodes had been chopped out.
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Post by blueshift on Apr 19, 2009 19:37:23 GMT
Hmm lets add some MORE CGI SCUTTERS!
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Apr 20, 2009 20:26:57 GMT
Had vouchers from work and picked up Series VII on DVD. Only watched the first three episodes but quite enjoyed them.
Andy
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Cullen
Empty
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Post by Cullen on Apr 21, 2009 13:21:04 GMT
Well it's interesting reading everyone's reactions to the new episodes. I really enjoyed the whole thing although I'm glad I watched them all in one go as they didn't work as separate episodes. There were some classic gags there (Rimmer saying he couldn't be neurotic (NEUROTIC!??!) because he was too busy washing his hands, springs to mind) and I loved all the Bladerunner refs. I'd definitely be happy with some more episodes by Dave.
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Post by duffism1981 on Oct 10, 2009 15:59:51 GMT
Its seems that Robert Llewellyn has confirmed that series 10 of Red Dwarf has been confirmed. There is no mention of which channel it has been commissioned for yet. twitter.com/bobbyllew/statuses/4759566568 |
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