Red Dwarf - General Discussion

[David T. Cole]

A place to discuss particular episodes, arcs and moments from the show's run. 

[Kromm]

One of the funniest things ever filmed.

Another spectacular Rimmer moment.

And then there's the great and mighty Mr. Flibble.

[Kromm]

Kryten's "defense" of Rimmer has always been one of my favorites.

[88Keys]

"I was only away for two minutes!"

 

 

 

That's my favorite scene, followed very closely by:

 

Lister: "Me arm!  You've lost me arm!"

Rimmer: "I've lost your watch, too!"

[Tippi Blevins]

In "Marooned," when Lister tells Rimmer the story of how he lost his virginity at age 12 on a golf course. Rimmer is flabbergasted, but not for the reasons one might expect: "12?! You can't have been a full member of the golf course then!"

 

In "Camille," when Kryten's, Rimmer's, and Lister's ideal mates are all ladies, but Cat's turns out to be an exact copy of himself.

 

The whole "double Polaroid" scene in "DNA."

 

Everything in "Back to Reality." Everything.

[atomationage]

Just Watched Season 11 episode 1, Twentica.  They're all older and starting to wrinkle.  Even Kryten looks old, and has gotten fat.   RImmer's H seems to be lower on his forehead.  It was still funny though.  I thought Einstein, or Bob the bum, and his pram full of string was hilarious. 

How dense do you think I am?  You really want to know, just divide your mass by your volume.

Kryten:  I went bobbing for apples in a cement mixer.

[Sunnydayman]

Do you know if the new season is coming to BBC America?

[azshadowwalker]

On 11/5/2016 at 10:28 PM, Sunnydayman said:

Do you know if the new season is coming to BBC America?

Long ago question, but I will answer it anyway. They haven't shown any seasons since the production moved to Dave TV. They don't even show the ones they made anymore. If you want to watch them, the new seasons cost about  $11 for an entire season in standard def. They are available on Amazon streaming. The older seasons are free with Amazon Prime. 

Speaking of, I just bought Series 11. Really trying to get into it. Really failing. 

Edited May 16, 2017 by azshadowwalker

[Pindrop]

A new series is coming up. I have noticed in seasons 10 and 11 (those on Dave) that they have been heavily recycling jokes from the shows heyday (series 3-6). I'm not complaining because recycled jokes from that period are infinitely more watchable than the godawful 7th and 8th series. 

[Pindrop]

The entirety of "Legion"; slapstick is difficult to pull-off but it is hilarious here. 

The entirety of "Marooned"; bottle episodes are also difficult to pull-off, but the writing in this is sublime from beginning to end.  

Edited October 8, 2017 by Pindrop

[tessaray]

The new series will be debuting this month on Britbox.  I know the new episodes have started in the UK, so they should be landing soon, I hope.  (They seem to be at least a week or so behind with Strictly Come Dancing.)  

Britbox has a one week free trial, so I imagine you could wait until the new series ends and just binge watch them. 

[tessaray]

"Cured" is up on Britbox, so it looks like less than a day behind airing on Dave?  I haven't had a chance to watch it yet but looking forward to it. 

http://www.reddwarf.co.uk/news/2017/10/06/american-dwarf/ 

 

Quote

"When the Dwarfers search for some tech to fix Starbug’s faulty port engine, they come across a Scientific Research centre that appears to have found a cure for evil."

[Maren]

The boys will be back next year!!

http://www.reddwarf.co.uk/news/2019/10/18/red-dwarf-special-announced/

Edited October 18, 2019 by Maren
Correcting link

[BetterButter]

Red Dwarf's future confirmed after legal dispute resolved

[tessaray]

I saw that.  I had mixed feelings about the more recent stories but will always check out what they do next. 

[Trini]

So the entire series is up on Tubi right now; I remember watching some of this as a kid when it was aired on PBS, so I decided to just watch from the start. And I've been reading bits of trivia and BTS info.

(I'm sure I'm not saying anything that hasn't been already said about the show in the past 30 years!)

So far I've finished the first 2 seasons; and I didn't remember anything from those, so it seems like I had only seen parts of series 3-6 in the 90's. Which I hear are the best seasons, so looking forward to the rest.

Man, I'd forgotten how short British seasons can be! Only six episodes for a sitcom?? Anyway, Season 1 was ROUGH. And bold of them to keep introducing concepts and future plot lines that they might never pay off. Season 2 was definitely an improvement.

I appreciated some of the risks they took; but they also had a problem of not actually having conclusions to stories. And you know this was written by dudes when pregnancy is used as a punchline, and then they never actually follow through on the repercussions of that.

And I guess this is easier to see now than when I was a kid, but while Craig Charles is funny and all, you can tell he's not really an actor. Now I'm reading that Barrie didn't have much acting experience either, but I feel he did better.

Edited February 12 by Trini

[tessaray]

Season 1 has some classic bits. The sarcastic toaster. Rimmer panicking when he realizes Lister is serious about becoming an officer. And my daughters and I still crack up when Cat hits the food machines for fish. "Fish!" But yeah, you don't watch RD for the calibre of the acting. 🙂

The commercials on Tubi arent too bad. I hope the boys (and Kochanski) make a new generation laugh. 

[Trini]

Yeah with half-hour shows there's usually only one ad.

I'm not saying that Season 1 was all bad, but I'm glad they got better later on.

 

6 hours ago, tessaray said:

But yeah, you don't watch RD for the calibre of the acting. 🙂

heh- I mean, yeah. But the problem for me is that Craig is right next to Barrie, who is clearly talented at comedic performances.

Edited February 12 by Trini

[Trini]

Some stray Season 3 thoughts:

I know it's a fool's errand to expect consistent continuity, and that I can (and have) read explanations online, but it's still an odd choice to have so many big unexplained changes from the previous season.

They still suck at conclusions, but I'd say the writing was stronger in general. I know it can be tough to be the straight man, but Craig is still the weak link.

I was going to commend them for the great casting of Young Lister in the 'Timeslides' episode, but then I read it was actually Craig Charles' brother, LOL!

[Trini]

Season 4 thoughts:

Okay, since I mentioned Craig Charles' acting before, I have to say that I find him greatly improved this season. I don't know if it's the writing, or if he was more comfortable in the role, or whatever. Although there are still a couple of times where he's almost breaking character by laughing at a line he shouldn't be laughing at.

I think the stories improved a bit, or at least they were funnier; they seem to be hitting their stride. Some really fun episodes here!

Kryten was a great addition to the cast.

I wish they'd given Cat an arc or two; he's still pretty one-note. Even Kryten and Holly got some growth.

[Trini]

Season 5:

Another good set of episodes; although the only one that I think didn't really fit in with the rest was "The Inquisitor", which was more sci-fi than funny.

Cat's been a little more involved in things, but I'm still waiting for him to have a central story or another personality trait. I do wonder where he gets all his clothes from, though -- LOL.

I'm a sucker for doppelgangers and alternate realities, so it's cool to see the different ways they used to have different versions of the characters.

This show is also fun just to hear some British slang!

[Trini]

16 hours ago, Trini said:

I'm a sucker for doppelgangers and alternate realities, so it's cool to see the different ways they used to have different versions of the characters.

Okay, so I realize this is at least partly to save money on guest actors, but my point still stands!

---

So 2 episodes into Season 6 and yay! Cat has a third trait. I don't know if it makes sense that he can supposedly sniff things in outer space, but when has anything made sense on this show? LOL!

I appreciate the attempt at a serialized story, and changing the status quo, but it's weird that they would remove the thing that's the title of the show.

[Trini]

Finished Season 6; man, this show used time travel A LOT. And it was different every time.

LOL - I guess the trade-off for Lister/Craig getting to make out with beautiful women was that he had to make out with some monsters as well!

I miss Holly. But taking her out does mean that everyone else gets to do more stuff.

So, we're just going to create an entire planet of Rimmers, and never follow up on that? Oy.

Wow, the one(?) time they end on a life-or-death cliffhanger, and then the show doesn't come back for 3 years -- double Oy.

Still disappointing that Cat's been here this whole time but they still don't give him any A-plots.

ETA: I know that sounds like a bunch of complaints, but I'm still enjoying the show, it's still funny!

[Trini]

Starting Season 7, and I guess I did catch some of this in the nineties. I vaguely remember that there was an episode that had time travel for curries, and that it was weird that there was suddenly a woman on board.

I keep hearing that there are sucky seasons after this one -- any recommendations or warnings? My plan is to watch the whole series, but I'm interested in what other people think.

[Trini]

Finished Season 7;

I'm not really feelin' the addition of Kochanski. In theory, I wanted to see what a female presence in the crew might look like, but in general they had her in conflict with everybody. She didn't really fit the Rimmer-shaped hole in the show.

Some fun scenes, but not really any whole episodes I can say are favorites; especially in the back half.

Having a recurring joke is fine but I found that they got too repetitive with this joke format: "That's [x]-er than a [way too many words]!"

I keep reading that people hated Season 8, so we'll see how this goes.

[Anela]

I loved Red Dwarf, but I don't know if I watched the whole thing. I just remembered this, as soon as I saw it mentioned.

 

The toaster is another:

 

[Trini]

1 hour ago, Anela said:

The toaster is another:

"Ah, so you're a waffle man!" -- LOL!

[Trini]

Again I'm know I'm not saying anything new, but it amuses me that while this show tackles similar themes as Star Trek (I'm comparing to TNG mainly), it's also the opposite of Star Trek. And not just because one's a drama and the other a comedy, there's the differences in budget and special effects, a large cast/crew vs. not just a small crew but a 'small' universe with few civilizations, one is usually cerebral while the other is usually carnal, and one ordered the other chaotic; not to mention Red Dwarf's disregard for continuity! LOL

Anyway, started Season 8; and in the category of 'Lines that Did Not Age Well, from 8.03:

Rimmer (in the brig): "Two years with the scum of the universe, hardened criminals, deranged droids; people so unbalanced and debauched they couldn't even get elected as President of the United States!"

Edited March 6 by Trini
dropped word, gah!

[Trini]

On 3/3/2024 at 10:46 PM, Trini said:

I keep reading that people hated Season 8, so we'll see how this goes.

Well, I actually liked 5/8ths of the season; but the last 3 episodes were a mess. Apparently there were production issues? It showed. Especially the finale.

So there were some big, crazy changes compared to the previous seasons, but I thought it was a return to form, and funnier than Season 7. Rimmer's back! Holly's back! The resurrected Red Dwarf crew added a new dynamic. Kochanski was less annoying, but overall I felt she didn't really add anything to the show. Also Chris Barrie is doing peak physical comedy.

They still refuse to give Cat stuff to do besides punchlines (like, not even a subplot with Lister??); however I did appreciate the silliness of him having a dance number.

Again, this show doesn't always need to make sense -- BUT -- a couple of things I thought really didn't make sense:

• The ship having its own Suicide Squad??
• Literally everyone was dead and now they're alive; they should be thanking Lister & co.,or at least getting info from them, not keeping them in prison.
• Making Captain Hollister a quasi-villain was weird.

Well, onward to 'Season' 9; it's going to be weird to see everyone older.

Edited March 7 by Trini

[Trini]

Another fun thing to do with this show is play 'Guess which scenes PBS had to censor and/or cut for time'.

Gonna have to make a list of my favorite episodes/scenes/lines from Seasons 1-8.

[Trini]

22 hours ago, Trini said:

Well, onward to 'Season' 9; it's going to be weird to see everyone older.

Well, this was just weird in general. And it's more of a special than a series.

I guess it works as a tribute to the show, and a way to acknowledge it's 20th anniversary, but - as the kids say - the vibes were off. Also I don't like it when things get too 'meta'. A wink and a nod is fine; but if the entire plot is winks and nods, that's a problem.

And I don't know anything about Coronation Street, so those references flew right over my head.

Still plan to finish the rest.

[Trini]

Started Season X. In typical RD fashion, they don't really acknowledge the events of the previous seasons. The only thing that carried over was that Kochanski is out there in space somewhere. But I do like that this season is pretty much 'back to basics'. Just the core crew getting into silly situations and annoying each other.

In superficial concerns; it's supposed to be the same Red Dwarf ship, but it's all new sets, and new special effects. Which is fine, but it's a little weird to see this show have a budget of more than $500 - LOL! Also I'm pretty sure that they've got Chris Barrie in a wig now; not sure if it's a full one or just the front/top to cover his receding hairline. On the other hand, Lister's dreads have never looked better!

Going episode by episode:

“Trojan” —Interesting to meet another one of Rimmer’s relatives; the moose gag and Stirmaster gags were funny.

“Fathers and Suns” — Okay, I thought this was a great comedic take on the implications of being one’s own father. Lister talking to himself as if he’s a separate person was hilarious! And even though I know they don’t care about continuity, this father plot reminded me that Lister actually has sons in another dimension; does he even think about them?

“Lemons” — Really? Another accidental time travel plot? I think this one had the flimsiest reason yet. All so they could do ‘What if the crew met Jesus?’ as a plot.

“Entangled” — This was a so-so episode.

“Dear Dave” — So this was clearly their budget-saving episode. It’s interesting that because Holly's not around they gave other machines personalities. And this is the second plot that involves Lister and fatherhood. Should I be hopeful that they’ll come back around to his twins eventually?

“The Beginning” — Took ten seasons, but Rimmer finally grew something of a spine! I liked the moment of Cat helping him in his own way, too. Let Cat do more things! Nice end to the season.

[Trini]

Thoughts on Season XI:

I'll start with the shallow; it's weird that they keep re-designing the sets. It's really obvious that everyone's older (and wider). Barrie's got a slightly better-looking wig(?). Cat's suits are still fab! It's nice that they actually have a budget for special effects.

They really use time travel too much on this show; and lampshading that doesn't help! I'm surprised that no one mentioned that they had created a time paradox in "Give and Take".

I still enjoy the characters, but they're clearly significantly older at this point, so it's now starting to look odd that they're still up to the same old antics, and haven't matured much. (Some, but not much.)

They have an entire ship to themselves, why are Lister and Rimmer still rooming together??

So we FINALLY get a Cat A-plot episode, and ... it's all over the place? We finally meet a female of his species ... but not really. Then it devolves into a monster plot. Kinda disappointing.

 

Okay, one more series and a special to go!

[Trini]

Recent developments hint at more Red Dwarf to come?

'What’s Going On With Red Dwarf?'

 

[ETA:] Durrr... This was a year ago, sorry.

Edited March 25 by Trini

[Trini]

Finished Season XII;

This was pretty much Season XI, part 2, so points for being somewhat consistent. Although I think they had some better ideas and execution this time around.

Costume notes: I guess keeping everyone else in the same clothes means that that there's more money for Cat's flamboyant custom suits? I like the leather jacket that Lister has been wearing the past few seasons, but no so much with the rest of the outfit. The scarf they tie around his neck is not working for me in particular.

I liked that they addressed that Lister and Cat are getting older.

While they still don't give Cat much to do, I appreciate the energy and consistency Danny John-Jules brings to role even after all these years.

The finale, "Skipper", was probably the best out of XI and XII. For me at least, it had a bunch of laugh-out-loud moments, nice callbacks to earlier seasons, plus, I love a multiverse story! Seeing the different versions of the characters was fun. I can quibble about how they ended the episode, but I guess they had to get back to the status quo.

----

So they're going to revisit Felis Sapiens in the 'Promised Land' special/movie; cool, but I refuse to have expectations, though.

I kinda wonder what a remake/reboot of this show would look like; but sci-fi comedies are a bit more common today, so it wouldn't be so unique.

[Trini]

Before I get into The Promised Land, I just wanted say how amused and impressed I am by "Tongue Tied"! Like, most shows wait a few seasons to attempt this type of nonsense, but this was 2 seasons in - and the 12th episode! And the fact that they wrote a whole song and had choreography and backup dancers for what's pretty much a throwaway line/scene. ... And the fact that it was actually released as a single with a music video and everything, and it charted! LOL! It's pretty catchy.

[Trini]

[So, *spoilers* for The Promised Land in this post]

I liked it overall; it was funny -- that cat door gag cracked me up every time! Some fun callbacks.

However, they introduced some things that they didn't follow up on (as per usual, I guess). In particular, Lister's duty to continue the human race and his newfound hoarding tendencies.

[And now my rant:]

I truly am baffled why Doug Naylor (yep, gotta call this guy out by name) just refused to write an proper story for Cat. Ever. Cat literally only here for jokes and looking pretty. The others at least once or twice got a plot that showed some character growth (even if it was for one episode), or we learned something new about them, or it changed the way the characters related to each other (for an episode).

I don't know how Danny John-Jules has put up with it; but I suppose this is a fun, easy paycheck for him.

I mean -- Rimmer had a big part in the plot when we met a ship of holograms; and so did Kryten with the ship of mechanoids; but now we revisit cat history and meet new cat characters, and Cat has nothing to do or say about that??

Seriously - We meet an entire tribe of felis sapiens, and perpetually horny Cat who has been stuck with these losers for decades, doesn't get to express anything about finally meeting some cat women at least? Or meeting his brother? (I shouldn't even acknowledge that reveal, seeing as how it changed nothing.) I'd really love to know why they deliberately ignored writing for Cat.