Red Dwarf

[makkuwata]

It's actually happening then. Last years one-off special had its faults, but they slipped back into the roles far better than I ever would have expected.

I think this has the potential to not be awful.

[El Pibe]

Commenting on the quality of the show, which was pretty poor in its early series but grew funnier and more inventive through the BBC's commitment to its potential, Charles said "We've gotta recapture the highlights like series 5, series six, that kind of stuff. If we can hit that mark then brilliant. There's no point doing it if it's a bit so-so." Hear hear!

It's funny that they can get that so wrong. It was the other way around, in my humble opinion.

The first few series were superb because they were more focused on Lister and Rimmer's relationship.

[jonnyalpha]

Reading the article I read...

"Perhaps the only solution is to do the show live, as the BBC did with David Tennant and The Quatermass Experiment 4 years back....?"

They kept that one very quiet. I've never heard of it.

[dan_tm]

Well, to be fair, it's all about opinions and I agree with that quote that the first couple of series were awful in comparison to some of the later stuff.

I'm not saying they were bad, clearly they weren't, I thoroughly enjoyed almost every single one of the 52 episodes - I just seem to prefer the episodes from series 4 onwards (discounting 7, which while very disappointing isn't half as bad as some people make out).

Waiting for a new series of Red Dwarf was one of this biggest things in my childhood (for reasons I don't think I've ever told anyone), so for it to finally happen after all these years is a bit of a shock.

I'm certainly not expecting it to match up with the best of the original stuff, but I'm in no doubt that it'll be better than every other comedy on TV in 2012.

[moosegrinder]

I hated 7 and 8. 6 was amazing, 5 probably the best but I loved all of them up to 6. I'm not sure how far you can take a show about 4 people stuck on a boat, even if it is a 5 mile long one.

[Guest]

I'd like to hope the cast goes on a bit of a fitness kick to lose some of that bulk they've aquired. Apart from DJJ who I imagine is still skinny...

[Mr Majestyk]

While Back To Earth had it's faults, it was still funnier and more intelligent than half the shite that's being churned out and spoon fed to the retarded dribbling reality tv, Heat reading masses on a weekly basis.

Count me in, I'll be glad to see this back. Stick in a laugh track though please Dave, or stick it in front of a live audience. This will make some money for the channel so it'd be nice to see them stick some cash into it!

[Hawkeye]

The first two series where by far the best. The brilliant Norman Lovett and the actual feeling they are lost/trapped out there with nobody but themselves to banter with. It certainly went downhill as it aged. I had given up on it by the time series 7 & 8 had rolled around.

The specials were fricking awful though. I have no faith in this being anything other than dire. Sad to say that, as I once loved the show.

[Mr Cochese]

The first two series where by far the best. The brilliant Norman Lovett and the actual feeling they are lost/trapped out there with nobody but themselves to banter with. It certainly went downhill as it aged. I had given up on it by the time series 7 & 8 had rolled around.

The specials were fricking awful though. I have no faith in this being anything other than dire. Sad to say that, as I once loved the show.

True dat.

[K]

Red Dwarf: Back to Earth was almost unbelievably shit. The first ten minutes or so were OK, at which point they went *dramatic pause* back to earth and it turned into 45 minutes of painful fan service, awful fourth-wall breaking, followed by a baffling, ludicrously drawn-out thirty years too late Blade Runner parody that has to rank as one of the most unfunny things I’ve ever seen.

[makkuwata]

It might have been fan service, but at least the 4th wall stuff was tied in with existing continuity. Back to Earth was no masterpiece, but my biggest complaint about it is the lack of a laugh track. So they must have been doing something right, for me anyway.

[NecroMorrius]

Did anyone see the reedited specials? They were much much better. Still shit though.

Red Dwarf was amazing - first couple of series are just wonderful. But it's time to say goodbye. On the other hand they might as well have a crack at another series, if it's really shit I'll just pretend it doesn't exist. A live studio audience is a good thing. Forces them to concentrate on timing and grants a better energy etc.

[Not Thread Owner]

Even Hyperdrive was better than Back to Earth.

But, as long as this is funny, I'll be happy. Happier still if they actually conclude the story from series 8 as the specials after that didn't fit. Or even retcon the whole thing so Rimmer didn't leave as Ace and everything after that point never happened.

[Mr Cochese]

I wonder how this will fit into the mythology of the Red Dwarf universe.

[NecroMorrius]

Awkwardly. In HD.

[Charliemouse]

The first two series where by far the best. The brilliant Norman Lovett and the actual feeling they are lost/trapped out there with nobody but themselves to banter with. It certainly went downhill as it aged. I had given up on it by the time series 7 & 8 had rolled around.

The specials were fricking awful though. I have no faith in this being anything other than dire. Sad to say that, as I once loved the show.

My thoughts exactly

It was funniest when it was a sitcom that just happened to be set on a space ship, in the later series it just turned into a sci-fi show that was sometimes funny.

I also miss the Cat actually being a cat , instead of a man who just happens to have big pointy teeth.

[Chosty]

The first two series where by far the best. The brilliant Norman Lovett and the actual feeling they are lost/trapped out there with nobody but themselves to banter with. It certainly went downhill as it aged. I had given up on it by the time series 7 & 8 had rolled around.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T66mCPyhYVs

[Fry Crayola]

I love the first six seasons - the relationship comedy of the early ones and the sci fi of the later episodes, they're brilliantly done, and slap bang in the middle (sort of) is the finest episode of all in the shape of Marooned.

Then Rob Grant left, and whilst 7 and 8 had their moments (Cassandra the highlight), it wasn't really the same. Back to Earth didn't happen.

[Charliemouse]

Fry is right, Marooned was the best episode ever.

[Chadruharazzeb]

The first two series where by far the best.

This. Have a +1, smeg head.

[Meka]

Series 4, 5 & 6 were my favourite, they were the first I purchased on DVD. I can stick those on and watch every episode.

1,2 & 3 followed later because they contain individual episodes I like such as 'Marooned.'

Series 7 and 8, well, I waited until I could get those cheap. I waited until all of them were cheap, but I waited even longer for 7 and 8 to be even cheaper, and that was just so I could complete the spine picture with the rest of the set.

The special... I don't want it. If someone bought me it I wouldn't even put it with the other discs. I'd stick it on another shelf in another room - like at the far end where it meets the outer wall and is prone to a bit of damp.

I have alot of nostalgia connected to the show so I'll give it a chance but I can't get excited about it.

[Nick R]

Here's fansite Ganymede & Titan's writeup:

http://ganymede.tv/atspeed/2011/01/new-series-for-reals

And Robert Llewellyn's blog post:

http://llewblog.squarespace.com/red-dwarf/

So yes, we are making a new series, commissioned by Dave, not a special or a movie or a one of dooberry. A full 6 half hour episodes of a brand new series.

The previous Red Dwarf Back to Earth Dave specials were incredibly successful. For a Channel like Dave to get viewing figures which beat BBC 2 and Channel 4 combined was an unprecedented achievement which has never happened before or since.

The plan at the moment, and this could change, the plan is that we record the new series in front of an audience.

Red Dwarf: Back to Earth was almost unbelievably shit. The first ten minutes or so were OK, at which point they went *dramatic pause* back to earth and it turned into 45 minutes of painful fan service, awful fourth-wall breaking, followed by a baffling, ludicrously drawn-out thirty years too late Blade Runner parody that has to rank as one of the most unfunny things I’ve ever seen.

I still maintain that the self-referentiality and fan service in Back to Earth was mostly forgivable because the original intention when the three shows were commissioned by Dave was that it would be more a celebration of the programme than a new entry in the series. But that balance changed, and then those two elements didn't always work very well. Maybe people wouldn't have been quite so put off if that had been made a bit clearer from the start.

Yes, the prevalence of Blade Runner references was weird, along with Doug Naylor's sudden insistence "YES IT WAS ONE OF THE BIGGEST INFLUENCES ON RED DWARF, HONEST" when (unlike Alien) he'd never mentioned it before in interviews. But it did mean we got that great image analysis scene.

And Back to Earth as a whole was a hell of a lot better than anything in series VIII (except maybe Cassandra)... for one thing, it left us with an ending that was miles more satisfying than the one we'd been left with for the previous ten years.

[Flams]

So what is it?

[Chadruharazzeb]

It's a rent in the space/ time continuum.

[Dandy_Sephy]

I haven't seen it before, no one has, but I believe it's a new series of Red Dwarf

[Professor Puzzles]

A Red Dwarf?

[Chadruharazzeb]

So what is it?

[Wiper]

Red Dwarf: Back to Earth was almost unbelievably shit. The first ten minutes or so were OK, at which point they went *dramatic pause* back to earth and it turned into 45 minutes of painful fan service, awful fourth-wall breaking, followed by a baffling, ludicrously drawn-out thirty years too late Blade Runner parody that has to rank as one of the most unfunny things I’ve ever seen.

Oh, be fair. That parody was only 27 years out of date!

[Professor Puzzles]

A Red Dwarf?

[Shoes]

Someone punch him out.