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Red Dwarf

makkuwata

By makkuwata,
in Film, TV & Radio

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pulsemyne

pulsemyne

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Cool Ben said:

I thought it was great, best Dwarf in ages.  Is there anything else coming or was that it?

Possibly. Doug said he would write more and probably in the same format as this. Bobby Llew might be up for it but it's getting more and more difficult for him (poor bugger got sepsis during rehersal/recording and ended up in hospital). Danny and Chris would. Not sure about Craig. 

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Fry Crayola

Fry Crayola

Posted
Posted

This mostly fell flat to me. The storyline was stretched pretty thinly across the extended runtime with a couple of different threads not really getting much development as the crew get bounced around from one thing to another. Many of the gags relied on rather basic observations - look, they're cats and they still do cat stuff like chase lasers, use scratching posts, and in case you didn't get it the first time (where it raised a chuckle), here's a bunch more examples of them using a catflap. Red Dwarf's done gags like that before - Dog in Parallel Universe is basically the same thing with another species - but it's not been stretched throughout an episode. We got it the first time, thanks.

 

Where it did well, it was the main crew interacting with each other, always a highlight of Dwarf. I'm sure they all go on forever doing this, but I'm not convinced they're going to be given enough of the scripts they deserve.

 

It's no Timewave, but that's not just a low bar, it's subterranean. I feel Red Dwarf X is probably still the best series since it returned.

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Sprite Machine

Sprite Machine

Posted
Posted
On 18/04/2020 at 12:37, Fry Crayola said:

I feel Red Dwarf X is probably still the best series since it returned.

Really? I watched them all again recently and X is pretty terrible. :unsure:  Everything from the way it looks (overly bright sets with too much red, that weird cockpit, no Starbug), the abundance of extra 'characters' (like the vending machines, or that simulant hunter guy who's their mate - not really feeling the bleak loneliness of space here), the weak jokes lacking any bite or edge. Characters feel out of character as if they're there to serve the jokes, rather than authentically bouncing off one another. It feels like a really safe American sitcom, just with British actors in it.

(Aside from the Lemons episode, that was actually decent!)

 

Not that XI and XII were brilliant or anything, but they felt truer to Red Dwarf and they actually looked quite nice too.

 

Promised Land was OK. It started strong, had a few good gags. Yeah, it dragged in places, could have easily been a tight 30-minuter, but then it wouldn't have had those poignant moments where you realise the characters have actually evolved a little. Good effects work by TV standards, never mind Dwarf standards, too.

 

As ever, the Smeg-Ups are funnier than the show. :D

 

I could happily watch another special if they do one. Get Norman back again.

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Papaya Dance

Papaya Dance

Posted
Posted

Yeah I quite enjoyed that. Most of it I already knew, or had heard but forgotten about, but there were a few nuggets I'd not heard before. Would've been nice to hear more from the cast and less from Katy Brand or that chap from Uncle, but it was still well worth a watch.

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merman

merman

Posted
Posted

Finally managed to catch up with the documentary, enjoyed it. The bit about the conventions was brilliant, and also interesting to hear more about the special effects and the American pilot. (There are ways to watch it, but don't let it spoil your appetite for the real thing).

Also enjoyed the talking heads, especially Dallas Campbell on the science in the last episode.

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amc

amc

Posted
Posted

Decided to finally watch this, all in a several day binge. I remember it airing back in the day, episode adverts, the odd half an episode catch and it getting some good hubbub, but it was on at a time in my life when I was moving away from staying in of an evening watching the telly in my bedroom. Wish I'd stayed home now looking back, went on a bit of a wild path. Felt the same when I did a catch up of Star Trek TNG the other year. Lost youth. 

 

Anyway, really dug the first couple of series, took me right back to 88, very funny and a massive nostalgia hit. Less nostalgically connected to series 3, 4, 5 and 6 but they were great fun.

 

But what the hell happened after series 6. Fuck me is it almost entirely dire. Kept watching in the hope of a nugget in the vein of Backwards or the cowboy episode but it was a tough watch. Painful at times.

 

Currently up to series 10 and it seems to have had a bit of a boost but nothing like the earlier series. 

 

I'm glad I got to eventually watch a show that although I'd never properly sat and watched at the time, definitely had some sort of osmosis effect on me in my teen years, in a cool way. Smeg and kippers and all that.

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Huz

Huz

Posted
Posted

What happened is that Rob Grant stopped co-writing. It's not that he was "the good one" or anything, but it's pretty obvious that he and Doug Naylor did their best work as a pair.

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