The Boys Are Back...

So, the boys from the dwarf are back on our screens once again for the first proper series since series XIII way back way in 1998. I don’t think I have been as excited and nervous about a TV series well since... the Red Dwarf Back To Earth special.

I have some very fond memories of Red Dwarf and it is one of two programs from my youth that I can still watch endless repeats of, the other being Lovejoy.

Lovejoy is fucking awesome.

I got into it around the time of season 3, I believe the very first episode I saw was 'Timeslides', but it is the friday night re-runs at 9pm on BBC is what I remember most. Closely followed by the season VII premiere at a mates house getting drunk before we went out for a banging night in…   Penrith.

Changing channels just to catch the end credits of Gardeners World (God, I avoided that program like the plague!) and being amused that the Producer was called ‘Gay Search’. Don’t judge me, I was 13ish and that kind of shit is amusing to ANY 13 year old. I love the shear pantheon of styles of comedy the first six series cover, from the fantastic character based stuff to the star trekish space adventures.

It is really hard for me to pick a favourite episode or really even series, but it is a toss up between IV and V. Both of which look fantastic, have some quite interesting sci-fi concepts (Justice World being one of the best) and have some absolute classic moments. Including quite possibly my favourite ever...

Great scene from 'Holoship', great Cat gag to kick things off and Lister imitating Binks is just fantastic.

I don't want to rant on about series VII and VIII, as they are much debated over on the official forum and well… the internet/workplace/dull football matches/every single tennis match. For me, series VII is watchable and it would have been a better series as six episodes, ‘Beyond a Joke’ can be got rid of instantly, terrible and probably ‘Duct Soup’, even though I really enjoy Lister/Cat bits in it. 'Tikka…' is a decent episode (even tho it has a huge flaw in the conclusion of JFK killing himself), 'Stoke...' is stupid, but amusing, 'Blue' is good and well the other episodes are hit and miss for me. It was Kryten's stupid annoying whiny voice that just ruins it for me it is so annoying, that and the lack of Rimmer. Red Dwarf needs Rimmer, because he is a bastard and the world loves a bastard.

As for VIII, there are a few decent ideas, 'Cassandra' works pretty well as an episode, The Canaries should have been used way more. It is just, the dynamic was changed too much by bringing back the crew, the bleak loneliness of been stuck in space is a core part of Red Dwarf, Lister is the last human! And a prison, A PRISON, A FUCKING PRISON, ON A MINING SHIP, EH!? WHY!? AND DINOSAURS! 

It was great seeing Mac Mcdonald back as the Captain tho and 'Pete:Part 1' could have maybe worked if it was just an episode about Rimmer and Lister repeatedly getting into trouble with the Captain. There are good things, here and there (the time wand should/could have been used better), but it was too sketch show like, with the stuff about Kryten's penis and shit like this...

Fuck off

I am going to stop now and get onto 'Back to Earth'....  oh no here comes a rant...

Actually, no I like it. Not at first I admit, I was expecting something like the original series and when I watched it (drunk) I couldn't stand the bastard. Didn't even bother to watch the third part. Ages later, I listened the Dwarfcasts from the guys at Ganymede & Titan and I realised that it was written as a celebration of Red Dwarf, so I bought the dvd and watched it again. Yes, it is flawed, but it is a good piece of meta-drama about the characters from a program I love. Craig Charles acting is fantastic and it set up Red Dwarf perfectly for Series X. 

My God I am so excited about Series X, and from the trailers so far it looks good (Cat's 'Me, him and him' joke looks like a classic). I believe that it will be better than VII and VIII. The sets look amazing and model shots, my god, it looks (and as been mistaken for CGI). It could be the best looking series yet. I am worried, yes, but the signs are good, studio audiences, models, Howard Goodall doing the music and most importantly the four of them having adventures in space. The stories sound like a good cross between adventures and character based stuff.

Anyway, despite Lister being a lot more than the curry and lager obsessed slob that general media will have us believe. I will sitting down of my sofa, watching a few of my favourite episode with a curry and a few tins, then by 9:40pm I will hopefully be a very happy man, having watched an awesome new episode of Red Dwarf and probably watch it again!

I will leave you with my favourite of the trailers released so far.

Classic Kryten, doing something funny and thinking it is normal, this gag doesn't need anymore.