RD VIII

Who saw it ? What did we think ?

Doesn't Norman Lovett just make all the diffrence ? I've watched Red
Dwarf since day 1 and thought that the show hadn't been the same since he
left ...






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Very well done I thought. Like taking the comedy dialogue from Series I
and II, and combining it with the action of III and IV and V. Shame about
some of the over explaining, but we have to cater to new viewers I suppose.
There is a lot of history after all.
Norm is great. It would have been good to have had a schizonphrenic (!)
Holly played by both Norm and Hatty.

"What's your view Hol?"
"Right up your nose when you lean over like that"

Kryten and Shrink (I can't spell Psychiatrist (or can I?)) was very good.

"Just double check that chair for me"

Only three problems at the moment.

1. Rimmer NOT a hologram. Hmm. Still, he is just like the original
Rimmer.
2. They should have kept Back In The Red as a single episode as they were
originally supposed to be doing. The episode ended rather lamely.
3. They should have kept Back In The Red as a single episode as they were
originally supposed to be doing. The episode ended rather lamely. I know
that's technically only two reasons, but I thought the second one was big
enough that it should be mentioned twice.

I don't think they need to kill the crew off. See after the SPOILER ALERT
for why this is, but I think the way Red Dwarf 8 is written on the title
sequence is a clue.

One last thing, I am currently in the process of downloading the 2.5 minute
RD VIII trailer. It's supposed to be done in the style of the Phantom
Menace one. It's 10MB or 25MB depending on the resolution you go for, and
it's available from:

www.reddwarf.co.uk

Judging by the title sequence, we also get some more Dwayne Dibbley, even
if it is Lister and Kochanski with mops on their heads.

That's all for now me laddo.

Sean


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Red Dwarf 8 is written as a five bar gate and three for lines, suggesting a
long time spent in jail. I believe they will be in The Tank for the whole
of this series. Hey! It's no bigger a change than Red Dwarf 6 and 7 not
featuring the Dwarf at all.

Also, if you read the interview in SFX (OK, I know, not the most trusted
publication), it says the Boyz (and Girl) from the Dwarf get used a
canaries, in a miner's analogy, checking out situations which could be
dangerous.

It was BRILLIANT!!!!! I was very sad when the programme finished
last night, it was so funny!!!

Overall I wasn't impressed. There were some good bits (Lister baiting Rimmer
for five whole minutes, and 'The rat incident'), but all in all, it wasn't
as good as it could have been. I think they are setting up again for the
series as a whole. Lets hope it gets better from here. (The dinosaur has
potential.)

Andy

Yup. He was definitely brilliant.
Of course even if you accept this negative view of the episode,
compare it with season 7 where there were no funny bits.
BTW I think a lot of people are due to die next week. The credits only
show the main cast soo...
Chris
.........................................................
'Sift and slime, lemon lime,' the computer replied.
'Tap that toenail one more time'
There was nothing I could add to that so I left the bridge.

On Fri, 19 Feb 1999, Chris Lyth wrote:
Well I think it's just Doug taking his time, getting used to writing the
scripts without Rob. Last season was the first he did solo wasn't it?
Obviously he wasn't used to writing it alone, but for VIII, he's had a
chance to look back at VII and peoples criticisms now so o/~ Things can only
get better. o/~

The fact that Chris Barrie is back is a good sign that he thinks the future
episodes are good too?
The main cast which according to the credits include such characters as
"Captain", "Selby" etc... Call me a haddock and paint me red, but I think
they might be the recently reincarnated crew - or did you expect them to
list the 100+ crew members? *8)

Chris

---

christ@ #include <stddisclaimer.h> http://www.instituteofcorrection.org.uk/

"So this is really me? A no-style gimbo with teeth druids could use as a
place of worship" - Duaine Dibley (Red Dwarf - "Back to Reality")

Chris T said
See you thursday with a paintbrush, mr Haddock.

Chris
.........................................................
'Sift and slime, lemon lime,' the computer replied.
'Tap that toenail one more time'
There was nothing I could add to that so I left the bridge.

How about the bit with the Cat's heartbeat, and Captain McAllister
bopping away to it by the bed? I thought that was pretty funky. One thing
that did bug me though - they're really overdoing the digital imaging in
these new episodes. Everything's super-rich in colour and half the time it's
like looking at one of those Damien Hurst efforts with colours splashed all
over each other - what's that about? Are they vastly underestimating the
average viewer by assuming they have the attention span of a sound-byte?
We're perfectly capable of making it through a half-hour of watching
normally-coloured characters, and anyway, I generally watch Dwarf for the
humour, not to sit and look at pretty pictures.

On the other hand, maybe the colour was turned up too high on the TV.
Got to agree with Andy though - better than RD VII, but not a patch on the
older stuff. DNA rocks!

Oops, spelt Damien Hurst wrong - should be with an i. Sorry Mr.
Hirst..


No need to answer this one - I don't want to get flamed for starting
a non-sci-fi discussion

you've got a point there, it's nice to know that they've got a big budget at
last, but a good scriptwriter would be even better. Having said that though,
the crashing Starbug bit was good, and it is nice to see Hollister again.
Are we going to see Petersen again, or is he still doing time on the Fast
Show?

Iz
PS. Come back Rob Grant, all is forgiven.

<<it's nice to know that they've got a big budget at last,>>

CG effects are now A LOT cheaper.

However in all recent Red Dwarf CGI (i.e. the enhanced versions etc),
_some_ of the shots don't seem that good though.
They appear to be trying to get away with not rendering all the required
frames - if something is moving fast you need to create a motion blur for
every frame, if using 'static' images for each frame it always looks
'jerky'.


David

Sorry, i know nothing about computers, as far as i'm concerned it's magic
that gets the words from the keyboard to the screen. What i meant was that
when they started out, it was on about as much money as students get these
days for grants,

having thoroughly slagged RD VIII, i'm beginning to think i may have been a
little hasty, after all, they did get Chris Barrie back...

Thoughts on the Craig Charles gig anyone?

Iz (very contrite)

I hate to say it, but i wasn't very impressed, fot one thing, they've still
got Kochanski in it, and she was the worst thing about series VII.....

And how are they going to get rid of the crew this time?

And did anyone else like the bits with the Cat's heartbeat and/ or the
psychiatrist?


Iz

YES! The guy who played the psychiatrist was fantastic, and about
as patronising as they come! Next week rescuing Kryten from being killed off
is going to have to come pretty high on the agenda though....

That and Lister has to avoid a two-year jail term...

Andy

>That and Lister has to avoid a two-year jail term...
>
>Andy

maybe they'll whack him in the stasis chamber again, and then everyone dies horribly from a nuclear explosion (again)? pure speculation on my behalf.

I don't mind kochanski, she looks a lot better with her natural hair colour!!! What can I say, I'm a sucker for a nice long hair :o)

the "rat / arse" scene was great, as was the yvonne mcgruder bit, although I still think it was a mistake for them to cut it into two parts. The episode finishes so abruptly that you're just left wondering whether they've got edward scissorhands doing the editing or something.

all in all, a damn sight better than 7, but some of the jokes are still far too long, and you sortas lose it before the punch line.

cheers
Asan

Maybe. Or they could all be killed by a rampaging dinosaur... Seriously
though, there is no point killing off the crew again. It's been done
already, and they could get a lot more mileage by keeping them alive.
Yes, but the original Kochanski had the better accent.

Andy

-----Original Message-----
From: Eden I <I.Eden@>
She was just diffrent. I liked her...
What if they're not ? I'll call Chris Lyth's bluff and bet him a pint they
won't kill them ...
Yup both cool scenes. Having just re-watched it the following made me
giggle:

Lister "What's the view like Hol ?"
Holly "Well from down here I can see straight up your right nostril"

Lister "What's the Brig like Hol ?"
Holly "Well if I was an estate agent I'd discribe it as an old fashion penal
institution with on suite buckets and animal life"

Psychiatrist "Are you sure the chair's screwed down ?"

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Philip Ayres
E-Mail: payres@
Web Site: www.netcomuk.co.uk/~payres
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

On Sat, 20 Feb 1999, Eden I wrote:
No, I think you're wrong - the main problem with VII was that it was getting
stale. It was from the start, a series about a bunch of sexist men stuck on
a female-less spaceship in the middle of deep space. And it hasn't deviated
from that since.

So adding a female was bound to cause the series to change, but I think by
VII it was too late. Hopefully VIII is as much a fresh start as it seems.
It's a shame they couldn't have stuck with the fiesty, attractive Kochanski
from the earlier seasons, but she wouldn't have fitted in - they needed a
more "soppy" character, to fit in with the bunch of misfits they already
had.
They're not. You can tell that from the first 5 minutes. They start in the
brig and the opening credits are full of sequences with Lister & Rimmer
wearing those pink brig jumpsuits. I doubt they'd willing stay in the brig,
if the crew die...Unless the crew dies but the prisoners in the brig
escape...I certainly can't see any other reason for having them in there
without being mentioned before - there's no way Lister would have missed an
entire deck?
I liked the entire episode. It looks like the rest of the season is
actually going to pick up and going to be vastly different from previous
ones.

Chris

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christ@ #include <stddisclaimer.h> http://www.instituteofcorrection.org.uk/

"So this is really me? A no-style gimbo with teeth druids could use as a
place of worship" - Duaine Dibley (Red Dwarf - "Back to Reality")

I am planning to go to the Babylon 5/Blakes 7 Convention next week on Sunday
27th February. Unfortunately that is the only day I can manage.

This is in Ashford, Kent- not the one a few minutes away, but the one round
the M25 and into Kent.

It costs 20 pounds for a single day, or 40 pounds for the Friday/ Saturday/
Sunday. My Web pages will give you a link there, for more details- plus what
I am doing, if I manage to update them.

I will (publicity production willing) be handing out leaflets to the Gaming
Convention we are holding on the 13th/14th March, as like most SF/ gaming
conventions there is a strong cross-over between the two interests.

If you are interested in coming down with me, e-mail me.

Jenny Gould

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jenny@

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