Dear god does it...Take a guess what I've been watching with my recet spare time!
Bt we shall continue. I consider it a target now!
Series 3
Seriously, how many people tried to read the star wars crawl no matter how fast it got? And how many went back and froze it when they got the video?
The changes are dramatic here, and the show becomes the Red Dwarf that most people consider the peak period. They've changed bunk-room to something glossier, we get Starbug, a rock theme, the Canadian-voiced version of Kryten and the permanent female Holly. There's effects, monsters, science...Tis is where the show moved to the (relaively speaking) mainstream.
But the writing didn't suffer - far from it, now there was someone other than Lister who could touch something and could be bothered to do so in Kryten, and the exposition could now be split between Holly and the newcomer, thus removing the curious situation of Holly having a low IQ yet being able to explain things like future echoes, the Holly-hop drive, the power calculations to run two holograms.
Look-wise not just the sets had been polished. Rimmer got the second of his multiple iconic costumes as captain emerald (although thank got the hat didn't appear that much!), Cat has clearly stepped up the fashion stakes with the costumes (and is clearly more part of the group than ever before), and Lister is now in the leathers and fuzzy cap that everybody remembers him for. The colours of the new set and budget are caried into the costumes, and the show seems to gain a spring in the step from it.
At the same time you have to note that this series came out around the same time as the first novel - "Infinity welcomes careful drivers". Why? Because when that book came out it retold the story of the first two series...with a few differences. In that Lister had dated Kochanski. Rather than a crew of 169 (of which he WAS number 169) there were now 1,169 (of which he was number 1,169 - still bottom of the barrel). The century of the show's origin changed. And gradually, all these changes made their way into the show itself. Some say that the crawl implies that we're looking at another dimension, who knows...?
Backwards“It’s not a bar-room brawl, it’s a bar room tidy! Un-rumble!”
“Booties down!”
A fan favourite, and deservedly so. One of the most traditionally sci-fi concepts the show had handled to that date, with some brilliant concepts and word-play. Llewellyn fits in perfectly, the first scene with him sets up the new take on both his character and the newer Holly so well. Probably the least convincing prosthetic head though - so little movement or expression compared to later years.
The Cameraderie between Cat and Lister really started to come alive in this series - right from the opening classic discussion. Until now, Cat had been a reluctant part of the team, there but always separate. Now we started to see him and Lister interact in their leisure time as well as during key moments.
Backwards earth is so simply realised, yet so effective. just a few simple reverse shots causing a few nauseating yet effective moments (the cafe one's particularly more nauseating when you run them forwards in your head, actually), a great adlibbed fanboy rant by Arthur Smith, and srely the most eye-watering punchline of any show ever.
The "glossy" era of Red Dwarf had arrived!
Best moment: What a way to start...Wilma Flintstone!
Marooned
“I was Alexander the Great’s chief eunuch.”
“Kryten, fetch the hacksaw!”
So often the mark of a show is when it can make a fantastic "bottle" episode - Soaps like Eastenders do them with one or two characters just stuck together in a single location for a while. They alow for character development, revelaton, and really show the actor's talent off.
But sitcoms don't do that. Where are the laughs in a dramatic episode? Where's the action? The slapstick? And don't forget, these guys aren't actrs - they're poets, dancers, comedians.
But this works. It really does. We think we know all about Lister and Rimmer, but by stripping the pair of them of everything, we get to see more of them - how they cope with their situation, with each other. We get to understand just how analy anoracky Rimmer actually is - Napoleon's Armee du Nord, his father's Camphor-wood chest (echoing back to "better than life") - and just what importance Lister's guitar, becoming ever more part of the character, actually holds to him.
For me, probably the best episode of the series. So simple, yet so effective.
Best moment: “Now I know why dogs lick their testicles – it’s to get rid of the taste of the food!”
Polymorph
“Let’s get out there and twat it!”
“This isn’t a meal, it’s an autopsy!”
Finally we get a "monster of the week" story - but in true Red Dwarf style there's still no alien. The Polymorph is the first of a long tradition of Genetically Engineered Life Forms (GELFs) over the shows next few years.
It's such a great idea too. It changes shape, so it can be any number of comic items - a killer kebab??? - and you don't need a fully mobile model to realise it, plus it allows for different takes on each of the characters. And whilst conscience-free Kryten and Down and out Cat are great in themselves, again the spotlight falls on the two leads. And even though Craig Charles as the ultra-agrressive Lister utters one of the most famous "destined for t-shirts" lines in history with "Let's get out there and twat it" (I still have mine to this day) it's Beatnick Rimmer
who steals the show.
And we also get our first sight of the weapon of choice for Red Dwarf - the Bazookoid. But seriously, would you let ANY of this lot near a gun? Especially one with long-life heat-seeking rounds?
Best moment: “The committee for the liberation and integration of terrifying organisms and their rehabilitation into society...only one drawback, the abbreviation is CLITORIS” – even if you didn’t know what it meant, the whole delivery made you understand just what they were getting at!
Bodyswap
“Jozxqyk?”
“No more troughing!”
“Why do you want to look like that smeghead Rimmer?”
Apparently, we never really got to see the best version of this one - during filming, Craig Charles and Chris Barrie - never the best of friends in those days - were doing viciously accurate impressions of each other for the scenes where they played each other in their own bodies.
It's still a good litte idea - Rimmer has been ethereal since his death, so now he can touch what will he do? Ok, so you have to ignore his simulated ability to taste from "Thanks for the Memory" (The expression certainly suggests he can taste in that one) and his brief corporeal moments in "Better Than Life", but the idea holds.
The whole thing comes, of course, from one of the last appearances for a long time of one of the original crew...Bob the skutter, aka "stabbim". It was due to how many problems they had controlling it, but it showed that just a brief cameo could work so well.
Best bit: The self destruct scene at the start
Timeslides
“Hello Sabrina, hello sexual extacy!”
“Unpack Rachel, and get out the puncture repair kit!”
Quirky...mutated photo development fluid. At the same time, like Rimmer's "Tribute" video tape, a sign of the pre-digital era the show was made in.
The idea has a few good angles to it. The ability to go anywhere you have a photo, the limitations of the frame, off-the-wall moments like the Neuremberg Rally, and the question of how much you can affect history - timelines be damned!
It's great to see that Lister was still Lister, even with money and a life of luxury. But one question I have is who took a picture of boys sleeping in Bonehead's dorm room?
Best moment: I want to say it's Rachel - a moment that has lived in the show's folklore and spawned later jokes of it's own - but just for the delivery, I'm saying it's Holly and Rimmer working out what has changed to make the others disappear – “It’s my duty as a complete and utter bastard!”
The Last Day
“Where do all the calculators go?”
“I think I feel a Jackson Pollock coming on!”
“You’re forbidden passion fruit.”
So THAT's what Rob Llewellyn looks like! Hands up anyone who, eve when the episode was over, ddn't realise that was part of the joke back then? (puts hand up!)
It really was the start of an annual trend - getting to see Kryten sans prosthetics as a suporting character. With it being the end of the series as well, it was not guaranteed that he would be coming back, so in true "end of series" style, we get a story of the last hours of a character's life. And this is Kryten's episode.
And he remains at his most neurotic throughout, his feelings about the locaton of his "leaving do" and his repair schedule the next morning bookmark his journey of self-exploration (or, as Lister puts it, "star trek whacko-jacko").
And then there's Hudzen, the replacement. Gordon kennedy's steely-faced performance is so eerily evil that only the most insane of ideas could stop him. Cue "Silicon heaven"!
A strong send-off to a strong season
Best Moment: Hudzen’s analysis of the crew status
I will be back, I will finish this - even if the Back To Earth DVD is out before I get to it!
Showing posts with label Tv. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tv. Show all posts
Thursday, April 09, 2009
Oooh, you make me tongue tied....
The Red Dwarf retrospective continues...Series 2
Kryten
“I was only away two minutes!”
“I think I’m rebelling”
“We are not on the pull”
All three sum up the arrival of Series two and the changes it brought perfectly. The first series had put the show out there, but it needed more viewers to move forward.
So they smartened things up. And did it quickly. Now that the big fly-bys which drained the budget before were in the can, someone splashed out on something other than grey paint, and they actually got off the ship a few times. The whole limited scope of the show expanded. Now they weren’t just the remnants of humanity stuck on a ship which was their whole world. And this opened up new script ideas which, whilst keeping the distinctive Dwarf flavour, were more accessible to viewers.
It went even further – now they were guys who could fly the smaller ships, understood the ship, seemed more comfortable with the situation. It was as if they too had had a few months to become used to the situation. Rimmer, as hinted at the end of the first series, had mellowed a little, Lister had grown used to him, Cat had become part of the group rather than a loner who turned up occasionally, and this was all important, as it gave us a better dynamic between the characters.
Rimmer was more like the hanger-on you couldn’t shake than someone who would never be part of the group. You could understand better why he didn’t just move out anyway, or why Lister didn’t, or why Cat didn’t just stay away from them both most of the time. Unlike most sitcoms, there was real character development here.
The biggest change born of this second batch of stories wouldn’t really become apparent until the next series when Rob Llewellyn arrived, but that too would widen up opportunities, first with new jokes, then with more exposition options. But here we had a very different version of Kryten from David Ross, not that that was a bad thing. As a launchpad for the character’s later glory the pottering English butler worked – we got to see just how driven by his programming he originally was.
The best moment for most people is the whole reveal of the skeletons to the pottering droyd (“who’s dead?” “They are!”) but for me, it’s the dog’s milk conversation between Holly and Dave. So deadpan from Lovett, great reaction from Craig Charles, it’s just simple yet hilarious. (Lasts longer than any other type of milk, dog’s milk” “Why’s that?” “No bugger’ll drink it”)
An undisputed classic.
Better than life
“You’re my favourite all time fascist dictator”
“I write to inform you your father is dad”
Not just off the ship, but out of the studio. From the banality of Rimmer’s “Walrus polishing kit” speech to the ridiculousness of the reverse mermaid, this episode is unadulterated fun. Wish fulfilment all around, from the arrival of word from home which, to them, is just a few months past, to the game itself. Unless you’re Rimmer, obviously.
In a way this came closer to a traditional sit-com – they were off the ship and there were more than the four of them (Tony Hawks particularly making his first on-screen cameo). But at the same time, the ideas – particularly Cat’s ideas of perfection – we so distinctly different that the show kept it’s unique touch intact.
But of course, Rimmer’s mind has to ruin things for everyone, and the way it swings from bliss to agony is quick but brilliant to watch. Anyone would think from this that he was the first bipolar sitcom character!
Best moment: The mail. The Outland Revenue demand is worked well, but the letter from Rimmer’s mother tops it.
Thanks for the memory
“Do you know how many times in my entire life I’ve made love?”
It’s the anniversary of Rimmer’s death, and some great OTT drunk acting from everyone. If anything, this is one episode the “Remastered” version improved when it added the Blue Midget legs. The only one, though.
The whole idea of inserting memories was excellent – although a bit simple. Maybe that was to explain how Lister mastered it, maybe it was to explain why it was such a botched job. Rimmer’s complete change was almost another aspect of his aping of Charles, but was truly outshone by the best part of the episode.
Best moment: Rimmer’s drunken admission and the sandwich scene is possibly only topped by the reaction the next morning.
Stasis Leak
“I’m the Rimmer from the double double future. I’m the Rimmer who’s with the Lister who married Kochanski. Now from hereon in, things get a little bit complicated.”
“I don’t take orders from poultry”
Dear god, this is my favourite episode bar none. As much as I loved “Kryten”, this was so much more. From the simple concept (a way to get to the past and save someone) to the even simpler way they have to explain it to Cat, to the cameos of Mac MacDonald, Claire Grogan and Paul Williams as returning members of the original crew (which could almost leave you wondering which one would be added to the cast), everything was handled so well.
It’s an episode full of great moments. Rimmer reporting his hallucinogenic experiences after a magic mushroom breakfast, the captain in a chicken suit for a reason only given to explain WHY he was in the suit (“Captain Paxo”!), Hawks again, Cat experiencing women for the first time, the destination of the status leak, but despite the topical theatre reference (and I love Ray Cooney, so I don’t agree...) the real payoff is the last third of the episode, when we just get so many Rimmers and Listers running around that your head just screams at you.
Best moment: That final scene. That future Rimmer line. That last line.
Queeg
"April may june july and august fool!"
"6? Do me a lemon – that’s a poor IQ for a glass of water!"
You’d have a redundant back-up of a key system, wouldn’t you. Especially when the key system only provides an early warning when the event has actually happened! And certainly if they’ve only got a single digit IQ! Charles Augins was excellent as the aforementioned back-up, especially as he was actually a choreographer by trade.
Neutral in delivery, but at the same time such an evil jobsworth you realise that maybe having guys who won’t stick to the rules as the last vestiges of humanity is the best way to go after all. I mean, Todhunter would have gone insane by now through actually TRYING to run the ship – you’ve seen Silent Running!
Chris Barrie gets another run at his excellently accurate cast impressions, plus (especially if you have seen the deleted scenes) further stretching of his vocal talents. The scene in the Holgraphic projection suite when he apes everyone else in the room in turn is amongst the best moments of the pre-“rock-themed” years.
Admittedly, they do repeat Holly’s idea of running an April Fools joke irrespective of the date, but when it’s this good, it’s just too got a chance to ignore.
Best moment: “Or is it the yellow one...Yes, it the yellow one”
Parallel Universe
“I remember betting you I could climb the walls of the nightclub using only my lips”
“Would you like a worm-do?”
“I’m going to be an uncle!”
Could this show actually get a distinct ending? The possibility that they can get home, or as Rimmer says, could it be that they “haven’t actually moved a Smegging inch”?
As the last episode of the series (and in many ways the end of the original Red Dwarf), the possibility of things finishing is a TV staple. Or at least, it was until the American TV trend of confirming a new season of a show half way through the last one. And Norman Lovett’s swansong is full of sign-offs. The skutters hardly appear again after this show until the 8th series, we wrap up the mystery of where the twins come from (although not, strangely, the question of how Bexley comes back to be blown up as seen by Rimmer), Lovett’s replacement appears in the world most public audition as he steps aside, Rimmer gets a new perspective on his letching, the “submarine” bunk-room is seen for the last time.
The female takes on the cast are so well envisioned, particularly the future “Brigadier Winifred Bambera” as Deb Lister. Sure the science is so “pony” (as DJJ is wont to say in the commentaries) as to be ridiculous, but the idea of a ship so similar but so different is realised here much better than in the later “Demons and Angels”.
Sure, this is the end of an era, and overshadowed by some of the episodes in the same show, but it’s still a great way to go, especially for the totally unexpected opening.
Best moment: Tongue tied...just Tongue tied.
God these take a while to write – I’ll try and slim these down and do the 3rd series at some point...
Kryten
“I was only away two minutes!”
“I think I’m rebelling”
“We are not on the pull”
All three sum up the arrival of Series two and the changes it brought perfectly. The first series had put the show out there, but it needed more viewers to move forward.
So they smartened things up. And did it quickly. Now that the big fly-bys which drained the budget before were in the can, someone splashed out on something other than grey paint, and they actually got off the ship a few times. The whole limited scope of the show expanded. Now they weren’t just the remnants of humanity stuck on a ship which was their whole world. And this opened up new script ideas which, whilst keeping the distinctive Dwarf flavour, were more accessible to viewers.
It went even further – now they were guys who could fly the smaller ships, understood the ship, seemed more comfortable with the situation. It was as if they too had had a few months to become used to the situation. Rimmer, as hinted at the end of the first series, had mellowed a little, Lister had grown used to him, Cat had become part of the group rather than a loner who turned up occasionally, and this was all important, as it gave us a better dynamic between the characters.
Rimmer was more like the hanger-on you couldn’t shake than someone who would never be part of the group. You could understand better why he didn’t just move out anyway, or why Lister didn’t, or why Cat didn’t just stay away from them both most of the time. Unlike most sitcoms, there was real character development here.
The biggest change born of this second batch of stories wouldn’t really become apparent until the next series when Rob Llewellyn arrived, but that too would widen up opportunities, first with new jokes, then with more exposition options. But here we had a very different version of Kryten from David Ross, not that that was a bad thing. As a launchpad for the character’s later glory the pottering English butler worked – we got to see just how driven by his programming he originally was.
The best moment for most people is the whole reveal of the skeletons to the pottering droyd (“who’s dead?” “They are!”) but for me, it’s the dog’s milk conversation between Holly and Dave. So deadpan from Lovett, great reaction from Craig Charles, it’s just simple yet hilarious. (Lasts longer than any other type of milk, dog’s milk” “Why’s that?” “No bugger’ll drink it”)
An undisputed classic.
Better than life
“You’re my favourite all time fascist dictator”
“I write to inform you your father is dad”
Not just off the ship, but out of the studio. From the banality of Rimmer’s “Walrus polishing kit” speech to the ridiculousness of the reverse mermaid, this episode is unadulterated fun. Wish fulfilment all around, from the arrival of word from home which, to them, is just a few months past, to the game itself. Unless you’re Rimmer, obviously.
In a way this came closer to a traditional sit-com – they were off the ship and there were more than the four of them (Tony Hawks particularly making his first on-screen cameo). But at the same time, the ideas – particularly Cat’s ideas of perfection – we so distinctly different that the show kept it’s unique touch intact.
But of course, Rimmer’s mind has to ruin things for everyone, and the way it swings from bliss to agony is quick but brilliant to watch. Anyone would think from this that he was the first bipolar sitcom character!
Best moment: The mail. The Outland Revenue demand is worked well, but the letter from Rimmer’s mother tops it.
Thanks for the memory
“Do you know how many times in my entire life I’ve made love?”
It’s the anniversary of Rimmer’s death, and some great OTT drunk acting from everyone. If anything, this is one episode the “Remastered” version improved when it added the Blue Midget legs. The only one, though.
The whole idea of inserting memories was excellent – although a bit simple. Maybe that was to explain how Lister mastered it, maybe it was to explain why it was such a botched job. Rimmer’s complete change was almost another aspect of his aping of Charles, but was truly outshone by the best part of the episode.
Best moment: Rimmer’s drunken admission and the sandwich scene is possibly only topped by the reaction the next morning.
Stasis Leak
“I’m the Rimmer from the double double future. I’m the Rimmer who’s with the Lister who married Kochanski. Now from hereon in, things get a little bit complicated.”
“I don’t take orders from poultry”
Dear god, this is my favourite episode bar none. As much as I loved “Kryten”, this was so much more. From the simple concept (a way to get to the past and save someone) to the even simpler way they have to explain it to Cat, to the cameos of Mac MacDonald, Claire Grogan and Paul Williams as returning members of the original crew (which could almost leave you wondering which one would be added to the cast), everything was handled so well.
It’s an episode full of great moments. Rimmer reporting his hallucinogenic experiences after a magic mushroom breakfast, the captain in a chicken suit for a reason only given to explain WHY he was in the suit (“Captain Paxo”!), Hawks again, Cat experiencing women for the first time, the destination of the status leak, but despite the topical theatre reference (and I love Ray Cooney, so I don’t agree...) the real payoff is the last third of the episode, when we just get so many Rimmers and Listers running around that your head just screams at you.
Best moment: That final scene. That future Rimmer line. That last line.
Queeg
"April may june july and august fool!"
"6? Do me a lemon – that’s a poor IQ for a glass of water!"
You’d have a redundant back-up of a key system, wouldn’t you. Especially when the key system only provides an early warning when the event has actually happened! And certainly if they’ve only got a single digit IQ! Charles Augins was excellent as the aforementioned back-up, especially as he was actually a choreographer by trade.
Neutral in delivery, but at the same time such an evil jobsworth you realise that maybe having guys who won’t stick to the rules as the last vestiges of humanity is the best way to go after all. I mean, Todhunter would have gone insane by now through actually TRYING to run the ship – you’ve seen Silent Running!
Chris Barrie gets another run at his excellently accurate cast impressions, plus (especially if you have seen the deleted scenes) further stretching of his vocal talents. The scene in the Holgraphic projection suite when he apes everyone else in the room in turn is amongst the best moments of the pre-“rock-themed” years.
Admittedly, they do repeat Holly’s idea of running an April Fools joke irrespective of the date, but when it’s this good, it’s just too got a chance to ignore.
Best moment: “Or is it the yellow one...Yes, it the yellow one”
Parallel Universe
“I remember betting you I could climb the walls of the nightclub using only my lips”
“Would you like a worm-do?”
“I’m going to be an uncle!”
Could this show actually get a distinct ending? The possibility that they can get home, or as Rimmer says, could it be that they “haven’t actually moved a Smegging inch”?
As the last episode of the series (and in many ways the end of the original Red Dwarf), the possibility of things finishing is a TV staple. Or at least, it was until the American TV trend of confirming a new season of a show half way through the last one. And Norman Lovett’s swansong is full of sign-offs. The skutters hardly appear again after this show until the 8th series, we wrap up the mystery of where the twins come from (although not, strangely, the question of how Bexley comes back to be blown up as seen by Rimmer), Lovett’s replacement appears in the world most public audition as he steps aside, Rimmer gets a new perspective on his letching, the “submarine” bunk-room is seen for the last time.
The female takes on the cast are so well envisioned, particularly the future “Brigadier Winifred Bambera” as Deb Lister. Sure the science is so “pony” (as DJJ is wont to say in the commentaries) as to be ridiculous, but the idea of a ship so similar but so different is realised here much better than in the later “Demons and Angels”.
Sure, this is the end of an era, and overshadowed by some of the episodes in the same show, but it’s still a great way to go, especially for the totally unexpected opening.
Best moment: Tongue tied...just Tongue tied.
God these take a while to write – I’ll try and slim these down and do the 3rd series at some point...
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