Red Dwarf series XI and XII

[BWR]

So they say. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WY_VMDeq2c4)

I am excited, since X was quite a step up from the couple of seasons we had preceding it, and Back to Earth. I doubt it will be quite as brilliant as the first 3 seasons but if they can keep it to the level of X (especially "Lemons") I will be very happy.

[Aotrs Commander]

So they say. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WY_VMDeq2c4)

I am excited, since X was quite a step up from the couple of seasons we had preceding it, and Back to Earth. I doubt it will be quite as brilliant as the first 3 seasons but if they can keep it to the level of X (especially "Lemons") I will be very happy.

WHOHOO!

HUZZAH!

OTHER GENERAL STAEMENTS OF EXUBERANCE!

X was definitely back more to the earlier levels, after the drop in seasons VII through Back To Earth. I mean, they weren't bad but they weren't as good as the others. (My own preference is for season V and VI as the best.) So, this is great news - and given the success of X, iu was half-expecting it.

I think having the studio audience made ALL the difference again in X again.

[JoshL]

Man, was I the only one who liked Back To Earth? :smallwink:

Seriously though, there is no way more Red Dwarf is not going to make me excited, so I'm very much looking forward to the new series!

[BWR]

Man, was I the only one who liked Back To Earth? :smallwink:

Seriously though, there is no way more Red Dwarf is not going to make me excited, so I'm very much looking forward to the new series!

It's not that I disliked any RD stuff, it's just BtE and later seasons weren't nearly as good as the earlier stuff. X was a definite step up from 'Good' to 'Very Good', but compared to the vast majority of comedies out there, RD at its worst is leagues better than most anything.

[comicshorse]

Man, was I the only one who liked Back To Earth? :smallwink:



I think that's very possible

[Aotrs Commander]

It's not that I disliked any RD stuff, it's just BtE and later seasons weren't nearly as good as the earlier stuff. X was a definite step up from 'Good' to 'Very Good', but compared to the vast majority of comedies out there, RD at its worst is leagues better than most anything.

Yeah, don't get me wrong, I liked Back To Earth and seasons VII and VIII, but they just weren't quite as good as RD at its best.

Back to Earth in particular, I think, suffered from the (unfortunately budget mandated) lack of studio audience - the lads are just that little bit better with an audience.

[Aedilred]

I didn't like Back to Earth, almost at all... but Series X was a definite improvement. Not back to its best, I think, but I don't think that's actually possible. If they can retain that level or improve on it, that would be great. I already consider that we were kind of lucky to get a half-decent X, to be honest.

That said, and while X benefitted enormously from a return to the series 3-6 format of a four-man principal cast including Rimmer (rather than the more ensemble cast of VIII, albeit that worked better than it might have done) I would appreciate some kind of continuity fix. iirc they did make a joke or two about how they weren't going to talk about how the VIII cliffhanger was resolved, which I guess is better than nothing, but still, it'd be nice to have a bit more closure on that. Is the rest of the Dwarf crew out there somewhere still?

[BWR]

I actually though VIII worked somewhat well - better than VI and VII - because it shook things up a bit and brought in more characters to play with.

[Aotrs Commander]

VIII was better than VII, I thought too - though let's also be fair, while the mode of VII was merely above average (as compared to nonRed Dwarf things), the high points of seven were amazing (Ace Rimmer's little thing with the Nazis and the Arnold Rimmer Experience...)

[BWR]

VIII was better than VII, I thought too - though let's also be fair, while the mode of VII was merely above average (as compared to nonRed Dwarf things), the high points of seven were amazing (Ace Rimmer's little thing with the Nazis and the Arnold Rimmer Experience...)

That is undeniably true.
On the whole, we all seem to think RD is pretty darn good all around, even if some bits are better than other bits, and we are all giddy as school girls for the new seasons.

[Aotrs Commander]

That is undeniably true.
On the whole, we all seem to think RD is pretty darn good all around, even if some bits are better than other bits, and we are all giddy as school girls for the new seasons.

Absolutely! We're talking shades of "which bits are less good" as opposed to "which bits are bad."

[Aedilred]

VIII was better than VII, I thought too - though let's also be fair, while the mode of VII was merely above average (as compared to nonRed Dwarf things), the high points of seven were amazing (Ace Rimmer's little thing with the Nazis and the Arnold Rimmer Experience...)

I think the first two episodes in VIII are some of the better ones of the series as a whole. The last one too. VIII in general really benefited from the return of Holly (in general) and Norman Lovett (in particular), I thought. But it also seemed to get carried away at times and run stories which were too "big" for the medium, both in terms of runtime and concept. RD was always essentially pretty down-to-earth despite its setting: a kind of Porridge in space, and while VII lost the plot on that completely at times, you sensed that that was exactly what VIII was trying to get back to, and when it stuck to that it worked very well. (When it got distracted by CGI dancing Blue Midgets, less so).

I think the first two VII episodes are fine, and Blue, even if the first is a bit high-concept (not to mention the major continuity error from VI about the time-drive! but eh), and Lister's to-camera explanation of how the end of VI was resolved was nicely done. But the show misses Rimmer really badly when he's not there.


That is undeniably true.
On the whole, we all seem to think RD is pretty darn good all around, even if some bits are better than other bits, and we are all giddy as school girls for the new seasons.

Honestly I'd be tempted to peg RD as fundamentally a bit rubbish but lovable despite that. Especially in the early seasons some of the writing is rather ropey, the effects are shabby, and the comic timing missing something. All of that improves with time but it seems to lose its edge as it goes (and some of the humour becomes increasingly puerile), and as much as I enjoy V and VI a lot of it is slightly formulaic (something BTE wrung dry, too.) But for the most part it's good honest fun and I can forgive it its sins for that; as I've experienced a bit more of the world/comedy I'd no longer call it a great comedy series but I'm still a fan.