I didn’t have high hopes for this as I felt Red Dwarf rather lost its way in later series, but this new Dave version was surprisingly good. Tried to pack a bit too much into half an hour but the old team dynamic was still there and it isn’t everyday you hear a joke about string theory.
Kryten has put on a bit of weight though.
I was delighted to see they’d had a crack at another series, but alarmed when I discovered it was going to be on Dave. In the event I forgot to tune in, but never mind, I’ll watch it on dPlayer instead. Oh. Smeg.
Not sure if there is an online catch up service for Dave, but there are multiple repeats:.
http://dave.uktv.co.uk/shows/red-dwarf/
Good to see – it looks like they’re getting back to where they were.
Back To Earth was a good watch, but felt a bit like “tentative steps” to (a) see if it worked, and (b) try up some loose ends to (almost) start from a clean slate.
The last series was good, but felt a bit laboured – relying on past devices and ideas, and not really going anywhere – there were some good moments, but no “classic” episodes (except perhaps the Jesus one)
This one though (and based on one episode) just feels more like the Red Dwarf I expect/hope for.
As I say, one episode – let’s hope the remaining shows are at the same level
I really enjoyed Red Dwarf X as it had been a vast improvement on the painfully self-aware two or three series that had preceded it years before, and was looking forward to this one as well. First episode was ok but I felt that the characters’ idiosyncrasies had all been “toned down” a bit too much for my liking, resulting in a much more flattened set of characters.
The dialogue was good though (bobbing for apples in a cement mixer being particularly memorable) and I’ll certainly stick with it and hope things pick up.
Series 8 & 9 were pretty rudderless and bereft of inspiration – both seemed to pale into one.
The special effects and scenery budget went up, and the story suffered as a result.
A cynic might say they were still trying to sell it to America, and get the long mooted film finally made.
Back To Earth and Series 10 dispensed with the shiny effects, and went back to 4 people arguing in a room, and getting attacked by aliens (and ultimately triumphing be being both daft and clever at the same time).
Yep, pretty much all of that. Though I thought Back To Earth was painfully contrived, series 10 was enjoyable and was good to see the focus back on the gags and the bickering and away from the plot driven drivel of 8 & 9. Basically Naylor remembered it was supposed to be a comedy set in space and not sci-fi with occasional laughs.
Which was nice.
Sirs, can I point out Space Core Directive #2945 that states
‘Series IX doesn’t exist, you smeeeeeegheeeeeeeds’