DwarfCasts – Ganymede & Titan: Recent Episodes
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“A side-swipe at oven chips”
As we enter the twentieth anniversary year of one of the most seminal short films of all time, it’s an opportunity for us to reflect on our own pasts as we explore the The Movie: Yeah No Yeah No DVD, which features among its bonus material the entirety of Red Dwarf VII. It’s the most personal trip down memory lane in our Re-Disc-overy series so far, as we not only commentate on the fan films, but also reveal all the behind the scenes details of the haphazard production processes, cringe at our past selves’ incompetence, and consider how one simple film-making competition ultimately changed all three of our lives.
But that’s not all, as there’s an awful lot to discuss in the rest of this three disc package too. Join us as we attempt to make amends for our past criticism of someone who really didn’t deserve it, reminisce about the time Grant Naylor Productions threatened us with legal action, piece together Chris Barrie’s whereabouts during the bits of Series VII he wasn’t in, reveal the link between this DVD and the world of gardening, and begin to assemble our complete history of Red Dwarf via the medium of cancelling every single person involved.
DwarfCast 175 – Re-Disc-overy: Series VII (335 MB)
Show notes Contemporary reviews from Ian and Cappsy * The Flymo Garden Vac 2700W Turbo * The Movie: Yeah No Yeah No bonus features – the video bits are also on YouTube for convenience * They’re amazing, and they’re machines * Early drafts of all the Series VII scripts, plus our original analysis of Identity Within* from before the DVD version was made * This is what Danny found in his DVD case. Aww.
“Flicky Mint Cake”
Welcome back to the Rack! The latest installment in our periodical drama takes us back to March 1993, a time when perhaps too much information about the forthcoming Series VI is being made public, Rob and Doug’s relationship is definitely absolutely fine, and the elephant in Hattie Hayridge’s room goes unaddressed. Join us as we witness a space monkey genocide, “enjoy” a double length Androids and contemplate life as a living fridge, a sentient armchair and a big fish-frog thing. Plus spend far too long indulging in nostalgia for analogue-based editing systems. Seriously, that’s most of the podcast.
In order for any of the above to make sense, you’ll need a copy of the mag to refer to, which you can find via archive.org or Stasis Leak.
DwarfCast 174 – The Smegazine Rack – Issue #13 (204.6 MB)
Show notes The Smegazine strips organised by series, by Warbodog (huge spoilers if you’re reading the mags along with us) * Starburst’s review of the Smegazine * Danny found someone who likes Timewave* * Building a Human, because any excuse
U&UKTVPlayG2U&Dave&Knuckles
Righty dokey matey bloke flap old salty seadog amigo skip-jack jockstrap piano tuners, we’re back with another in our occasional series of Dwarf-adjacent commentaries, this time covering Bottom Series 2, Episode 4, Parade. Not only is the series produced and directed by Ed Bye, this particular episode guest stars both Robert Llewellyn and Lee Cornes, which is as good an excuse as any to rabbit on over this episode and tackle your Bottom-shaped waffles. We cover pretty much all the affiliated spin-offs – the live shows, the Fluff video, Guest House Paradiso – as well as discussing what happens when TV schedules are affected by real life events, how Rik and Ade could have fitted in to Red Dwarf and trying to figure out if there’s any modern equivalents to this madness.
It became apparent while recording this one that we didn’t have quite as much to say in the commentary as we do for Dwarf and the other adjacent shows we’ve covered, so we’ve added the soundtrack to the episode in the background, so that you can be entertained by the gags and by imagining the fight sequences.
DwarfCast 173 – Bottom Parade – Commentary (184 MB)
Show notes* Our recent Hammersmith bench-based pilgrimage. * The opening theme is a cover of BB’s Blues (as opposed to BB’s Theme) * Here’s a full rip of Bottom Fluff, just because.
“Clifford the Big Bastard of a Dog”
With apologies for the delay, it’s finally time to get back on the rack! Our Smegazine odyssey reaches February 1993, a very interesting time in Red Dwarf history, as the magazine’s news page documents. In this episode, we uncover the origins of Entangled, some foreshadowing of The Promised Land and the first ever use of the smeg hammer. Other super relevant and definitely on-topic discussion points include the Bottom Exposed documentary, various 1990s adventure game shows, and the state of the Hitchhikers franchise after Douglas Adams’s death. Oh, and the results of a caption competition from two years ago. We may not be fast…
We recommend having the magazine in front of you as you listen, and you can find scans over at archive.org or Stasis Leak.
DwarfCast 172 – The Smegazine Rack – Issue #12 (105 MB)
Show notes Returning the shout-out, even though we recorded this months before his shout-out to us, Stuart Millard on Scavengers * G&TV covers Cyberzone* * Terrible news – turns out the photo of John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s arses was photoshopped after all * Bryan Lewis Saunders’s Drugs project
“Nic Farey is why we have to take off our shoes in airports”
Even by the standards of the Red Dwarf DVDs, the series VI set was special and probably represents the arguable pinnacle of the original set of releases. As such, Cappsy, Danny and Ian had a marvellous time reliving an absolutely packed release of musical insight, more SFX behind the scenes goodies, plus a very amusing and previously unknown tale regarding Craig and horses!
DwarfCast 171 – Re-Disc-overy: Series VI (125 MB)
Show notes* Ian’s review * Cappsy’s review * Sonic The Hedgehog music theory * Howard Goodall: How Music Works * Howard’s 30th anniversary song * Laredo’s website, with lots of up-to-date pictures and links to things that have been filmed there * Lionel Blair rides bareback before facing down a load of cowboys wanting to unload on him. * Bee Gees vs Chaka Khan
“There’s two scythes to every story.”
In this very exciting instalment of our journey through all things Smegazine, Cappsy, Danny and Ian are joined by two very special guests – Chris Barrie’s nipples. Listen along as the five of us discuss neural networks, yuppies, Kochanski’s giant forehead, Norman Wisdom’s popularity in Albania, whether or not Back To Reality was actually any good, and how The Inquisitor is accidentally responsible for the crimes of Jeffrey Epstein.
It’s best to have the magazine in front of you as you listen. If you don’t have an actual copy, scans are available on archive.org or Stasis Leak, you freeloading bastard.
DwarfCast 170 – The Smegazine Rack – Issue #11 (110 MB)
Show notes G&TV covers Cyberzone * John’s ancient Episode Orders article, and Christopher Wickham’s oft-linked-to Red Dwarf Broadcast Guide * We couldn’t find the footage of Norman Wisdom pissing about ahead of Albania vs England, but here’s a bit of C5’s coverage to prove we weren’t making it up * Dave’s competition winning Inquisitor vs Judge Dredd comic * FAO Jane Killick in late 1992: all the changes made in the Red Dwarf Omnibus * G&TV covers The Reconstructed Heart*
“If it wasn’t shit, it would be perfect.”
We thought we ought to do something slightly out of the ordinary for our landmark 169th episode, so here’s two specials in one – it’s time for some Christmas Waffles. Once again our lovely listeners slash readers provided us with a veritable smorgasbord of tasty topics, which we gobbled up whilst writing fan-fiction about the ship’s Secret Santa, sharing our ultimate Red Dwarf Christmas wishes, pondering the best box sets of all time, weighing up the current state of the fandom, and coming up with a really good idea for a Christmas special. Plus, like all great festive episodes, we end on a good old sing-song. We apologise for nothing.
DwarfCast 169 – Christmas Wafflemen Special (46.8 MB)
A very Merry Christmas from Cappsy, Danny and Ian to everyone who’s enjoyed and/or tolerated our stuff in 2023. Our annual review of the year will be along during the festive perineum, before DwarfCasts return to delight your ears and sometimes eyes in 2024.
Show notes Our fellow Dwarfy podcasters / YouTubers: The Garbage Podcast, Everyone’s Dead Dave, Shipwrecked & Comatose, Better Than Life, Red Dwarf Nerd, Gallifrey Gals * All the leaves are brown… * Frank Kelly’s Christmas Countdown*
“Disgustingly Northern”
As we continue our series revisiting the now decades-old DVD releases, the main thing we re-disc-over this time out is that Series V tempts us down conversational side roads like nothing else. So join Cappsy, Danny and Ian as we discuss Juliet May’s short-lived tenure as director, attempt to get to the bottom of conflicting stories about Red Dwarf USA, and uncover more examples of institutional racism within the Metropolitan Police. We also speculate as to what the visual effects workshop smelt like, hunt down pictures of Timothy Spall dressed as a pig, and confess the real reason behind our lukewarm response to the fan commentaries nearly twenty years ago. Strap yourself in, this is a waffley one.
DwarfCast 168 – Re-Disc-overy: Series V (127 MB)
Show notes Ian’s review from November 2004 * A much more succinct explanation of what “crossing the line” means * It’s a fucking emu! * Timothy Spall develops PTSD in The Tale of Little Pig Robinson * Holoship* Xtended – Pete Part Three did a complete edit while John Hoare posted one scene from his version. * Ian’s slow motion face * Creating new lines from existing dialogue
“Magnum Ed Bye”
It’s been far too long, but we are finally back on the Rack to continue our odyssey through the wonderous world of early 90s publishing. Join Cappsy, Danny and Ian as we take a deep dive into the epic Jake Bullet story that graces the cover, welcome another legendary Red Dwarf fan writer to the fold, marvel at the versatility of Chris Barrie’s face, discover an obscure sci-fi writer that none of us have heard of, and attempt to figure out why a parody of Red Dwarf USA bears absolutely no resemblance to Red Dwarf USA. Mostly though, we rip the absolute shit out of everyone who took part in the all-episodes survey. Without looking, see if you can guess what the people of 1992 thought the second worst episode ever was. The 1992 idiots.
It’s best to read along before or during your listen of the podcast. If you don’t have a physical copy of the magazine, simply configure your time drive for December 1992 and head to your nearest newsagent. Failing that, look at a scan of it on archive.org or Stasis Leak.
DwarfCast 167 – The Smegazine Rack – Issue #10 (120 MB)
Show notes The famous Casablanca poster that the magazine’s cover pastiches * The Last Temptation of Kryten (the fan fiction that launched a thousand headcanons) * Oh Bosanquet, Howard Goodall’s second contribution to Not The Nine O’Clock News * Disturbing content warning – what became of Hoggle from Labyrinth* * The Kryten tissue dispenser, as featured in this article on Gazpacho Soup
“Ribs and Pipes and Penises (oh my!)”
Our voyage of re-disc-overy continues, as we tackle a most unusual release; the one that was out in the US before the UK, and that Young Cappsy managed to review before Young Ian for once. We rake over this bitterness as well as embarking on not one, not two, but three commentaries, forgoing the tradition of focusing on one big extra in favour of covering a handful of little bitty ones, the regular features that would otherwise be glossed over. Once again, we ensure that every single aspect of the release is discussed, and along the way we re-evaluate Hattie Hayridge’s return to the role of Holly, try to get to the bottom of why the cast commentaries are so difficult to get through, and attempt to comprehensively solve the issues of both war and racism.
DwarfCast 166 – Re-Disc-overy: Series IV (118MB)
Show notes Contemporary reviews from Cappsy, Ian and Ian again. * Series IV Deleted Scenes commentary (2013) * TOS article (via The Unofficial Archive) on stock footage in Red Dwarf * The Smeg Ups Rough Cut * The history of feral parakeets in Great Britain * Sexual assault of men played for laughs * Vic Reeves and The Wonder Stuff (and Bob Mortimer) perform Dizzy on Top of the Pops * Can’t Smeg Won’t Smeg* commentary (2011) * Pip Madeley’s remastered trailers * The TV watershed was introduced in 1964, just twenty odd years earlier than we guessed during the discussion
"Doctor Fitzwilliam: Village Rectologist"
At 6:30pm on Tuesday 23rd August 1983, unsuspecting Radio 4 listeners were ambushed by the very first episode of a seminal new sketch show. Featuring a hugely talented cast, performing the work of two writers who were on the fast track to greatness, it was notable not only for its inherent quality, but for what it would eventually spawn. The programme was, of course, Son of Cliché, without which this podcast would not exist. So in a break from the usual format, we present our fortieth anniversary tribute in the form of a documentary, showcasing some highlights from the series, analysing what made it so great, and of course focusing on the moments that had the biggest influence on Red Dwarf. Think it was just Dave Hollins: Space Cadet that Rob and Doug drew upon? Think again.… Read More
"The Manly Adventures of Buff Squidward"
Rejoice, for our journey through the Smegazine archives continues with quite possibly the best issue yet. The first ever Duane Dibbley comeback! Tonnes of dirt on Red Dwarf USA! Loads of exciting news, some of which actually ended up happening! Some tedious prose pieces to keep us all grounded! Plus, we think we've uncovered the first published work of an acclaimed comics writer and Red Dwarf fan. All this and more, in far too much detail even by our standards.… Read More
"The Gall of Gary Barlow"
The third Red Dwarf DVD was released twenty years ago this November. It's time for another voyage of re-disc-overy, as we cast our minds back to a time of the online retail wild west, blossoming friendships and intense fansite rivalry. Although in practice, we probably spend more time reminiscing about our early Dimension Jump experiences than anything else, thanks to the choice of extra to receive the commentary treatment this time round, Hattie's DJ Diary. The surrounding, extremely waffley discussion takes in such topics as Red Dwarf's history with the AA, Craig Charles's overdue royalty payments, and farting in Ronnie Corbett's face. Each and every special feature is covered, we just hope that whatever you're using to watch your DVDs these days can actually access the menus...… Read More
“The fascist junta of the potato people”
Back in the distant mists of time, when Ian first dreamt up the idea of getting Danny and I to read through all the Smegazines and record a podcast series about it, no doubt issues like this were front and centre of his mind. Historically significant pieces on ancient DJs? Check. Some hot Wraggy action? Check. Potatits? You bet ya. gestures vaguely at insane original comic strips? Uh-huh.
Needless to say, this was a fun one.
Grab your complementary copy of the mag here.
DwarfCast 162 – The Smegazine Rack – Issue #8 (128MB)
Next up will be our Re-Disc-overy of the Series 3 DVD sets, so I’d advise you start watching those extras in preparation now as it might genuinely be difficult to find a DVD player on which disc 2 will work…
Show notes Danny’s brother on Bad Influence – he’s the one fist-pumping on the right of frame after the pool shot. * Wiffle Lever To Full by Bob Fischer is the book in which Cappsy is carried off on the shoulders of his fellow Red Dwarf fans. * The Angel Hotel in Northampton was somewhat bigger and grander than our initial research suggested. It burnt down in 2012 and is currently being redeveloped. * Clip from Parallel 9 with Robert and Craig. * A good blog about the making of Parallel 9. * The Abso-smegging-lutely Unofficial Red Dwarf Cookbook. * Ian looking discerningly at a bowl of gazpacho soup. * Flap Jack’s comprehensive guide to the edits made in the Omnibus. * G&TV: The Reconstructed Heart. * Brian Harvey vs baked potatoes. * G&T’s 2004 interview with Peter Tyler. * Seb Patrick’s Beyond The Touchline podcast on Roy of the Rovers* and other football comics.
“Could you make Patrick Stewart come in the middle of my television programme, please?”
The second Red Dwarf DVD was released twenty years ago (as of a month and a half ago). Any bets as to whether we can get the next one done before this November?
Back in early 2003 we had barely had chance to watch the first DVD more than two or three thousand times before another release was thrust into our sweaty palms. As is expected, the Series 2 DVD was very closely related to the first so you’d be forgiven for thinking this release might be a little less interesting, but as you will hear Danny, Ian and Cappsy still had plenty to talk about as they continue on their voyage re-disc-overy.
For each edition of Re-Disc-overy, we’re going to be sharing our memories of each DVD release, looking back on the media and fandom landscapes of the time, and of course revisiting and reassessing the many, many special features. This time we’ve selected the Red Dwarf A-Z for the commentary treatment but you can bet we also had plenty of time for the Doug Naylor interview, commentaries and every other special feature contained within these shiny discs.
DwarfCast 161 – Re-Disc-overy: Series 2 (113MB)
This party political broadcast was paid for by the Rt Hon. Horance Terrance Cox.
Show notes* “Very very nearly 20 years ago” is now “slightly over 20 years ago”. “New Years Eve this year” is now “New Years Eve last year.” * 17-year-old Ian’s breakdown of the A-Z * Dalek 63•88 identifying which Daleks were used * James O’Brien reveals all on RHLSTP * Saint and Greavsie meet Donald Trump * Tom Scott talking about sync claps and that * 16-year-old Ian whinging about the Alternate Personalities featurette
“I’ve got a lot of Red Dwarf to give.”
Well then, this is a little bit special. Fresh from the fantastic news that the Red Dwarf legal kerfuffle is officially resolved, we speak exclusively to Rob Grant himself – the co-creator of the programme, who’s now returning to the franchise after an absence of close to 30 years. We found out exactly what the legal resolution means for the future of the show, got clarification on the new status quo for Rob and Doug, discovered what new projects are being pursued, discussed possible collaborations with established cast and crew, and touched upon merchandise, continuity, technology, Marilyn Monroe, and much much more.
This is not one to be missed. We strongly recommend listening immediately to hear all this directly from the man himself, along with our own reactions and post-interview analysis, but if you’re unable to listen right now, there’s a full transcript of the interview portion below.
DwarfCast 160 – Rob Grant Interview (52.1MB)
Show transcriptDownload transcriptIan: So the current state of play – correct me if I’m wrong – is that there are no longer any obstacles to new Red Dwarf being made?
Rob: No, no, there aren’t. I mean, in fact, there are provisions precisely to make new Red Dwarfs all over the place. And it’s very exciting. We reached a resolution whereby Doug and I both have different exclusive exploitation rights. And I don’t want to second guess him by announcing, you know, what they are specifically between us, but we both have a right to a spin off on telly, and there are movie rights, animation rights, theatrical rights. And in addition to that, there are a number of rights that aren’t exclusive to us, but we can exploit, for instance podcasts, novels, radio shows, that kind of thing. And to top it all, then if a different kind of project comes along, we just have to get the other’s approval to get that off the road. So technically, everything’s feasible.
I: It’s insane that we’ve gone from a bottleneck where everything was stopped, and now all of a sudden, anything is possible. Absolutely anything.
R: Yeah, it really is, it’s mind blowing. And very, very exciting. I mean, of course, not all of these things are going to come off because you know… death. We’re not going to be around forever, but we want to be able to exploit what we can while we can.
Cappsy: So this situation is essentially designed to avoid any toe-stepping, presumably?
R: It was a very difficult and delicate negotiation, but yeah, that’s fundamentally what we had to try and do, yeah.
C: That’s good, because that is a concern that we’ve seen some in the community say, like what happens if there is toe stepping? So it’s good that’s there, I guess that would be the first thing to resolve isn’t it?
R: Yeah.
I: Yeah we’re not going to be in a situation where you’re both pitching rival versions of Red Dwarf to the same people, it’s more that you will have your own areas divided up that you can do without clashing with each other.
R: Yeah, I mean, there are lots of versions, for instance, of Star Trek currently on all over the place, and they seem to survive side-by-side without stepping on toes.
C: Well, there’s been multiple continuities of Red Dwarf since 1989, so it’s something we’re used to!
R: So yeah, it’s all good, I think. I mean, I’m very excited to see what Doug comes up with. I love the show and I want more of it. I did see that there’s some people commenting saying, “leave it now, it’s had enough and we don’t want to see a new cast”. And I just think, you know, I’m old enough to remember when we got the new Doctor, Patrick Troughton, from William Hartnell, who’d died, I think, so it wasn’t like there was an option. And the people were saying “oh no, you can’t have another Doctor”. And you can! You can have multiple Doctors.
C: And I think history proved them right in the end!
R: Yeah. And I get it, you know, we love the cast, of course we do. They’re a unique bunch of incredibly talented, funny actors. We really got lucky casting them because I thought they were all idiots. (Laughs) No, I didn’t, I didn’t). But you know, going over those performances, during the quarantine shows, I really began to appreciate just how talented they were. Craig and Chris and Danny, they light up the room, they know what they’re doing. And they were doing things I didn’t notice, you know, when I was shooting it, they’re very clever. But you know, we can’t go on with that forever. That’s got a limited lifespan, and hopefully, Doug will be able to get at least one more series out of them, or a special. I certainly hope so, we’ll have to see.
C: Would it be fair to say then, given what we know about how difficult it is to get the cast all together at the same time, also some health problems that Robert’s had with the mask in the past, that it may be fair to say that Doug will be the one working with the cast, maybe in the short term and anything you’re doing would be sans cast, perhaps?
R: Well, I think Doug certainly will be working with the main cast. I mean, it wouldn’t make sense to break up that kind of continuity now. But you know, there is nothing stopping the cast making appearances in spin-offs. Like, you know, Spock was in bloody every spin-off, wasn’t he? So it’d be nice to have them there. There will be a place for them.
I: And I suppose you’ve already mentioned radio, animation, things like that – there are things that you can do with the original cast that aren’t a TV show.
R: Exactly, I’d expect to get most of them, I hope, in the animation, because then they don’t have to put on the makeup, they don’t even have to leave their home most of the time.
C: Literally phone it in.
R: They do these days! And that would be nice. So yeah, one thing I was actually going to put to the G&T mob is, I’ve seen a lot of people over the past couple of years talking about a Red Dwarf animation. And what are they looking for? I’d like to hear what kind of things they’d like to see. Do they imagine it like a Rick and Morty, or Below Decks, the Star Trek one, or an anime?
Danny: Do you mind if I jump in? So I’ve seen a lot of shows where there’s been a lot of good… Have you seen Love, Death and Robots on Netflix?
R: No.
D: So that’s like a sci-fi anthology show. And I think what could work is an anthology show that might not always be every cast member in every episode, but it could just be like an episode that focuses on a single character.
R: And what would they be, sequential or they’d be completely independent?
D: They could be completely unrelated, they don’t have to have a continuity. They could have a continuity, that could also be a way it would work, but I was thinking it could be almost like stories within the universe of Dwarf, it doesn’t have to have continuation, but you could also have origin stories as well. I’m speaking rather selfishly, but this is the stuff that appeals to me is kind of extending the universe of Red Dwarf and seeing what Titan looks like and seeing what the universe of Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers looks like. Like, that’s the kind of stuff that really appeals to me particularly, but that seems to be where a lot of shows tend to do these anthology shows where there’s a lot of scope and possibilities.
R: Like Tales From The Dwarf basically.
D: Yeah, Tales From The Dwarf basically, yeah!
C: I think as well, one of the things that people really respond well to is kind of a grander realisation of those early ideas and early setups that you had. So for example, we’re going through the Smegazine at the moment…
R: It’s quality stuff that!
C: It’s brilliant! So right at the start, they adapted The End and Future Echoes, and script wise, it’s pretty much word for word but some of the evocative imagery that the artists managed to put in, like the scale. The first scene between Rimmer and Lister and just showing the kind of the huge area that they’re in, that really appeals, I think, to people for animation, like the almost… not the limitless possibilities, but just being able to push that out a little bit.
I: Yeah, there’s definitely things that you can do in animation that you can’t do in live action without having a Hollywood budget. And there are so many ideas in Red Dwarf, like… So we’re going through the Smegazines and spoilers for Danny and Cappsy who haven’t gotten to this stage of their readthrough yet, but there’s spin offs for the Inquisitor, for Ace Rimmer, for Duane Dibbley, for Jake Bullet. There are so many ideas that you and Doug just burnt through in half an hour that haven’t been returned to since.
C: Sometimes two or three in half an hour.
R: Yeah I know, well that’s kind of why we went into the novels because we thought, you know, there’s a little bit more in this.
C: Yeah. And that’s the big thing that everyone says they like about the novels is how they weren’t just novelisations, it was a whole new universe as well. I think that’s something that really interests the Red Dwarf fan group as as a whole is like the idea that we’ve been used to the fact that we’ve got two Red Dwarf continuities, like even thinking that different series would be in different continuities really if you think about it, like III and 2 don’t feel like they’re in the same show, you know, things like that. So like, anything that kind of exploits that and just starts right back from the beginning – could be the same characters, but just retell it slightly differently, like USA did, like the novels did. This is all kind of the points of excitement, I would say.
R: Excellent, this is music to my ears, honestly. I feel like I’m interviewing you guys. Okay, so what can you bring to Red Dwarf?
C: Are you up to speed with Doug Dwarf, as it were?
R: Only in very broad terms. I mean, I have people who are very familiar with it, who would look at my stuff and say, “oh, actually, Doug’s done that.”
I: Yeah, you did Into the Gloop a couple of years ago, a little sort of reintroduction to the world of Red Dwarf. My reading of that, in part, was that you were establishing a multiverse for Red Dwarf, like a point at which Red Dwarf could spin off and say, “well everything that happened after this is still valid, but here’s an alternative version…”
R: That certainly occurred to me. I mean, at the time, it didn’t look like I could ever get it off the ground or anything, but it was kind of a thought experiment, really. I thought the fans did really well in it, didn’t they?
[general agreement]
R: It was a lot of fun. But yeah, that was kind of what I was thinking, Ian. I was kind of thinking “well, you could just split it”, and of course it’s science fiction, you can split off, you know, wherever you want.
C: Yeah, exactly, and also at this point, you know, Red Dwarf isn’t totally too in love with its own continuity, it never has been really, so…
R: I mean, I’m a continuity Nazi. Honestly.
C: Yeah, this is what we’ve heard!
R: And it was Doug who said ”look, if it’s gonna be a better show, stuff it”! And you know, he had a point, we would never have got the look from season three, if you’d gone with me and been compelled to keep things as they were.
C: “The same generation nearly”.
R: Yeah! So yeah, I am a continuity freak, really. It really interests me.
I: What has prompted this return to the Red Dwarf sphere? Because presumably, you could have had a conversation at any point in the last nearly 30 years since you and Doug stopped writing it together. What made you want to return to the show after such a long break?
R: No, I’ve wanted to return for a long time. And I kind of don’t want to rake over the coals of the past really, and I understand why you guys want to know that. But I really don’t want to rock the boat right now. I never left Red Dwarf in my heart. That’s all you need to know.
I: OK. Have you been bubbling away with ideas for 30 years, basically?
R: There was a period where I just had to shut it out and move on and do other stuff, and I kind of expected it to fade and die really, and it kind of did, it went away for a decade. But yes, you then go back and think, yeah, there was so much good about the setup, and so many more ideas to explore. And I’m really quite pumped now, I’ve got a lot of Red Dwarf to give. If only we can get a broadcaster to listen.
C: Well, I guess what we’re all thinking is that there is a particular broadcaster that we would hope would be a perennial kind of partner.
R: Yes, indeed we do. But we’ll see. We’ll see what interest there is. I’d have thought there’s a guaranteed audience out there… but that doesn’t seem to matter these days! Or that it’s funny or you know… you’re kind of in the lap of the gods, really. But something will come off, definitely.
C: So, something we’ve been doing over the last couple of years is we’ve been revisiting all of the Red Dwarf novels, we finished that a while ago now. And so us and the community have had an opportunity to kind of re-evaluate things and we’ve almost surprised ourselves with how much we’ve enjoyed about it. And the community have even started their own reread of your books, the Rob Grant trilogy, and finding a hell of a lot to love about those. So I think if you were to ask anyone what they would be most excited about you doing next, it would probably be a Red Dwarf novel. Whereabouts is that in your mind or your list of priorities?
R: My idea is that we get something off the ground – and again, I can’t be too specific about what we’re going for – but that would become the next novel, sort of in tandem. Which I always find it the best way to do it, because then the novel informs the series and the series informs the novel and you get…
C: Like Quanderhorn.
R: Yes. You get an explosion of ideas really.
C: Fascinating. And would you continue – I mean, I don’t want to get too deep here – but I’m interested what you think about the way you left Backwards, the novel. You left it open ended, almost as if to say like, I could write anything after this. Is that still the intention? Or maybe would you wipe the slate clean?
R: Again, I’d be giving too much away, guys!
C: But you did say you were a continuity Nazi and continuity Nazis don’t throw away continuity, so…
R: No! Oh, I’m giving away too many clues!
C: Ok, point taken!
R: No, I’m bursting to tell you, honestly guys. I hope very soon I will be able to.
C: We’re just excited that there’s ideas bubbling and that, you know, this is even a conversation we could have in 2023, to be honest. I’m still shocked that the show came back in 2009, I haven’t got over that yet…
R: Me too!
C: …let alone what’s going to happen in the future now with both of you working on the show again.
I: “Red Dwarf flying out of our buttskis” I believe was the phrase.
R: I promised it, I promised it!
C: You did, it has become a meme in the two years since you promised it!
I: You mentioned a while back, literally two years ago, that there’d been an approach from an American company. It was shortly after Holly Hop and Into The Gloop, you mentioned yourself on the official website that there’d been an approach from an American company. Did anything come of that? You’re looking like you can’t even remember saying that…
R: No, I can’t even think of what that was. I mean, these things happen all the time, you know? But yeah, America would be a place to exploit. And we are in a position where we can authorise new merchandise. The whole company now is me and Doug, so we don’t have to go to anyone else. I would definitely like to see a Red Dwarf beanie hat.
I: That’s very specific.
C: Do you get a cold head often, Rob?
D: Can I offer a suggestion? Can I offer one with a ‘H’ on it?
R: Oh, that’s not a bad thought, is it?
C: That is a good idea.
I: Now you’re gonna have to sign something that says you waive the rights to that, Danny.
D: Yeah, I’ll happily give you one pound.
R: I’ll give you a copy of the hat!
I: I’m aware asking this that you may not be able to or want to answer in too much detail, but we did notice from the Companies House website that in the shakeup of all of this that Paul Jackson and Noel Gay are no longer involved in Grant Naylor. Is that going to help streamline things for you now? Is that an extra obstacle removed type thing?
R: Well, it depends where you’re coming from really, it is a much cleaner way of doing things, just Doug and I have to agree on stuff. Hopefully not too much stuff. And Grant Naylor really is now, it’s not a production company any more. We go off to our own separate production companies and Grant Naylor basically administers the rights. That’s all it does.
I: That makes a lot of sense. And so that wouldn’t preclude you presumably from working with Paul on projects in the future?
R: Of course not. Absolutely not, I’d love to! And we actually, Paul and I, had a ridiculous lunch with Ed…
C: I can imagine…
R: Oh, you can’t! They had to pull us out of the restaurant, honestly. But we talked about our projects, and we’re all giddy with excitement and working, and Ed is available. He said he would definitely love to direct it, so…
I: That would be a dream come true, it really would.
R: It’d be squaring the circle. It’d be lovely.
I: Again, through the Quarantine Commentaries, and everything there, we as a fan group have come to appreciate just how much Ed brought to the party. How advanced his techniques were, and how far he was pushing the limits of what he could do back in the late 80s. And yeah, I’d love to see the 21st Century equivalent of that.
R: The thing about Ed is when I went into telly, the first director I worked with was Geoff Posner on Carrott’s Lib, and he never said “I can’t do that”. Never once in his life have I heard Geoff Posner say that. And I thought that’s how all directors were, and then I worked on Spitting Image, and I found out most directors are the exact opposite, they just rip up the script and say that’s impossible to shoot. And Ed was from the Geoff Posner school, he never said “no, you can’t run tape backwards through one of these, you morons!” He just did it. He found a way to do it. The confidence of ignorance!
C: Also in those early series, working with technology that was already out of date…
R: Yeah, yeah!
C: …in the eighties, the one inch tape and everything. He was like “yeah, sure, I’ll do pioneering split screen on a sitcom. What else do you want?”
R: It would be great to hook up with him again. I think he’s gotten even better since then.
C: Well, the fan community definitely loves you guys as a trio, like, obviously, you know this, that the commentaries went down very well indeed. It was very heartwarming to kind of see you revisit old work and see those passions. I just love listening to Ed talk about how brilliant he is. He’s so good at it!
D: And how difficult it all was.
R: Yeah no, I enjoyed them tremendously. We were all a bit adrift, weren’t we, in that period. It gave a focus to the week.
C: Yeah, it was so important for a lot of people.
I: It was, yeah. You did a really good thing there. As Red Dwarf fans, it was good content, but also at that particular time, like you say, having some structure, something to look forward to each week, something to gather round as a community when we couldn’t see people, we couldn’t see our own families or friends. Thank you for that.
R: No, thank you guys as well because we got the same from it. We got the same, it was this fantastic sense of community, the great feedback. We used to send all those comments up to all the guests and everything. And rekindled some old old friendships. I mean, it was lovely the episode with Howard, wasn’t it? I mean, what a genius. And David Ross and…
I: Lee Cornes dressed as Hitler.
R: Why not!
C: I’d be more surprised if Lee Cornes wasn’t dressed as Hitler. Very Nazi heavy, isn’t it, this interview?
R: I blame Gary Lineker.
I: Well Hitler is one of the most recurring guest characters in Red Dwarf, he’s been in it so many times.
D: He’s almost the sixth Dwarfer.
R: We also had Marilyn on a couple of times.
D: Can you explain what that was about? Like, why was Marilyn Monroe so prevalent in Red Dwarf?
R: It was iconic figures really. And you know, in Red Dwarf there’s a lot of film reference, and so I guess that’s what it was. These people were icons. And Einstein, these were icons in our childhood, I guess.
C: So I guess you were trying to go for things that would likely still be iconic 200 years later?
R: Yes, yes, exactly.
C: Berni Inn didn’t quite make the cut for that one, but…
R: Cliff Richard didn’t make it either and he’s still here!
I: Norweb doesn’t even exist. And why was Lister sending a photo to be developed anyway? What’s going on there? Why didn’t he just take it on his phone?
C: It’s almost like he was living in the 80s.
R: Okay, we didn’t get everything!
C: We have kind of a group headcanon that the internet doesn’t exist in Red Dwarf.
I: In the Red Dwarf universe they never invented the internet, and that explains why you have 80s technology basically in the far future.
R: Ah, yeah.
C: And it is a theme that’s continued as well to this day, you never really see anything internetty happening at all.
D: It all comes through mail, it all comes through snail mail to the ship.
C: 80s retro-futurism.
R: Actual postmen, it’s snail mail in space! The Internet did change everything. I kind of remember when I first came across it, and I thought right then “oh, this is going to change everything”. I got a modem and bought an ISP space. And I was chatting to people in Australia and I was thinking, “oh my God, this is free, this is just brilliant”. This was in ‘93, and the internet went down one day, and it turned out that the guy I was buying it off was just a kid with an Amiga 64 in the attic, and he’d been hit by lightning, and he was waiting for his dad to get him a new computer.
D: That is amazing.
C: Wonderful. It’s still not massively more stable than that now, to be honest, as someone who works as a web developer.
I: Well, we don’t want to get too bogged down in continuity and nerdy stuff because we can save that for a future interview, Rob.
R: Get me for that when I commit the crimes, all right?
I: But we do have one final question, a very important question. It’s something that has been divisive, controversial, something that has been splitting the Red Dwarf fan community in two, and we’re hoping you might be able to provide some clarification. Is Rastabilly Skank an artist or a genre?
R: It’s a genre.
C: Wow.
D: Categorical. There you are, ladies and gentlemen, there’s your answer.
C: That is seismic. You have no idea the effect that’s going to have.
R: It was Craig who came up with it.
D: Oh, that’s so cool.
C: So it’s like rockabilly then?
R: Yeah!
D: So it’s a Jamaican rockabilly.
R: With a bit of skank thrown in, yeah.
I: Well, even if nothing actually comes of any of these fantastic ideas you’re putting out in the universe, then at least we’ve got the answer to that. This was all worthwhile
R: OK! (laughs) Thanks guys, lovely talking to you and I hope I’ll be back with some definite news soon.
C: Can’t wait.
A huge, huge thank you to Rob for being so accommodating and generous with his time. All of a sudden, after such a terrible couple of years, this is a very exciting time to be a Red Dwarf fan. Watch this space.
Show notes* William Hartnell wasn’t dead by the time Patrick Troughton took over as The Doctor, but we’re too cowardly to correct the actual co-creator of Red Dwarf to his face. * Rob’s now-forgotten mention of an American approach * Rob soliciting for fan feedback on Twitter * Doug’s Radio Times interview * Two and a half hours on whether or not The Lion King is a rip off.
“Let wideons be wideons”
Ian Symes, Jonathan Capps and Daniel Stephenson are delighted to announce that the ongoing DwarfCast hiatus has been resolved.
Moving onwards and upwards, Ian, Cappsy and Danny hope to launch many iterations of DwarfCasts covering various media, working again with Jimmy Nail and other valued partners, and wish each other the very best.
Smoke a kipper, DwarfCasts will eat all your kippers!!
(yay, the Smegazine Rack is back! You know the drill…)
Grab your complementary copy of the mag here.
DwarfCast 159 – The Smegazine Rack – Issue #7 (130MB)
For those of you paying attention, there are a few subtle clues that date this recording. As always we’re trying to strike a balance between not having ridiculous gaps between releases, but also avoiding any sort of burnout and it turns out thinking about and planning for a live-stream can really take up a lot of time and energy. Having said that, in the near future you can look forward to Re-Discovery for the series 2 DVDs and maybe, just maybe, something else.
Show notes A collection of 1970s tumble dryers. * We couldn’t find the clip from You Bet!* of the German man identifying stamps purely from the taste of the glue, but trust us, it’s phenomenal.
This is a most unusual DwarfCast following a most unusual weekend for your intrepid G&T team. The three of us gathered together in the same place for this first and only time this year, and that place was Liverpool. The reason? Seb Patrick's 40th birthday, and we weren't going to let the small detail that he himself has passed on stop us from celebrating.
We wanted to share the festivities with some of the people who knew Seb, be they friends, family or just those who knew him through his work, in the Red Dwarf community and beyond. So join us for a somewhat experimental travelogue, taking in Danny's first ever football experience, a trip to a certain Liverpudlian pub, a game of pool on a very important table and our first visit to Seb's memorial bench at Crosby Beach. We promised to record a DwarfCast there if the petition was successful, and thanks to your help, it was.… Read More
The first Red Dwarf DVD was released twenty years ago today. Yes, we regret to inform you that you're old. The fourth of November 2002 is a date indelibly printed on the brains of fans who spent months being teased and tantalised into a frenzy. Kids today with your YouTubes and your Netflixes and your Ministry of Sound may not appreciate just how big of a deal it was for Dwarf to join the digital revolution in such a wholehearted way, so gather round and listen to your Uncles Cappsy, Danny and Ian as we kick off a new series of DwarfCast retrospectives.
For each edition of Re-Disc-overy, we're going to be sharing our memories of each DVD release, looking back on the media and fandom landscapes of the time, and of course revisiting and reassessing the many, many special features. Plus, we've picked out one extra per series to receive the commentary treatment, and this time it could only be Launching Red Dwarf. So get that lovely red box off your shelf, remove the dust from your ageing DVD player and join us as we discuss Red Dwarf's greatest unsung hero, unicycling jugglers, embarrassing Dimension Jump memories, the glory of Woolworths and much much more.… Read More
Hello hello and welcome back onto the rack. In a shock twist that even we didn't expect, we've actually come good on our promise to start up our regular DwarfCasting routine again. This time Cappsy, Danny and Ian are going page by page through Issue 6 of the Smegazine, which gives them plenty of opportunity to be all smug and self regarding about those early 90s idiots and their casual ableism and homophobia. Hurrah!… Read More
In my own personal and humble opinion, Red Dwarf fans are very lucky to have something like the US pilots. The mystery and excitement of them during the 90s and the black market in increasingly terrible copies are a defining part of many of our fandoms. Despite the fact we've still been unable to source a decent quality copy of either pilots, the time has come for Ian, Danny and Cappsy to commentate on these pilots 30 years after they were ill-conceived.… Read More
Surprise! We didn't plan to have a summer break, but a summer break we indeed have had in order to recharge our batteries and hide from the dreaded Burnout Monster. We've got a bit of editing catchup to do, though, so we're breaking with tradition and giving you another Smegazine Rack today while editing on the Red Dwarf USA episode is finished (well, started).
Grab your complementary copy of the mag here.… Read More
It seems a lot has happened since our last episode of The Smegazine Rack. We've launched and re-launched our incredibly original game Smegle and... well, that's about all that has happened, hasn't it? Yes, yes, definitely. Anyway please join your incompetent (by design) hosts, Ian, Danny and Cappsy as they climb up into the cab, fire up the slumbering beast and crack on... with the job of reading through every episode of the Smegazine.… Read More
If you're reading this then there's a decent chance that at some point in your childhood or early adulthood you sat down on a Friday night and enjoyed the feast of mechanical violence that was Robot Wars. For older Millennials and young Gen Xers watching this show went hand in hand with being a Red Dwarf fan, not least because the host was, from series 2 onwards, Craig Charles himself. And it's for that reason Robot Wars qualifies for our series of 'Dwarf-adjacent' commentaries as we seize with both hands the opportunity to talk at length about a show very dear to our hearts for... quite a long time.… Read More
Come, rest your tired ears on our giant rack. As sure as 2 follows 1, so it is that 3 follows 2 and Ian, Danny and Cappsy have a good read of the third Smegazine issue. Also featured: Badge talk! The End end! Danny vs Cappsy quiz! Caption competition results! Letters! Slander!… Read More
In a small break from our regularly scheduled programming (and while we figure out what commentary we want to do next) we've put together another tottering stack of waffles for you you cram into your eager maws. Just how much of this episode is devoted to talking about cats? Who will Danny impersonate this time? Will Cappsy be hearing from the RSPCA's lawyers? Find out!… Read More
It's time to get back on the rack (get used to that one, because we might have to use it every episode) as Ian, Cappsy and Danny continue trawling through the sticky pages of the Smegazine and, as tradition dictates, Issue #2 follows Issue #1... so here we are.
Before you press play, be sure to have the issue in front of you in your PDF viewer of choice so you at least have a slight chance of knowing what the actual balls we're talking about.… Read More
Carrotists assemble, for it is time to travel back to the time of violent revolution, flamboyant trousers, Le Pimpernel Scarlet and very suspicious sausages as DwarfCasts continue its series of 'Dwarf adjacent commentaries' with the classic episode of Blackadder the Third, Nob and Nobility. We also take the opportunity to talk at length about our love for the show while answering your Bladder specific waffles.… Read More
Ok everyone, put on your baseball caps on backwards, wear clashing colours, like Morrisey, 'pop' an 'e', sing 'Barcelona', be surprised at Denmark winning the Euros, experience the same dates on the same days as you will in 2020 and correctly believe Sonic to be superior to Mario because we're going back to 1992! In the first of what will be... checks... a lot of fucking DwarfCasts we're going through every issue of the Smegazine one by one, until we be done. Ian's read them all exhaustively over the years, and for whatever reason Danny and Cappsy... haven't. What's going to happen??… Read More
Once in every lifetime, Comes a 'Cast like this, Oh, we need you and you need us, Oh my darlings can't you watch The Young Ones along with us after the pips and then stick around afterwards for a suitably themed Waffle Men?… Read More
IT. IS. DONE.
3 men, 4 Books and 16 episodes in just under 16 months. Our series of DwarfCast Book Club finally draws to a close as Ian, Cappsy and Danny wrap up Backwards, with our thoughts on High Midnight and The Difference II. Was Ace's death tossed off too quickly? What noise do popping bones make? Did Rob Grant go too far this time? Find out within!… Read More
It's waffle time! Again! That's right, to mark the occasion of the whole G&T trio being in the same room for the first time since that spiky red cunt fucked everything up for everyone, we thought we'd have another stab at a Wafflemen Special, since the last one seemed to go surprisingly well. So, join the slightly giddy and tipsy Danny, Cappsy and Ian as they heave their enormous, waddling frames in front of the microphone to discuss all the things you see in the banner, AND MORE.… Read More
It's been a little while coming, but please take your seats, grab a coffee and arrange your notes because the book club is back and we have a lot of... interesting material to cover. Join a crossed legged Ian, Cappsy and Danny as they wince their way through what is undoubtedly the moment that Rob Grant's Backwards takes a bit of of a turn to the sadistic. But never fear, because Ace also makes his triumphant return, thus signalling that everything will be absolutely fine. Right?… Read More
For the first time in far, far too long, a small army of Red Dwarf fans laid siege to the Nottingham Crown Plaza last weekend. We called it Dimension Jump XXI, and the last survivors converged on Sunday night to see what they could remember under the glare of our microphone. So join Ian Symes, Fan Club team members Andy Holland, Dan “Pendo” Pendleton and Shelley Smith, plus attendees Dave Billingsley, Si Bromley, Stephen Fletcher, Peter Jones and Jo Sharples as we run through such diverse topics as Lee Cornes meeting his alter ego, Doug Naylor’s plans for future projects both?Dwarf and not-quite-Dwarf,?Danny John-Jules’s reworked lyrics to Tongue Tied, touching tributes, scandalous cheating and taking Johnny Vegas to bed.
DwarfCast 142 – Dimension Jump XXI Special (100MB)
We find ourselves in the unusual situation of having a backlog of DwarfCasts clogging up our pipes at the moment – mostly because we completely failed to factor DJ in to our schedule. So next up will be the already-recorded Part 4 of Backwards Book Club, followed by the already-recorded Wafflemen Special #2. You lucky bastards.
Show notes * Transcript of Doug’s video message * This year’s costume competition entrants * Lee Cornes meets Confidence & Paranoia * The story of the Partick Thistle Away Subbuteo set * Johnny Vegas sings American Pie
Literally no one asked for it, but yet here we are anyway – a whole podcast devoted to Wafflemen, our regular segment from the commentary episodes in which talk about whatever Dwarfy topic you, the listener, so desires. So, join Cappsy, Danny and Ian as they desperately search for something we can cancel Red Dwarf for, finally settle on whether it was Rob or Doug who was the real funny one and generally just, well, waffle on.
Wafflemen Special #1: Maturity, Memories and Moore (76.9MB)
Next up in your feeds will be Part 4 of our Backwards Book Club, which at the time of writing will be recorded at the slightly delayed time of next weekend so you still have time to catch up and get your thoughts in in the discussion thread. Meanwhile, our doors are always open for more waffle topics for our pile, so if you have a burning topic you’d like us to get to in a future episode then feel free to leave it in the comments.
Show notes * Discussion of Ace Rimmer’s gay panic * Cappsy being an idiot about the Sonic 1 level select code * Bread Dwarf is discussed within the inaugral edition of Coffee Lounge Cock * Ian’s Doctor Who watch-through blog, Curiosity in a Junkyard * The YouTube video that Danny wishes he could unsee (WARNING: graphic content, NSFW, click at your own risk):
What’s that now? You wanted more backwards stuff in your Backwards novel? Well, have we got the DwarfCast for you! Yes, whether you like it or not, in this episode Cappsy, Ian and Danny go Back to Backworld one last time as Rob Grant forces us to consider the reverse logistics of, let’s say, a few too many bodily functions. Thanks Rob.
DwarfCast 140 – Book Club #14: Backwards (Part Three) (85.1MB)
For those of you keeping count, there will be two more Book Club episodes to finish off Backwards, after which it will be replaced with an exciting new project in which we read through and discuss the Smegazines one issue at a time (name pending). In the meantime, though, we’re temporarily replacing our now concluded commentary episodes with a Wafflemen Special which is already in the can and will be the next episode we release.
In the further meantime, in our next episode of the Book Club we’ll be moving onto to part 4 – Nipple-sized Pasty Cutters, Gonad Electrocution Kits, and Easy-listenin’ Music – in our next ep, so get your loins as girded as they can possibly be, read up, and give us your thoughts in the comments below.
Show notes * Cappsy was about a decade out with his timeline of the Star Wars defence system * Mitchell and Webb’s Rebecca parody * The tits and arses of the Czech Backwards book cover
IT. IS. DONE.
I feel like we’ve been going on about milestones quite a lot recently, but to add to our previous BBC-era accomplishment we have now finally recorded a commentary for every single extant episode of TV Red Dwarf! Whether or not this ends up being the last ever remains to be seen, but let’s hope we’ll be returning to our longest running feature sooner rather than never. Before that, though, join Ian, Danny and Cappsy in this feature length commentary of the Dave era’s finest, The Promised Land.
DwarfCast 139 – The Promised Land Commentary (110MB)
As per our chat at the end, we have a bit of a shake up planned for the near future of DwarfCasts. For a start, commentaries will continue in some form, primarily hoovering up the various ‘misc’ things we’ve not yet touched on such as the USA pilots, the lost episodes, Universe Challenge um cetera um cetera. On the reading side of things, once we’ve finished up with Backwards we’ll be starting a brand new series in which we go through the Smegazines one issue at a time. Ian knows them inside out and Cappsy and Danny do not, and from thence the content will arise. As you’d expect, these two things will continue with the same release cadence we’ve had with commentaries and the Book Club over the last year or so.
So, the next thing to plop into your feeds will be part 3 of the Backwards Book Club, HOWEVER the next thing we’ll be recording (as in, this weekend) will be a Wafflemen Special, in which we will answer literally any question or address any topic you so want us to. So, please do use this comments section to throw us your waffle topics, be them Red Dwarf related, Red Dwarf adjacent or just whatever you want, really.
Show notes * Wikipedia’s brief summary of Iron Stars. Black Dwarfs are apparently a different thing. * A new entry in at 2, it’s Glenn & Chris’s Diamond Lights * Dead Dwarf, by Mick Hayes