A little more on the issue of the series X music cues from Richard Naylor today:

Spent the morning listening to reddwarf series 1 music stings, so many brilliant ones that never got used. Now off to soho for a pre-grade. To answer questions I’ve always loved the music from 1 and 2, especially cat string stuff. If there’s a way of using it would be my choice.

Now, not wishing to make a mountain out of a molehill here, this is an unexpected prospect. Does it give us a hint at how they are planning to solve the problem? Who knows? The mention of series 1 and 2 in general would suggest to me that they are trying to find a way to get the cues they wanted to use. One thing is clear; the series won’t go out without the music. That does mean that the money will have to be found somewhere of course, and frankly I don’t envy Doug having to go cap in hand to Dave. Still, at this stage I really wouldn’t see it as an issue to panic over, but it will definitely be interesting to see what cues they do end up using. For now, here’s a picture of Richard in the pre-grade. It has to be said, what we saw on the monitors already looked great at the recordings, so I’m expecting good things after the colour grade has been applied.

Now this is a story that none of us saw coming. According to Doug, there is a bit of a problem on the music cue front:

Discovered today no money was put in the budget for music, apart from opening + closing credits. Me and a kazzoo for action sequences then. We’ve had music links in ever single series. No-one ever had to hum them + I’m not even allowed to hum Mr Goodall’s as we don’t have rights. Is it possible to make a set of bag-pipes out of a Producer’s intestines? I may try anyway.

Oh dear… well… Shite. That’s a bit of a cock up, and certainly not a problem that I think any of us saw arising. It’s also slightly surprising to see Doug so openly discussing it too to be honest. So, unless some money can be found, all of the previous cues are out of bounds. The first thought of many was if it was possible to get people to provide music for free or signed scripts, as with Back To Earth. This seems a no go however, with Doug tweeting:

Free music gets complicated when you put it on a DVD and sell it.

So that’s a bit of a problem there then. Though it has to be said, while I’m sure there are plenty of fans capable of writing good cues, I’m sceptical that the quality of the production would be good enough for inclusion. Well, unless people were prepared to front he cash for studio time etc anyway. Still, with this apparently not being feasible it’s beside the point anyway, though I have to say, from when I’ve looked into this for my own music in the past I am certain it can actually be worked around if the artist licenses their music to the program on a no profit basis. For now, we wait to see how this on pans out. One thing is clear though; the series won’t go out without music, and some solution will be found.

Doug has been putting out various tweets this evening to gauge fan opinion on a whole host of issues. Now, whether this is because he genuinely wants to know what the fans would like, or because he has a way he wants to go and needs to justify his actions to Dave remains to be seen. Let’s not forget that in the run up to the recordings, Doug was tweeting asking for opinions on the inclusion of a studio audience. On that particular issue it always seemed that his mind was fairly made up already, though as he has said, the arguments with Dave continued. Either way, it has been an interesting insight into where the production is at right now.

First of all, he tweeted to ask his followers what they would like to see in terms of credits:

RDX – Given a choice between opening titles or an extra 20 secs of show or more show and faster closing creds what would it be? Vote now!

For me personally, the title music, both at the start and the end, is an iconic part of the show and it would feel odd not to have either run to the right length. That said, if it came down to one or the other then I would opt for faster closing, on the proviso that the full length credits were on the DVD. It seems that those that have contacted him so far have had similar opinions, with Doug then tweeting:

Seems peeps want 2 keep opening titles, keep closing credits + keep more show. This is possible as shows can be 30 mins instead of 29.30!

Aside from the length of the opening credits, he also wanted to know what people felt was the best way to do it:

Opening titles: sombre (like S1 and S2) or montage of clips form the show like S3 – S8?

Montage all the way as far as I’m concerned. The tone of the show has shifted from the first two series, and these days the montage seems more fitting. Back To Earth managed a great montage from just three episodes, so I see no reason why we can’t get a great one from these 6 new episodes. It would also be nice to feature the names of the cast members again.

On the issue of show length, he elaborated on the issue, explaining that currently show 2 is fine cut to 32 mins 10 secs, while show 3 sat at 35 mins 30 secs before the fine cut. Indeed, there is apparently enough material that will have to be cut that Doug says:

I reckon there will be about 20- 25 minutes of deleted scenes on the DVD.

It’s lovely to know that there is so much material to pick through, and as has been stated before, it will surely make for one of the best Dwarf DVDs yet. Let’s just hope they can manage to cut it down without having to resort to things like cutting the title length.

Episode lengths aside, opinions were also sought on linking music, with Doug tweeting:

Next question: should most music links be versions and variations of Red Dwarf theme tune as in days of old?

That’s a big yes from me. At the recording of show one, a scene that was played in for us to understand the context of a guest set used the traditional Goodall sting, and it has to be said it just seemed right. With the move to the new channel and format, it’s important to ground the show with familiar elements, and the music is an important part of that. That’s not to say that other music shouldn’t be used elsewhere though. I’d happily welcome it for things like the G-deck scene in Back To Earth, where the use of new music fitted nicely. Just no music like the music used for the Carbug scene again please.