The SFX Award nominations have been announced this week, and Red Dwarf X is up for among the TV shows vying for a prize. Here’s the blurb from SFX:
From The Avengers to The Dark Knight Rises, Doctor Who to Game Of Thrones, it’s been another outstanding year for sci-fi at the cinema, on TV, in books, comics, games and more.
Now’s your chance to tell us who rocked your universe on the screen and on the page.
You can choose one of our memory-jogging nominations in each category – or vote for your own choice in the blank space provided. Don’t feel the need to vote in every category – if you’ve only read one comic in the last 18 months feel free to skip onto the next page.
Cast your votes and we’ll reveal the winners in an upcoming issue!
Eligibility period for nominations is anything released or broadcast between 1 January 2012 – 29 March 2013.
Richard Naylor has been uploading a variety of behind the scenes pictures from Series X on Twitter. There are some interesting bits and pieces among them, so for those of you that missed them or those who aren’t on Twitter, here they are:
A new episode of The Red Dwarf Introcast has been uploaded, this time in the form of a special spoiler filled Series VII preview. Shane is joined by Rosie, Mabel, Darren, Nutty and Cappsy to discuss the many changes that occur in the series, just what the overall quality of the series is like and speculate on how Heath and Angela will react to the series when they watch it soon.
The episodes are available to download and you can find them on the podcast’s website and is also available on iTunes.
Man In The Rubber Mask: Now Out On Kindle
Regular readers of this site will already be aware from our roundup last week that ‘The Man In The Rubber Mask’ is no available to order in print from Amazon. Since then, the website has now also listed a Kindle version which can be downloaded now. Robert Llewelyn has been updating his book about the making of Red Dwarf, ‘The Man in the Rubber Mask’, to cover all of the events since the books release. An excellent audio version of the updated book has been available to download from AudioBoo and now the book is available from Amazon for the highly reasonable price of £6.74 for the paperback edition or the even more reasonable £3.08 for the Kindle edition.
Last weekend saw Dimension Jump XVII held in Birmingham and in the days that followed there have been a variety of reports and podcasts related to it. The Official Site has a full write up of the 3 days from Seb Patrick. It covers the event in great detail and has some great photos of the event to bring back memories or make you wish you’d been there. You can find it here.
With Alex busy helping to run the event with the rest of the TORDFC team, James provided a breakdown of what news Doug had about the possibility of Series XI. While he couldn’t confirm the series yet, it’s interesting that he originally thought he would have been in a position to that weekend and there are other interesting little bits like the chance of Rob returning to do novels as well as Doug that are very interesting and well worth a read. You can find the breakdown here. Meanwhile, Andrew covered the event by collating various tweets related to DJXVII to give a flavour of the reactions to and goings on of each day in our occasional feature, ‘Let’s Get Out There & Tweet It’. You can find each day’s roundup below:
Lastly, Geek Apocalypse meanwhile provided their own coverage of the event by interviewing various guests on Saturday for their podcast. Steven Hesse and co helper for the day Viv Wiggins chatted about all things Dwarfy and convention-esque with Robert Lewellyn, Chris Barrie, Hattie Hayridge, John Lenahan, Tony Hawks, Bill Pearson and Steve Howarth. You can find the podcast on their website here.
TORDFC – Back To Reality Issue 4: Out Now!
Just before the opening ceremony for DJXVII got underway, the Fan Club released the latest issue of their magazine Back To Reality. Issue 4 features coverage of Series X, interviews with Bill Pearson and Chloe Annett, the first part of a great comic from Kris Carter and Ben Paddon, in depth features and more!
This is the first issue to move to the digital format to try and compensate for the rising cost of printing and postage as well as allowing the turnaround of the magazine to be greatly speeded up. Passwords to the new members area where the magazine can be viewed have been sent out, but if you are a current Fan Club member and haven’t received one then the strong likelihood is that you need to update the Fan Cub records with your latest email address. If this is the case, then please contact Carrie at carrie.tordfc@gmail.com.
If you are not currently a member of the Fan Club, you can find out how to join here.
Dwarfcasts: DJXVII Special
Ganymede & Titan have uploaded a new Dwarfcast, this time covering Dimension Jump XVII. Here’s the blurb from G&T:
Another Dimension Jump has once again come and gone, and we’re all left to pick up the emotional and physical pieces as we try to recover from the best weekend in any given calendar year. It was an odd year for G&T as more than half of our number were involved in the running of the weekend, but as always we still found time for the traditional round-up DwarfCast.
At the end of a hungover and sleepy Sunday, a frankly ridiculous amount of people all crammed into a single hotel room and tried their best to produce something listenable. I think, on balance, we just about managed it. For G&T alone we have John and Tanya, representing both G&T and the Fan Club we have Cappsy, Ian and Danny, along with Fan Club members and helpers Jo Sharples, Jezzmund Harrison, Carrie Parsons, Alex Newsome, Kiran Parsons, Joey Cannon and Tom Pyott. Finally, the excellent members of the G&T community that we dragged kicking and screaming from the bar include, in no particular order, Karl (Tarka Dal), Mick (mick), Mabel (HelloMabel), Annie (anniescribe) and Claire (Claire).
You can find it here or you can subscribe via iTunes.
The Man In The Rubber Mask: Out Now
Regular readers of this site will already be aware that Robert Llewelyn has been updating his book about the making of Red Dwarf, ‘The Man in the Rubber Mask’, to cover all of the events since the books release. An excellent audio version of the updated book has been available to download from AudioBoo for a while and some of you will have picked up advance copies at one of Robert’s signings or DJXVII, but now the book is fully available to order online in a paperback format. The book is available from Amazon for the highly reasonable price of £7.19 here.
During a Q&A at the regular Red Dwarf convention, Dimension Jump, Robert Llewellyn and Chris Barrie talked about the possibility of a new series of Red Dwarf. Robert Llewellyn said ”We know we’re going to do Series XI… what we don’t know is when. Or how.” He went on to explain that they are expecting more information in the next 6 weeks but that it will not be filmed this year.
Robert Llewellyn will be making a number of appearances for book publisher Unbound, publisher of his novels News From Gardenia, the sequel News From The Squares as well as his upcoming updated autobiography Man In The Rubber Mask.
Monday 27th May: Unbound Live. Hay on Wye literary festival. Friday 5th - Sunday 7th July: Unbound tent at Cornbury festival, Great Tew Park, Oxfordshire.
Behind the Scenes of TOTAL HELL – Narrated by Norman Lovett
A new feature film by independent film maker Andy Wilton featuring narration by Norman Lovett is available to watch free online.
Behind the Scenes of TOTAL HELL follows Director Jamie Gunn (Grey McCulloch) and Producer Raul Kemp (Sam Smart) as they make their awful horror film TOTAL HELL. The film was made for just £1000.
The Red Dwarf Introcast – Out of Time
A new episode of The Red Dwarf Introcast has been uploaded, this time reviewing the final episode in Series VI, Out of Time. Heath, Angela and Shane are joined by Ian Symes of Ganymede and Titan and Rosie Summers. So just what will Heath and Angela make of it? Will they love it? Or will they go against the general consensus? You’ll have to listen to find out.
The episodes are available to download and you can find them on the podcast’s website and is also available on iTunes.
First Contact: The Next Generation Introcast – Episode 3
While taking a break from this site’s Red Dwarf Podcast (The Garbage Podcast), Alex, James and Andrew are doing a second podcast for The Spoilist. First Contact is an introcast for Star Trek: The Next Generation and sees seasoned viewers Andrew and James discussing each episode of the series with Alex who has never previously watched the show.
In the third episode of First Contact the team look into the episode Code of Honour.
So if it happens to be a show that you watch as well as Red Dwarf and you are looking for something to listen to while we take a break from The Garbage Podcast then why not give it a listen. You can listen to the episode at The Spoilist or subscribe via iTunes.
Continuing the warm reception that has met Series X, the Monte Carlo Television Festival has nominated the series for a Golden Nymph award. Hilarious name aside, it’s wonderful to see the show as one of only two UK shows nominated (along with Fresh Meat).
There is strong competition from the USA with both 30 Rock and Modern Family also nominated, but there are other interesting shows up for the award as well such as the award wining Australian comedy Lowdown which was criminally underrated when shown last year on BBC 4 in the UK. Consequently, to see the show being nominated alongside such big hitters is a great sign that the reception to the series has been most favourable with critics and casual viewers as well as within the hardcore of fandom.
The festival runs from 9th-13th June and we wish it all the best. You can read more about the nomination on the Official Red Dwarf website and on the festival’s own site where you can also find a complete list of the nominees.
Smegazine Comics article
The Official Site has updated this week with a fantastic look at the Red Dwarf comic strips featured in the Smegazine. Seb Patrick’s article analyses both the adaptations of early episodes and original stories from ones featuring the main cast to ones featuring the bit part players such as the further adventures of Jake Bullet. There is also an overview of how the comics changed during the course of the magazines life and discussion of some of the interesting choices made in the comic, such as the decision to portray Rimmer in greyscale as was originally intended for the show.
A new episode of The Red Dwarf Introcast has been uploaded, this time reviewing the fifth episode in Series VI, Rimmerworld. Heath, Angela Shane and Paul are joined by Nutty Nuchtchas to discuss the episode that is perhaps the most traditional of the series, once again featuring multiple Rimmers as a means of portraying the character’s many complicated neuroses . So just what will Heath and Angela make of it? Will they love it? Or will they go against the general consensus? You’ll have to listen to find out.
The episodes are available to download and you can find them on the podcast’s website and is also available on iTunes.
For the upcoming Dimension Jump XVII, Danny Stephenson has produced a Red Dwarf-orientated version of the quiz show ‘Pointless’ called ‘Goitless’.
Here’s Danny with what is required:
For this year’s Dimension Jump, The Fan Club, have allowed me to produce a Red Dwarf-orientated version of the quiz show ‘Pointless’ (called ‘Goitless’, coz were good with puns, see).
For those not aware of the show, ‘Pointless’ is a gameshow where the obscure answers are the biggest scorers. A survey is put out to 100 people before the show and are given 100 seconds to give as many answers to a given question as they can, for example:“Name as many Countries that begin with the letter M” . The answers that were valid are collated and turned into a score for the contestants on the show.
Some answers will be more obscure than others, so ‘Mexico’ could score 56 while, somewhere like ‘Montenegro’ could score somewhere in the region of 3. The object of the game is to plumb the depths of your knowledge and get a potential ‘Pointless’ answer, an answer that none of the 100 people could think of.
We need to get 100 people to fill in the survey, and I thought this is probably the best place to start getting ‘em!
We’ve prepared 12 questions that ask for RD-related answers in a variety of different ways, ranging from fairly simplistic questions, trivia, picture rounds, and anagrams, to fairly taxing, broad-spanning questions. Don’t worry if you can’t answer every single question, your input is still very much appreciated.
The survey will take about 25-30 minutes in total to complete. I would really appreciate your time to have a go, and I hope you have fun having a crack at it. If you like it, get your friends to fill one in as well, even if they’re not Red Dwarf fans, I would like to have a wide demographic for these surveys.
A couple of brief points about completing the survey:
> Please don’t look up the answers for the questions during the 100 seconds. It’s really important that we get an honest answer from what you can think of during that time. Don’t worry if you know the answers in the time, it really helps the show.
> Please answer the survey on your own, if there are more of you present, you can all have a go individually!
> Please don’t discuss the answers, or even the questions you were asked during the survey, as it would create a preparation that makes the 100 seconds obsolete.
Once you have completed the survey, your answers will be counted and used as a statistic on the Sunday afternoon event at Dimension Jump!!!
If you wish to have a go please CLICK HERE and you’ll be taken to our survey page. First you’ll be asked to sign in using an email address. This will only be used as a way to differentiate the answers from everyone, and to allow you to log in, should you wish to not fill the survey in one sitting. (but obviously it’d be great if you can)
Thank you, and most importantly, have fun!
The Red Dwarf Introcast
A new episode of The Red Dwarf Introcast has been uploaded, this time reviewing the fourth episode in Series VI, Emohawk: Polymorph II. Heath, Angela and Shane are joined by Sam to discuss the episode that saw the show attempting 3 sequels in one. So just what will Heath and Angela make of it? Will they love it? Or will they go against the general consensus? You’ll have to listen to find out.
The episodes are available to download and you can find them on the podcast’s website and is also available on iTunes.
Kris Carter Red Dwarf Print
We don’t often list items that are for sale, but for this we thought we’d make an exception. Colourist/ illustrator and co-creator of independent comic-book Lou Scannon, Kris Carter created this excellent Red Dwarf picture for his appearance at Wales Comic Con where some of the Dwarf cast were also in attendance. He is now selling A4 prints of the piece for £5 (plus £2 P&P) and as it’s such a fantastic piece we thought some of you might be interested.
If you would like a print then email Kris here and he’ll sort a copy out for you. You can see a preview of the print below:
The Red Dwarf Introcast – Gunmen Of The Apocalypse
A new episode of The Red Dwarf Introcast has been uploaded, this time reviewing the third episode in Series VI, Gunmen Of The Apocalypse. Heath, Angela Shane and Paul are joined by Lorraine to discuss the episode that saw Red Dwarf receive an Emmy. So just what will Heath and Angela make of it? Will they love it? Or will they go against the general consensus? You’ll have to listen to find out.
The episodes are available to download and you can find them on the podcast’s website and is also available on iTunes.
Tony Hawks At The Swindon Festival Of Literature
Following his appearance at Dimension Jump XVII, Tony Hawks will be appearing at the Swindon Festival of Literature to give a talk on the dificulty of turning books into films. Here’s the blurb:
Have you ever been wooed by Hollywood? What would you say if movie moguls wanted to make your book into a film? ‘You cannot be serious?’ Or, ‘This is very funny!’
Comedian, author, lyricist, radio and television panellist, Tony Hawks tells the story of how he went from being a comedian and author to being a film-maker as well.
Following the best-selling success of Round Ireland with a Fridge, Tony was approached by Hollywood film makers who wanted to buy the rights to his book. Unbeknown to him, this moment was a high point as the journey from then on became one of frustration and duplicity. That is, until he decided to forget Hollywood and adopt the ‘do-it-yourself’ approach. Now, with films of two books under his belt, Tony can recount the hilarious and challenging ups and downs of being a British independent film maker.
There will be a chance for questions, book-buying, and signing.
The event takes place at 6:30 on 13th May at the Arts Centre, Devizes Road SN1 4BJ. Tickets are £8 and can be booked here.
Unashamed plug – First Contact: The Next Generation Introcast
Ok, this has nothing to do with Red Dwarf, but we hope you’ll excuse us for an unashamed plug this once. While taking a break from this site’s Red Dwarf Podcast (The Garbage Podcast), Alex, James and Andrew have started a second podcast for The Spoilist. First Contact is an introcast for Star Trek: The Next Generation and sees seasoned viewers Andrew and James discussing each episode of the series with Alex who has never previously watched the show.
The first episode is now online looking that the special length debut episode, ’Encounter at Farpoint’. It’s the maiden voyage of the USS Enterprise-D and Captain Picard and his crew are assigned to investigate the mystery of Farpoint station. If that’s not enough to deal with, they are put on trial by the apparently omnipotent Q for all the crimes of humanity. Talk about a bad first day at work.
So if it happens to be a show that you watch as well as Red Dwarf and you are looking for something to listen to while we take a break from The Garbage Podcast then why not give it a listen. You can find the first episode here on The Spoilist.
The Official Red Dwarf Fan Club has sadly announced that Philip Laybey who played the young version of Rimmer in Series X has had to pull out of the upcoming Dimension Jump. However, they have also excitingly announced that head huncho Doug Naylor will now be attending. Doug will join the lineup that already contains Craig Charles, Chris Barrie, Robert Llewellyn, Hattie Hayridge, Tony Hawks, Sydney Stevenson (Professor Irene E, episode 4), Isla Ure (Dear Dave vending machines, episode 5), Richard O’Callaghan (Hogey the Roguey, episode 6), Alex Hardy(Chancellor Wednesday episode 6), Simon Treves (Lecturer Rimmer, episode 6), Bill Pearson and John Lenahan.
Registration for the event is £65 for current fan club members, and £80 for non-members. The special rate for hotel rooms has no expired for those that haven’t booked, but we recommend that when booking you quote Red Dwarf convention just in case. Book quickly though as both hotel rooms and event tickets are short in supply.
You can find details of how to book them, links to register and more general information on the Dimension Jump website.
Doug Naylor & Jeff Wayne Live In Brighton
For those of you unable to attend Dimension Jump or that just want to hear Doug wax lyrical for a bit longer, you have your opportunity in June when he appears in Brighton. The event hosted by Southern Performance & Creative Energies sees guests Doug Naylor and War of The Worlds composer Jeff Wayne discussing their work on their respective projects. There will also be a raffle containing the following prizes:
EVERY EPISODE OF RED DWARF DVD box sets of all ten series’ of the highly popular series, co-created and co-written by Doug Naylor.
JEFF WAYNE’S MUSICAL VERSION OF THE WAR OF THE WORLDS’ – THE NEW GENERATION Jeff’s re-imagining of the classic album features Kaiser Chief’s Ricky Wilson, Gary Barlow, Maverick Sabre, Joss Stone and Liam Neeson.
BLONDIE AT KEW GARDENS Tickets to the New York legends, Blondie at Kew the Music 2013. Armed with 40 years’ of era-defining tracks, and with irrepressible coolness, Blondie are the perfect opener for this year’s music festival at Kew Gardens – supported by Hugh Cornwell. www.kew.org
EAST END FILM FESTIVAL TICKETS The East End Film Festival, one of London’s biggest film festivals, offers 6 days of screenings, film-focused music and arts events across various East London venues. Last year, the EEFF hosted more than 200 screenings, site specific events and master-classes. From 3rd to 8th July. www.eastendfilmfestival.com
SUPERMAN, THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO THE MAN OF STEEL On the eve of Man of Steel’s release, the new Superman film, there’s a chance to win a copy of this book. This great, highly colourful, guide will appeal to any fan of the legendary superhero – thanks to DK Books.www.dk.co.uk
THE WAR OF THE WORLDS’ A DVD copy of the classic Hollywood science-fiction film from 1953.
ASHA’S BEAUTY PROJECT A full body relaxing massage at this friendly Brighton based salon which sees fair prices meeting exceptional standards. www.ashasbeautyproject.co.uk
CINEMA TICKETS A pair of tickets to a film of your choice at the Odeon cinema. www.odeon.co.uk
The event takes place on Thursday 13th June (doors 7pm, show start 8,) at The Basement, Kensington Street, Brighton. Tickets are £8 until May 23rd, when the price rises to £10. You can order them here.
The Red Dwarf Introcast – Legion
A new episode of The Red Dwarf Introcast has been uploaded, this time reviewing the second episode in Series VI, Psirens. Heath, Angela Shane and Paul are joined by Paul Hadsley to discuss an episode that sees the series in full swing and also sees the introduction of Rimmer’s hard light drive. So just what will Heath and Angela make of it? Will they love it? Or will they go against the general consensus? You’ll have to listen to find out.
The episodes are available to download and you can find them on the podcast’s website and is also available on iTunes.
Our thanks go to Paul Müller for pointing out a lovely collection of behind the scenes photos from Series X that model man Steve Howarth has put online. As you’ve doubtless guessed from our constant bloody harping on about them, we love models on this site and any chance to get a closer gander at them is hugely welcomed in these parts. This fascinating collection of photos focuses on the refurbished Dwarf model, the bigature and the Trojan, giving us a closer look at some things we have previously only seen in passing. Of particular interested are the largely unused landing bay on the bigature, a close look at the work required to bring the Dwarf model up to date and the unused clamp that was to bring the Trojan back to the Dwarf.
All of the photos are presented with really interested notes from Steve and we cannot recommend looking through them highly enough. You can view them here.
The Garbage Podcast: Lost Episode Commentaries – Bodysnatcher
We’ve spent the last 6 weeks celebrating Red Dwarf’s silver anniversary, but we’re not quite done yet! So join us as we celebrate 5 years, 4 months and 17 days since Bodysnatcher made it’s way into the public domain! Ok, so this doesn’t quite fi in with the 25th anniversary episodes that we’ve been running recently, but with the episode representing a missing piece to the jigsaw of Series I, we let it pass by without comment. Despite some elements of it being reused in other episodes, the story stands up remarkably well on it’s own and sees Rob and Doug dealing with a lot of questions the audience would have had after The End, but which were largely overlooked as Future Echoes was moved into the second episode slot.
Would the series have benefited from it’s inclusion? Could Bodysnatcher and Me² really both be in there same series without leading to a feeling of repetition? And what are we going to do come our next season of podcasts now that we have used this joke more than Keeping Up Appearances used a template that simply required ‘Church’ and ‘Vicar” to be replaced with ‘Ship’ and ‘Captain’ to create a whole new script. Alex, James and Andrew take a look at Series I’s lost episode and consider what could have been…
You can download it from The Garbage Podcast site or via iTunes and if you enjoy it then please do leave us a rating/review to let other people know; we’d greatly appreciate it. You can also stream the podcast on the player below:
Scuttercast: The Beginning
The Scuttercast have uploaded the fifth of their shows covering Series X, this time reviewing Dear Dave. While the Dwarfcasts provided instant reactions and we at The Garbage Podcast looked back at the episodes after a few days to gauge the reactions and online opinions, the Scuttercast is able to take the information from the recently released DVD into account, providing a different look at the episodes to either of the other podcasts.
The episode is available to download and you can find it on the podcast’s website and is also available on iTunes.
The Red Dwarf Introcast: Psirens
A new episode of The Red Dwarf Introcast has been uploaded, this time reviewing the first episode in Series VI, Psirens. Heath, Angela Shane and Paul are joined by Euan Anckorn to discuss an episode that makes a change of direction for the show in terms of set, cast, story lines and ongoing narrative. So just what will Heath and Angela make of it? Will they love it? Or will they go against the general consensus? You’ll have to listen to find out.
The episodes are available to download and you can find them on the podcast’s website and is also available on iTunes.
While we encourage you not to put any stock in such things, it would be remiss of us not to at least give passing mention to this article on Divine Varod, which has been spread around online and reports on comments by Chris at Britscifi earlier this month:
…it looks like we’re in for a long wait, as a new series for Red Dwarf isn’t expected until 2015. This date looks set as Chris Barrie gave it to fans when asked in a packed room at Britscifi earlier this month. Writer Doug Naylor has been contracted for another 6 episodes.
Now, while we would all love to see a new series ASAP, we hasten to remind those f you that have been messaging us for information in relation to this story that it is in no way a confirmation. Aside from the fact that this is reporting on second hand information, which we always therefore take with a pinch of salt, the cast have been known to say things are further down the line than they actually are plenty of times in the past. It is far more likely that there has been a provisional penciling of dates which Chris is referring to. Once again, the only place that will provide an official confirmation is The Official Site and until it’s listed there, anything else should be regarded as rumour at best. You can be sure though that we’ll bring you any information the minute that we hear it.
The Garbage Podcast: Series I Commentaries – Me²
25 years on from the initial airing of Me², The Garbage Podcast mark the silver anniversary of Series I’s close with our commentary for the episode. Considered by many to be the best episode of the series, Me² sees the show pick up on the psyche based threads of the previous episode and runs with it. It also shows Rob and Doug writing with the actors in mind for the first time, due to the episode having been written after rehearsals. Certainly, it sees the series go out on a high and provides an interesting insight into the direction the show was to take in future runs.
Does the series go out on a high? Does the Gazpacho Soup revelation mark a change in the way we view Rimmer? Is the editing of this podcast putting Alex on the verge of a breakdown? And when given the opportunity, is this podcast starting to turn in to a worrying copy of AIOTM <aiotm>? The answer to all of these questions is a more unanimous yes than if you asked Rick Wakeman what progressive rock band he was in, if he enjoys eating curry while wearing a wizards cape and if he is prepared to be grumpy about anything for the right price. Alex, James and Andrew discuss this and more as they take a look at the last episode of Series I.
You can download it from The Garbage Podcast site or via iTunes and if you enjoy it then please do leave us a rating/review to let other people know; we’d greatly appreciate it. You can also stream the podcast on the player below:
Scuttercast: Dear Dave
The Scuttercast have uploaded the fifth of their shows covering Series X, this time reviewing Dear Dave. While the Dwarfcasts provided instant reactions and we at The Garbage Podcast looked back at the episodes after a few days to gauge the reactions and online opinions, the Scuttercast is able to take the information from the recently released DVD into account, providing a different look at the episodes to either of the other podcasts.
The episode is available to download and you can find it on the podcast’s website and is also available on iTunes.
‘Red Dwarf’ Talking Head Could Be A Future PA
You may have noticed various mentions of Red Dwarf on the news this week. This is due to researchers in Cambridge having developed a digital personal assistant whose talking, floating head on a black background is more than a little reminiscent of Holly.
Zoe, the avatar portrayed by Zoe Lister, can express a range of emotions such as happiness, anger and fear. The idea is that in the future she could be used on mobile devices and tablets in much the same way that Siri is currently used on apple devices.
You can read more about the story and see Zoe in action on the BBC News site and the Sky News site.
The Garbage Podcast: Series I Commentaries – Confidence & Paranoia
In this edition of our continuing celebration of Red Dwarf’s silver anniversary, we mark the 25th anniversary of the initial airing of Confidence & Paranoia with our latest commentary for the episode. With the last two shows of Series I, Red Dwarf really takes of as the writers and actors have eased into the show more. This also marks the start of what would be come a recurrent theme in the show; the exploration of the psyche. With a lack of outside influence to turn to, Rob and Doug instead have their characters look inward and we start to really get a deeper analysis of what makes them tick. In this episode, it’s Lister that we get under the skin of, finally starting to see what holds him back and why he never made any attempt to fulfil his dream with Kochanski when she was still alive.
Was a manifestation of the psyche an inevitability in a sci-fi comedy? Why did Rob and Doug keep coming back to it? Does Rimmer have Lister’s best interests at heart? And just who likes short shorts? (Spoiler: Chris Barrie fans like short shorts.) Literally some of these questions will be answered as Alex, James and Andrew take a look at a highlight of the first series.
You can download it from The Garbage Podcast site or via iTunes and if you enjoy it then please do leave us a rating/review to let other people know; we’d greatly appreciate it. You can also stream the podcast on the player below:
Dwarfcasts: Justice
Ganymede & Titan have uploaded a new edition of their Dwarfcast episode commentaries, this time covering Justice from Series IV. Ian Symes, John Hoare, Tanya Jones, Daniel Stephenson, Jonathan Capps and the Fan Club’s Jo Sharples look over the episode and afterwards there is also a bonus commentary on the Series IV deleted scenes.
You can find it here or you can subscribe via iTunes.
The Red Dwarf Introcast – Red Dwarf USA
A new episode of The Red Dwarf Introcast has been uploaded, this time reviewing Red Dwarf USA. Heath, Angela, Shane and Paul are joined by Nick Quinn to discuss what the much maligned both Red Dwarf US pilots. So just what will Heath and Angela make of it? Will they love it? Or will they go against the general consensus? You’ll have to listen to find out.
The episodes are available to download and you can find them on the podcast’s website and is also available on iTunes.
Danny John Jules In ‘Pussys Galore’
For Comic Relief, Danny John-Jules and his MotoVentures partner Steve Keys have created and released a comedy short in which they play Cat Man and Panther, fighting the villainous Slocombe and trying to stop her from hoarding all the red noses. And it’s all done in pink lycra! You can watch the short below:
“Electric cars? They’re rubbish aren’t they?!”
Next week sees Robert Llewellyn giving talks to various skeptic societies on the subject of electric cars and their worth. Here’s the blurb:
Electric cars? They’re rubbish aren’t they?! Nothing but glorified golf carts that take forever to charge and then run out of power on the way to the shops. Try finding somewhere to charge them. They cost a fortune to buy and another fortune to replace the battery when its range drops to half. You don’t want to believe all that nonsense about them being environmentally-friendly. They are actually worse than petrol-powered cars because the batteries are made from dirty lithium and use electricity made from dirtier coal. There isn’t even enough lithium in the world to make all the new batteries we’d need anyway. Electric cars are just rubbish. Aren’t they? – Robert says no. This evening he’ll tell us why he thinks we need to put away our prejudices and think seriously about electric vehicles as the future of transport.
You can see Bobby giving the talk at the following locations on the following dates and you don’t need to be a member to attend:
Having previously told you about Hattie’s appearance at Ruby Tuesdays in Central London, we can now also confirm that the next one will feature Norman Lovett. Here’s the blurb from the organisers:
Ruby Tuesdays continues its distinctly red shade with another Red Dwarf star as April’s headliner, NORMAN LOVETT.
Norman is a true legend of stand-up, with a career that stretches back some 30 years. As well as being recognised by as Holly the computer from the cult sci-fi sitcom, he was one of the small group of comics who played the original Comedy Store.
Also performing:
IAN SMITH. A star in its ascendency on the UK comedy circuit, Ian has been a finalist in pretty much every new act competition going. He gets extra points for being a support act for legendary wrestler Mick Foley in 2011. “He’s a smart operator with an appealing manner and can expect a fruitful comedy career ahead.” Chortle
AMY HOGGART as PATTIE BREWSTER. Pattie Brewster has no friends. Instead she sits around collecting cats and writing self-help books. “Smart and sassy… highly impressive and original characters.” The List. “She has the charm of Lucy Porter and the potential to reach even higher on the comedy ladder.” Chortle
ADAM OLIVER. With his unique and unpredictable brand of clowning, Adam has performed shows at Fringe festivals in Brighton, Edinburgh and Adelaide. In 2011, under his German alter-ego Stefan, he duped Radio 1 into allowing him on-air with David Hasslehoff. Expect plenty of audience interaction.
ALEX LOVE. Finalist in the highest profile comedy competition in the market town of Droitwich, Worcestershire, Alex is also quite keen on telling people that he’s a support act for Richard Herring’s Edinburgh preview in Brighton in July.
Introducing IAN SYMES. Upgrading himself from audience at the last Ruby to performer in his first ever gig, Ian is a big name on certain internet forums. He is occasionally recognised as being one of the presenters from Big Brother’s Bit on the Side on Channel 5.
Your MC for this fine evening will be PAUL LANGTON. Fresh from pulling out of Edinburgh 2013, Paul was a finalist in Up the Creek’s One to Watch competition in 2011 and likes to shout things.
The show takes place at The Queen’s Head in Piccadilly Circus at 8PM and entry is £3. You can find more details on the event’s Facebook page here.
Space Precinct Legacy: Blu Ray Release
Having mentioned the premiere screening of the documentary last week, we now have details of how to preorder Space Precinct Legacy on Blu Ray. The documentary is about the short lived Gerry Anderson series and among the talking heads are Bill Pearson and Steve Begg whose work on Red Dwarf you’ll be familiar with. The documentary also interviews members of the cast and well known people from the effects world such as Neil Gorton. Having watched the film at the premiere we have to say that it’s worth watching for Bill’s humorous contribution alone, but it’s an interesting look at an ambitious failure.
The SFX Award nominations have been announced this week, and Red Dwarf X is up for among the TV shows vying for a prize. Here’s the blurb from SFX:
Richard Naylor has been uploading a variety of behind the scenes pictures from Series X on Twitter. There are some interesting bits and pieces among them, so for those of you that missed them or those who aren’t on Twitter, here they are:
A new episode of The Red Dwarf Introcast has been uploaded, this time in the form of a special spoiler filled Series VII preview. Shane is joined by Rosie, Mabel, Darren, Nutty and Cappsy to discuss the many changes that occur in the series, just what the overall quality of the series is like and speculate on how Heath and Angela will react to the series when they watch it soon.
Regular readers of this site will already be aware from our roundup last week that ‘The Man In The Rubber Mask’ is no available to order in print from Amazon. Since then, the website has now also listed a Kindle version which can be downloaded now. Robert Llewelyn has been updating his book about the making of Red Dwarf, ‘The Man in the Rubber Mask’, to cover all of the events since the books release. An excellent audio version of the updated book has been available to download from AudioBoo and now the book is available from Amazon for the highly reasonable price of £6.74 for the paperback edition or the even more reasonable £3.08 for the Kindle edition.
