This part will cover December to mid-January.
Disclaimer: I have not seen any of the episodes being filmed. Unlike Alex, any speculation from me comes from a position of a person who knows nothing for certain about the new series.
December 2011
2nd December
December began with Danny John-Jules sending fans into overload with the hint that Duane Dibbley would be returning with the following tweet:
By the way, was in Knightsbridge at Adrian Milsom’s today having my Cat and Duane teeth adjusted today.Does your jaw shrink when your old?
He then clarified with the following tweet:
1. I haven’t seen all the scripts. 2. Having all the teeth adjusted was generally covering all based. 2 sets Cat. 1 set Duane.
The same day, the official Red Dwarf twitter page opened for business to deliver all the latest official news in the Red Dwarf world.
12th December
Doug Naylor confirmed on twitter that the show would indeed feature models rather than CGI for the ships. Though he didn’t elaborate beyond a one word confirmation:
Models.
Robert Llewellyn confirmed on twitter that filming would begin the following day with the following tweet:
Getting ready for a long day of rubber tomorrow. The first this series. Ultra close shave tonight, stuble and Kryten don’t mix.
13th December
Danny John-Jules tweeted that he was on his way to get made up as Cat:
Not far from Shepperton now. Getting ready to turn into a pussy.I’m clean shaven for the first time since Back To Earth!
#smoothasababy‘sbum
He also went on to tease the fans by jokingly saying it was the worst sitcom since Goodnight Sweetheart, then realising an actress from Goodnight Sweetheart is guest starring in the episode as he tweets:
Oh S***! I’ve just realised that the actress appearing in this episode of RD was in Goodnight Sweetheart!
15th December
After two days of pre-records, the cast and crew had a day of camera rehearsal for the live filming the following day as Robert tweets:
This was always, for some reason one of my fave times on RD. Camera rehearsals for tomorrow night. Lookin’ good so far.
Ed Moore, the second unit director of photography, posted a sneaky peak of the audience monitors in place for the following day of filming as his tweet elaborates:
All 4
#reddwarf Epic camera blocked in for tomorrow’s live show. OB guys putting in final audience monitors. Exciting!
16th December
The first audience day of Red Dwarf X zoomed up and with it came a flurry of updates.
The official twitter page updated with a sneaky peak of the set:
Though this wouldn’t be the only sneaky peak of the day, the official Dave website and twitter page updated with clear picture of a door, an open one!
This picture was followed by a video released on the official Dave YouTube page showing a few seconds of the outside of Shepperton Studios with a quick peep of Chris Barrie and an “H”.
Robert Llewellyn also posted an Audioboo recorded the day before, during camera rehearsal.
As happened with each episode, a small amount of people didn’t manage to make it to filming. 20 people missed the day for the first episode as Doug tweets:
20 free tickets due to traffic problems. First come first serve!!
Then the episode was filmed in-front of an audience. The first such occurrence since 1998. How would it go down with the audience? Well according to a video posted by Dave a week later covering the first episode it went down rather well.
17th December
Ganymede and Titan posted their first set report on the filming of Red Dwarf X. Though spoiler free, it teases quite a bit but is also very complimentary of the episode:
it’s the funniest and most satisfying Dwarf we’ve seen for a very long time
Robert Llewellyn also posted a blog post about the first audience filming which can be found here.
19th December
Rehearsal for Episode 2 began as Robert tweets:
In rehearsals again, studio chilly, wearing a tragic hat.
This “tragic hat” he is wearing can be explained by his blog post found here. Poor bald Kryten.
20th December
Wired posted a set report for the filming on Episode 1. They seemed to like it.
Filming began on Episode 2 for pre-records as Robert tweets:
Tweeting in Full Kryten (no gloves) as Lord Barrie and I run through our lines.
#anotherdayonthesmallrougeone
This tweet was followed by a few by Danny:
Waiting around for
@bobbyllew and Chris Barrie to get blown up so I can do my next scene…. How hard can THAT be, I hear you say.At last! I’ve just finished another scene. One more biggie before the end of the day.Chris
@bobbyllewand me pooping ourselves (2 1/2 pages)
Ed Moore also tweeted the following on the scene being filmed:
Some great steadicam stuff today with Kryten, Rimmer, a corridor and a SFX team. If only I’d known at 15 I’d be doing this 13 years later..
23rd December
The official Red Dwarf site updated with a set report covering the first audience recording. As with the previous two reports covering episode 1, it was positive.
Camera rehearsal opened the second day for audience filming as Robert tweets:
Camera rehearsals on Red Dwarf, we’re slowly blocking our way through. Light week for me, monster, brain melting episode for Craig.
More people turned up to the audience recording this week, only six people didn’t make it as Doug tweets:
6 spares main gate mention Helen Norman
The episode finished filming as the shortest episode record of Dwarf history as Doug tweets:
The fastest recording we’ve ever done.
Red Dwarf filming would then go on hiatus for just over a week until 3rd January when they would be restarting for Episode 3.
24th December
Ganymede and Titan posted their second set report for the audience recordings. While this report is a little more negative compared with the previous report it still says the following:
probably the best Red Dwarf made since Series VI
25th December
26th December
Huffington Post posted a set report for the second audience recording. They were very positive, describing it as “classic Red Dwarf”.
January 2012
3rd January
The first day of rehearsals begun, a day later than usual to accommodate the bank holiday Monday (this moved the entire schedule of the week filming a day later meaning the audience filming is on a Saturday rather than the usual Friday).
Robert posted a blog with a picture of the back of a new set for Episode 3 which he describes as:
nothing short of breathtaking
4th January
The first location filming of the series was confirmed by Robert with this tweet:
Been filming outside this morning. Everyone freezing. Except me, just comfy.
#smugmode sir.
This location filming was used as fodder for a video posted by Dave a few days later where you can see Cat’s new hairdo.
7th January
Camera rehearsal opened the day for the third audience recording as Robert tweets:
Camera rehearsal. Standing backstage with the comedy legend that is Arnold J Rimmer. Going okay so far. And … action!
The audience recording went along very well according to a tweet by Robert the following day:
Last nights show went very well, I’ll RT some comments in a mo, but it was a very tough night for cast, everyone nervous beforehand
Though it did take a little longer than usual as Robert tweets:
Excellent night, when we got to the last scene with 7 minutes to spare, we all breathed a major sigh of relief. Good fun
8th January
Ganymede and Titan posted their third set report. The report described episode 3 as “the most remarkable series X episode recorded so far” but says they would need to wait till broadcast to truly gauge the success of the episode.
10th January
Originally scheduled rehearsals from the previous day were cancelled as Robert tweets:
Due to sudden change in Red Dwarf schedule, not rehearsing today, instead been to very exciting meeting about new series of Fully Charged.
The crew launched right into filming for episode 3 as Robert tweets:
Morning all. Off into the land of rubber Another day in the sweaty, dangerous and uncharted comedy mines. hey ho, hey ho, it’s off to work
11th January
It seems the strain of loosing a day of production put extra pressure on the cast and crew as Robert tweets:
Phew, we did it. OMG, that, at the risk of sounding like a drama queen luvvie, was a tough day. Even the crew said it was a tough day.
13th January
As the fourth audience recording turned around, the teasers continued from the official site. These teases included a picture of a guest set.
Dave also released a video with the second unit director of photography Ed Moore explaining the camera set up for the new series.
Camera rehearsal opened the day as usual as Robert tweets:
Got to work early, in the set, alone alone, spooky. We start camera rehearsals at 10, this evening we record RD in front of audience…nnnng
As the audience record approached, they had a few corporate drop outs from filming as Doug tweets:
Last minute corporate drop outs. Spare seats for tonight’s show. First come, first served there are a few.
14th January
Robert updated his blog with a short post about the filming of episode 4.
15th January
Ganymede and Titan posted their fourth set report. The report sums up the episode with the following:
This is a very complicated episode, but without the ending, it’s very much in the hands of the edit and the broadcast to cast my full/true opinion, but from what I have seen of the episode, it’s got some great gags, some brilliant plot ideas and some excellent character work.
This continues the generally very positive reception of the previous 3 episodes by Ganymede and Titan.
A Diary of Red Dwarf X: Part 1 can be found here.
A Diary of Red Dwarf X: Part 3 will cover Mid-January to present.
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