For the more terrifying of our readers that are keeping dedicated wall charts of dates and illicitly taken photos from serve station toilets, you can now update your list of important dates with January 20th 2016; the date that filming on Series XII began in ernest.
As we has suspected during the recording of XI, this has begun with location shooting. Given the time the crew had to shoot on location for last year, it was always most likely that they would be squeezing in a further shoot before the first audience recording of XII in a little over two weeks.
So before we go any further, let’s have a look at the relevant tweets:
Today is 1st shooting day on Red Dwarf XII. It’s going to be a massive smegfest.
— Robert Llewellyn (@bobbyllew) January 20, 2016
I know what head I’ll be ‘pulling on today’ …. #smegfest https://t.co/Lw6Dwrb1s2
— Danny John-Jules (@DannyJohnJules) January 20, 2016
Even in the bizarre and space weird universe Red Dwarf exists in, today is hyper-bizarre and giga-weird. Truly
— Robert Llewellyn (@bobbyllew) January 20, 2016
He’s so happy to be back. #RedDwarfXII pic.twitter.com/oDqH2voJfo
— Robert Llewellyn (@bobbyllew) January 20, 2016
Late night shoot on board Red Dwarf. Freezing and boiling in equal measure pic.twitter.com/XePCb6YAW3
— Craig Charles (@CCfunkandsoul) January 20, 2016
While these might not tell us a great deal, there are a couple of interesting little insights. First up, there’s Danny’s comment about what head he’ll be ‘pulling on today’. Is this just be a straightforward walking gag? Could it be a reference to what is being filmed and could possibly be related to the episode we heard about at Dimension Jump where everyone gets to be Kryten? Ok, it’s probably just a walking gag, but hey, information is thin on the ground at the moment and we’ll make the most of what we can get.
Aside from these tweets and a picture of a cold Craig Charles, there was also a tweet from Richard Naylor that has since been removed backed up the statement but Robert that the episode in question that they are filming for is unusual, suggesting that it may also end up being one of the more expensive episodes of the series too. Craig’s photo shows that the location shoot contains a night shoot in an industrial setting, but the flaming torch suggests it being something different than just a ship interior. All rather interesting and something that brings to mind the location shoots for episodes like Terrorform.
With the shoot continuing and audience recording looming eminently, we’re sure there will be a few more things to discuss in the coming weeks, so be sure to keep an eye on this site for updates, and on our Twitter for the most up to date news.