Thirty years. For many fans of Red Dwarf, it’s longer than they’ve been alive. But a big anniversary of course shouldn’t pass without being marked in some manner. The obvious thing to do would be to go back to the very first episode, but as we already did exactly this for the 25th anniversary, we instead decided to mark the occassion with a variety of pieces that cover all of the things we love both about the tv show and the wider Red Dwarf world.
So incase you missed anything earlier today here is our roundup of our various celebrations.
VIDEO: ‘Over to you Patrick…’
PODCAST: The Garbage Podcast – Series XII Retrospective
We look to the present day and take look back over the most recent series, and discuss where things have been left off and the state of Red Dwarf now that it has reached its thirtieth year.
How did the series compare to the ones that went before? What does the future hold for Red Dwarf? And after new years of new shows, how do we fill the void?
All these empty spaces and more will be filled as Alex, James and Andrew look back over Series XII and ahead to what may come next.
iTunes / RSS / Android / Direct Download / Stream:
VIDEO: All The Guitar Opening Titles (Series XII Edition)
You have have previosuly seen our compilations of all the guitar opening titles for Red Dwarf, where we decided to compile them all into one video just to see what they look like. It’s worth noting, we have a lot of free time. Well given there’s been a new series since our last update to the video, and given it’s the 30th anniversary and all, let’s take a look at an updated version.
You can also find Andrew’s breakdown of the differences between each intro here.
ARTICLE: ‘Please rush me my portable walrus polishing kit’: Remembering some of Red Dwarf’s more questionable merchandise
Red Dwarf’s 30th anniversary may well be worthy of celebration, but one aspect of recent Red Dwarf that has also had us celebrating at Gazpacho Soup is the return of official merchandise. We’re suckers for some tat with a logo on, and after so many years of sellers on eBay and the like profiting off of the show, it’s frankly long overdue.
But that’s not to say that all of the officially licensed (and borderline associated) merchandise over the years has been without its occasional missteps. But with money in our pockets and a collectors instinct in our hearts, we’ve certainly owned a fair few of these more questionable products over the years. In some ways, the ephemera linked to the show is some cases nearly as dear to us as the episodes themselves. Nearly.
So join us as we take a quick look back over some of our favorite problematic pieces of merchandise over the years. From the so-bad-it’s great to the great, to the flawed and even the just downright abysmal, here are just some of the items that have amused, shocked and embarrassed us in equal messure.
You can find the full article here.
PODCAST: The Garbage Podcast – Red Dwarf USA
Given we already covered The End, we look to what is essentially a remake of that episode: Red Dwarf USA.
It’s a project that is notorious for having been unsuccessful in getting a various for a whole host of reasons. With with all the intervening years since it was made, how does it fare looking back at it today?
We look at the pilot in both it’s edited and unedited forms as well as looking at various interviews from the time to try to assess the overall project
Could it have been a success? What worked and what didn’t? And why did a confusion over a chocolate bar cause so much bother to Doug?
All these sweet questions and more will be filled as Alex, James and Andrew look back and what might have been, all while only just managing to avoid doing silly accents.
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IN DEPTH: Infinity Welcomes Careful Adaptations: Red Dwarf & Comedy Novelisations
Novelisations were once a lifeline method of continuing to enjoy a film or television programme long after you had initially viewed it. For certain franchises, these could take on a life of their own. Over a decade before Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers was released in 1989, Porridge, one of Red Dwarf’s comedic inspirations, had already been adapted into multiple books.
The Red Dwarf novels also wouldn’t mark the end of these type of adaptations, with David Renwick adapting One Foot in The Grave in 1993. All three of these books have their own way of approaching the source material, and all have different successes and pitfalls. In comparing them we can get something of an insight into the writers approaches, and indeed why this style of comedy book is a sad loss.
What makes ‘Infinity…’ work so well, and how does it compare to these novelisations ? Alex examines these three different approaches.
You can read the full article here.
VIDEO: The End (Re-Re-Mastered)
For Red Dwarf’s 30th anniversary, we’re entering into the same spirit of celebration as the 10th anniversary. But after 3 decades, what new way can we re-evaluate the show’s debut episode? Why by remastering 1997’s Re-Mastered version of The End of course!
We’ve followed the same techniques employed in that project to further improve on a classic.
Zats All Folks!
So thank you for joining us today to mark three decades of Red Dwarf. We’ll forever be endebted to all who make it and for as we are sure is the case with many of you, it’s had a wider effect outside of the show on us, forming friendships, relationships and more that would never have existed without it. It’s been 30 exciting years, and here’s to more still yet to come!
