If I chop off Unplugged and leave it behind, can I take three?

He’s also just told me that the replacement episode is brilliant. Tell me this isn’t the best news you’ve heard all day?

Hmm, I smell a standalone episode that will lead quite nicely into Series IX.

Three new episodes? That’s practically a series in itself. God bless Dave.

Very interesting development - the question is, is this a standalone ep or a case of stretching BTE out over 3 episodes instead of 2? Bobby did already say that the 2-parter would be ‘significantly longer’ for DVD…

A standalone episode would be fantastic. I hope we still get Unplugged at some point though.

>Three new episodes? That’s practically a series in itself. God bless Dave

3 NEW EPISODES, GIVE DAVE A KNIGHTHOOD

It could be that Doug has written so much he feels that it would take 3 Episodes to do the Specials justice.

According to Bob, it’s due to time constraints that the cast can’t squeeze in Unplugged, and the replacement episode is, “Basically, same top quality smeg, in fact more top quality smeg than originally planned. Ooh there’s so much I can’t tell you. Smeg-tastic”

this is starting to sound like BITR either way lets hope its brilliant, 3 EPISODES THATS LIKE 1 MORE THAN 2 EPISODES :)

Yes, BITR does spring to mind…

Shame, I was looking forward to Unplugged. REALLY looking forward to it. Guess they might want to keep that for RD The Movie: The Stage Show.

Maybe Doug was able to prove to the execs at Dave that filming three episodes over just two *is* possible, after all…

Tell you what I’d prefer. A back to basics Red Dwarf episode that precedes Back to Earth, reintroducing the characters, resolving cliffhangers etc. Sort of like the Psirens for these specials.

ARP! This is excellent news, however this does mean no audience tickets for the Unplugged :o( I hope that they’ll try and do something with the Unplugged format at some point.

speaking of the cliffhangers ect this may be a oppertunity to reveal the resolution to a couple of them now we have over hours worth of glorious dwarf to watch (an hour and a half if its 30 mins without adds)

I really don’t think there needs a resolve of any previuos Red Dwarf. If it is 3 parts, then a stand alone project would just work as well. This new project has to offer new fans just as much as life long watchers.

Yeah but all it’d take would be a couple of throwaway lines to satisfy ten years of frustration.

Best pic yet. :-))

Yeah but all it’d take would be a couple of throwaway lines to satisfy ten years of frustration.

Ah, the desperation of cocaine addiction.

I’ve never ever been worried about continuity in Red Dwarf. At the end of the day, it is entertainment and meant to be enjoyed.

But to resolve any meandering loose ends…

Kochanski found a way back to her universe and her ‘Dave’.

Holly is on Red Dwarf, while the crew are on Starbug for the ‘adventure’ elements. Bring back Hattie Hayridge for Series IX and that sorts that one out.

The restored Rimmer dies just before the specials, which accounts for his older appearance.

Best pic yet. :-))

Isn’t it just? It doesn’t strictly speaking go with the article, but fuck it - I wanted to use it as soon as possible.

I don’t mind losing Unplugged as long as it IS remounted at some point, even if it’s part of some future Dwarf project. It sounded like such a great idea, and especially now we know there’s no audience for the episodes themselves. But if they can’t make it happen it’s fair enough.

I wonder whether the 3rd episode will just be the other two extended into three, with extra material Doug maybe already had to cut out of the scripts, or whether it will be a standalone extra of some sorts.

I initially assumed that it would be Back To Earth Part Three (especially considering Robert’s previous comments about extended versions on DVD), but there’s no reason why it couldn’t be a new story. I still think the former is more likely, but we could be in for a Out Of Time style standalone bottle show. We just don’t know.

Annoyingly, the next TOS update is SIX WHOLE DAYS away.

I’ll tell you what - this is a LOT easier to sell to more casual viewers, too. “Three episodes, and a Making Of” is far easier to stick in people’s heads than “Two new eps, a Making Of, and some Unplugged thingy…”

I wasn’t in love with the Unplugged concept, I foresaw a half-drunk cast wandering off from run-throughs of Marooned and talking about Craig Charles’ crack habit.

Hmm. As long as this doesn’t turn out like BITR, it’ll be great.

I like Series 8.

It would be great if the mystical 3rd episode could incorporate some of the characters absent from the other 2.

i would suspect it will get a mention on the wednesday dave update, or maybe sooner as its a change to the original plan

> It would be great if the mystical 3rd episode could incorporate some of the characters absent from the other 2.

A nearly deceased Norman Lovett?

So the live thing can’t happen because somehow the four characters involved don’t have the time to be in the same room at the same time?

Since when are the four of them so darn busy? Are they all secretly filming Blade IV, Tomb Raider IV, Coronation Street: The Movie, and Llewtube: The Movie?

Why? WHY?

As for more of the “normal” episodes: yes please. Also, this may all be going according to plan. Maybe Doug is very sneakily trying to get an entire series filmed. ;)

I look like a young Robert Llewyayaywwn, so I might make a fan movie about a young Kryten.

Shut up, I know, I know…

Well, Craig will be immensely busy with Corrie - they let him have time of specially to do Dwarf, and given how thoroughly they’ve been thanked since, it was presumably no small feat. I’m taking “the cast are incredibly busy” as meaning “Craig is tied in to a big contract”.

Right. … meh.

I do hope the DVD is bursting at the seams, Bodysnatcher proportions of bursting at the seams.

I like Series 8.

This is a discussion happening elsewhere. I don’t, and my point about BITR reinforces how many feel about BITR Pt 3. (and Pete Pt 2.)

I think the time issue is a big factor, and with the annoncement of no audience, then the un-plugged would follow. No time to get it all made and in time for April. I think an extra Episode would be better, as much as I would like to see them live-ing it up.

Man…I’m really disappointed by this news. Not because there’s an extra ep, but because I was really looking forward to Unplugged. And also because I get the feeling “postponed” really means “it’s not impossible that it will happen later, but don’t hold your breath.”

I think…see, my fears are as such: the new episodes won’t be so hot. But I can live with that. (They may be great, mind you. I haven’t made up my mind that they will suck, but, yes, I admit, there’s some fear lurking here.) If the episodes weren’t so good, however, we had Unplugged to look forward to, which would be almost a guaranteed success (comically speaking) because you’d have the whole cast together, horsing around, having fun, being silly. It was like a little bonus that you could look forward to even if the episodes weren’t doing it for you.

Now EVERYTHING is riding on the episodes. And…

…I don’t know. I’m getting nervous.

>As long as this doesn’t turn out like BITR, it’ll be great.

From Bobby’s Twitter in the near future:
“Unplugged has been scrapped in favor of a third episode, which will open with a lengthy recap of the previous two (including events that don’t have any impact on what you are about to see), followed by an extended version of the opening credits, a second recap by Hollister in case you missed or disliked the first, and then we make Carbug dance. You’re going to love it!”

I don’t see how budget tightness or time constraints could cause this… surely one single evening’s improvised filming in front of an audience with no sets would be cheaper and quicker than filming and editing an entire additional episode? Still, works for me…

i was not overjoyed and exited by the unplugged thing i thin it may have been a laugh but if i was asked would i rather have 2 episodes and an unplugged or 3 episodes anyday, i understand the people that wanted to see them infront of a ive audience are going to be dissapointed but personally im pleased with 3 episodes, just NO DANCING OR DINOSOURS PLEASE

I don’t see how budget tightness or time constraints could cause this… surely one single evening’s improvised filming in front of an audience with no sets would be cheaper and quicker than filming and editing an entire additional episode?

I think the point is that the cast are only available for the two weeks’ studio filming, and it’s proving tricky to get them all on board for an additional evening.

Well, this is exciting!

I don’t have BITR style worries about this as I assume that the shooting schedule remains the same and this is more of a move to use a greater amount of the stuff shot in the next two weeks for the episodes that would’ve otherwise need to be cut. There’s no hurried re-recordings of the third episode as the material would be there, anyway.

Be nice to clarify if we’re getting a three-part Back to Earth, or a 2-part Back to Earth and a third, standalone episode. Andrew? Or has anyone asked Robert on Twitter?

>Surely one single evening’s improvised filming in front of an audience with no sets would be cheaper and quicker than filming and editing an entire additional episode?

It might just be a question of convenience. Filming additional material while the cast/crew/sets are still there for a third ep is probably easier (and therefore chepaer) than resetting in a new recording space with new crew members, etc, etc. for Unplugged.

Because of all this Dwarf news, I now have virtually no interest in the new Trek movie anymore.

Again, disappointment that there’ll be no chance for an audience recording (like I’d be able to get there anyway), but three new episodes is going to be great, I’m sure.

Seven weeks, six days, five hours and twenty-eight minutes to go.

I think.

This has to be one of the better G&T headlines, too.

It is, but “can I make three?” would have sealed it as the best.

I hope they show it to an audience and record a laugh track as a selectable option for the DVD, just in case the show feels too… weird.

We can all record our own laugh track and send it in.

So, 90 minutes of near-silence with the odd spot of coughing and taking a phone call from a relative?

Why couldn’t they show it live in front of an audience like an hour before it airs, and pump in the audio from the live showing?

Because there are other reason why they’ve decided not to go with an audience, other than storyline leaking. And that would be a stupid thing to do, anyway. THINK, CARL, THINK.

i dont see the big deal in having an audience or laugh track . if you find it funny your going to laff, if you dont your not going to, you dont need to be told something is funny because some people are laughing in the background. personally im looking forward to the specials not having laugh track of any kind.

Because it will be jarring to casuals viewers.

> you dont need to be told something is funny because some people are laughing in the background.

That’s not what a laugh track is about, though.

i just dont find it a big deal that there isnt going to be any laughter there. i think it worked for tikka apart from the slight pauses for laughs,which wont be happening this time , so im all in favour

Laughter is part of Red Dwarf as a SITCOM. The new episodes aren’t being done as a sitcom, so it would seem. It looks to me that they’re being done in the way VII SHOULD have been done 13 years ago. Can’nae believe it was THIRTEEN years ago btw. Fucking time, where does it go? I was 13 myself then, no wonder I was excited about VII, you get excited about a lot of things at 13. Like P.E..

A friend and I used to annoy the class reciting Series VII.

Interesting. I’m also hoping for a bottle show, rather than shoving the BTE leftovers into another episode.

I’m slightly concerned that this is being screened in less than 2 months, and they’ve just conjured up another 24 mins of scripted comedy from nowhere.

>Or has anyone asked Robert on Twitter?

I asked him almost straight after he mentioned the 3rd episode. Almost always replies, and didn’t on this occasion so I assume he’s not sure if he can say or not.

We’ll probably find out soon though. Hopefully they learned from BITR that stretching out an hour’s material over 3 shows doesn’t cut it.

> Hopefully they learned from BITR that stretching out an hour’s material over 3 shows doesn’t cut it.

What makes you think there’s only an hour’s material, though? Considering they’re almost certainly still shooting over two weeks there just wouldn’t be room for filming extra filler material as they did with BITR. This seems like more of a case of just allowing themselves to get more of the filmed material on screen rather than in some extended DVD edition. Which makes perfect sense to me.

Wait, there’s lots of “24 minute eps” stuff in this thread. I thought it was going to be 30 minute eps in a 40 minute slot, as Dave often do?

*wonders idly if its’ gone from 2x30 to 3x24…*

>I thought it was going to be 30 minute eps in a 40 minute slot, as Dave often do?

I think Bobbyllew confirmed that it was a 30 minute slot. SoundableObject got a bit upset. There was a whole thing.

>GIVE DAVE A KNIGHTHOOD

I concur modestly

This does not bode well.

> this is starting to sound like BITR

Heh. I was going to say Pete; famously stretched due to budgetary constraints.
I would really like to get excited about 3 eps … if I could be sure that this wasn’t the case.

I don’t really get the whole “Pete was stretched to two episodes due to budget constraints” line really… the first part was always a script called Captain’s Office, and the bulk of Pete pt. 1 doesn’t really apply to Pete pt. 2 anyway. The time ward aspect obviously is vital, but… I don’t buy it. I think that was a cop out.

> if I could be sure that this wasn’t the case.

Or if you could say anything that wasn’t founded in crushing, unfounded pessimism.

This is the news of the month, 3 new episodes isnstead of two and we are still getting Unplugged at a later date, it is like somebody came up to me and said I am taking away that thing you like and replacing it with that thing you really like, 3 brand new proper episodes of Red Dwarf in three days, fuck news of the month, this is news of the year, I’m going to be happy for the rest of the week (and probably all of next week).

Yeah, Pete wasn’t stretched - it’s just that they decided to slightly rejig and rename Captain’s Office. The only “stretching” that was done was padding BITR out into three episodes to make up for the fact that Earth dropped off the back of the series.

The more I think about it, the more I’d love a stand alone third episode, preferably on the Friday, before Back to Earth, to deal with all the loose ends and plot questions, and just restablish the setting. Even a series I/II style very low budget character-driven affair. Then Sat-Sun, Back to Earth, and Mon the docu.

Just because of the danger of weakening BtE by stretching it too far, a la BitR. Last thing we need is another 5-10 min recap session before each episode. I’m fairly sure Doug has learned from that mistake, though.

Why does the extra episode have to have a plot (bear with me), watching a few weeks back the Deleted Scenes for ‘Polymorph 2: Emohawk’ and that had about a 15 minute scene inside the cockpit if the deleted bits were added, why can;t we have a 24 minute episode set entirely inside the cockpit of Star Bug, I for one would welcome that, I always prefered cockpit scenes to bunkroom scenes.

I’m guessing the announcement of the third episode, coupled with the cancellation of Unplugged, means more time (and the money saved from Unplugged) to play with. This could mean the reinstatement of elements of the script previously dropped.

And we all know who had a last minute e-mail to say his part had been dropped…

If anything, I’d say that the dropping of Unplugged, coupled with Norman Lovett’s recent outbursts, has just increased the chances of Hattie Hayridge appearing in at least one of the new episodes.

Speculation, of course, but if Norman was originally told to keep his schedule free, that implies that Holly was in the original script. And if Doug just had to find another 24-30 mins of script to produce, chances are some of that dropped material will find its way back in.

And, SoundableObject, that’s kinda what I was getting at as well with the very low budget / character-driven episode remark. A standalone episode, mainly dialogue, to set the scene for BtE. It’s prob just gonna be a three-parter though.

I don’t think Doug has the patience (or maybe even the confidence) of a David Renwick to do a whole show set in a bunkroom/cockpit… even though Duct Soup could almost be considered his ‘Beast in the Cage’.

And we all know how popular that episode is.

I don’t think Doug has the patience (or maybe even the confidence) of a David Renwick to do a whole show set in a bunkroom/cockpit… even though Duct Soup could almost be considered his ‘Beast in the Cage’.

neandercarl, meet Marooned. Marooned, neandercarl.

> Or if you could say anything that wasn’t founded in crushing, unfounded pessimism.

Hey, I’m a glass-half-empty person. :P

> Pete wasn’t stretched - it’s just that they decided to slightly rejig and rename Captain’s Office

I may be wrong about this, but I always thought that they spent so much on the CGI for the dinosaur that they ran out of money for the final ep (which was originally going to be a 2-parter) and had to make the Pete storyline last for 2 eps.
Was that not the case?

Fuck a duck, three new eps. The only way this could conceivably turn out for the worse if it things are stretched. While I’d prefer a stand-alone story before BtE, I don’t mind a there parter as long as there is no stretching of any sort.

http://twitter.com/bobbyllew/status/1209645214

This sort of says that it is a seperate episode and not a fleshed out BTE.

Well… no. Because the Pete storyline doesn’t last for two eps. Pete shows up at the end of an episode that is otherwise entirely unrelated.

It might be the case that they spent too much on the dinosaur to be able to do Earth (although since Earth never even got as far as a script, that doesn’t seem likely), but all that meant is that they dropped Earth and expanded BITR instead. I don’t think Earth was ever meant to be a two-parter.

But then, I don’t own the script book that explains all of this, and I’m not Andrew Ellard, so someone who is either one of those things had probably better answer instead.

>I don’t think Earth was ever meant to be a two-parter.

It was, it is mentioned in the Series VIII script book, a book which everybody should read for the Doug Naylor introductions alone.

Earth was only a two-parter in the sense that Only The Good would likely have included a cliffhanger which would have led directly on to it.

BITR gained extra material - mostly in its final third - in part to compensate for this. My personal opinion is that DOug shied away from doing another bottle show after the negative reaction to Duct Soup. Which I think is a huge shame, since the prison setting and studio audience would have made for a potentially far better show. Though I remain keen on a lot of Duct Soup’s content, doing something bottle-y in Series VIII could have been the best Doug Naylor solo show of VII and VIII.

It’s very hard to define the process that led to Pete becoming a two-parter, since Doug was trying out various ideas, as was Paul Alexander, all of which might have become an episode. The creative process isn’t quite as linear as we’d like it to be when talking in retrospect, scripts are amalgamated, ideas merged, schedules change. I don’t think there was ever a locked-down Pete script that ran to a single part - but I think they expected to get there, until other forces came in.

As you know, Rob and Doug would always write, write and rewrite as a series would go along. They famously missed the studio day for Backwards - their first-broadcast episode as full producers - because Paul Jackson had cast them out to get the final show written, since it didn’t exist yet even in outline form. This high-energy, seat-of-the-pants style runs throughout the history of the show, it’s how it was always done…and that much didn’t change on VII and VIII.

As for BTE, as ad hoc script editor/consultant/whatever I have loads to say about what’s going on and why people really don’t need to worry. But that will have to wait until later.

The funniest thing in the script book is Doug explaining how long it took to plan and shoot the Blue Midget dance and how annoyed he was that the newsgroups then said it was just used to ‘pad out the show’.

Another thing, if anyone’s got the script book handy, just look at the pic on page 62, the one of the crew and Ed. Who does Ed remind you of in that shot. I just glanced at it now and thought ‘wtf???’

> I have loads to say about what’s going on and why people really don’t need to worry. But that will have to wait until later.

Let me guess, you’re writing the third episode…

Scan the sod in.

Though I remain keen on a lot of Duct Soup’s content, doing something bottle-y in Series VIII could have been the best Doug Naylor solo show of VII and VIII.

Man to Man with Birdman

So will ‘The Making of Back to Earth’ be changed to something else to include the extra episode.

>if anyone’s got the script book handy, just look at the pic on page 62, the one of the crew and Ed. Who does Ed remind you of in that shot. I just glanced at it now and thought ‘wtf???

im currently looking at ed on page 62 and he does remind me of someone i just cant think whoo ?? enlighten us ? my bad guess is well i aint going to say .does it have any star wars connection ?

Scan please.

I always thought Howard Burden looked like Ed Bye’s younger, plumper, ever so slightly special needs brother.

>Man to Man with Birdman

Ass to Mouth with Archie

tried uploadin the pic . went drasticly wrong not done it before DOH

>Ass to Mouth with Archie

You never go Ass to Mouth. Unless it is in the heat of the moment.

You’ll get what you’re given.

>What makes you think there’s only an hour’s material, though? Considering they’re almost certainly still shooting over two weeks there just wouldn’t be room for filming extra filler material as they did with BITR.

I never said that I thought there was only an hour’s material - I said hopefully that won’t be the case, since they learned that mistake from BITR.

I also said earlier in this same thread that I would assume it was the extended DVD stuff that would be broadcast.

> im currently looking at ed on page 62 and he does remind me of someone i just cant think whoo ?

Someone out of a current Ch4 sitcom soon to be seen in a new ITV2 sitcom.

> neandercarl, meet Marooned. Marooned, neandercarl.

Sorry, I must have missed the fact that Rob Grant was on holiday that week.

> Someone out of a current Ch4 sitcom soon to be seen in a new ITV2 sitcom.

Chris O’Dowd?

I just realised today these specials will be the first proper episodes of Red Dwarf not to be released on VHS.

Regarding the picture at the top:
Has Doug got big hands, or do they dish out very small cups of tea on Corrie?

You never go Ass to Mouth

Clerks II?

FM looks worth a watch, not the magazine.

>>You never go Ass to Mouth

>Clerks II?

That is what I was refering to.

Bobby is now saying that Unplugged has been “cancelled”

It’s worth noting that Friday’s TOS update states at the end:

It’s the start of a journey that will conclude on the Easter weekend as Red Dwarf: Back to Earth crash-lands on Dave on April 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th.

Our first hint that Unplugged wasn’t happening! Little hints like that are often tucked away at the end of TOS news stories…

> FM looks worth a watch

I’ve seen them all now, and it is.

> Chris O’Dowd?

Yes. He looks like he could be his twin brother in that pic, and even moreso on the big crew pic at the end of the script book.

So they have pulled the plug on unplugged and plugged the hole with another plugged in red dwarf episode. erm… so who’s turn on the electric blanket?

Sounds like really good news though, now we get a half series.

> Our first hint that Unplugged wasn’t happening!

Not really - it lists four dates, and one of those is still the “Making of”, so there was no reason to believe (even in retrospect) that one of them wasn’t going to be RDU.

I dunno - I wondered about it at the time. True, the Making Of wasn’t mentioned, but it’s still related to Back To Earth, whereas Unplugged isn’t.

It gave me pause for thought, anyway, even if it’s not specific.

No, John, don’t you realise that you’re hideously, hideously wrong?

Just a thought is ‘Back to Earth’ definitely the title of a 3 part story (with cliffhangers, major episode-to-episode carry over etc) or more of an arc/theme subtitle-y type thing ala ‘Red Dwarf VI: The Starbuggers’. Or something.

I think it’s a proper title since it’s been mentioned in relation to the project so often. I don’t think that was the case with the theme of other series was it? More something added afterward.

This particularly makes sense considering they form a special rather than the usual 6-8 series.

Episode 1 - Back To Earth
Episode 2 - The Beginning
Episode 3 - The Doug Naylor Primetime Amateur Cabaret Spectacular

Episode 3 - The Doug Naylor Primetime Cabaret Spectacular

I would seriously pay big money to see this.

We nearly had it in the form of ‘Unplugged’.

A half-drunk cast abandoning Marooned and talking about Craig Charles’ crack habit for the remaining 23 minutes.

You’ve already done that one, and it was shit the first time.

Weren’t you one of the Little Rascals?

FM looks worth a watch

I’ve seen them all now, and it is.

That’s good news! TV on standby! Ummm

> The Doug Naylor Primetime Cabaret Spectacular

A musical Dwarf? I’d be somewhat interested in that actually… hell if something like Scrubs can pull it off!

> hell if something like Scrubs can pull it off!

God, I love that episode. There are some really fantastic songs in there both musically and comedy-wise. They sum up all the characters brilliantly.

Yeah I converted it into a soundtrack for my iPod I loved it that much…

“We’re closer than the average man and wife,
That’s why our matching bracelets say Turk and J.D.
You know I’ll stick by you for the rest of my life.
You’re the only man who’s ever been inside of me!

…whoah I just took out his Apendix!”

I actually think I need to watch it now… *goes to boxsets*

As much as I dislike it when shows turn musical, I bet Dwarf could pull it off. So far the musical aspects of the show have all been excellent - Tongue Tied, the Rimmer Song, Ganymede and Titan..

I saw the musical episode of Scrubs for the first time just a couple of weeks ago - funnily enough, while I was in hospital. Oh the irony.

Plus it’d mean we’d get a nice new handful of pieces by Howard probably. Who I’m hoping [but doubting] is involved with the new specials.

Well, Danny and Craig can sing…If Chris could, presumably he wouldn’t have mimed to the Munchkin song, and Bobby singing in a Kryten voice would be a very peculiar thing indeed.

We know Craig can sing…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6G1uEPtumI0

Jesus fuck that song just doesn’t end, does it?

It’s a brilliant parody of modern R&B. Shame the YouTube commenters don’t quite get that.

As I understand it, it was a real song, and those vocals were just placeholders while the lyrics were being developed… and then somebody decided to just release it, as is.

Which is just another layer of the brilliance of the song - about as much thought went into it as would a “regular” R&B track.

Delicious.

The simpsons version is interesting

Heard a rumour that the third new episode on Dave will be seperate from the Back to Earth two parter, will be the last show to air, and will end on a major cliffhanger!

The working title for the script at the moment is Dinohawk: Pete II (Pt 1)

>Heard a rumour that the third new episode on Dave will be seperate from the Back to Earth two parter, will be the last show to air, and will end on a major cliffhanger!

I heard that the cliffhanger will be Lister contracting herpes.

Heard a rumour that the third new episode on Dave will be seperate from the Back to Earth two parter, will be the last show to air, and will end on a major cliffhanger!

[citation needed]

> The working title for the script at the moment is Dinohawk: Pete II (Pt 1)

I’m going to kill myself.

[citation needed]

He has this forum where he gets e-mails from someone at “Dave TV”

The working title for the script at the moment is Dinohawk: Pete II (Pt 1)

*cries* (mostly with laughter)

Heard a rumour that the third episode will be completely claymation after the success of the sequence in BITR Pt 3.

Also heard a rumour that the episode will be called “Timeslides Part 2”. It has nothing do with Timeslides, but Doug feels that he is no longer able to come up with a title that doesn’t have the word “part” in it.

Nice try, guys, but it’s already been leaked that the third new special is indeed standalone: it’s a half-hour pilot for the upcoming Dave original “Meet the Dibbleys.”

Breaking news: I hear there’s been a big change of plans over the last couple of days. The third episode will still be standalone, but is now planned to be a pilot episode for a spin-off.

‘Knot Going Out’, will feature Warden Knot resurrected as a Hologram who falls in love with his female Red Dwarf room-mate Doc Newton, and is torn between his love for her and his friendship with her smitten ex-boyfriend Baxter. Sources describe the script as “funny (as long as it’s not on BBC One)”.

This bugs me…

From today’s TOS update.

“but this was always a three-part story cramming itself into two episodes. Now… well, now it can breathe.”

Then why not budget and schedule for THREE episodes? If it’s great and it all works in three episodes then fine. All is great and dandy, but if a three-part story was the intention all along then three episodes should have been part of the original Dave deal.

That said I guess the way the world works now this kind of scenario could have happened years ago and we’d have been none the wiser (and unbiased by it) until months, perhaps years after broadcast.

I hope it’s good, I hope it’s great. The update does read a bit “Don’t Panic! - It’ll be fine”.

Then why not budget and schedule for THREE episodes?

Because the episodes are being made in the real world. It’s not a case of Doug saying “I want three episodes” and Dave saying “OK!”.

According to Robert Llewellyn’s Twitter yesterday:”Just recorded Kryten monologue for You Tube. It’s not on yet. Will post it this weekend. Early finish for me today”
can not wait!

According to Robert Llewellyn’s Twitter yesterday:”Just recorded Kryten monologue for You Tube. It’s not on yet. Will post it this weekend. Early finish for me today”
can not wait!

YES WE’VE GOT A VIDEO

> Because the episodes are being made in the real world. It’s not a case of Doug saying “I want three episodes” and Dave saying “OK!”.

So are you implying that Doug’s plan was always to do three episodes?

I’m not trying to be deliberately negative. I REALLY want these episodes to be the greatest thing since sliced space weevil, but given the last two series it’s incredibly hard to buy into the “every scene is so crucial” spiel of today’s update. If it proves that way, fine.

I guess on the plus side it’s expanded to three as opposed to stretched to three.

> given the last two series it’s incredibly hard to buy into the “every scene is so crucial” spiel of today’s update.

Every scene is crucial. The script development process this time has been very different to any previous. Not least (but not merely) because I’m involved.

I’d equate it to…bah, I dunno, let’s say Kingdom of Heaven, which ‘makes sense’ in its theatrical release, but was written to be far more layered and interesting - which we didn’t see until the Director’s Cut DVD. But even that’s not quite right, because at this stage you couldn’t cut the script down to 45 minutes without gutting to the point of making it incomprehensible.

The first version was close enough to two-ep length, plus some overage. But while the rewrites made it longer, it wasn’t a case of expanding scenes just for more lines and laughs. It was finding ideas in the first draft that deserved expansion, which then knocked on to other scenes, added extra themes, twists and emotional beats.

I’m SO proud of our development work on this script, I can’t tell you.

What he said.

Ellard. You’ve got to love him haven’t you?

> Ellard. You’ve got to love him haven’t you?

You really have. It’s hard to be worried about how these episodes are gonna turn out when you have Andrew and Bobby going on about how amazingly awesome the scripts are at every opportunity they get. My mind has been put completely at rest.

Although, to be fair, it is their job.

You wouldn’t have Robert starting his Twitter entry with “Jesus Christ, these new scripts are shite. Gouge your eyes out now, because you’re not going to want to see these fucking things.”

Likewise, Andrew’s weekly TOS update isn’t going to say, “Well, three new episodes have been commissioned by Dave. I’m involved with them and, quite frankly, they’re embarrassing. What was Doug Naylor thinking? They should have let it rest, to be honest.”

No, I have complete and total belief in the whole team. I can’t wait.

Heh. Actually if they did that we’d all all still want to watch to see how bad it was… but no. Obviously, if they disliked it they’re not likely to say so…. but then they’re not obliged to be really enthusiastic either. (In case that sound naive on my part what I’m really saying is sometimes we need to give people the benefit of the doubt.)

If all goes well we’ll have great episodes and a good time.

If it goes bad then it’s round to the GNP manor with bazookoids set to spank, and again, a good time. (Grantedly of a wholly different kind.)

It’s a win-win situation either way.
;)

Joking aside, I’m feeling optimistic (with just a leaning toward worry).

> extra themes, twists and emotional beats

This I like.

Especially the beats.

Sorry, I think I’ve slipped into a slightly fruity parallel universe. I’ll be back to normal in a jiffy. Whatever that is.

>“Jesus Christ, these new scripts are shite. Gouge your eyes out now, because you’re not going to want to see these fucking things.”

Is Norm on Twitter?

> I’m SO proud of our development work on this script, I can’t tell you.

I WANT TO BELIEVE

http://www.tvscoop.tv/2009/02/new_red_dwarf_s.html

TV “Scoop”, there.

Ah, someone from Dave probably emailed them about it.