Red Dwarf: Back To Earth Talkback. (Spoilers)

[NecronLord]

They broke the fourth wall.

At this point, I'm hoping that thing was a Despair Squid.

[Crazedwraith]

I'm wondering what Cat was doing leaving that origami over the place. Plus the references to a series 9 & 10 of Red Dwarf....

[andrewgpaul]

Remember when Lister was reading the back of the DVD case, and it said "Bladerunner-like", and he went "huh?". This episode was pretty much nonstop Bladerunner references after that - the Cat imitating Adama's little habit from Bladerunner, the snake scale in the bath, the ridiculous pan & enhance scene, the interrogation of the nose-maker, with Rimmer taking Roy Batty's role.

The reference that's baffling me is after Rimmer pushes the science officer in front of the car, and Kryten says "She never saw that coming. I did". It's in there as if it's a movie quote, but I don't recognise it.

The Season 9 & 10 references are, I think, to mess with us - this thread has just had a dozen posts trying to work out where in continuity it lies, and guess what - they're all wrong!

[NecronLord]

Honestly, if they wanted to do Blade Runner, I'd have preffered they find a way back to Earth. Earth entirely occupied by a society of Rogue Simulants. Whereupon they're hunted down as 'human scum.'

[Bounty]

Part 2: dull, slow, exposition-y and lame. The only interesting part was the SF shop with the photo and the list of stuff left on Red Dwarf.

Maybe I'm just missing what they're trying to do with this mini - maybe it's not supposed to be funny - but compared to even the mediocre episodes in the series proper it is just not even entertaining.

[Gemini-Preserver]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsWDfS50 ... re=related

Apprently shown on Dave awhile ago. As prevoiusly mentioned it is like the breif S2 to S3 explainer.
It's good to see that the small red one has returned pretty much to its original look. Not the S8/remastered version
but CGI Skutters! What would of been wrong of using a real one...unless the beeb had something to say about it..?

[Bounty]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsWDfS50 ... re=related

Apprently shown on Dave awhile ago. As prevoiusly mentioned it is like the breif S2 to S3 explainer.
It's good to see that the small red one has returned pretty much to its original look. Not the S8/remastered version

Except that doesn't explain the first thing about what happens before Back To Earth

[NecronLord]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsWDfS50 ... re=related

Apprently shown on Dave awhile ago. As prevoiusly mentioned it is like the breif S2 to S3 explainer.

Are you sure that's not something that guy cut together?

It's good to see that the small red one has returned pretty much to its original look. Not the S8/remastered version

Personally, I liked the S8 one better.

but CGI Skutters! What would of been wrong of using a real one...unless the beeb had something to say about it..?

I assume the props have been sold or lost or something.

[Darth Onasi]

I watched the first two episodes just now... is it me or did they do a bait and switch with the whole futuristic shot of London in the opening credits?
It turns out they go to the real world instead! Ha ha ha. Yeah. That wasn't funny when they did it in Last Action Hero, and it's not funny now!! Bah.

[spikenigma]

strange, I'd have expected more bile from this of all boards

This latest "season" seems to be just a long line of unfunny, self-referential jokes and nothing much else happening.

It's been absolutely shit so far, the second episode more than the first. And I say this as somebody who loved every single episode of seasons 1-7 and moderately enjoyed season 8

it just seems like to me, I hope it gets better

[Jon]

There have been a couple of laugh out loud moments for me but yeah it's taken a pretty strange turn of events. Eh...

[weemadando]

Overall, disappointed. Why couldn't they have just spent their money making the actual Back to Earth (crashing the Dwarf into earth and smashing everything but the Taj Mahal). Hell, a five minute short of that would have been more satisfying than this 90 minutes of tosh.

[Bounty]

Despair squid. Someone called it. For a minute I was worried they were actually going with slapstick meta-fiction world.

Overall this was a bitter disappointment. The whole plot is Back To Reality redone, except without humour or wit or energy. It was self-indulgent, overblown, lacklustre and not even up to the level of the worst of the regular series.

At least we'll always have the good series.

[Big Orange]

A real curate's egg, I found the middle episode the most consistantly witty (with the reference to X-Factor, Rimmer washing his hands, and the demented comic book guy), but most the rest of it was rather ho-hum, stilted, and unjustifiably self-satisfied, like Rimmer (especially with the conversation on the bus). Why did the Skutter have to be CGI, even though I admit the CGI is a notable imrpovement over the CGI available ten years ago, but I miss the amateurish yet endearing model effects. Overall I'd give it 2.5/5, and it was a mistake to show it in multiple parts.

[Darth Onasi]

Okay so... they're in the present then walk right into the Tyrell Corporation and it's Bladerunner.
I don't mean a parody of Bladerunner, or a tribute, it's freaking Bladerunner! What the hell is this?
If I want to watch Bladerunner I'd watch Bladerunner!!

"They even made a TV station after me?" Bullshit! That's from the character who was always called Dave by the resident idiot in Only Fools and Horses. When has Lister ever been known as Dave?

[Big Orange]

Yeah, the Blade Runner references just became far too obstrusive as the story went along and became Epic Movie-style unfunny, overall this was just a barely passable remake of "Back to Reality", only the twist being the feverish dreaming was caused by a female Elation Squid instead of a Despair Squid.

[Darth Onasi]

I just had to watch "Back to Reality" again right after to see just how much better it is, humorous and suspenseful.
Everything Back to Earth wants to be but isn't.

[andrewgpaul]

Okay so... they're in the present then walk right into the Tyrell Corporation and it's Bladerunner.
I don't mean a parody of Bladerunner, or a tribute, it's freaking Bladerunner! What the hell is this?
If I want to watch Bladerunner I'd watch Bladerunner!!

"They even made a TV station after me?" Bullshit! That's from the character who was always called Dave by the resident idiot in Only Fools and Horses. When has Lister ever been known as Dave?

In the very first episode, at least; " Everybody's dead, Dave".

Mind you, they changed the station ident over the weekend, to "Dave Lister" instead of just "Dave". So in a way, it's true.

[Darth Onasi]

Fair enough on the first episode, but even then it was usually Holli who called him Dave, everyone else referred to him as Lister.

And they did what?
Must've flown right past me, that.

[Crazedwraith]

Finally saw the final episode. Flat and dull to the end. Plus they carried the slapstick section far to far. Though the typos raised a small smile.
Still, They may have been aping Blade Runner but the problem is. I don't actually like Blade Runner/ So you're doubly failing here.

"If they knew the truth they'd probably laugh," sorry, Dave I've not been laughing.

Plus Kochanski has really weird hair.

[Crazedwraith]

Missed the Edit Deadline by a long way but the thought occurs. Other than Lister and maybe Rimmer (who after wall got one over on Kremlin Kate) how was this scenario 'elation' for them. After all they all thought they were about to killed off. Even if they weren't they'd still be strangers in a foreign reality. In Back to Reality, they all were despairing, not just one person the construct was based around.

[Darth Onasi]

Kochanski's hairstyles emulate Bladerunner I believe. The first one definitely does.
Making references and tributes to something is one thing, jerking off on it is quite another.

[Bounty]

Missed the Edit Deadline by a long way but the thought occurs. Other than Lister and maybe Rimmer (who after wall got one over on Kremlin Kate) how was this scenario 'elation' for them. After all they all thought they were about to killed off. Even if they weren't they'd still be strangers in a foreign reality. In Back to Reality, they all were despairing, not just one person the construct was based around.

Exactly. BtR even made a point of showing how every single detail of the simulated world was designed to be as depressing as possible for each character. I think the "elation" here was supposed to come from them realising they could edit the world whichever way they wanted (Rimmer was dreaming about his own ship, after all), which I suppose could count as something they'd want to hang onto, it was just done in a very clumsy way. As if the ending was just tacked on to justify having another hallucination episode.

[Big Orange]

I just had to watch "Back to Reality" again right after to see just how much better it is, humorous and suspenseful.
Everything Back to Earth wants to be but isn't.

The funny thing is they showed that superior episode like right after Back to Reality, and as flawed as the on hindsight unfairly pilloried Seasons VII & VIII were at least they had original, interesting story ideas of their own instead of retreading the Despair Squid and shamelessly pimping Dave (like meddling with the Kennedy Assassination for curry and the sentient AI which could predict anybody's death, including its own).

It really feels like Doug Naylor is creatively killing off his creation and seems genuinely worn out, with no obvious way for Red Dwarf to survive and have new blood at the helm, unlike with Doctor Who whih Russell T. Davies is bailing out of soon and has at least not pissed off everybody with his competent "Planet of the Dead".

[Big Orange]

Ghetto Edit: after Back to Earth.