1989 was a simpler time, a world away. Yugoslavia won Eurovision, the other George Bush took office and Tsakhiagiyn Elbegdorj announced the establishment of Mongolia’s democratic movement.
Sci-fi nerds across the country put their dragons back into dungeons and gathered round their primitive 1980s television sets to watch space sit-com, Red Dwarf.
Over the next six years, Red Dwarf grew into a cult phenomenon, and the minutiae of each episode was discussed at face melting length in fanzines and – as though the medium was invented for it – over the internet.
Then everything went wrong, as the writing team split and the series descended into rehashing of the same core jokes – Rimmer mis-remembering Space Corps directives and Kryten’s head bearing a resemblance to something vaguely amusing. And then the series ended, a poor cousin of how it first began.
But, like an angry poo, some things will return to haunt you, and after a nine-year hiatus, Red Dwarf is back. Would it be a terrible reminder of those latter days, or have the years been spent building up a library of great gags? Let’s ask Dave.
As a stand-alone, 90 minute comedy drama, it’s absolutely terrible. If you’ve never seen Red Dwarf before, or even possess a knowledge of the series that would get you laughed out of a Red Dwarf Fan Convention – Dimension Jump 15: October 9th to 11th 2009 at the Holiday Inn, Birmingham – then you’ll probably end up not having a clue what’s going on. The short of it is that the characters realise that they’re characters and follow the back of the DVD of the episode to find out what to do next. Yeah, exactly. Exactly like the League of Gentlemen film.
The decision to show the episode in three parts was strange – nothing happens in the first two, and then they arrive in Coronation Street and everything goes completely mad, with Lister talking to an actor called Craig Charles who plays Lister and IT’S LIKE A BIG CIRCLE OF EXCITEMENT.
For budget reasons, the episode is almost entirely filmed in front of a blue-screen, which leaves scenes a little bit flat as the actors try to work around nothing. The choice not to have a studio audience, or even a laugh track, is strange – it leaves the Cat’s bizarre wailings sounding like a side effect of a mental illness.
While some of the jokes are funny, they’re too far between and often fall flat. If you’re into mind-bending self-referentialness and have a scale model of the Red Dwarf universe in your loft, then you’ll definitely enjoy it.
If you have fond memories, or even a passing nostalgic smile at what Red Dwarf was, leave well alone.
