Red Dwarf X

[size=+1]Red Dwarf: Series X[/size]
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When asked why you'll never see another series of Fawlty Towers, John Cleese said that the expectations would be far to unreasonable to top. He doesn't want to try it and he doesn't see any point in it. Which I think is far enough when things that were really popular years ago try to come back only to be completely unprepared for it's own hype. Or unable to overt come the cynasism.

This is something that Red Dwarf couldn't care any less about. The TV channel Dave is footing the bill this time round, not the BBC and they don't seem to be kidding around with this sit-com.

OK, for the American readers of my collection of neatly presented ramblings, I might as well be talking about Countdown or my last bottle of Irn Bru. Or maniacs chasing a cheese wheel down a hill. Red Dwarf has never managed to cross the pond and get big there to the point where you've heard about it, like Doctor Who and Sherlock has managed to do. There was a really cheesy pilot episode in the 90's and that was it. Red Dwarf continues to be a British thing, so sorry if this week feels a little...self-indulgent.

But that doesn't mean I don't recommend it any less. I just suggest having Google open while watching. Even if you are British and under 20.

So, for the benefit of those who haven't seen it: it's the future. Yes, it's a weird setting for a sit-com but bear with me. We're on the Jupiter Mining Corp Ship Red Dwarf and we follow the life of David Lister. He his the lowest rank on the ship as a vending machine repair man and happens to be the only man to survive a nuclear fallout on-board while he's incarcerated in frozen animation. The Ships' computer flies Red Dwarf away from any inhabitable worlds to avoid causing any damage with the radiation on-board until it falls to safe levels. Three million years later, David emerges to find that he is in outer space, light years from Earth and the only crew member left. The only company left is a vain creature that evolved from a house cat, Arnold Rimmer: the Hologram of his dead, neurotic bunk mate, a senile super computer called Holly and Kyrton: an android with low self-esteem. They must try to reach Earth, even if humanity hasn't survived the three million years since Lister saw them.

From this, hilarity ensues. Seriously! This is one of the funniest sit-coms I've ever seen.

Series X picks up from where Back To Earth left off. As a massive "Ah, Who Cares?" to the audience, we have skipped the entirety of Series IX. All you need to know is that Lister's love interest, Kristine Kochanski, has left and that the crew are dead again. It's just four guys in deep space milling about while weird things happen.

The weirdest thing is that, well...This is way more entertaining than it has any right to be. Series X kicks arse!

Firstly, it has to be said that while it's great to see the original cast back and doing their thing as though no time had passed at all, they really do look their age. I remember watching some of the trailers for Series X and being fascinated by how much Chris Barry's hairline has receded or the new wrinkles on Craig Charles' face. I'm not a particularly long standing fan as I only started watching them, DVD by DVD, a few years a go so their younger selves are still fresh in my mind. Danny John Jules has barely aged and Robert Llewellyn is in a mask the whole time anyway.

But that's all just something for the first thirty seconds of the new Dwarf. Because, and I'm so happy about this, the writing quality is back. There was a slight hiccup better known as Back To Earth where they all had to drag the cast and crew back together. With that out of the way, Doug Naylor seems to have
been able to pull some fantastically realised ideas out of the Red Dwarf universe so far.

Some of my favourites include a question about whether Chinese Whispers is racist that ends up turning into a game itself. Or how about Lister being hugely desperate to make progress on a home shopping hotline, even at gunpoint. What about Rimmer failing to stump anyone with his Swedish Driver question or finally manage to grow and mature as a human being?

My favourite so far has been Lister talking to himself as his own Dad. Using a machine that predicts the crew's actions, he's able to create video tapes that are almost exactly like he's talking with a real father. He's even able to tell Lister off for swearing. Even doll out a few punishments with this. It's a bizarre but highly creative scene.

Because that's what Red Dwarf does at it's best. It takes a tried and tested sci-fi concept and makes it look stupid. From robots to time travel to genetic engineering. But there's still a twist of the bleak to make things interesting, even to play it for laughs. Lister is the very last man alive and even his moment of pining for the lost human race is played for laughs. He's stuck on a mining vessel millions of years away from home and unlikely to be able to get home but it's still hilarious because it's just four blokes verses hugely more powerful foes. Whether that be hallucinogenic squids, droids that judge whether you are worthy of life or the disgusting creatures that live in Rimmer's brain. There's nothing in space except dangerous simulants and rocks. And yet, it's still uniquely funny.

But what else? Well, visuals have improved greatly. TV's have been replaced with sleeker looking flat screens that have some weird blue animation looping away when not used. The interiors appear to be largely a rusty orange that none of the characters melt into. It's warmer than any previous series that have switched between shades of grey and white. CGI, if it is used, is being done far more subtly. The fact that I'm not sure if there was any or if it was all models shows how well it's done. In previous attempts, the computer created elements stood out a mile and looked awful compared to the older model shots.

In fact, a few computer effects like Rimmer blinking in and out of existence like a light-bulb or the 'spinning beach balls of death' look perfectly comfortable. Even for something obviously Photoshoped in.

So, I am mightily happy that Red Dwarf is back. Not just because it's back on my TV screen but also because it's managed to rise to the challenge and still be awesome. I'm not sure what else there is to comment on other than to say that it's well worth a look. It's unlike anything else you've likely seen on TV.

And then there's the extended universe. Yes, there is an extended universe of this and it's bleaker and sillier than the TV show could ever hope to be. Ask me and I can regale you with the tale of how the Earth farted itself out of orbit with the sun.