Just watched the three episodes all together.

There are a ton of points I'd like to raise but it's late and I'm tired and I might rant again so I won't.
Suffice to say, it all looked slick and great and the storyline was very clever and interesting (although as pointed out it's been done similarly in LOG's Apocalypse - which to be fair I don't see as a major problem.) I also thought the performances were great. Hats off to the cast.

I haven't changed my mind about the laughter track - I got used to it not being there in the end, but only like an amputee would get used to a missing limb.

But there was a distinct lack of the old magic. I hope Grant or Naylor don't read this because I have nothing but the utmost respect and reverence for them and their wonderful creations. In fact that's precisely why I'm so emotionally-involved in this. Red Dwarf was one of the shows that gave me the buzz to pursue a comedy-writing "career" after all.

Am I being too nostalgic? I don't know. Maybe. Or maybe there are classics that just can't be improved, or even equalled by their creators, and should be left alone.

If this has been shown together (probably cut down) as part of a new series it would have been great.

I think it was the wrong decision though to make "Back To Reality Part 2" after a 9 year gap, with no explanation of what happened after series 8, or why Rimmer is a hologram again, or why Red Dwarf is back to it's original original form.

This might be the last Red Dwarf ever. They should have REALLY gone back to earth; given it a proper finale.

Oh, for smegs sake, bring back the laughter track. RD was never the same since this was removed. Some people are indifferent to it but I don't think many (any) people actually hate it. It's the 6th character.

James

I've been in the minority on RD for as long as I can remember and this did nothing to sway me. I just do not think it is funny.

I watched it last night as a complete thing. Changed my mind completely, I loved it. Loads of stuff I missed the first time (tuning in 5 mins late etc) but at the end I thought you know what that was pretty darn good, still a little to much Blade Runner referencing for my liking but I did enjoy it 100 times more.

I'm glad that I watched it as a whole for the first time and not watched them one at a time.

Isn't the reason why crew died to do with Lister leaving the bath running for nine years, hence Rimmer being a hologram again? Then maybe that's why the ship is back to its old size again...it shrunk?

I think the thing that most of us wanted was the laughter track but not just a laughter track, actually being filmed before a live studio audience. I think an actor feeds off an audience; an actor actively needs to have someome there to laugh at them if they do something funny. It's like an energy.

The only the way I felt short-changed was the absence of Holly. He could have at least been carried around by Kryten on his TV screen. Or at very least explain why he wasn't there.

I enjoyed the first couple of episodes but part 3 was a bit Russell T. Davies.

Quote: john lucas 101 @ April 14 2009, 1:23 PM BST

I enjoyed the first couple of episodes but part 3 was a bit Russell T. Davies.

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Why? Because of the apparent reset? It was a justifiable sci-fi idea, though one they had already explored in another episode.

Quote: john lucas 101 @ April 14 2009, 1:23 PM BST

I enjoyed the first couple of episodes but part 3 was a bit Russell T. Davies.

View original

I missed it, was buggery and rimming involved?

Quote: Matthew Stott @ April 14 2009, 1:35 PM BST

Why? Because of the apparent reset? It was a justifiable sci-fi idea, though one they had already explored in another episode.

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It's just been done to death. It was made up of bits of other things and previous Dwarf ideas. The whole 'creator typing what's going to happen' was straight out of The Mind Robber from Doctor Who in 1968. For example.

Some great performances were let down by a soft idea. I'm assuming the Earth setting was down more to budgetry constraints than anything else.

Hopefully any future series will have a bit more money put in, and won't just rely on Doug Naylor to buys the props!

Quote: chipolata @ April 14 2009, 1:42 PM BST

I missed it, was buggery and rimming involved?

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Er...yes. Yes it was.

Great to see them back, but it wasn't funny, and you could hear the sound of the scraping of the bottom of the barrel. Doug Naylor has got no jokes or plots left in him.

I think it was alright. Not brilliant but not bad. I've read the stuff about League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse and it's obviously the same idea. However, I thought it was a better than the LoG film in that respect. Having said that I thought the LoG film was possibly one of the worst things I've ever seen. It was so bad I nearly walked out.

In any case, Back to Earth wasn't too bad. Probably better than the last 2 series. But do I want another series. Nah. I think they should leave it.

Quote: The Rook @ April 14 2009, 10:16 AM BST

the absence of Holly. He could have at least been carried around by Kryten on his TV screen. Or at very least explain why he wasn't there.

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Agreed, although in 'Back to Reality' Holly wasn't affected by the squid ink. But he should have been in there somewhere, one of the best bits of Series 8 was when they caught up with Red Dwarf and Holly appeared on the watch Lister found. If I was an American, I would have been whooping and cheering at that point.

Quote: Afinkawan @ April 14 2009, 5:07 PM BST

Series 8

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Series 7. *slaps self for being an arse and pointing out this error*

Red Dwarf needed a far greater swansong, if this is indeed it. He should at least have tried to come up with an original idea, and not just lifted whole scenes from Blade Runner. It just did not work, and it didn't feel like Red Dwarf at all.

My waste of time points are:

Never could stand Red Dwarf owing to Craig Charles being in it.
So not much chance of me watching this then!

However it's interesting to note that there seems to be a split between fans of the show. Indicative of any 'comeback' show?

Also, I really don't get the need for a laughter track to make something more watchable. (well, maybe Eastenders)
Is it so one knows when something funny has happened/been said so it's time to laugh along?
Explain!
Er...please?