Usenet 1994 October

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ Usenet 1994 October / usenetsourcesnewsgroupsinfomagicoctober1994disk1.iso / answers / tv / red_dwarf-faq < prev next >

Wrap

Internet Message Format | 1994-09-29 | 53KB

Path: bloom-beacon.mit.edu!senator-bedfellow.mit.edu!faqserv From: pat@berry.Cary.NC.US (Pat Berry) Newsgroups: alt.tv.red-dwarf,alt.answers,news.answers Subject: Red Dwarf Frequently Asked Questions List (FAQ) Supersedes: <tv/red_dwarf-faq_779635319@rtfm.mit.edu> Followup-To: alt.tv.red-dwarf Date: 30 Sep 1994 01:38:06 GMT Organization: Jupiter Mining Corporation Lines: 1201 Approved: news-answers-request@mit.edu Expires: 28 Oct 1994 01:34:18 GMT Message-ID: <tv/red_dwarf-faq_780888858@rtfm.mit.edu> Reply-To: poster NNTP-Posting-Host: bloom-picayune.mit.edu Summary: Questions and answers about the BBC science-fiction comedy series X-Last-Updated: 1994/08/14 Originator: faqserv@bloom-picayune.MIT.EDU Xref: bloom-beacon.mit.edu alt.tv.red-dwarf:15028 alt.answers:4690 news.answers:26495 Archive-name: tv/red_dwarf-faq Last-modified: 1994/08/13 Version: 4.9 ------------------------------------------------------- THE "RED DWARF" FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS LIST ------------------------------------------------------- Maintained by Patrick M. Berry Version 4.9 pat@berry.Cary.NC.US 13 August 1994 ------------------------------------------------------- _____________________ CONTENTS OF THIS LIST 1. THE SERIES 1.1 What is "Red Dwarf"? 1.2 Where can I see "Red Dwarf"? 1.3 Is there an episode guide for "Red Dwarf"? 1.4 Did "Red Dwarf" start on radio? 1.5 Is there an American version of "Red Dwarf"? 1.6 Who is Grant Naylor? 2. THE MOST FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS 2.1 What does "smeg" mean? 2.2 What are the lyrics to the theme song from the end credits? 2.3 What does "LEVEL NIVELO" mean? 2.4 What are some of the foods mentioned on the show? 2.5 Why is Holly now a woman? How did Kryten change? 2.6 What happened to Red Dwarf and Holly? 2.7 They're all dead! Is the show finished? | 2.8 Has Craig Charles been arrested? 3. TRIVIAL MATTERS 3.1 What's the title of the last episode of Series Two? 3.2 What are the lyrics to "Tongue Tied"? 3.3 What are they really saying in "Backwards?" 3.4 Who is Gordon Bennett? 3.5 How many times has Rimmer had sex? 3.6 How many people were in Red Dwarf's crew? 3.7 How can Rimmer leave the ship? 3.8 How did the Polymorph touch Rimmer? 3.9 How many times has Starbug crashed? 3.10 Didn't Lister have his appendix out twice? 4. I WANT MORE! 4.1 Are there "Red Dwarf" novels? 4.2 Are there other books about "Red Dwarf"? 4.3 Are there "Red Dwarf" fan clubs? 4.4 Is there a "Red Dwarf" ftp site? 4.5 Where else can I find out more about "Red Dwarf"? 4.6 Where can I order "Red Dwarf" merchandise? | 4.7 Is there a "Red Dwarf" computer game? New or changed information is marked with a vertical line in the left margin. _____________ 1. THE SERIES _________________________ 1.1 What is "Red Dwarf"? "Red Dwarf" is a British science fiction comedy series that has been on the air for six seasons, each season lasting for six episodes. It is the brainchild of "Grant Naylor", a creative team consisting of Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, who write and produce the show. The premise of the show is best summed up by the opening narration used in the first series: "This is an S.O.S. distress call from the mining ship Red Dwarf. The crew are dead, killed by a radiation leak. The only survivors are Dave Lister, who was in suspended animation during the disaster, and his pregnant cat, who was safely sealed in the hold. Revived three million years later, Lister's only companions are a life-form who evolved from his cat, and Arnold Rimmer, a hologram simulation of one of the dead crew." --- Holly, the ship's computer | The regular cast of the series is: | | Dave Lister...............................Craig Charles | Arnold Rimmer..............................Chris Barrie | Holly.....................Norman Lovett/Hattie Hayridge (see 2.5) | The Cat................................Danny John-Jules | Kryten.................................Robert Llewellyn _________________________________ 1.2 Where can I see "Red Dwarf"? Australia: On the ABC network. Canada: On the YTV network. Europe: BBC World Service Television. New Zealand: TVNZ Channel Two. United Kingdom: On BBC. United States: "Red Dwarf" is seen on public television stations across the country. If your local PBS station doesn't show it, write to them, and convince your friends to write to them, until they do! The first five series are all available for purchase by PBS stations. If you don't know when (or if) your local PBS station shows "Red Dwarf", check your local listings or call the station and ask. Posting the question to alt.tv.red-dwarf is an inefficient use of network resources -- and besides, the other methods are faster. _______________________________________________ 1.3 Is there an episode guide for "Red Dwarf"? Otto Heuer maintains a very good guide, available by anonymous ftp on toaster.ee.ubc.ca, but here's a quick list to get you started: Series 1 - 1988 Series 2 - 1988 --------------- --------------- 1. The End...................15 Feb. 7. Kryten................... 6 Sept. 2. Future Echoes.............22 Feb. 8. Better Than Life.........13 Sept. 3. Balance of Power..........29 Feb. 9. Thanks for the Memory....20 Sept. 4. Waiting For God........... 7 Mar. 10. Stasis Leak..............27 Sept. 5. Confidence & Paranoia.....14 Mar. 11. Queeg.................... 4 Oct. 6. Me^^2.....................21 Mar. 12. Parallel Universe........11 Oct. Series 3 - 1989 Series 4 - 1991 --------------- --------------- 13. Backwards................14 Nov. 19. Camille..................14 Feb. 14. Marooned.................21 Nov. 20. D.N.A....................21 Feb. 15. Polymorph................28 Nov. 21. Justice..................28 Feb. 16. Bodyswap................. 5 Dec. 22. White Hole................7 Mar. 17. Timeslides...............12 Dec. 23. Dimension Jump...........14 Mar. 18. The Last Day.............19 Dec. 24. Meltdown.................21 Feb. Series 5 - 1992 Series 6 - 1993 --------------- --------------- 25. Holoship.................20 Feb. 31. Psirens.................. 7 Oct. 26. The Inquisitor...........27 Feb. 32. Legion...................14 Oct. 27. Terrorform............... 5 Mar. 33. Gunmen of the Apocalypse.21 Oct. 28. Quarantine...............12 Mar. 34. Emohawk: Polymorph II....28 Oct. 29. Demons and Angels........19 Mar. 35. Rimmerworld.............. 4 Nov. 30. Back To Reality..........26 Mar. 36. Out of Time..............11 Nov. ____________________________________ 1.4 Did "Red Dwarf" start on radio? Not exactly. Rob Grant and Doug Naylor wrote an episode of the short-lived Radio 4 series "Son of Cliche" that contained several ideas they later incorporated into "Red Dwarf". A space cadet named Dave is trapped all alone on a spaceship with a slightly senile computer called HAB. (The voice of HAB, by the way, was provided by Chris Barrie, who later went on to star as Rimmer.) While this was clearly the forerunner for "Red Dwarf," there isn't any direct connection. The script for this radio episode is included in the RED DWARF OMNIBUS (see 4.2). _________________________________________________ 1.5 Is there an American version of "Red Dwarf"? No, not really. The NBC network expressed interest in an American version of the show and two pilots were made, but no series was ever produced. The first pilot was filmed on 22 January 1992, with the following cast: Dave Lister.................................Craig Bierko Arnold Rimmer.............................Chris Eigelman Holly........................................Jane Leeves Kryten..................................Robert Llewellyn * The Cat....................................Hinton Battle Christine Kochanski...................Elizabeth Morehead First Officer Munson...................Michael Heintzman Captain Tau...........................Lorraine Toussaint * The same actor who played Kryten in the BBC version. Grant Naylor served as technical consultants. The plot was a retelling of "The End", with some elements of "Future Echoes" thrown in for good measure. Fans who were in the studio audience report that surprising and odd changes were made: for example, the transformation of Lister to a clean-cut and well-dressed Caucasian, and the replacement of the "H" on Rimmer's forehead with a silver marble. After rejecting this version, NBC commissioned a second pilot, which fixed some problems (such as restoring Rimmer's "H"), but which had more odd changes, such as casting a woman as the Cat. (Interestingly, the Cat was played by Terry Farrell, who is now better known in the U.S. for her role as Jadzia Dax on "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.") The second pilot was also rejected, and the proposed series was shelved indefinitely. [Does anyone know the cast of the second pilot, or the date when it was filmed? -- PMB] Neither pilot has ever been aired or released on videocassette, but unauthorized copies can be found at science fiction conventions. (At least one dealer, R.O.F., offers them by mail. See 4.6.) Fans who have seen these tapes seem to agree with NBC's decision not to proceed with the series. A redesigned Kryten suit (of somewhat better quality than the old BBC version ) was made for the U.S. pilots by a California-based special effects house. When the pilots were rejected, Robert Llewellyn got to keep the new suit and wore it in Series Six. | On 10 July 1994, the Sunday Mirror (a British tabloid) reported | that "the BBC also recently completed a four million pound deal | with Eddie Murphy and Ted Danson for a big screen Hollywood | remake of the Sci-fi comedy romp." No mention of the alleged | movie deal has appeared in any other publication, suggesting | that there is no truth to the report. ___________________________ 1.6 Who is Grant Naylor? The "About the Author" note in the book RED DWARF (see 4.1) has this to say about the creator(s) of the series: "Grant Naylor is a gestalt entity occupying two bodies, one of which lives in north London, the other in south London. The product of a horribly botched genetic-engineering experiment, which took place in Manchester in the late fifties, they try to eke out two existences with only one mind. They attended the same school and the same university, but, for tax reasons, have completely different wives. The first body is called Rob Grant, the second Doug Naylor. Among other things, they spent three years in the mid-eighties as head writers of `Spitting Image;' wrote Radio Four's award-winning series `Son of Cliche;' penned the lyrics to a number one single; and created and wrote `Red Dwarf' for BBC television. They have made a living variously by being ice-cream salesmen, shoe-shop assistants and by attempting to sell dodgy life-assurance policies to close friends. They also spent almost two years on the night shift loading paper into computer printers at a mail-order factory in Ardwick. They can still taste the cheese 'n' onion toasties. Their favourite colour is orange." Grant Naylor's number one single was "The Chicken Song," a "Spitting Image" spinoff. Philip Pope composed the music and produced the record, which was released in 1986 by Virgin Records. ______________________________________ 2. THE MOST FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ___________________________ 2.1 What does "smeg" mean? The characters in the show use it as an all-purpose profanity. Apparently derived from "smegma," the term for a particularly unpleasant bodily secretion, the slang term "smeg" was reportedly in use in England before the show premiered, although not commonly. Grant Naylor presumably adopted this little-known bit of Scouse profanity as a blanket replacement for all other swearing, to keep them out of trouble with the BBC and to poke fun at the long-standing convention in science-fiction of inventing futuristic slang. ________________________________________________________________ 2.2 What are the lyrics to the theme song from the end credits? It's cold outside, there's no kind of atmosphere I'm all alone, more or less Let me fly far away from here Fun, fun, fun in the sun, sun, sun I want to lie shipwrecked and comatose Drinking fresh mango juice Goldfish shoals nibbling at my toes * Fun, fun, fun in the sun, sun, sun Fun, fun, fun in the sun, sun, sun * There has been much debate over this line -- it is not sung very clearly, and many fans think it is simply "Goldfish ARE nibbling..." However, in the fourth series episode "Meltdown," the end theme is performed by "Elvis" (Clayton Mark), and the word "shoals" is more distinct. Also, some fans who have seen the sheet music for the song report that the lyrics do read "shoals." A "shoal" is a school of fish. ___________________________________ 2.3 What does "LEVEL NIVELO" mean? Red Dwarf is a bilingual ship, with English and Esperanto as the two official languages. "Nivelo" is the Esperanto word for "level". The signs in the corridors of the ship are simply telling crewmembers in both languages what level they're on. Esperanto is a real language, developed in the the 1880s by Polish ophthalmologist L.L. Zamenhof. All of the "Red Dwarf" characters speak English, but in "Kryten", Rimmer is shown trying (and failing) to learn Esperanto from a videotape. In the same episode, Kryten and Lister both demonstrate familiarity with the language. The name "Esperanto" means "one who hopes," a fact that is alluded to in "Back to Reality." ______________________________________________________ 2.4 What are some of the foods mentioned on the show? "Vindaloo," the most frequently mentioned food item on the show, is a very, very hot Indian curry dish. Most Indian restaurants have them on the menu. They can contain almost any variety of meat, thus Lister's references to "mutton vindaloo," "chicken vindaloo," etc. "Poppadoms," another Indian food item, are thin lentil-flour wafers resembling tortillas, deep-fried until crisp. A "shami kebab" is an appetizer served in Indian restaraunts. It consists of finely ground meat and lots of spices, grilled over a flame, and comes in a variety of shapes -- some flat like a hamburger, others long and thin like a sausage. The meat is a mixture of pork and either goat (in more authentic restaurants) or beef (in less authentic ones). You typically get two shami kebabs with a salad side dish. "Chutney" is a fruit piccalilli (pickled relish), often eaten with cold meat. "Gazpacho soup" really does exist and really is meant to be served cold. Several different recipes exist. A "pot noodle" is an instant noodle product marketed in the U.K. by Golden Wonder, a snack food company. It's a plastic container with pre-cooked dried noodles and flavorings inside. To prepare it, you open the container, pour in boiling water, wait a few moments, and eat it. A "kipper" is a herring, cured by splitting, salting, and smoking. Kippers are eaten as a breakfast food in some parts of the U.K. A "Topic Bar" is a candy bar sold in the U.K. It consists of fondant and hazelnuts covered with chocolate. One ad campaign for this bar used the slogan "A hazelnut in every bite." ______________________________________________________ 2.5 Why is Holly now a woman? How did Kryten change? The original actor to play Holly, Norman Lovett, decided to leave the series to further his career. (There is no truth to the rumor that he died.) Kryten's original actor, David Ross, wasn't available to commit to a series when they decided to make Kryten a continuing character, so he was replaced by Robert Llewellyn. (Ross later returned in "White Hole" as the new voice of Talkie Toaster.) Hattie Hayridge, the actress called in to play Holly, had previously appeared in "Parallel Universe" as Hilly, Holly's female counterpart. "There were no plans to call me back," Hayridge explains. "When Norman said he wasn't doing another series, I auditioned." The character of Holly kept the same name and personality despite the recasting. The reclassification of Red Dwarf from a Paul Jackson Production to a Grant Naylor Production (making it now officially a production outside the BBC, although it is still filmed at Noel Gay Television) brought with it several changes in the show's look between Series Two and Three, including changes in costumes, sets, and miniatures, particularly the addition of the Starbug and its hangar bay. Most of these changes were more or less explained by the following words that scroll rapidly up the screen at the beginning of "Backwards": "Three million years in the future, Dave Lister, the last human being alive, discovers he is pregnant after a liaison with his female self in a parallel universe. His pregnancy concludes with the successful delivery of twin boys, Jim and Bexley. However, because the boys were conceived in another universe, with different physical laws, they suffer from highly accelerated growth rates and are both eighteen years old within three days of being born. In order to save their lives, Lister returns them to the universe of their origin, where they are reunited with their father (a woman), and are able to lead comparatively normal lives. Well, as normal as you can be if you've been born in a parallel universe and your father's a woman and your mother's a man and you're eighteen years old three days after your birth. Shortly afterward, Kryten, the service mechanoid, who had left the ship after being rescued from his own crashed vessel, the Nova 5, is found in pieces after his space bike crashed into an asteroid. Lister rebuilds the 'noid, but is unable to recapture his former personality. Meanwhile, Holly, the increasingly erratic computer, performs a head sex change operation on himself. He bases his new face on Hilly, a female computer with whom he'd once fallen madly in love." It IS possible to read all this, using a VCR with good freeze-frame capabilities. Try it. ______________________________________________ 2.6 What happened to the Red Dwarf and Holly? Throughout Series Six, the characters travel aboard Starbug; the Red Dwarf (and Holly) don't appear at all. This tends to confuse viewers who missed the explanation in "Psirens". Briefly, what happened is this: Lister parked the Red Dwarf in orbit around a planetoid, and then forgot which planetoid it was. "They're all the same, those little blue-green planetoids. Blue-green and planetoidy." Subsequently, Red Dwarf was stolen "by persons or lifeforms unknown." Starbug followed the ship's vapor trail for over 200 years, with Lister and the Cat in deep sleep and Rimmer switched off to conserve power. At the first opportunity to actually catch up with Red Dwarf, Kryten revived the others, and the saga continued . . . The real reason for the change was to eliminate Holly from the show. According to Hattie Hayridge, the parts for Holly and the Cat had both been getting smaller and smaller. Grant Naylor decided to drop one of the characters and expand the other. It was easier to drop Holly because many of her lines could be given to Kryten instead. _____________________________________________ 2.7 They're all dead! Is the show finished? No, there is definitely more to come. The following teaser for Series 7 was published in the final issue of the RED DWARF SMEGAZINE (see 4.5): "The crew of Starbug may have been left apparently dead at the end of Red Dwarf VI, but the series is by no means finished. The BBC have asked for a Christmas special and a seventh series. However, it looks like the Christmas special will be the only new Red Dwarf on our screens this year. Series 7 is unlikely to come out until 1995 because the Grant Naylor boys are incredibly busy at the moment." | At a reading and autograph session during spring 1994, Robert | Llewellyn said that Series 7 would begin filming in January | 1995. He also said that the BBC would release a "Red Dwarf" | out-takes tape during 1994, and reported that the parts he had | seen were hilarious. | | Plans for Series 7 may now be in jeopardy due to Craig Charles's | arrest in July 1994 (see 2.8). _____________________________________ | 2.8 Has Craig Charles been arrested? | | Yes. On the evening of 8 July 1994, Charles and company | director John Peploe were arrested and charged with the rape of | a 38-year-old woman (which had occurred that morning at the | victim's flat in Clapham, South London). A third man was | reportedly being sought in connection with the crime. On 20 | July, Charles and Peploe were denied bail. No trial date is yet | known. | | It is not known how these events will affect the filming of new | "Red Dwarf" episodes. Neither Grant Naylor nor the BBC has made | any announcement concerning the future of the series. __________________ 3. TRIVIAL MATTERS ________________________________________________________ 3.1 What's the title of the last episode of Series Two? No title was given in the original broadcast. The episode opened with a musical number instead of the normal titles. Most British fans learned that the episode's name was "Parallel Universe" from its listing in the Radio Times; some American fans called it "Tongue Tied", after the song in the opening musical performance. "Parallel Universe" was the most common title used, and it has now been confirmed as the official title as printed on the BBC videotape releases. __________________________________________ 3.2 What are the lyrics to "Tongue Tied"? As mentioned in 3.1, "Parallel Universe" begins with a musical number that turns out to be a dream had by the self-centered Cat. The studio audience's laughter makes the lyrics a little hard to understand, but combining a couple of different posters' ideas of what they were gave us this: The Cat: Chorus -- Lister and Rimmer: When I saw you for the first time (first time) My knees began to quiver (quiver) And I got a funny feeling (feeling) In my kidneys and my liver (digestive system baby) My hands they started shakin' (shakin') My heart began a-thumpin' (boom boom boom) My breakfast left my body (huey huey huey) It all really tells me something Girl you make me tongue tied (tongue tied) Tongue tied, whenever you are near me (near me) Tied tongue (tied tongue) Tied tongue (tied tongue) Whenever you're in town I saw you 'cross the dance floor (dancin') I thought of birds and bees (reproductive system baby) And when I tried to speak to ya (talk talk) My tongue unraveled to my knees (flippety-flippety-flop) I tried to say I love you (love you) But it came out kind of wrong, girl (wrong girl) It sounded like "Nunubididoo" (tongue tied) Nuh mur nuh murh ni nong nurl 'Cause you make me tongue tied (tongue tied) Tongue tied, whenever you are near me (near me) Be-dobby-durgle (dobby-durgle) Tongue tied (tongue tied) Whenever you're around Oh I'm beggin' on my knees Sweet, sweet darling, listen please Understand me when I say Bedurble-diggle-doggle-dooby-doggle-durgle-day I'm trying to say nungy-nangy (nangy-nungy) Ningy-nongy, why can't I tell you clearly (clearly) Be-dobby-durgle (dobby-durgle) Durgle-dobby (durgle-dobby) Whenever you're around (around) Whenever you're around (around) In the fall of 1993, "Tongue Tied" was released as a single in England and rose to #17 in the Gallup UK Top 40. The artist was listed simply as "The Cat." A music video of "Tongue Tied" was reportedly shown on the "Top of the Pops" show in England and on MTV in the States. Copies of the video (and a half-hour program on the making of the video) are available from John McElroy (see 4.6). ________________________________________________ 3.3 What are they really saying in "Backwards"? Most of the reversed dialogue in the episode "Backwards" is pretty much either what the subtitles say it is or what you'd expect from context; some of it actually appears to be random noise. There are two good exceptions, however. When Lister and the Cat steal a bicycle, its owner yells after them, "You scoundrels! Return my bike immediately!" -- at least, according to the subtitles. What he actually says, however, is, "Oi! Hey! Oi, you robbing bastards, that's our tandem!" Later, when the stage manager comes in to yell at Rimmer and Kryten, he appears to be blaming them for starting the "fight." Here's what he's actually saying: "Frankly, your act's crap. Anyway, anybody could have done it. I hate the lot of you. Bollocks to you! . . . You are a stupid, square-headed, bald git, aren't you? I ain't pointing at you, I'm pointing at you. But I'm not actually addressing you, I'm addressing the one prat in the country who's bothered to get hold of this recording, turn it round, and actually work out the rubbish that I'm saying. What a poor, sad life he's got!" _____________________________ 3.4 Who is "Gordon Bennett"? "Gordon Bennett" is a name used by the characters, most notably Holly, as an expletive ("Gordon Bennett! What was that?"). Historically, James Gordon Bennett was the name of an American newspaper tycoon (1795-1872) who founded the New York Herald in 1835. His son, also named James Gordon Bennett (1841-1918), established London and Paris editions of the newspaper. The Bennetts are said to have had a penchant for extravagant and expensive gestures, and they became widely known enough that the name is now an expression of disbelief in England, and is essentially a euphemism for "God". _______________________________________ 3.5 How many times has Rimmer has sex? Only once while he was alive, with Yvonne McGruder, the ship's female boxing champion. (Stated in "Thanks for the Memory".) The story he tells Lister in "Marooned", about losing his virginity in the back seat of his brother's car, appears to be false. In later episodes, Rimmer has had simulated sex in a virtual reality game ("Better Than Life") and holographic sex with another hologram ("Holoship"). ______________________________________________ 3.6 How many people were in Red Dwarf's crew? In "The End", Todhunter says "There are 169 people on board this ship." Yet in "Justice", the Justice Computer charges Rimmer with 1,167 counts of murder for causing the deaths of the entire crew. What gives? "Red Dwarf" abounds with minor inconsistencies like this one. When Grant Naylor come up with a good idea (such as the "light bee" -- see 3.7), they don't worry overmuch about whether it contradicts something in a previous episode. In this case, they evidently decided that a larger crew was more appropriate for a ship five miles long and three miles in diameter. One possible explanation is that the Justice Computer got its information from Rimmer's mind, and Rimmer has an inflated notion of his own importance. In addition to overstating his own responsibility for the deaths of the crew, he may have exaggerated the number of people involved. ___________________________________ 3.7 How can Rimmer leave the ship? Because Rimmer is a computer-generated hologram, some viewers are confused when he leaves Red Dwarf and visits planets, space stations, other ships, and so forth. In early episodes, Rimmer was generated by the Red Dwarf's onboard holographic equipment, which allowed him to move freely about the ship. He was also able to travel on the Red Dwarf's auxilary vessels (Blue Midget and White Giant), which presumably carry their own hologram generators. He could only visit the surface of a planet within a Hologram Projection Cage, as seen in "Thanks for the Memory". This limitation proved to be inconvenient, so Grant Naylor came up with another explanation, the "light bee". This device is a tapered cylinder about one inch in diameter and three inches long that "buzzes around inside him and projects his image" (as described by Holly in "Meltdown"). The light bee can go anywhere, allowing Rimmer to leave the ship without needing a projection cage. Some fans have speculated that the light bee was invented sometime during Series 2 (by Holly) or Series 3 (by either Holly or Kryten). However, this doesn't explain how Rimmer was able to leave the Blue Midget and enter the wreck of the Nova 5 in "Kryten", two episodes *before* he was shown in a projection cage. ________________________________________ 3.8 How did the Polymorph touch Rimmer? In the episode "Polymorph", a shape-changing creature that feeds on emotions invades the Red Dwarf. This creature uses its shapeshifting ability to provoke an emotional response, then attaches a sucker to the victim's forehead and sucks out the emotion. Lister, the Cat, Kryten, and Rimmer all succumb to the creature's attack. Some fans have asked how the Polymorph could possibly attach its sucker to Rimmer (who is, after all, a hologram). Two possible explanations have been suggested: either the sucker actually made contact with Rimmer's light bee (see 3.7), or the Polymorph can change into a hologram. In the novel BETTER THAN LIFE (see 4.1), the Polymorph changes to a beam of light, suggesting that becoming a hologram is within its capabilities. On the other hand, the Polymorph doesn't use that method in the novel; it goes to the hologram simulation suite, changes into electronic data, and invades Rimmer's personality disk. ________________________________________ 3.9 How many times has Starbug crashed? There are at least two vehicles called "Starbug" on board the Red Dwarf, and they seem to crash-land or collide with things an awful lot. Crash landings occur in the following episodes: "Backwards" "Terrorform" "Marooned" "Psirens" "Bodyswap" "Gunmen of the Apocalypse" "Dimension Jump" "Emohawk" The crashed Starbug was abandoned on more than one occasion, indicating that (a) there are more than two of them, or (b) facilities exist on board Red Dwarf to manufacture replacement Starbugs. ________________________________________________ 3.10 Didn't Lister have his appendix out twice? In "Thanks for the Memory", we learn that Lister had his appendix removed years ago. Yet in "Legion", it gets removed again. How is this possible? In all likelihood, this is just another of the minor inconsistencies for which "Red Dwarf" is famous. However, some fans have theorized that Lister's appendix was regenerated in "DNA", along with the rest of his body. _______________ 4. I WANT MORE! __________________________________ 4.1 Are there "Red Dwarf" novels? Yes, there are two so far: RED DWARF: INFINITY WELCOMES CAREFUL DRIVERS by Grant Naylor ISBN 0-14-012437-3 Penguin Books, 1989 RED DWARF: BETTER THAN LIFE by Grant Naylor ISBN 0-14-012438-1 Penguin Books, 1990 A third novel is in the works, and is slated for publication in October: RED DWARF: THE LAST HUMAN by Grant Naylor ISBN 0-67-085255-4 Penguin Books, 1994 The novels greatly expand on, and are greatly different from, the television show: although they do contain many ideas from the show, these ideas are put together in new and interesting ways. RED DWARF: INFINITY WELCOMES CAREFUL DRIVERS (audiocassette) read by Chris Barrie (Rimmer) ISBN 44-71-498-0102 Laughing Stock Productions [date?] Available in two forms: - Abridged (double cassette box, 180 minutes) - Unabridged (6 cassette box, 8 hours) RED DWARF OMNIBUS by Grant Naylor ISBN 0-14-017466-4 Penguin Books [date?] This combined rerelease of the first two novels also contains the script for "Dave Hollins, Space Cadet" (the "Son Of Cliche" sketch that started it all -- see 1.3), a reproduction of the beer mat on which the idea for Red Dwarf was allegedly first sketched out, and the original script for "The End". RED DWARF by Grant Naylor ISBN 1-56865-049-3 Guild America Books Contains the first two novels, but none of the other goodies included in the RED DWARF OMNIBUS. Available in the U.S. from the Science Fiction Book Club. _____________________________________________ 4.2 Are there other books about "Red Dwarf"? Absolutely! In fact, there are quite a few: THE OFFICIAL RED DWARF COMPANION by Bruce Dessau ISBN 1-85286-456-7 Titan Books, 1992 This thin little book (95 pages) has a lot of wasted space, but some interesting quotes and information and some wonderful color photos throughout. If you're looking for in-depth, solid information about the show, this isn't where you'll find it; but if you want a nice, light read, a collector's item, and an attractive coffee-table book, this is it. Available in England and at conventions in the U.S. RED DWARF PROGRAMME GUIDE by Chris Howarth and Steve Lyons ISBN 0-86-369682-1 Virgin Books, 1993 "Everything you never wanted to know about the smash smega-series." An in-depth collection (about 230 pages) of information about series 1-5. It includes sections on History, The Characters, The Programmes, The Index, The Creators (cast and production crew), and The Spin-offs. The Index is by far the largest section of the book and is an alphabetical list of almost everything mentioned to during the series, from "A to Z of Red Dwarf, The" to "Zoom function". RED DWARF -- PRIMORDIAL SOUP: THE LEAST WORST SCRIPTS by Grant Naylor ISBN 0-14-017886-4 [Publisher, date?] This book contains the complete scripts for "Polymorph," "Marooned," "Dimension Jump," "Justice," "Back to Reality," and "Psirens." Not published in the U.S. (but available from John McElroy (see 4.6) and other distributors of imported books.) THE MAN IN THE RUBBER MASK by Robert Llewellyn ISBN 0-14-023575-2 [Publisher?] 1994 | A very nice little book, detailing Llewellyn's involvement in | "Red Dwarf" from the beginning of Series 3 through the filming | of the American pilots (see 1.5). Predictably, there is some | complaining about the Rubber Mask, but only a little. There | are plenty of anecdotes and stories, and lots of trivia. The | section on the American pilots is especially revealing, and | gives some plausible reasons why the whole project fell | through. Not an essential purchase for "Red Dwarf" fans, but a | very good one indeed. RED DWARF SERIES COMPANION [Author?] [ISBN?] Penguin Books, 1994 No information yet about the content of this book. THE MAKING OF RED DWARF by Joe Nazzaro ISBN 0-14-023206-0 Penguin Books, 1994 A rather slender book with lots of nice colour photographs. Focuses on the making of "Gunmen Of The Apocalypse". The book goes into a fair amount of detail, but nothing that couldn't have been gleaned from a half-dozen back issues of the now-defunct Smegazine (see 4.5). The book's main strength is the added material: some great photos, fragments of the original "Gunmen" script (mostly stage directions, but also one unfilmed scene) and storyboards used in the filming. THE CRAIG CHARLES ALMANAC OF TOTAL KNOWLEDGE by Craig Charles and Russell Bell ISBN 1-85283-356-4 Boxtree Limited, 1993 No information yet on what this book contains. It may have nothing to do with "Red Dwarf" except for the identity of the author. _____________________________________ 4.3 Are there "Red Dwarf" fan clubs? Yes, fan clubs exist in several countries. Here's a list: THE OFFICIAL RED DWARF FAN CLUB (U.K.) This club is based in England, but has addresses in several other countries. Membership includes three issues of their magazine BETTER THAN LIFE, a badge, and a membership card. Membership rates (per year) are as follows: UK/BFPO - 8.50 Sterling Europe - 9.50 Sterling equivalent Eire - IR#10 (8.50 Sterling) USA - US$17.00 (10.00 Sterling) Australia - A$27.00 (13.00 Sterling) New Zealand - NZ$32.00 (11.00 Sterling) Cash or cheques in local currencies are accepted, but take weeks rather than days to clear. If you prefer to send an International Money Order, the equivalent rates are shown above. Write to: U.K.: 40 Pitford Road Eire: Caroline Griffin Woodley 52 Granville Road Reading Dun Laoghaire RG5 4QF Co Dublin U.S.: Mark Kennedy Australia: Tom Marwede P.O. Box 50552 PO Box 1044 Palo Alto, CA 94303 Bundoora 3083 USA Victoria THE OFFICIAL RED DWARF FAN CLUB (U.S.) P. O. Box 400 Columbiaville, MI 48421 Membership is $25 for the first year and includes a T-shirt, membership card, cast picture, and the club newsletter (published approximately every other month). [What's the name of the newsletter? -- PMB] Renewals are available for $12 per year. The club does not have meetings, but does sponsor occasional special events, such as a complete showing of Series Six in the fall of 1993 (when it had not yet been broadcast in the U.S.). Mike Gardiner (mwg@msen.com) has agreed to serve as an unofficial Internet contact for this club. It is not true that this club has ceased operations. According to Mike Gardiner, the club's mail was being mishandled by the post office, and in many cases was not delivered. The new mailing address (above) should fix this problem. If you sent mail to the old address and received no reply, write to the new address. ZED SHIFT (New Zealand) PO Box 10104 Wellington New Zealand Zed Shift publishes a quarterly magazine (GARBAGE POD), operates a mail-order service for New Zealand members, and holds the occasional meeting. Members receive four issues of GARBAGE POD, a guide to "Red Dwarf", a membership card, and a hologram H. The cost of one year's membership in NZ dollars is: - New Zealand $15 - Australia $20 - Rest of world $25 For a registration form, send an SAE or IRC. BETTER THAN LIFE (Germany) Sylvia Pranga Isolde-Kurz-Str. 145 (36) W-4400 Munster-Nienberge GERMANY This club publishes a newsletter (mostly in German) called TALKIE TOASTER (TM). _____________________________________ 4.4 Is there a "Red Dwarf" ftp site? Dave Gagne (daveg@ee.ubc.ca) has been kind enough to put an anonymous ftp site on toaster.ee.ubc.ca (137.82.56.10). There's a lot of good stuff there in the /pub/red-dwarf directory, including scripts, sound files, episode guides, quote files, GIF and JPEG pictures, and an AmigaGuide version of this FAQ List. For details, get the README file. On World Wide Web, there are four known "Red Dwarf" sites. These carry information on scripts, links to the FTP site, quotes, and other goodies. The sites are: | http://http2.brunel.ac.uk:8080/home.html Contact: Paul.Wain@brunel.ac.uk http://sdio.issi.com/RedDwarf/rd-home_page.html Contact: markg@issi.com ftp://ftp.funet.fi/pub/pics/tv+film/RedDwarf ftp://ftp.sunet.se/pub/pictures/tv.film/Red_Dwarf ______________________________________________________ 4.5 Where else can I find out more about "Red Dwarf"? Usenet: The newsgroup alt.tv.red-dwarf is devoted to news and discussion about the series. Internet: There is reportedly a "Red Dwarf" mailing list. To try | it out, send mail to listproc@east-london.ac.uk with the the following text in the body of the message: subscribe reddwarf Your Name There is an IRC #REDDWARF channel as well. CompuServe: "Red Dwarf" discussions can be found in the British Media SF section of the SF & Fantasy Forum. [Anyone know about GEnie, America Online, or other online services? -- PMB] RED DWARF SMEGAZINE, the official magazine for the series, ceased publication with Volume 2 Issue 9 (December 1993). A campaign is currently under way to revive the Smegazine. For details, send a self-addressed envelope to: SAVE OUR SMEG! Churchside Park End Bromley, Kent BR1 3PZ England Some back issues are still available from the publisher (Fleetway Editions Limited) or from other distributors (see 4.6). Two "Red Dwarf" fanzines (unofficial, fan-written publications) are known to exist. STASIS LEAK Space Rat Press P.O. Box 422 Park Ridge, NJ 07656 USA U.S./Canada/and Mexico: $12 U.S. per issue Elsewhere: $15 U.S. per issue Space Rat Press seems to have obtained permission from Grant Naylor, which is rare for a fanzine. Two issues have been published so far: #1 Interviews with Grant Naylor, Chris Barrie, Hattie Hayridge, Andria Pannell (makeup designer). Red Dwarf fiction, article on U.S. pilot, RD season V preview and production notes, trivia quiz, an "old vs. new" debate, and an episode guide for seasons 1 and 2. Black and white photos inside throughout and back cover. Color photo cover of Rimmer from Holoship. 8 1/2 x 11, 50 pages. #2 Interviews with Craig Charles and Danny John-Jules, plus Craig's press conference from Visions '92. More Red Dwarf fiction, book reviews, a preview and production notes for season 6, reader survey results, and episode guide for seasons 3 and 4. Black and white photos inside, color photo cover of Duane Dibbley. 8 1/2 x 11, 54 pages. THE SMALL ROUGE ONE Peg Kennedy and Bill Hupe Footrot Flats 916 Lamb Road Mason, WI 48854 USA U.S./Canada/Mexico: $7 U.S. Elsewhere: inquire Devoted entirely to original "Red Dwarf" fiction. One issue so far, containing four stories: "Special Delivery," "Companionship," "Virus," and "A Red Dwarf Christmas Carol." The last three form a sort of trilogy. Center artwork and color artwork cover. 5 1/2 x 8 1/2, 56 pages. _______________________________________________ 4.6 Where can I order "Red Dwarf" merchandise? 800-TREKKER P.O. Box 13131 Reading, PA 19612-3131 USA (800) 873-5537 NTSC-format videotapes of Series 1 through 4 and the RED DWARF COMPANION. Credit cards accepted. BBC WORLD SERVICE MAIL ORDER P.O. Box 76, Bush House +44-71-257-2575 London WC2B 4PH +44-71-497-0498 (fax) England PAL-format videotapes of Series 1 through 4. Ask for a catalogue. BOOK POINT Telephone +44-235-835001 Audiotape version of INFINITY WELCOMES CAREFUL DRIVERS (see 4.1). Credit card orders accepted. Will ship overseas. CBS FOX VIDEO (800) 800-2FOX NTSC-format videotapes of Series One through Four. | CRITIC'S CHOICE VIDEO | (800) 367-7765 | | NTSC-format videotapes of Series One through Four. 24-hour | ordering. DWARF CARDS Unit 6, The Siston Centre Station Road Kingswood, Bristol BS15 4PQ England "Red Dwarf" postcards. FLEETWAY EDITIONS LIMITED 3rd Floor Greater London House Hampstead Road London NW1 7QQ England Back issues of the defunct RED DWARF SMEGAZINE (see 4.5). JOHN MCELROY 2401 Fox Plaza 1390 Market Street San Francisco, CA 94102 USA "Red Dwarf" books, books on tape, T-shirts, baseball caps, Smegazine back issues, and NTSC videotapes (*all six* seasons and the "Tongue Tied" music video). Free catalogue. LAUGHING STOCK PRODUCTIONS LTD. PO Box 408 Battersea, London SW11 6JJ England Audiotape version of INFINITY WELCOMES CAREFUL DRIVERS (see 4.1). Mail orders accepted with sterling cheques drawn against a UK bank. They don't accept credit card orders. LAZAHOLD PRE Complex Pallion Industrial Estate Sunderland SR4 6SN England +44-91-510-2290 Back issues of the defunct RED DWARF SMEGAZINE (see 4.5). NETWORK LTD. P.O. Box 10 London SW19 3TU England 081-540-5545 "Red Dwarf" jackets, T-shirts, and baseball caps. Credit card orders accepted. R.O.F. 3300 A West Cary Street Suite 128 Richmond, VA 23221 USA Unauthorized videotapes of all six series. The last tape of Series 6 includes the first American pilot (see 1.5). SEVANS MODELS P.O. Box 34 Trowbridge, Wiltshire BA14 8XY England Kryten model kits and (according to one report) action figures. Starbug models are planned, but not yet available. SIGNALS WGBH Educational Foundation P.O. Box 64428 St. Paul, MN 55164-0428 USA (800) 669-9696 (612) 659-4320 (fax) 01-612-659-4312 (from abroad) NTSC-format videotapes of Series 1 through 4. __________________________________________ | 4.7 Is there a "Red Dwarf" computer game? | | Not yet, but there may be one in the near future. A journalist | working for a U.K. computer magazine reports that two software | companies are considering publishing a "Red Dwarf" game. It | will reportedly be a graphical adventure game for the IBM PC. | | Sadly, there are already two computer viruses for the PC | ("Pathogen" and "Queeg") written by an anonymous person who is | apparently a "Red Dwarf" fan. When activated, the "Pathogen" | virus displays the following message: | | Your hard-disk is being corrupted, courtesy of PATHOGEN! | Programmed in the U.K. (Yes, NOT Bulgaria!) [C] The Black Baron 1993-4. | Featuring SMEG v0.1: Simulated Metamorphic Encryption Generator! | 'Smoke me a kipper, I`ll be back for breakfast.....' | Unfortunately some of your data won`t!!!!! | | These viruses were first sighted in the U.K. in May of 1994. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- This list is Compilation Copyright 1993, 1994 by Patrick M. Berry. It may be freely redistributed in its entirety provided that this copyright notice is not removed. It may not be sold for profit or incorporated in commercial documents without the written permission of the copyright holder. Questions and comments should be directed to Pat Berry at this address: pat@berry.Cary.NC.US THANKS TO: Paul S. Winalski, D.J. Clark, Neil Postlethwaite, Kimble Ketolainen, Jim Lyon, Geoff Lane, Dave Gagne, Ross Smith, Otto Heuer, Simon Jerram, FRUITBAT, Dan Crow, Grame Griffiths, Dale Clayton, Mik Stevens, David K Fraser, J. Reynolds, Mike Gardiner, Cyrill Nuernberg, Tony Kennick, Sean Lester, Matthew B. Tepper, Jeff Watkins, Kirby Welch, Paul S. Wain, John Garza, Modig M., Pete Andrews, Simon Austin, Barny Shergold, Anthony Johnson, Dino Boni, Melissa Fayad, and Sean Ellis. Special thanks to Michael J Montoure and Renee Ann Byrd, who created the original version of this list.