Dwarfcasts (a Red Dwarf Podcast)

"Jane Killed Flick" It's the end of a relatively minor era, as we conclude our coverage of Volume 1 of the Red Dwarf Smegazine. Get ready for the cross-over event of the century, as one character from Back to Reality meets another character from Back to Reality, along with about fifty other comic strips of varying quality. We also uncover some scandalous censorship on the news pages, discuss Robert Llewellyn being sodomised by a rabbit, covet tiny cardboard models, deride one of the worst April Fools jokes of all time, and stalk a baby. It's quite the ride. We recommend reading along as you listen; you can find scans of the mag at archive.org or Stasis Leak.Show notes Buy The Thursday Man by Grant Naylor on Amazon! Robert Llewellyn on KYTV - with no actual sodomy, but plenty of slightly less rude antics Limmy and the paper aeroplane Book 'Em and Risk It, an accidentally topical G&TV Norman Lovett plays with his dolls house Cool to do drugs.

"A side-swipe at oven chips" As we enter the twentieth anniversary year of one of the most seminal short films of all time, it's an opportunity for us to reflect on our own pasts as we explore the The Movie: Yeah No Yeah No DVD, which features among its bonus material the entirety of Red Dwarf VII. It's the most personal trip down memory lane in our Re-Disc-overy series so far, as we not only commentate on the fan films, but also reveal all the behind the scenes details of the haphazard production processes, cringe at our past selves' incompetence, and consider how one simple film-making competition ultimately changed all three of our lives. But that's not all, as there's an awful lot to discuss in the rest of this three disc package too. Join us as we attempt to make amends for our past criticism of someone who really didn't deserve it, reminisce about the time Grant Naylor Productions threatened us with legal action, piece together Chris Barrie's whereabouts during the bits of Series VII he wasn't in, rev

"Flicky Mint Cake" Welcome back to the Rack! The latest installment in our periodical drama takes us back to March 1993, a time when perhaps too much information about the forthcoming Series VI is being made public, Rob and Doug's relationship is definitely absolutely fine, and the elephant in Hattie Hayridge's room goes unaddressed. Join us as we witness a space monkey genocide, "enjoy" a double length Androids and contemplate life as a living fridge, a sentient armchair and a big fish-frog thing. Plus spend far too long indulging in nostalgia for analogue-based editing systems. Seriously, that's most of the podcast. In order for any of the above to make sense, you'll need a copy of the mag to refer to, which you can find via archive.org or Stasis Leak.Show notes The Smegazine strips organised by series, by Warbodog (huge spoilers if you're reading the mags along with us) Starburst's review of the Smegazine Danny found someone who likes Timewave Building a Human, because any excuse

U&UKTVPlayG2U&Dave&Knuckles Righty dokey matey bloke flap old salty seadog amigo skip-jack jockstrap piano tuners, we're back with another in our occasional series of Dwarf-adjacent commentaries, this time covering Bottom Series 2, Episode 4, Parade. Not only is the series produced and directed by Ed Bye, this particular episode guest stars both Robert Llewellyn and Lee Cornes, which is as good an excuse as any to rabbit on over this episode and tackle your Bottom-shaped waffles. We cover pretty much all the affiliated spin-offs - the live shows, the Fluff video, Guest House Paradiso - as well as discussing what happens when TV schedules are affected by real life events, how Rik and Ade could have fitted in to Red Dwarf and trying to figure out if there's any modern equivalents to this madness.Show notes Our recent Hammersmith bench-based pilgrimage. The opening theme is a cover of BB's Blues (as opposed to BB's Theme) Here's a full rip of Bottom Fluff, just because.

"Clifford the Big Bastard of a Dog" With apologies for the delay, it's finally time to get back on the rack! Our Smegazine odyssey reaches February 1993, a very interesting time in Red Dwarf history, as the magazine's news page documents. In this episode, we uncover the origins of Entangled, some foreshadowing of The Promised Land and the first ever use of the smeg hammer. Other super relevant and definitely on-topic discussion points include the Bottom Exposed documentary, various 1990s adventure game shows, and the state of the Hitchhikers franchise after Douglas Adams's death. Oh, and the results of a caption competition from two years ago. We may not be fast...Show notes Returning the shout-out, even though we recorded this months before his shout-out to us, Stuart Millard on Scavengers G&TV covers Cyberzone Terrible news - turns out the photo of John Lennon and Yoko Ono's arses was photoshopped after all Bryan Lewis Saunders's Drugs project

"Nic Farey is why we have to take off our shoes in airports" Even by the standards of the Red Dwarf DVDs, the series VI release was special and probably represents the arguable pinnacle of the original set of releases. As such, Cappsy, Danny and Ian had a marvellous time reliving an absolutely packed release of musical insight, more SFX behind the scenes goodies, plus a very amusing and previously unknown tale regarding Craig and horses!Show notes Ian's review Cappsy's review Sonic The Hedgehog music theory Howard Goodall: How Music Works Howard's 30th anniversary song Laredo's website, with lots of up-to-date pictures and links to things that have been filmed there Lionel Blair rides bareback before facing down a load of cowboys wanting to unload on him. Bee Gees vs Chaka Khan

"There's two scythes to every story." In this very exciting instalment of our journey through all things Smegazine, Cappsy, Danny and Ian are joined by two very special guests - Chris Barrie's nipples. Listen along as the five of us discuss neural networks, yuppies, Kochanski's giant forehead, Norman Wisdom's popularity in Albania, whether or not Back To Reality was actually any good, and how The Inquisitor is accidentally responsible for the crimes of Jeffrey Epstein. It's best to have the magazine in front of you as you listen. If you don't have an actual copy, scans are available on archive.org or Stasis Leak, you freeloading bastard.Show notes G&TV covers Cyberzone John's ancient Episode Orders article, and Christopher Wickham's oft-linked-to Red Dwarf Broadcast Guide We couldn't find the footage of Norman Wisdom pissing about ahead of Albania vs England, but here's a bit of C5's coverage to prove we weren't making it up Dave's competition winning Inquisitor vs Judge Dredd comic FAO Jane K

"If it wasn't shit, it would be perfect." We thought we ought to do something slightly out of the ordinary for our landmark 169th episode, so here's two specials in one - it's time for some Christmas Waffles. Once again our lovely listeners slash readers provided us with a veritable smorgasbord of tasty topics, which we gobbled up whilst writing fan-fiction about the ship's Secret Santa, sharing our ultimate Red Dwarf Christmas wishes, pondering the best box sets of all time, weighing up the current state of the fandom, and coming up with a really good idea for a Christmas special. Plus, like all great festive episodes, we end on a good old sing-song. We apologise for nothing.Show notes Our fellow Dwarfy podcasters / YouTubers: The Garbage Podcast, Everyone's Dead Dave, Shipwrecked & Comatose, Better Than Life, Red Dwarf Nerd, Gallifrey Gals All the leaves are brown... Frank Kelly's Christmas Countdown

"Disgustingly Northern" As we continue our series revisiting the now decades-old DVD releases, the main thing we re-disc-over this time out is that Series V tempts us down conversational side roads like nothing else. So join Cappsy, Danny and Ian as we discuss Juliet May's short-lived tenure as director, attempt to get to the bottom of conflicting stories about Red Dwarf USA, and uncover more examples of institutional racism within the Metropolitan Police. We also speculate as to what the visual effects workshop smelt like, hunt down pictures of Timothy Spall dressed as a pig, and confess the real reason behind our lukewarm response to the fan commentaries nearly twenty years ago. Strap yourself in, this is a waffley one.Show notes Ian's review from November 2004 A much more succinct explanation of what "crossing the line" means It's a fucking emu! Timothy Spall develops PTSD in The Tale of Little Pig Robinson Holoship Xtended - Pete Part Three did a complete edit while John Hoare posted one scene

"Magnum Ed Bye" It's been far too long, but we are finally back on the Rack to continue our odyssey through the wonderous world of early 90s publishing. Join Cappsy, Danny and Ian as we take a deep dive into the epic Jake Bullet story that graces the cover, welcome another legendary Red Dwarf fan writer to the fold, marvel at the versatility of Chris Barrie's face, discover an obscure sci-fi writer that none of us have heard of, and attempt to figure out why a parody of Red Dwarf USA bears absolutely no resemblance to Red Dwarf USA. Mostly though, we rip the absolute shit out of everyone who took part in the all-episodes survey. Without looking, see if you can guess what the people of 1992 thought the second worst episode ever was. The 1992 idiots.Show notes The famous Casablanca poster that the magazine's cover pastiches The Last Temptation of Kryten (the fan fiction that launched a thousand headcanons) Oh Bosanquet, Howard Goodall's second contribution to Not The Nine O'Clock News Disturbing conten

"Ribs and Pipes and Penises (oh my!)" Our voyage of re-disc-overy continues, as we tackle a most unusual release; the one that was out in the US before the UK, and that Young Cappsy managed to review before Young Ian for once. We rake over this bitterness as well as embarking on not one, not two, but three commentaries, forgoing the tradition of focusing on one big extra in favour of covering a handful of little bitty ones, the regular features that would otherwise be glossed over. Once again, we ensure that every single aspect of the release is discussed, and along the way we re-evaluate Hattie Hayridge's return to the role of Holly, try to get to the bottom of why the cast commentaries are so difficult to get through, and attempt to comprehensively solve the issues of both war and racism.Show notes Contemporary reviews from Cappsy, Ian and Ian again. Series IV Deleted Scenes commentary (2013) TOS article (via The Unofficial Archive) on stock footage in Red Dwarf The Smeg Ups Rough Cut The history

"Doctor Fitzwilliam: Village Rectologist" At 6:30pm on Tuesday 23rd August 1983, unsuspecting Radio 4 listeners were ambushed by the very first episode of a seminal new sketch show. Featuring a hugely talented cast, performing the work of two writers who were on the fast track to greatness, it was notable not only for its inherent quality, but for what it would eventually spawn. The programme was, of course, Son of Cliché, without which this podcast would not exist. So in a break from the usual format, we present our fortieth anniversary tribute in the form of a documentary, showcasing some highlights from the series, analysing what made it so great, and of course focusing on the moments that had the biggest influence on Red Dwarf. Think it was just Dave Hollins: Space Cadet that Rob and Doug drew upon? Think again.Show notes The complete series of Cliché and Son of Cliché on archive.org The original "Father of Dwarf" article, published nearly 20 years ago Our old SoC section on an ancient version of t

"The Manly Adventures of Buff Squidward" Rejoice, for our journey through the Smegazine archives continues with quite possibly the best issue yet. The first ever Duane Dibbley comeback! Tonnes of dirt on Red Dwarf USA! Loads of exciting news, some of which actually ended up happening! Some tedious prose pieces to keep us all grounded! Plus, we think we've uncovered the first published work of an acclaimed comics writer and Red Dwarf fan. All this and more, in far too much detail even by our standards.Show notes Colin Howard's artwork for the free poster Remade in America: The reality of remaking UK sitcoms Growing the Beard Craig Charles stars in Weather Watch Clive Swift from Keeping Up Appearances gives the worst official tie-in magazine interview of all time Ice to see you Two of Spandau Ballet sign for Melchester Rovers Tighten up the graphics on level 3

"The Gall of Gary Barlow" The third Red Dwarf DVD was released twenty years ago this November. It's time for another voyage of re-disc-overy, as we cast our minds back to a time of the online retail wild west, blossoming friendships and intense fansite rivalry. Although in practice, we probably spend more time reminiscing about our early Dimension Jump experiences than anything else, thanks to the choice of extra to receive the commentary treatment this time round, Hattie's DJ Diary. The surrounding, extremely waffley discussion takes in such topics as Red Dwarf's history with the AA, Craig Charles's overdue royalty payments, and farting in Ronnie Corbett's face. Each and every special feature is covered, we just hope that whatever you're using to watch your DVDs these days can actually access the menus...Show notes

"The fascist junta of the potato people" Back in the distant mists of time, when Ian first dreamt up the idea of getting Danny and I to read through all the Smegazines and record a podcast series about it, no doubt issues like this were front and centre of his mind. Historically significant pieces on ancient DJs? Check. Some hot Wraggy action? Check. Potatits? You bet ya. *gestures vaguely at insane original comic strips*? Uh-huh. Needless to say, this was a fun one.Show notes Danny's brother on Bad Influence - he's the one fist-pumping on the right of frame after the pool shot. Wiffle Lever To Full by Bob Fischer is the book in which Cappsy is carried off on the shoulders of his fellow Red Dwarf fans. The Angel Hotel in Northampton was somewhat bigger and grander than our initial research suggested. It burnt down in 2012 and is currently being redeveloped. Clip from Parallel 9 with Robert and Craig. A good blog about the making of Parallel 9. The Abso-smegging-lutely Unofficial Red Dwarf Cookbo

"Could you make Patrick Stewart come in the middle of my television programme, please?" The second Red Dwarf DVD was released twenty years ago (as of a month and a half ago). Any bets as to whether we can get the next one done before this November? Back in early 2003 we had barely had chance to watch the first DVD more than two or three thousand times before another release was thrust into our sweaty palms. As is expected, the Series 2 DVD was very closely related to the first so you'd be forgiven for thinking this release might be a little less interesting, but as you will hear Danny, Ian and Cappsy still had plenty to talk about as they continue on their voyage re-disc-overy.Show notes "Very very nearly 20 years ago" is now "slightly over 20 years ago". "New Years Eve this year" is now "New Years Eve last year." 17-year-old Ian's breakdown of the A-Z Dalek 63•88 identifying which Daleks were used James O'Brien reveals all on RHLSTP Saint and Greavsie meet Donald Trump Tom Scott talking about s

"I've got a lot of Red Dwarf to give." Well then, this is a little bit special. Fresh from the fantastic news that the Red Dwarf legal kerfuffle is officially resolved, we speak exclusively to Rob Grant himself - the co-creator of the programme, who's now returning to the franchise after an absence of close to 30 years. We found out exactly what the legal resolution means for the future of the show, got clarification on the new status quo for Rob and Doug, discovered what new projects are being pursued, discussed possible collaborations with established cast and crew, and touched upon merchandise, continuity, technology, Marilyn Monroe, and much much more.Show notes William Hartnell wasn't dead by the time Patrick Troughton took over as The Doctor, but we're too cowardly to correct the actual co-creator of Red Dwarf to his face. Rob's now-forgotten mention of an American approach Rob soliciting for fan feedback on Twitter Doug's Radio Times interview Two and a half hours on whether or not The Lion

"Let wideons be wideons" Ian Symes, Jonathan Capps and Daniel Stephenson are delighted to announce that the ongoing DwarfCast hiatus has been resolved. Moving onwards and upwards, Ian, Cappsy and Danny hope to launch many iterations of DwarfCasts covering various media, working again with Jimmy Nail and other valued partners, and wish each other the very best. Smoke a kipper, DwarfCasts will eat all your kippers!!Show notes A collection of 1970s tumble dryers. We couldn't find the clip from You Bet! of the German man identifying stamps purely from the taste of the glue, but trust us, it's phenomenal.

This is a most unusual DwarfCast following a most unusual weekend for your intrepid G&T team. The three of us gathered together in the same place for this first and only time this year, and that place was Liverpool. The reason? Seb Patrick's 40th birthday, and we weren't going to let the small detail that he himself has passed on stop us from celebrating. We wanted to share the festivities with some of the people who knew Seb, be they friends, family or just those who knew him through his work, in the Red Dwarf community and beyond. So join us for a somewhat experimental travelogue, taking in Danny's first ever football experience, a trip to a certain Liverpudlian pub, a game of pool on a very important table and our first visit to Seb's memorial bench at Crosby Beach. We promised to record a DwarfCast there if the petition was successful, and thanks to your help, it was.Show notes Twitter thread of our pics from the weekend The Aigburth Arms plaque, as it looked when it was new The sex swing/Grav-

The first Red Dwarf DVD was released twenty years ago today. Yes, we regret to inform you that you're old. The fourth of November 2002 is a date indelibly printed on the brains of fans who spent months being teased and tantalised into a frenzy. Kids today with your YouTubes and your Netflixes and your Ministry of Sound may not appreciate just how big of a deal it was for Dwarf to join the digital revolution in such a wholehearted way, so gather round and listen to your Uncles Cappsy, Danny and Ian as we kick off a new series of DwarfCast retrospectives. For each edition of Re-Disc-overy, we're going to be sharing our memories of each DVD release, looking back on the media and fandom landscapes of the time, and of course revisiting and reassessing the many, many special features. Plus, we've picked out one extra per series to receive the commentary treatment, and this time it could only be Launching Red Dwarf. So get that lovely red box off your shelf, remove the dust from your ageing DVD player and join us a