R is for Red Dwarf

Operated by the Jupiter Mining Corporation, the spaceship Red Dwarf, is vast - 6 miles (9.7 km) long, 4 miles (6.4 km) tall, and 3 miles (4.8 km) wide. Unfortunately, an on-board radiation leak of cadmium II kills everyone on board -  all except for the ship's lowest-ranking technician Dave Lister (Craig Charles), who is in suspended animation at the time, and his pregnant cat, Frankenstein, who is safely sealed in the cargo hold. What will happen to them once the radiation drops down to an acceptable level - some three million years later...

Red Dwarf  was merely another half-hour sitcom when it was first devised back in 1988 by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor. The BBC series has since achieved a cult following, mixing influences from across the whole spread of the SF genre with British-style comedy and satire. The 11th and 12th series are now in pre-production and will air on Dave in the next few years.                          

K is for Kryten - and Starbug

The Jupiter Mining Corporation transport vehicle Starbug is a small green shuttlecraft. It has three sections - the cockpit, midsection and engine rooms, therefore the ship resembles a bug from the exterior.

The craft is often to be seen in Red Dwarf, a British comedy TV series, a character-driven sit-com in a SF setting. The show first aired on the BBC in 1988; new shows are currently in production.

The show started to use Starbug following the introduction of Kryten (Robert Llewellyn) as a main character, as this required a bigger shuttle to hold the crew. And this, in turn, gives me a plausible excuse to use this as my 'K' entry...

Better Than Life

This post was inspired by a documentary on the life and works of Burl Ives, that I was listening to one morning this week. It featured the song "Big Rock Candy Mountain", a folk song about a homeless man's idea of paradise. In the original version of the song, there are lakes full of whisky and there are cigarette trees. Yep, doesn't sound like paradise to me, either.

Yet, we're all attracted to our own image of an idyllic paradise, aren't we? A place where everything is positive, harmonious and eternal. This sort of thing seems to echo throughout science fiction tales, too. Even Red Dwarf had an episode set in a computer simulation called "Better Than Life" - Lister's fantasy paradise involved curries and lager (typically!).

Star Trek featured the word Paradise in two of the classic episodes. "This Side Of Paradise" was a tale about a group of colonists who were being controlled by plant spores. A side effect was the removal of worry from their lives... all seemed perfect. But it wasn't. Hmmm - the use of a mind-altering substance to make life seem better. No thanks...

Also, "The Paradise Syndrome" depicted Kirk losing his memory in a particularly shocking encounter with an alien device and living an idyllic life as a member of the indigenous population - free from worry and strife. That's more like it. The lack of worry bit. Not the shocking :)

Then I remembered a scene in one of my favourite films, "A Matter of Life and Death"(1946).  Set in the afterlife, Richard Attenborough looks out over row after row of desks in a huge admin office and says "It's heaven, isn't it."

And there's the point. To some people, the thought of working as an administrator would be paradise.

So, what would be paradise for you?

Fun Fun Fun

I'm just about to go offline for the Easter period (I won't be touching the internet between Good Friday and Easter Sunday), but just before I do, here's a note of what I'll be watching this weekend:

This weekend will see the first Red Dwarf shows in over a decade. These will be found on Dave (Sky Channel 111, Virgin TV 128, Freeview 19 if you don't already know) and are most eagerly awaited. Check out details here:

http://dave.uktv.co.uk/library/red-dwarf/red-dwarf-news-episode-synopsis-revealed/

And there's a new episode of Doctor Who on Easter Saturday, entitled 'Riddle Of The Sands' - 6.45pm, BBC ONE

Happy Easter, folks.

R is for Red Dwarf

Although starting out very humbly, the BBC sitcom 'Red Dwarf' has now achieved somewhat of a global cult following. Creators Rob Grant and Doug Naylor have been writing partners, working on Three Of A Kind, Carrott's Lib and Spitting Image. Grant Naylor (as the duo became known) are probably best known for Red Dwarf, which is essentially a traditional British sitcom with a science fiction backdrop, as the comedy is essentially character-driven. Ratings have consistently grown since its launch in 1988, and the show has been on the brink of producing its own feature film for many years. It's not quite there yet, however we wait in hope.