“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.

DwarfCast 176 – The Smegazine Rack – Issue #14 (278 MB)

“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, reveal the link between this DVD and the world of gardening, and begin to assemble our complete history of Red Dwarf via the medium of cancelling every single person involved.

DwarfCast 175 – Re-Disc-overy: Series VII (335 MB)

“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.

DwarfCast 174 – The Smegazine Rack – Issue #13 (204.6 MB)

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.

It became apparent while recording this one that we didn’t have quite as much to say in the commentary as we do for Dwarf and the other adjacent shows we’ve covered, so we’ve added the soundtrack to the episode in the background, so that you can be entertained by the gags and by imagining the fight sequences.

DwarfCast 173 – Bottom Parade – Commentary (184 MB)

“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…

We recommend having the magazine in front of you as you listen, and you can find scans over at archive.org or Stasis Leak.

DwarfCast 172 – The Smegazine Rack – Issue #12 (105 MB)

“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 set 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!

DwarfCast 171 – Re-Disc-overy: Series VI (125 MB)

“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.

DwarfCast 170 – The Smegazine Rack – Issue #11 (110 MB)

“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.

DwarfCast 169 – Christmas Wafflemen Special (46.8 MB)

A very Merry Christmas from Cappsy, Danny and Ian to everyone who’s enjoyed and/or tolerated our stuff in 2023. Our annual review of the year will be along during the festive perineum, before DwarfCasts return to delight your ears and sometimes eyes in 2024.

“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.

DwarfCast 168 – Re-Disc-overy: Series V (127 MB)

“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.

It’s best to read along before or during your listen of the podcast. If you don’t have a physical copy of the magazine, simply configure your time drive for December 1992 and head to your nearest newsagent. Failing that, look at a scan of it on archive.org or Stasis Leak.

DwarfCast 167 – The Smegazine Rack – Issue #10 (120 MB)