Ganymede & Titan

“Chekhov’s Croissant”

Oh yes. Just under five whole years since we finished covering every single Red Dwarf novel in ludicrous depth, the DwarfCast Book Club is back, ready to tackle the latest addition to our collective book shelves. It may have taken us a little longer than expected to start bringing you our nitty-gritty analysis of Rob Grant and Andrew Marshall’s all-new side-universe prequel, but we’re making it up to you by releasing a podcast so long that you’ll have to take the afternoon off to get through it all. And we’re only covering half of the first part. So open up your by now well-thumbed copy of Red Dwarf: Titan, and join us for a chapter-by-chapter (and in some sections, pretty much sentence-by-sentence) run through of the prologue, Proloog, and chapters 1-16 of Part One, Walverlof. Oh, and there is very obviously extreme levels of spoilers, so for goodness sake, don’t listen to this before you’ve read the bloody book.

DwarfCast 181 – Book Club #17: Titan (Part One) (168.6 MB)

Next time, we’ll be finishing off Walverlof, so if you’ve got anything to say about Part One, chapters 17-31, leave a comment either here or in the relevant forum thread.

“The Carousel of Hideous Mistakes That Make You Say ‘Fuck’ In The Middle Of A Supermarket”

The loss of Rob Grant earlier this year was a complete shock. Whether you knew him personally or were one of his thousands of fans, it was a bolt out of the blue. It’s taken us a little while to be able to talk about it, but with the release of Red Dwarf: Titan – Rob’s final work – rapidly approaching, we wanted to get together and discuss just how much he meant to us. So join us for our reminisces about all of G&T’s interactions with Rob over the years, discover the origin of that “ex-wife’s honeymoon video” quote, relive the moment that Ian’s imminent fatherhood was announced to the world unexpectedly, and discover what’s on the wall of Rob’s downstairs toilet.

You can also peruse the show notes section below for a bumper dose of Rob-related content, and feel free to share your own memories of Rob in the comments.

DwarfCast 180 – Rob Grant: Thanks For The Memories (44.4 MB)

“INT. Chris Barrie’s Arse”

8 extra pages! 2 free postcards! Smeggier than ever before, it’s the new-look Smegazine Rack! Yes, after a prolonged gap since our last sojourn to the early-to-mid 1990s, we return to discover everything’s become glossier, wider and more densely packed, as we finally reach Volume 2 of the Red Dwarf Smegazine. There is much to discuss, not least the most unfortunate cover line of all time, but also a comic strip with remarkable parallels to a much later TV story, the latest news on just how messy the production of Series VI was, the evils of red chairs, the soap opera parody that refuses to die and the crossover event of the century. Plus, we give a very special welcome to a new Smegazine writer, who would go on to have a very, ahem, “interesting” career.

DwarfCast 179 – The Smegazine Rack – Volume 2 Issue #1 (144 MB)

“Birds don’t have balls”

We may not be fast, but we get there in the end. Just shy of a year later, our voyage of Re-Disc-overy continues as we reach the mammoth collection that is the Series VIII DVD. And there is much to discuss, such as the inter-cast beef evident in the commentary track, the brilliance of the guest stars’ contributions to the documentary, a reappraisal of Chris Veale’s work on the series, the beginnings of the show’s web presence, the moment that secured this fledgling fansite’s future, and buffet car food. Oh, and there’s always time to discuss the merits of the series itself, because we haven’t done that enough over the last twenty-six years. All this, plus not one but two commentaries, on the Children In Need sketch and the collection of PBS idents. You lucky people.

DwarfCast 178 – Re-Disc-overy: Series VIII (132 MB)

The Least Used Scrotum in London

After an enforced absence where it proved impossible to find an afternoon where all three of us were available and awake, we are back in your ears with a brand new DwarfCast! There was a lot to catch up on, including the new Bluray boxset, Doug’s debut children’s novel and the forthcoming audiobook releases of the TV soundtracks. Join us for a big old news round up, supplemented by a fresh stack of waffles, provided to us by you, the faithful listener/reader. Does Red Dwarf have a future on TV? What would feature in a modern day Smegazine? Are there any dream DVD extras that haven’t yet been made? What’s the best Best of the Beatles album? All this and more in our latest Wafflemen Special.

DwarfCast 177 – Wafflemen Special #5 (129 MB)

“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)