A REVIEW OF TIMESLIDES:
EPISODE V:
RED DWARF III
BY MARIE BIRCH
This is my favourite all time Red Dwarf episode, and not only that, it
also holds a great deal of significance for me, because it is the very first
Red Dwarf episode, I ever saw, and I wasn't to realise
it then, but it was to lead to my becoming a fan of the Dwarf, in a very big
way indeed. In a sense, you could say, that it changed my whole life!
I never saw Red Dwarf, when
it was first on, and in a sense, you could say, that I am not a true fan, so to
speak. I became a fan, during the re-runs of 1994, and even then, I never saw
it from the very start, even though I was interested in watching it, as we were
finding, that we didn't have that many videos to watch, after we had watched,
all of our "Blackadder" tapes. The reason,
that I was interested in seeing, maybe, just one or two episodes, of Red Dwarf,
was the fact, that I had heard a lot about it, and all I knew about it, was,
that it was set in space. I wasn't even sure if it was a comedy, so to speak,
and even if it was, I didn't suppose for one minute, that it would have a
studio audience! The only thing that I knew about Red Dwarf, was the fact, that
the actor Chris Barrie, was a guest who played the French Ambassador, in the
Georgian Blackadder The Third episode: Nob and
Nobility: Episode III, was in it, as a regular, and that was only because my
husband had told me, who he was, because I knew that I had seen him, somewhere
before, over the years. But I just could not for the life of me, place him just
like that! But I knew that I had seen his name at sometime or other. I did ask
my husband Paul, when I'd heard that it was been repeated on BBC2, and whether,
he would like to see Chris Barrie, as he had been in "Blackadder",
and he had liked it, but surprisingly, Paul didn't want me to record it, as he
said it wasn't his sort of thing, and for the time being, I decided to let it
go.
However, my curiosity got
the better, of me, when on a Saturday morning, I came down to breakfast, and I
put BBC Radio Two on, which I usually do, but my interest was captured by an
interview, which took place, between Judi Spiers and
Robert Llewellyn. At the time, all I knew was, that he was one of the cast of Red Dwarf, and I assumed, that he was Chris Barrie!
However, I thought that he sounded really nice, and I did find his interview
with Judi, very interesting, and I was completely taken aback, when he said
that he had been a Hippie, which I felt, didn't really
fit in, with the image, that I had always had, of Chris Barrie. Judi played
some favourite music of his, which was - "Riders
of The Storm", by The Doors, which is a piece of music, which I particularly
like, and he went on to say, that the part that he played, had a
Swedish-Canadian accent. I didn't even know, that his
character was called Kryten, then! But once more, I
felt that didn't really fit in, with the image, that I
had had of Chris Barrie. However, he went on to say, that he was writing a
book, about his experiences, on Red Dwarf, and he also mentioned that he got on
great, with the leading man, and that they really had some good laughs, and
that he kept them all in line, by cracking the whip! I did think it quite
strange though, that at that present time, the writers, hadn't got any plans
for a new series. And Robert's response was to Judi's questions about that was
- "I just don't know Judi! I just don't know!".
Up until that point, I had assumed, that what they
were showing on BBC2, was a new series, and not repeats! But then again, they
did gain a fan in me and Paul, by repeating them, and even by repeating
Thunderbirds and all the Gerry Anderson shows, a couple of years before, gained
new audiences, so it is never a waste of time, to repeat programmes,
as the creators, will always gain something from them!
I didn't really feel
anything significant, by that interview, even though it had given me a
completely different insight, into a comedy, which I had never seen before, and
by that time, I had worked it out, that it was a comedy set in space, and I
also assumed that it was along the lines of Bottom/The Rab
C.Nesbitt and The Goodies, and even though I have
great respect for Rik Mayall
and Gregor Fisher, those types of comedy, just don't
appeal to me, and the comedies on BBC2, tend to be aimed more, at younger
audiences, rather than my age group, and even today, I haven't really left the
comedies of yesteryear, but we have got every episode of Blackadder!
It was about a few weeks
later, on a Friday evening, that my husband Paul, went
out with his Dad and his Uncle Stan for a drink, and I was left on my own. That
particular evening, I did not feel like working on my book for once, because I had
had a lot of jobs to do, and I felt rather tired, and I was going to work on my
book, I promised myself, as I was flicking channels. I had already seen the end
of "Brookside", on Channel Four, which my Mother-in-law, had
encouraged me to watch, a few years back, but since I have got into Red Dwarf,
I no longer watch it anymore, because I don't like the way, it is aimed at Liverpudlian's, and the majority of Liverpudlian's,
that I have spoken to (including Craig Charles) don't like
"Brookside", even though I have a great deal of respect, for certain
members of the cast, especially Sue Johnston, who was Chloe Annett's boss in -
"Crime Traveller", and quite surprisingly,
Paul McCartney, used to come over to her house, for tea, and she worked for
Brian Epstein, before she went to Drama School!
So, I was just flicking
channels, after a while, and to my surprise, I discovered that Red Dwarf, was starting on BBC2! As I didn't have a great deal
to do, I decided that I would have a look at it. I realised
that I had seen the opening sequences before, and I also recognised
the theme. I couldn't remember when I had seen the opening sequences or where I
had heard the theme, and that it must have been some considerable time ago, and
I was quite surprised to discover that it had a live studio audience. Even
though, I had worked it out, that it was a comedy, I had assumed, that as it
was so technical, that it wouldn't have an audience at all, but even if it hadn't , I know that I would have still found it rather
amusing anyway. What also surprised me, was the fact
that it looked as if it was on a very high budget, when I had heard that it had
been done on a cheaper budget. I was later to discover, that when I bought the
earlier videos, that it had been done on a cheaper budget, and series three,
was merely the same set, except that they had touched it up, a bit. Actually, |
quite liked the earlier sets, and I did think that they had seemed rather ahead
of their time, but it was just the red and grey colours,
that weren't that special, but then again, they are on a mining ship, as apposed to the U.S. Enterprise, after all!
I was amazed to see Adolf
Hitler was playing himself on the credits, and I couldn't get over the shocked
laughter from the live audience!
I admit, that I wasn't to impressed by it to begin with, as I wasn't sure that it
was my sort of thing, and in a sense it depressed me a little, when I
discovered that there was only four characters in it, and that they were on a
space ship for the rest of eternity, but it did remind me of something I'd
seen. I later discovered, that it was - "2001 A Space Odyssey", that
it had reminded me of, but as I had only seen clips of the film, at the time, I
wasn't to realise that, until I'd seen it, in it's entirety. However, the fact
that Lister's first name was Dave, was also familiar, but again, I wasn't to realise that he was sending up, Dave Bowman, and the reason
that his surname is Lister, is relevant to the Lord Lister, who pioneered
hygiene in hospitals, in the Victorian era, and again, he is the complete
opposite of Lord Lister!
In a sense, the routine,
between the Cat and Lister, and table golf, was very reminscent
of The Goodies, but I had guessed, it would be like that to a certain extent,
as they had all been in quarters, where they didn't get on, but that is where
the similarity ends, and what did come as a surprise to me, where Red Dwarf is
concerned, is the fact, that you have to follow it, which was one thing, that I
certainly wasn't aware of, but I did find that I soon got into the plot and
storyline, rather quickly.
I will now give my personal
opinions on each character:
ARNOLD RIMMER
I recognised
Chris Barrie, right away, as I had seen him, as the French Ambassadeur,
in "Blackadder The Third", on countless
occasions, over the years on video, and I was amazed to discover, that he
was just as much an arrogant, trumped up little squirt, on Red Dwarf, just like
he was on Blackadder, only better still, he was
equipped with a Public School accent! I had also heard that there was a
hologram character, in Red Dwarf, just like there are hologram characters, on
"Star Trek The Next Generation", but I never understood, why, there
was a hologram, on Red Dwarf, and again, I also assumed that he was a failed
Commanding Officer! Mind you, I am the sort of person, that
is easily fooled by appearances, which can be very deceptive, and especially,
where Rimmer is concerned! But that is the beauty of
his character! I realised very much later, that I was
right, with regard to the fact, that I had seen Chris Barrie's name
somewhere before. He was one of the voices on - "Spitting Image!",
which I saw, when it was first on, and it is a very easy name to remember,
when you think about it, and of course, he is Gordon Brittas,
which I had seen clips of, over the years, and we have seen one series of -
"The Brittas Empire", which was very good,
but we're not into it, like we are, where Red Dwarf is concerned.
DAVE LISTER
I was a bit disappointed at
first, to discover that he was a Liverpudlian, and my
reaction to this was: Why oh Why, has there got to be
a Liverpudlian in everything?! In fact, I had heard, that there was a Liverpudlian
in Red Dwarf! I've just seen that lot on Channel Four! Now, if any Scousers read this review, please don't misinterpret my
points of view. There are a lot of good Liverpudlian
actors about, and I love their ready humour and wit,
and I used to love - "The Liver Birds!". But
I didn't like "Bread" at the time, I thought it was very weak on humour, compared to -"The Liver Birds", and we do
have some pretty good actors in the Midlands, and up north! And I do tend to
get rather annoyed, when most British programmes are
aimed at Londoner's and Scousers, but that said, I
did find that Lister been Liverpudlian, tended to
support it, rather than dominate it, which does tend to happen, in a lot of
cases, and not only that, his accent isn't that broad. In fact, I thought that
his character was making fun of Liverpudlian's, when
it actually came down to it, at the end of the day! And I thought that the
actor who played Lister was so good, and that he had obviously had Drama School
training! I also assumed that he was a failed Officer and quite surprisingly, I
also thought, that Rimmer, was his Commanding
Officer! I had heard of Craig Charles vaguely, but I remember him more as a
presenter, than anything else, and I vaguely remember him on News Night (which
was a late chat show on ITV, which coincided with the first series of Red
Dwarf. He used to present the videos). He has presented one or two things on
BBC2 over the years, I remember his voice overs on The Mushy peas adverts and The Prudential advert,
with the couples in the park. I have seen him briefly on "Them And Us", and I also remember him vaguely, when he was
that radical poet, who used to knock The Conservative Party, around the early
eighties, and I think I may have seen him on "Pebble Mill", over the
years, doing his poetry spot. I saw bits of "The Go Getters", when it
was on, and I have seen the odd column, that he has written over the years,
possibly in The Guardian and The Daily Telegraph? But I never really associated
him with Red Dwarf, even though I was more or less familiar with certain clips
like for example - "The Everybody's Dead, Dave" bit in The End and
the "Let's Go Out There And Twat It bit!", in Polymorph: Episode III,
Red Dwarf III.
THE CAT
When I first saw the Cat, I
originally, thought, that he was an American Officer, who was rather vain, with
his appearance, and I really do feel, that on, the Red Dwarf: III: Episode
V:"Timeslides", the Cat’s character,
does come across, as more human, but he did seem, to be more of a loner, who
seemed to like, his own company, a great deal, which I thought, didn't make,
much sense, to his character, but I liked his character, and I did naturally,
assume, that Cat, was his nickname! And, it wasn't, until: DNA: Episode II, Red
Dwarf IV, that I worked it out, that he wasn't human, as I thought, that his behaviour, was rather illogical, to say the very least! And
no human, could be, that vain and selfish, especially, when he caused, all of
the scanners, to crash, in the Scanner Room, when all was said and done! And,
why on Earth?, had he got, so many Beauty Aids, and
why wasn't, he prepared to unplug them all, and I could not, get over, the Hot
Wax Drip: Unsightly Hair Remover! Surely, there were more important things to
life than blowing his hair, when there was the possibility of making contact,
with mankind, once more, no matter how remote! At first, where his character
was concerned, I thought that he was a very vain type, of humanoid alien, but
the more I thought about it, the more I thought that he reminded me of
something very familiar, but I just could not place it, until I decided to
look at the Red Dwarf books in the shops, and I was quite surprised to
discover, that his character, was descended from Cats, and that he was a Cat,
and so there you have it! I had heard of Danny John-Jules vaguely, over the
years, especially where his West End Musicals - "Cats", Carmen Jones
and Starlight Express, are concerned, and Danny John-Jules, is quite an easy
name to remember, really, and there is the odd quiz appearance, that I had
heard of, over the years, and there is, need I say it - Barrington in
"Maid Marian And Her Merry Men!", which is an entirely different
world away, from the Cat! But I had seen clips from "Maid Marian And Her Merry Men", over the years, written by Tony
Robinson, who I knew only too well as The Sheriff of Nottingham. And even
though I had seen a Rastafarian character on the show, via the clips, I guessed
quite correctly, that it was Danny! But I didn't know what the name of his
character was, but when they repeated "Maid Marian And
Her Merry Men" a few years ago, and when we saw it properly, we soon got
into the plot, very quickly! And we were so impressed with it, that we decided
to keep some of the episodes of the show on video cassette. And I have bought
the very three first episodes of the show on video cassette, since then, which
are really quite good! What did come to us as quite as a surprise, where
"Maid Marian And Her Merry Men" was
concerned, that it was of a musical nature, and I certainly hadn't been
expecting that! And I was bit disappointed, that they couldn't get a later
broadcasting time, because I believe it was very popular with adults, at the
time!
KRYTEN
His character at first,
reminded me of Max Headroom, on Channel Four, but his intelligence, definitely
reminded me of Mr Spock. Kryten
is an interesting mixture of several characters - "The Admirable Chrichton", Jeeves and CP30
from Star Wars, and he is what everyone would expect of an obedient and loyal
service droid. I would later find out, that it was Robert Llewellyn who had
been talking to Judi Spiers on BBC Radio Two, and he
had been promoting his book - "The Man In The
Rubber Mask", which I had bought at a later date, and I found it to be a
very interesting book. I had heard of Robert Llewellyn vaguely, over the years.
I had hear of his plays - "Mammon, Robot, born of Woman", the sequel
"Onan" and his book - "The
Reconstructed Heart", and he has also done a lot of voice overs, and his most recent play is - "Blue
Helmets", which was fairly successful, a few years back. I have also seen
his recent book - "Thin and Filthy Haired Haired,
he was". Admittedly it looked very good, but it wasn't really my sort of
thing, as it is a bit too factual for me, but I did find it quite interesting,
and I would fully recommen it to anybody, who is
interested in buying it.
HOLLY
From various clips of Red
Dwarf over the years, I had either seen a man or a woman's face, floating
around, on what appeared to be a computer screen, and
to be quite honest, I found it rather scary! I did think that it reminded me of
something, and I have since worked it out, that Holly is a mixture of HAL the
voice computer on "2001 A Space Odyssey", and the picture of Big
Brother, that dominates the monitor in peoples workplaces, and their homes,
which is featured in the book and film - "1984", which was written by
George Orwell. The late Richard Burton made a very good 'O' Brien, and Lister's
alter ego - Sebastian Doyle, in - Back To Reality:
Episode VI, Red Dwarf V, is a very good example of that character! To be
honest, I had seen clips from Red Dwarf, over the years, and they had frightened
me a little bit, especially the very well-known - Polymorph clip: Episode III,
Red Dwarf III, with Mrs Rimmer.
I saw a man with funny dreadlocks. A man with funny teeth, a man with a "H" on his forehead, a man with a robotic square
shaped head, and from time to time a man or a womans
head, floating around on a computer screen, and that can make you a bit sceptical, about watching a comedy series, like that! And I
used to ask myself, when I saw these clips - "Who are these people?!". But I did find, that where the character of Holly
was concerned, that once I had got used to seeing the head bouncing up and
down, on the screen, I found that she/he was a very good supportive character,
essential to the day to day running of the ship, and I really loved her/his
ready cockney wit! And I had heard of Norman Lovett and Hattie Hayridge over the years, with their stand
up comedy routines, but again, I had never really associated them with
Red Dwarf!
THE PLOT
As I have more or less run
over the first scene with Lister and the Cat, I will now review the rest of -
"Timeslides". As I stressed earlier on, I
more or less recognised Chris Barrie right away, and
once he was with Lister, I felt that he supported him very well, and the
"Hello Thicky" bit, reminded me of - "Mr Thicky Butler" in the
Georgian Blackadder The Third episode: Sense And
Senility: Episode IV, which Prince George preferred to call him, when he had
got one on him, and I was rather amused, about his comment - "That he
thought a glacier, was a man who fixed windows!", and I couldn't help but
snigger, at his remark - "He used to blow us all off the bed covers,
eating cauliflower cheese!", and I was really amazed at just how easily
that Lister could be conned into believing that a piece of packing paper, painted
red, and labelled - "Tension Sheet", could
stop him from being depressed, just like that! Mind you, there are some people
out there, who might just believe that fact, with all these highly priced
novelty aids out there, on the market!
I was very impressed, with
the way, that the photographs and slides, had mutated and had come to life, and
I really felt that Grant Naylor Productions, had captured the Science Fiction
element very well, without letting it take over the comedy side of it, and it
gave it a real - "Star Trek" feel, and I did feel, that there was
certainly more emphasis on the Science Fiction side of Red Dwarf, which is
indeed sadly lacking, in a lot of these Science Fiction parodies, that I have
seen over the years. The Ski Holiday slide, reminded me of the fact, that it
was a comedy, once more, and so did the Frank Rimmer
Wedding slide, who was quite cleverly played by Chris Barrie, and I did recognise him right away, of course, but I decided that he
was very different to his Brother, in the sense, that he was an Officer, who
had really belonged in the big league, by the way that he punched Lister, for
just being there, and for some reason or other, I did sense, that Rimmer, seemed to be a bit of a coward, and I did wonder,
how he had managed to become an Officer! But then again, his sort
usually do become Officer's! I was amazed by Lister destroying one of
Hitler's Nuremberg speeches, by sticking one on him, and stealing his
briefcase! And I also thought that his dishonesty, over the years, had helped
him to become an Officer, as he seemed to be very crafty to mind, and a bit too
clever for his own good, and he was also very determined to - "Fix
Everything", just so, that he didn't have to be stuck with these losers,
for the rest of eternity! I also felt that the diary, that he had stolen from
Hitler, reminded me of something, and I couldn't for the life of me, recall
what it had reminded me of, and I was later to discover, that particular sketch
in question, was having a go at the forged Hitler diaries, which had claimed to
have been discovered in 1989, but they had later turned out to be fakes! With
regard to them all being Officer's, I was very disappointed to discover, that
the crew of Red Dwarf, weren't actually Officer's, once I got into Red Dwarf,
that little bit more, and that Rimmer and Lister were
merely Technician's! And I honestly feel that Red Dwarf could still work, if
they were all Officer's! After all, there are a lot of failed Officer's about!
But that is just one opinion, anyway. I thought that it was really funny, when
I saw Lister's face on the old newspaper, after the bomb in the briefcase
incident, which was actually based on the bomb plot, which von Stauffenberg, had been implicated in. But that didn't
happen during one of Hitler's speeches, it actually happened during a
conference! But I still found that sketch very amusing, nevertheless, even
though the facts, weren't one hundred per cent right! After all, you can't have
everything, can you?!
I could not get over the OM
song, which was so obviously a send up, of some of the one word songs in the
late eighties. I remember a song called VERY, which I must say, did have better
backing than OM, and so did - "Two Pints Of Lager, And A Packet Of Crisps,
please!". So, that is probably why they did get
into the charts, at the very least! I had vaguely heard of Emile Charles, at
the time. In fact, come to think of it, I was more familiar with his name, than
I was with his Brothers! And it did come as quite as a surprise,to me, to discover, that they were really related!
Emile Charles was Eddie in the film - "The Fruit Machine", and not
only that, the comedian Robbie Coltrane, was one of his co-stars, but I have
never seen that film, but I will record it, if it comes on, as I am rather
curious to see it. However, we do have him on video as a guest in - "Spatz". He played Terry, and he was very good, and we
did think that he reminded us of somebody, but we just couldn't place him, but
Paul did think that he looked very similar to Craig Charles, and after a while,
I realised that he was Liverpudlian,
and that he was Emile Charles! His name was on definitely on the credits! I
genuinely think that he is a very good actor in his own right, and it is a
pity, that you don't hear of him, these days, but perhaps he may guest star on
Red Dwarf again, and maybe he has got other commitments, like theatre work, and
I think he has done the odd thing on Channel Four, from time to time. I really
loved it, when Rimmer, loved the OM song, and I
couldn't help sniggering at the Cat's comment to this was: - "Leave it
out, the guy's an idiot!", and Lister's comment to this was: - "He's
me!", and the Cat's comment to this was: - "Exactly!". Timeslides took on a very
different feel, when Lister persuaded his younger self to take the Tension
Sheet to the Patent Office, and it was quite a shock, when Cat and Kryten disappeared, because the Cat race never existed,
because Lister didn't have a Cat to hide on board, because he was never a crew
member in the first place, and they never rescued Kryten,
which made me feel rather sad, because Lister had done some good, with his time
onboard the Dwarf, and he wasn't a total failure, like he thought he was, and
in a sense, it was really his destiny to be on the Dwarf, after all!
Ruby Wax, who played the
presenter Blaize Falconberger,
was really funny, and you could tell that she truly didn't like Lister because
- "Sadly, Dave's life has recently been struck with tragedy. Well,
actually it hasn't, but we can only hope!". I had
heard that Graham Chapman, had been originally cast as the presenter, just
before he died, and even though I had great respect for him as an actor and
writer, I honestly don't think that part, would have suited him quite as well,
as Ruby Wax, played it, but then again, it might have been written rather
differently, for him, and I would have liked to have seen how he would have
done that part, but that's one thing, that we will never know, sadly, and I
have seen the film - "Citizen Kane", before I got into Red Dwarf, and
I have got , wait for it - "The Legend Of Xanadu,
by Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich on tape! And Xanadu is also mentioned in Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem
and "Xanadu" was also a film, which starred
Olivia Newton-John and the late Gene Kelly, and The Electric Light Orchestra
(ELO), performed all the music score. The best well-known songs from that movie
are - "I'm Alive", "Xanadu" and
from time to time, the forties number that Gene Kelly sang and danced with
Olivia Newton-John, has been played on BBC Radio Two.
I liked the song -
"Cash", that was performed, while Lister was making his way to the
mansion in his Rolls Royce, and I was quite shocked to discover, that Craig
Charles had written that song, and quite surprisingly, he also wrote -
"Bad News", which Kryten plays on that tape
of his, while he's sorting out the photographs, and he also wrote -
"OM", which certainly doesn't come as a great surprise! I did think
that "Cash" had been sung by Danny John-Jules originally, because it sounded
like something he would sing, and even now, I don't really recognise
Craig's voice, and not only that, he also wrote - "Handgun", which is
the song he wrote for his: Live on
Earth! Show, and he still uses it, even now, when he goes on tour, and again, I
didn't associate, that with him, either, but I have heard through various
sources, that he did have a band at one time, but they definitely weren't like
- "Smeg And The
Heads!" Nobody could be like - "Smeg And The Heads!" I liked his Manservant Gilbert
immediately, and I thought I also recognised him from
somewhere, but again, I just couldn't place him, but ever determined to solve
the mystery, I looked Robert Addie up, and I discovered that he had been Guy of
Guisbourne in - "Robin Of
Sherwood", along with Michael Praed and Jason
Connery! I never saw - "Robin", but I had seen clips of it, and that
is probably where I had seen him. It came as quite as a surprise to discover,
that Koo Stark (I won't mention Prince Andrew!), was Lister's fiancee'! However, looking back on that now, I had heard
through various sources, before I got into Red Dwarf, that she had been in it,
and that she had had a great time!
It was also at this point,
when I saw Lister come out of the Rolls Royce, that I knew that I had seen this
chap somewhere before! My first thoughts were - 'Didn't I see him presenting
something the other day? (The Go Getters) and - This chap's obviously had
Rimmer, was rather desparate
to go back and fix it all, so that it would be him, who invented the Tension Sheet,
instead of Lister, but what did he have to lose? After all, it was going to be
quite a few years, before Lister reached seventeen, and after all, he did have
a duty to rescue Lister, and not to mention, that he was a complete and utter
bastard! That was the line that decided it for me, the line that encouraged me
to set up the video, for the next episode, of this exciting new comedy, and I
kept on wishing - 'If only Paul were here beside me now, he'd crack up, and he
would think, that it was really good!". I liked the younger Rimmer, whom I also felt rather sorry for, because he was
just like him in miniature! He also reminded me of the two young boys, who had
been in The
Once Rimmer,
was out of the slide, back in the photo lab, I really liked his rendition of -
"If I Were A Rich Man" (I have seen the film
- "Fiddler On The Roof", it was very good). It was a great shame to
discover that he had failed, and when the others came back, I did think that it
was rather strange, that they didn't seem to see him, but I have since worked
it out, that they were in a kind of limbo, because the timelines, hadn't sorted
themselves out, and I knew right away, that Rimmer
was alive, because the "H" had disappeared off his head, but it came
as quite a surprise, once he got himself killed, again, by disturbing a crate
of explosives! There could have been an explanation for why Rimmer
was alive, once more, but I eventually put it down to the timelines, been all
over the the place, being the only logical
explanation, and sooner or later, he would have been destined, to have got
killed, all over again, sooner or later!
So, with that quite
significant episode of Red Dwarf, now finished, I found myself feeling rather
sad and I kept wishing to myself - "If only Paul had being here. Oh, how
he would have laughed!". So, without any further
ado, I found myself setting up the video recorder, for the following week, and
when Paul got in, about half an hour later, I told him - "I'm recording
this Red Dwarf. It's ever so good! It's just like Star Trek and Blackadder and the chap who plays the Liverpudlian,
he's really funny!". And Paul and I saw -
The Last Day: Episode VI, Red Dwarf III, the following Friday, and quite
surprisingly, he found it rather funny, and he thought that Kryten
was just like Spock, but when we watched - Justice: Episode III, Red Dwarf IV,
he had to tell me that Craig Charles, was really Liverpudlian,
because I kept on saying - "He's really good with that Liverpudlian
accent! That came as quite a surprise to me, and Paul thought that I had been
joking, when I had told him that, at the time, but I can assure one and all,
that I definitely wasn't joking, where that was concerned!
Marie Birch
July 2002