Interviews · 11 May 2023
Red Dwarf The full Red Dwarf interviews
Red Dwarf interviewed by Kevin Durham, 11 May 2023. 26m 13s on tape.
These Red Dwarf interviews take place with Ed Bye, Paul Jackson and Rob Grant. What do you think of this video titled Red Dwarf Interviews, leave us your comments below. Red Dwarf is a British television science fiction sitcom that first aired on BBC2 in 1988. The show was created by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, who also served as writers and producers throughout the series' run. The show initially centered around Dave Lister, the last human survivor of a radiation leak on the mining ship Red Dwarf. Lister is joined on his adventures by the hologram of his former bunkmate, Arnold Rimmer, a humanoid cat named Cat, and the ship's computer, Holly. Red Dwarf ran for twelve series and gained a cult following due to its unique blend of humor, sci-fi themes, and memorable characters. This report will explore the history, development, themes, and impact of Red Dwarf on British television.
What's on the tape
A transcript, made by machine from the audio and tidied up. It gets names and the odd word wrong, so treat it as a way to find the bit you want rather than as a quotation. Every timestamp jumps to that moment in the video.
0:03 To come up with that well it was partly because there were two reasons partly because it was r d and it was Robin Dunn That's. When we thought yeah that's the one but it started out where I I wanted to have um something Stellar in the day some some part of the uh the lifespan. Of various Stars this obviously was back in 83 and when you wanted to do research back then you had to open what we call a book. You either had to go to a library to get the book and hope that the book was in um or you had to buy it and uh on this one we got some kind of um encyclopedia. Respect I don't think it was a junior encycloped either I think it was a proper and um and we went through the various life cycles.
0:53 Of the stars and we white dwarfs didn't work because there was a magazine you know a Gaming magazine called white Dwarf and we we latched. Onto egg War because it's it's not as big or as powerful as any of the other stars. But it goes on forever and that seemed like a good omen to us so yeah. And bizarrely we we were down in streatham at the time I don't think we had a local pub instructor and we went there for quite a while so I I think it was a zero. Point discussion and then we then we went out I think later for you know I think there was a wine bar I hesitate to say stretch. Them there's pubs all down the High Street so the official answer the question one was and no naught pints nobody got yeah I'm not I'm.
1:46 Not really buying that but yeah. It was I remember it was surprisingly easy to come up with we didn't have lots and lots of options how was the opening title sequence. Devised and by whom and how many pints did it take to come up with it well I can answer a bit of this but I need a bit of help from Rob. My memory of this was that when we first got the script we thought the first thing we need to do is the first thing that needs to be done which is the model shots. Because that's going to be the first thing to be shot before the rest of the show we sat in the pub in Campbell world and we were sitting. There having our important production meeting and I'm guessing no I'm pretty certain about this actually that we came up with the idea of the great big long spaceship.
2:32 And that was in our first session and that was approximately oh I can't tell you how many pints actually yet but I've got an idea how. Many that was and then we went had a second meeting in the nameless Pub in Campbell well and then had another thought about the opening. Titles and came up with the idea of Lister cleaning the outside of it and that was another x amount of pints and then we were so pleased. With ourselves that we had another x amount of pints to celebrate how great our ideas was luckily somebody wrote it down because I don't really remember the rest the so so that was uh where. It was devised and I sort of given some of it away and then in the end our original idea was to have the spaceship going going and going and then and then you sort.
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3:21 Of develop around the front and it would go in and you'd see Craig but it was so complex so and different we had to compromise. So we did have the shipment and then we did another shot of it coming across the screen and then we we went to that's I mean. It is such a wonderful opening sequence for its time because first of all there's a music and the you know you're in some lonely dangerous. But interesting place I mean it really that Howard's music just sets it but then you see this model and it's a model shot and you know but but bloody. Hell then you pull back and now there's a a brush going up and down and now it's actually what we now know to be great jobs and you pull it and then you've got that wonderful. Sequence in the titles where the where the Craft's coming you're in the belly of The Craft with it flying over your head so I think in after.
4:09 30 seconds you've told so much yeah already in the opening titles I remember the direction we gave Pete Bragg for the model was we wanted it to be non-aerodynamic. And ugly because it was a practical it was a practical mining vessel in space and uh so it would make it different from any you know well in the the asteroid. Embedded in the side of it yeah absolutely as a result of that yeah but I do remember going to the model studio and seeing. It and it was it was seven foot. And they painted it Red and I I thought no I didn't mean to be Red I didn't want a Red spaceship. And and but he kind of grew on me was this the painting the ship because of the punishment detail in station that's what we came.
5:00 Down to yeah to explain this grumpy face yeah my understanding what my favorite thing was it was originally it was six pints. On the first meeting when we thought about the overhead shot between three of us yeah so it's two kinds each restrained in those days and then the second section. The second session we had which was where we came up with a painting idea that was another six pints so that's that's 12. and then we celebrated. With another three pints so that's fifty so the answer to uh how many bytes have come to devise the opening titles was 15 pints well 45. Between all of us oh yes okay we're gonna pick you're going to be nitpicky on my maps okay yes it just sounds better doesn't it yeah.
5:56 It does actually 45. was this the painting the ship because of the punishment detail in States I think that's what we came down to yeah. To explain this grumpy face yeah my understanding what my favorite thing was it was originally it was six pints on the first meeting when we thought about the overhead. Shot between three of yeah so it's two points each restrained in those days and then the second section the second session we had which was where. We came up with a painting idea that was another six pints so that's that's 12. and then we celebrated with another. Three pints so that's 15. so the answer to uh how many points have come to devise the opening titles was 15 pints well 45 between.
6:51 All of us oh yes okay we're gonna pick you're going to be nitpicky on my maps okay yes it just sounds better doesn't it yeah. 45 Rob Grant and Ed by and Paul Jackson work on together before Red Dwarf and how many pints did they drink what total would I put like how. Many points did you guys drink in total before. That would be a big number a very very big number it is a big number that's the only hint we'll give you on that so programs. That we worked on before I can't wait the nice thing about the entertainment department at the time was you could kind of pick your team and and quite a lot of people. Did have you know Stuart Morris famously had uh uh Lydia Seton and Chris Breeze and Terry Hughes had his team and Michael hurl had which at one time I was part and so we said.
7:51 You know the the bigger producers who had a lot of output were able to assemble a team around them and I had Marcus Mortimer Ed. Jackie Tyler a core team and we did in fact I think we started together on The Two Ronnies uh didn't we yeah yeah it first came on what. What were you doing on the two Ronnie's there the Hat check boy he was no he was the four assistant. Start with yeah and then the FM weren't you yes FM and that was the second day film which basically meant being nice to Ronnie Corbett. And uh there was one time. He was Ronnie Barker used to schedule it so that Ronnie Corbett normally started at the beginning of the day and there was a long Gap. And then he was featured at the end of the day and he was a Charming lovely man but he had a very short fuse.
8:41 And he had a he had one of a jaguar xjs and they were quite new and swanky in those days and he said hey look I've got this marvelous. New cars Jay who actually is I know it's lovely he said look this guy this fantastic facility where if I press this button here and this button. Here the the seat goes back electronically do you see like that I went oh yes that's very good he said so I can make it go all the way back so that you could drive it I went okay let's. Try that so you don't want to put it all the way back I got in the car and I drove around the car park very slowly. Got back out again he said fantastic now all I have to do is press this button back again. Nothing happens and so when you sat in the car it was except for me.
9:25 Like three foot away from the pedals. And I had to stay with him in the car park in sandbank. We did Young Ones Rob didn't do that uh pushing up daisies. Was a Channel 4 show that Posner and I did and that was still at the bib at the time he wasn't freelance spitting image of course is Robin Doug show. And John Lloyd's show uh I was never involved in that except sending silly messages which I nearly got us both taken off air but um oh. Yes the flash frames I forgot about frames which both to the image and um young ones young ones was was threatened with being taken off air and and then we did uh happy families. That did with with me and then we did uh Miss.
10:15 With Ed and and then oh. And ten percentages it goes on top yes that's right Ed and I did I did well it just had one here bottom is is that did you guys like a bottom. I I was first exact bottom and then Ed took over the whole thing ran it all on his own basically and Rob was not there because Paul. Was gone freelance he wasn't able to be involved in it and Alan Dean top said so who's actually in charge of the show bottle and I said I am you went. Yeah but no really who promise you he went. He said well you better keep me informed and then he said the classic to okay well look just go and do this hideous show and if this is Success.
11:10 Fine we'll take all the credit and if it all goes wrong it's your fault Alan who really didn't want to call it bottom. No which of course made Rick and Aid all the more determined and they eventually did say look take your choice with you take it have it or don't have it we're not doing it unless. It's called bottom they wanted to call it bottom smells but they agreed to um one of the episodes was called that it's called the first episode. We're only counting points that we consume together and there was only one time I think we all had a drink on on three of a kind and that was at the end of the season you took us all to a Chinese. In uh Queensway yeah and that was where Tracy was there that was where the word smegma.
12:01 Came up for the first time of course Trace Tracy had uh she had chicken this week on sub it said oh look at that it's like snake. And I didn't know what that was what is that and she described what it was and that was the birth of Smeg what came first the name. Or the script well actually I I am going to include a point to this is how many pints does it take to write the script. So you can you can have a stab at that I had realized that it had come first until I sort of thought thought back. Over it and of course we knew roughly what the idea was it would be the last guy in space and he'd be surrounded by things we weren't people. Names are very important I sort of did a quick draw through my uh history and everything I've ever created the name came first I think I was just going to say I want this is another example I think names.
12:55 Are incredibly important you can actually ruin a good show with a bad name I can't think of one at the moment because it's a bad show you won't know about it so but Red. Horse a brilliant brilliant name and it immediately gives you big big Clues to what's coming. I'm just really interested to know what your favorite episode of Red Dwarf is um I yeah I'm like I'm personally a big fan of like polymorph. Love backwards I used to watch I remember actually when I was sick as a kid uh the backwards episode was like my go-to thing to watch so I don't. Know why I just I I just I don't even understood it at the age that I was watching it um but I just like yeah I I loved. It and it was like so unique and and amazing I'd love to know what you're and I think my is uh future episodes because that was the first sort of sci-fi.
13:44 Story and it's it's pretty clever episode yeah it was you're right and also it was just in my memory it was the strongest episode of the um for me. It this is a great show this is a great show I do remember that yeah it's it's rare when you're directing and and you have to spread. Paul had to help me out editing backwards because it was so complex and complicated and desperately editing while I was directing and bits were coming through you know it was just sending. You 30 second sequences up to the studio yeah exactly okay yeah okay me I thought I was producer now look what I'm doing crazy cut. That you know it was really good so we managed to stumble our way through that one but that was a razor challenge I like marooned. Because of its dramatic sort of um content and the story was great what's your favorite poem well I hugely hugely enjoy and admire backwards you know it's a it's.
14:45 Watching a group of people of whom I'm very very fond still to this day writer performers. Add the whole team behind him you know it reminds me of Donald DeStefano writing down literally every little position of prop because they're all gonna have to go back in that same position after. They've been shattered backwards but number 10 question 10 is interesting how many times do we make series one if you're being literal about it obviously. We only made series one once. We did have a unusual. Time at the BBC when we're trying to make series one and it resulted in us having to do something quite unusual I don't want to try and give it away. But basically I've given you time now how many times we make series one we made series one twice because there was an electrician strike.
15:41 And so we basically rehearsed every single show and we're just about to go into the studio and then it would be canceled because the electricity. And we rehearsed the entire Series so we had the entire series under our belt although we never shot any of it because with a sitcom. What you do is you rehearse in the week and nail the whole thing down so that you can basically perform it very you know like a live performance. Like a theatrical performance in front of an audience in order to do that you have to rehearse it and know it inside out and have it completely. Planned as much as you can. And actually the answer isn't quite twice because towards the end of series one we re-shot some episodes or some scenes from episode one The End again. So in theory we actually made series one two point.
16:33 What's one two two point and a half of a sixth whatever that is what else is that B12 right okay so it'll be two two. And a twelve two to twelve we actually did uh that's how many times you made series one um and then of course with series one was remastered. So I guess you could say that's uh we redid it again but only in um and that was an interesting experience putting some color back. Into it because the show we used to shoot on tape because now everything's digital you can shoot straight onto um onto card. And uh but it used to be on tape and so when when we were editing we every time you had to re-edit you had to lay the whole show down onto a fresh tape. So uh if you wanted to have to go back and change something then it meant going down a generation as we call it and we could really only.
17:29 Do four generations of tape before the pictures just became too manky and wouldn't be transmittable and then when we got to the remastering and we could digitally. Remaster the the shows we went back to the original takes the original takes from the studios not the edit tape so you have the original. Studio tape you'd edit onto another tape you'd edit them to another tape you edit onto another set by this time generation's quality of going down and then we would so we we went. Back to the original tapes that were recorded in studios we digitally um laid them down and remastered them and the remastered it's quite interesting if you could be bothered to to buy. The remastered versions of Red Dwarf and compare it to the originals you'll see a massive difference and we also reconstructed some model shots and and used. Some early CG effects so BBC had series one down as a seven episode schedule but Paul was fine with delivering only six so that the end could.
18:41 Be partially remounted oh I don't know no I think we only ever plan to do six I don't think we were going to do seven because in those days a comedy. Series was six that's you know that was a standard number it's possible that we had a seventh in the in the pipeline that does drug my memory but I think we went well you know let's not be completely. Unconventional let's at least deliver the um the amount of shows that they would have expected to get. There used to be a system where at the BBC where if you did produce an extra show. Within the budget then they would find a a space to to put it in and that would help your your overall budget later on down the line. But um and I don't remember that and certainly with bottom we did an episode.
19:34 Or based on um in Wimbledon common and unfortunately a girl a poor girl had been murdered in Wimbledon common say we couldn't put it out it would be too tasteless. To do that until much later so that was a an interesting one where we had a series of five and then later on it was transmitted. I'd love to know what your favorite moments were both from um Red Dwarf and also bottom two shows I absolutely love I'd love to know like when you when you look back and think about your time on those shows. What moments kind of really kind of stand out and kind of pop into your head first it's like oh man that's yeah I really can't remember this occasion. Because because yeah oh there's many but you know sometimes you get something unexpected so there's a great gag where Holly in quig I think it is where Holly is um instructing.
20:22 Lister to to repair a piece of machinery and he says uh yeah that put the blue one with the Red one and then Lister joins it together like that and then sparks. Fly out everywhere and uh he explodes and I was talking to Peter rag about how we could get him to look like he's really been thrown. In the air and so Peter came up with an idea that he jumped on a trumpet which is just below the camera so you imagine trumpets. Down there somewhere at the bottom of frame but out of shot and uh we set off some pyrotechnics at the same time and so Craig. Once this has happened he then leapt into the air jumped on the trumpet and flew uh almost over the camera. And it's one of those unexpected moments and then so that's quite a big effect and look quite spectacular for a TV show and then you cut to Holly and you go oh was it the Red one and um because you set up such a huge.
21:22 Sort of effect um unexpected effect it made the gag much funnier. I had to cut down it's just too long the laugh was huge and that's sort of things like that the unexpected moments that you kind of go well that's. A bonus I wasn't expecting that um so that's this little moments like that I mean there's lots of them but that's that's one that pops into my head with that and we've. Bought them um the fight sequence at the end of the chess game oh my god with the Spider-Man thing yeah and that's the fight at the end of the chess sequence. Was just brilliant I mean it was um again it's one of those things where I think will this will be okay but actually when you we shot. It and cut the cut the shots together and got the isolated feed sorted out and got them in it was a great fight sequence and another great fight.
22:12 Screams in the first episode in the bathroom cabinet where the bathroom cabinets taken off the wall smash over Rick's head and a pair of pliers. Put in his nose and he moves from side to side he smashes through a door hits his head on a banister and collapses on the floor I mean that's a good sequence. And it was you know shooting wise it worked really well but what was your favorite uh episode of of bottom yeah over almost every. Christmas I got very there's certain things I'll always watch and I always watch without fell holy without like gold Frankenstein and girl I just uh yeah I can't have a Christmas without watching. That what's your well I think that the Christmas show was was my favorite yeah I mean with uh Steve O'Donnell and Chris Ryan just playing. Spud gun and Hedgehog they were fantastic.
22:58 And that's funny enough that particular episode is the only time I saw Rick corpse. I think it's when uh Steve O'Donnell's character uh has to go to the lavatory and so he he goes in a cup. Subsequently drinks from yeah and he says something like wouldn't tastes a bit nutty or something like that and then he talks and he wasn't able. To you know he was furious with himself because uh he's very disciplined performer. And it was a fabulous moment it's a great show I love that show yeah that one and the one um I'm just trying to remember which I think bottom. Smells the the first episode we recorded that uh involved pheromones and dogs. Laughed and this is God honest truth I've never laughed so hard at a show in my an episode of a show in my life as I have to gas.
23:56 Man gas man was just the way that they just like Pelt him repeatedly like when I think when Rick. Is uh going at him with a frying pan and like anything yeah Rick's punching him and Eddie sitting him with a prime that's it that's it yeah. What happened was is that we kind of rehearsed that and that was supposed to be about five or six hits you know and that was going to be it but the sound guy. Who was very talented Jen whippy could play in the sound effects live to the audience and so he would watch what they were doing and he'd. Hit the button at the right moment he's either going to punch or a clang from a frying pan oh so that was live they did the sound live. Oh yeah refined on the sound effects live to to keep the audience who were in the studio entertained and it became a bit of a competition.
24:44 And that was the ultimate moment when they just didn't stop hitting him. I was watching and going well okay yeah directing it looking for the camera said okay whatever we just hold your positions and we'll just you know we'll. Take a shot there quick there's a quick cutaway there you know take the shot. And we'll just keep shooting this until they stop and it just went on and on and on was a classic moment but what was Rick and Aid. Like to work with from from Europe I mean yeah brilliant really such great. Apart from anything else I wrote it all so they knew exactly what they were doing and how it worked and what their intentions were but also the the Precision. Particularly the violence they they were incredible I mean they just knew how to punch and whack and smack each other and and also how the cameras.
25:41 Worked I mean I helped them a bit but as far as I'm taking a shot from here and they would adjust and go okay then I'll hit one left-hand. Side of the face and his face will swing around in the camera in that kind of thing and it was uh it was a joy to work with them it really was and um uh you know ages. And a friend of mine are going to see him a lot and I used to see Rick a lot but sadly of course he died but um no it was my sort. Of highlight for me because I had that entire show completely under my control and working with those two geniuses.
