Hasslein Blog: July 2016

REFERENCE GUIDES BY GEEKS, FOR GEEKS

Hasslein Blog

Friday, July 29, 2016

Red Dwarf: Beyond the Shows

by Paul Giachetti

The British sci-fi comedy series Red Dwarf has aired a total of 61 episodes throughout the past 25-plus years, with twelve more on the way as of this writing. Casual fans, however, may not be aware of the vast body of additional material, most of it available online. In an effort to keep fans up-to-date with all things Dwarf-related, I have compiled this list of books, websites, videos and other materials outside of the televised episodes. Some of these can be found on the show's DVDs, though not all of the DVD bonus materials are listed here—only the more popular ones.


Son of Cliché transcripts, including Dave Hollins, the inspiration for Red Dwarf


PUBLICATIONS

NOVELS
Red Dwarf: Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers
Better Than Life
Last Human
Backwards
Red Dwarf Omnibus

IN-UNIVERSE-STYLE BOOKS
Red Dwarf Log No. 1996
Red Dwarf Space Corps Survival Manual
The Log: A Dwarfer's Guide to Everything

SCRIPT BOOKS
Primordial Soup: The Least Worst Scripts
Son of Soup: A Second Serving of the Least Worst Scripts
Scenes from the Dwarf
Red Dwarf VIII

QUIZ BOOKS
Red Dwarf Quiz Book
A Question of Smeg: 2nd Red Dwarf Quiz Book

DOCUMENTARIES, GUIDES, ETC.
The Official Red Dwarf Companion
The Making of Red Dwarf
Red Dwarf Programme Guide (Third Revised Edition)

UNOFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS
Total Immersion: The Comprehensive Unauthorized Red Dwarf Encyclopedia
Ganymede & Titan Presents: The Garbage Pod
Stasis Leaked Complete: The Unofficial Behind the Scenes Guide to Red Dwarf

AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL
Random Abstract Memory
The Man in the Rubber Mask

THE ROLEPLAYING GAME
Red Dwarf—The Roleplaying Game
Red Dwarf—The Roleplaying Game: AI Screen with Extra Bits
Red Dwarf—The Roleplaying Game: Series Sourcebook

MAGAZINES
Smegazines: March 1992 to January 1994
The Official Red Dwarf Fan Club magazine

VIDEOS
The Story of Red Dwarf
Red Dwarf mobisodes
Kryten's YouTube Geek Week intros
Red Dwarf Mars April Fool's Day spoof
Red Dwarf/Hitchhiker's Guide BBC Advert
Bill Pearson's Red Dwarf Xmas pitch video
Can't Smeg, Won't Smeg cooking show
Red Dwarf Universe Challenge
Red Dwarf USA pilot #1
Red Dwarf USA pilot #2
Children in Need Red Dwarf sketch
Comic Relief Red Nose Day promo
Comic Relief Red Nose Day: Bohemian Rhapsody—brief appearance
Amnesty 30th—brief appearance
Tongue Tied—full video, plus making-of special
BBC2 skutter idents
The Best Ever Red Dwarf—introduction by Craig Charles
Red Dwarf: A-Z

UNFILMED SCRIPTS
• "Identity Within"
• "Bodysnatcher"
• "Dad"
• "Infinity Patrol"
• "Lister's Dad"
• "Rimmer's Dummy"
Bill Pearson's Red Dwarf Xmas—full script
Bill Pearson's Red Dwarf Xmas—pitch video

ONLINE COMIC
Prelude to Nanarchy

WEBSITES
The Official Website
The Official Red Dwarf Fan Club
Ganymede & Titan
Gazpacho Soup
Red Dwarf Collectibles
• Red Dwarf Scripts

INTERACTIVE DVD GAME
Beat the Geek

GEEK CHASE ONLINE PUZZLE GAME
• Androids (www.androids.tv)
• Diva-Droid (www.divadroid.info)
• Duane Dibbley (www.duanedibbley.co.uk)
• Crapola (www.crapola.biz)
• Geneticon (www.geneticon.info)
• Leisure World International (www.leisureworldint.com)
• Jupiter Mining Corporation (www.jupiterminingcorporation.com)
• A.I. Today (www.aitoday.co.uk)
• HoloPoint (www.holopoint.biz)

FAN FICTION
• "Homecoming"
Other

For more details on these materials, visit Ganymede and Titan's Complete Guide to Almost Everything.


UPDATE: July 30, 2016 – Included Red Dwarf Collectibles website
UPDATE: October 26, 2016 – Added link to Smegazines
UPDATE: December 26, 2016 – Added Red Dwarf/Hitchhikers Guide advert to Videos
UPDATE: February 22, 2017 – Added Dave Hollins transcripts and Red Dwarf Scripts website

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Friday, July 22, 2016

Red Dwarf: Homecoming—Fan Fiction by Paul C. Giachetti

By Paul C. Giachetti

Throughout the years, the British science-fiction comedy Red Dwarf, like any long-running series, has produced a fair number of inconsistencies, plot holes and unanswered questions. Some of these instances were masterfully resolved within the pages of the four novels written by Rob Grant and/or Doug Naylor, but many remain unexplained to this day. One of my pet hobbies has been to take these conflicts and questions and concoct explanations to fill in the gaps for other fans. Sometimes, the answer is simple ("Light bees are programmed to 'age'."), while other times, it requires a bit more explanation.


>Among the most prevalent questions asked within fan circles these days are: What happened after Series VIII? How did Red Dwarf survive the chameleonic microbe? And which Rimmer has been with the crew since Back to Earth? After seeing these questions posted several times in the various online forums and groups I frequent, I finally decided to offer my own account of the events directly following the Series VIII finale, "Only the Good…"

The end result is a novellette titled Red Dwarf: Homecoming, which you can read here.

"It says here it's a short story by some smeghead named Paul Giachetti.
I think he played an orangutan in Planet of the Apes, didn't he?"

This story assumes readers have watched "Only the Good…," as well as the Series VII episode "Stoke Me a Clipper," and have a general familiarity with the TV series overall. It is written more in the style of the novels than of the show itself, though I have nonetheless tried to capture the voice and tone of the series and its characters.

My goal was to have readers walk away from the story feeling as though they had just watched a lost episode. Hopefully, I've at least come close.

Enjoy.

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