2012 - The Year In Dwarf (Part One)

Looking back over a smegging epic year.

21 December, 2012

Here at reddwarf.co.uk, we like to look back over those years that have been a bit special - and in the case of 2012, it's fair to say it's been a lot special (even without mentioning the Olympics). The year that saw Red Dwarf return to British TV screens for the first time in three years, and for the first full series - as well as the first new episodes shot before a live audience - in thirteen years. We knew all along that the series would be great - but we didn't anticipate quite how well the audiences, viewers and even the press would take to the series.

In short, Red Dwarf X was - if you'll forgive the trumpet-blowing - a blockbuster success, and it was the perfect cap to a topsy-turvy 2012 jam-packed with excitement. So join us now, if you will, as we start our two-part reminiscence with a look at the first half of the year...

We began January as we'd ended December 2011 - with Red Dwarf X fervently in production. With heads still fuzzy from New Year celebrations, the cast and crew - and a three-hundred strong audience! - assembled for the recording of "Lemons" in the first week of the month. Audience members arriving at the studio on Saturday 7th January were greeted by one of the most ambitious indoor sets Red Dwarf - or indeed any British sitcom for some time - had attempted, as a small area of the studio became a bustling Indian market.

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This was followed in rapid succession by "Entangled", "Dear Dave" and "The Beginning" - three episodes which, for assorted reasons, were unable to be recorded in full on their respective audience nights. It's a credit to the nine hundred die-hard Dwarfers who packed out the Shepperton studio across those three Fridays that they maintained their joy and enthusiasm even during these occasionally trying - and very long - shoots.

In among his regular stints being caked in rubber, meanwhile, Robert Llewellyn found the time to finish re-cataloguing his classic experiences, as the original text of The Man in the Rubber Mask finished being released in brand new audiobook form. As the year drew on, Robert would continue the story, writing and recording brand new chapters telling the story from 1993 right up to 2012.

Although regular weekly episode recordings had finished at the end of January, the beginning of February saw some of the most important shooting to be done, as a full week of "pick-up" filming enabled numerous scenes - which for various reasons had been unable to be mounted during the episodes' original production weeks - to be filmed.

Another element of the pick-up week, of course, was the first mounting of the model shots, which were announced to no small fanfare this month as being the chosen method of rendering Red Dwarf, Starbug and Blue Midget (although the use of the latter two models was kept secret at this stage!), further evidence of just how much the new series was harking back to the classic era.

Also in February, the brand new official Red Dwarf YouTube channel was launched - complete with an introductory video by the Dwarfers - and was updated throughout the year with exclusive RDX-related content.

In March, as news from the production camp quietened down somewhat, broadcaster Dave took the opportunity to broadcast the feature-length Back to Earth: The Director's Cut for a second time. Thanks to the recent launch of their HD simulcast channel, this was also the first time that the full high-definition version of the special had been shown on television - a nice warmup for the entire HD series that was to follow later in the year...

In contrast with that quiet month, April was among the busiest months of the year - although many of the behind-the-scenes goings-on went unreported at the time! Most notably, the cast and crew assembled one final time to undertake a final round of pickup shoots for the episodes. With the ship sets already having been dismantled, these scenes - most of which were additional scenes for the under-running "Dear Dave" - were instead shot in front of green screen. One such scene can be seen prior to having the background digitally inserted on the RDX DVD.

At the same time as the actors were doing pick-up shooting, however, so too were the models. After general dissatisfaction with the results of the initial, time-pressured shoot, a new batch of models were quickly and expertly provided by Bill Pearson, and almost the entire slate of effects shots were re-recorded.

While all of this was going on, however, the general public got its first promotional glimpse of the series, courtesy of the first publicity still - showing the crew in the drive room during "Fathers and Suns".

A smaller news bite that made us proud in this busy month concerned the former custodian of this very parish - as Red Dwarf X script editor Andrew Ellard found success with his short film Future Inc. A terrific sci-fi black comedy, the film was the winning entry in Sci-Fi London's 48 Hour Film Competition.

There was, however, also sad news in April, as we learned of the passing of Peter Wragg. Peter had been the visual effects supervisor across the first seven series of Red Dwarf, with too many landmark contributions to count - but probably his most memorable was the design of the titular ship itself. Peter is greatly missed by everyone connected with Red Dwarf, and along with former producer Jo Howard, who passed away in 2011, Series X was dedicated to his memory.

With shooting on Red Dwarf X finally having wound down, Craig Charles was free to make his return to Coronation Street in May. But the post-production process carried on apace, with another exciting announcement being the recruitment of soundtrack maestro Howard Goodall to provide brand new music cues for the series.

Meanwhile, an under-heralded part of the post-production process involved showing newly cut-together rough cuts of the fourth and fifth episodes - which both contained extensive scenes not originally shot before the live audience - to an invited audience in order to provide a genuine laugh track. Despite this, many ill-informed commenters - especially on Twitter - continued to babble on about the myth of "canned laughter" when the shows were broadcast...

As we approached the midway point of the year, things quietened down once more, although there was just time in June for video rental site LoveFilm to show a timely bit of Dwarf love, as its users voted the show the eighth best British TV series of all time.

We were now just a few short months away from the premiere of Red Dwarf X - and the release of the first bits of footage online would be just around the corner...

A very merry Christmas to you from reddwarf.co.uk. Join us next week for the second part of our 2012 retrospective!