reddwarfslash | Things You Love About Red Dwarf

Slashy or otherwise? Most of us would probably cite the humour, slash-friendliness and the attractive and (usually) lovable characters. Including myself, but being more specific, here's a random list off the top of my head.

"Would you describe the accused as a friend?" "No, I'd describe the accused as a git."

The colourful fruit setting off Cat's pink jacket in the "Learning To Lie" scene in "Camille". And of course the scene itself.

Lister's eyes.

Rimmer's face, in general.

"Everybody's dead, Dave."

Holly giggling and fainting when she meets Ace in "Dimension Jump".

Every syllable of Mark Dexter's performance in "Trojan".

The flashback scene in "The Beginning".

Rimmer's blatant jealousy of the friendliness between Lister and Ace.

Lister's white longjohns in "Duct Soup".

The Kiss. And The Hug.

Rimmer getting oiled in "Terrorform".

The off-screen camaraderie between the cast.

Canon m-preg and female AU.

Rimmer's exam terror (especially in the book. Most of us have been there to some extent).

Dave Lister's optimistic grin.

The Kryten / Lister friendship, especially in Series IV.

Rimmer's gradual journey to being more sympathetic.

Cat's outfits and self-confidence.

"Or we could use the teleporter."

"I hardly said anything. Apart from "Geronimo" ".

The drunk scene in "Thanks For The Memory".

Etc, etc.

Thinking about it, another thing I enjoy is the fact that we can discuss and enjoy these characters without having to justify horrendous things. For example: "I know Character A murdered Character B, but B deserved it! He raped A's wife / kidnapped A's kids / committed mass murder".
To which a B fan replies: "But he had a terrible childhood!".

This isn't a dig at any particular fandom or show - I myself have enjoyed some shows with characters like that. But then when I start to think about it, it starts to spoil the show for me.

I'm glad the Boyz from the Dwarf remain largely likable even under analysis. Which isn't to say they haven't done some questionable things (I'm glossing over Series VIII here), but the comedy aspect keeps things lighthearted more often than not.

So, enough from me. What do you love about the show?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

When I first watched RD in the 90s, I loved the Cat foremost. I've had cats since I was four years old, and Danny did an amazing job of capturing a feline's attitude and movements translated over to bipedal form and speech and behavior. He's become more "human" in 25 years, but he still has cat moments like batting at the stick and string in "The Beginning" - while giving sage advice.

I also liked Rimmer - who doesn't like Rimmer? He's the most complex of the characters, IMO. It would have been so easy to cast the wrong actor and not gained any sympathy for him, but luckily this was one of those great decisions. Which, I think translates through the rest of the cast as well. They're all perfectly chosen for their characters.

"Marooned" is one of the best episodes to see how Rimmer and Lister have learned to get on because of their differences, not despite them. And it's one of the few times we see Lister's less noble side.

Howard Burden's costuming, 97 percent of the time, is flawless. Now that he's doing Who as well, you can see little touches not necessarily from RD, but that serve the story well that some other designer might not have thought of (I'm thinking of "Day of the Doctor" but can't say anything for spoilers. If I could, I'd point out a costuming choice that was subtle and great.)

Cat is great when you want someone to be spectacularly tactless and / or self-absorbed, but in a funny way. If he wasn't a cat it might be annoying, but as you say it just fits feline behaviour.

Someone on one of the docs describes Rimmer as a "likably dislikable character", which is a good way of putting it.

Howard's costumes really are great. Not that I didn't like the Series 1 and 2 ones, but they wouldn't suit the Boyz as they are now. :)

Things You Love About Red Dwarf

no subject

no subject