(no subject)

[shivvlan.livejournal.com]

I was watching the Red Dwarf Cast commentry's today, backwards I might add though i'm not sure why--started with season 7 and worked my way backwards. Missed season 4 since i don't currently have it and have gotten to season two. Anyway, I was noticing that the actors, dispite that fact that there are only three constant and three changable, seem to have formed groups. Uhm...whats that american word? Klicks? cliques? whatever. I noticed that Whats-his-name who plays Kryten and the bloke who plays Cat (benifit of the doubt on my memory here people, it's 1am and i've been watching RD cast commentries backwards since about 4pm yesturday) seem to be good friends, whereas Chris Barrie barely even says a word when Craig Charles isn't there. It was mainly the Chris Barrie, Craig Charles thing I was noticing since Craig Charles wasn't in the season 5 commentry--it's my favourite season with most of my favourite episodes and I was looking forward to finding out what the two had to say about them =P only to have Craig Charles not there and Chris Barrie barely said a word for the entire thing. I found the implied relationships interesting.

I also highly recommend watching the cast commentrys on a laptop, or likewise, with headphones. That's how i've been doing it (my sister stole my PS2 so I couldn't watch them on the TV) and I really must say, ^_______^ Gosh there's nothing like having Chris Barrie purring right into your ear =P

Comments

[nessaancalime.livejournal.com]

Bummer, Craig is not commenting on season 5? Was looking forward to that. Well, at least he make waves in the documentary ;-)
Funny you say this. In the documentary on season 4, Craig talks about how he and Chris weren't getting along very well then, implicit that they are getting along much better now. How he kept making remarks winding Chris up. He said something about it being a matter of not really having the respect for each other that they had now. Also something about them feeling a bit trapped in the whole thing - seeing a future spent with Red Dwarf conventions forever ::G::
But in a way, it is usually the people you have something with that can wind you up. In second season one of the writers were commenting on how well the Rimmer/Lister thing worked now because of the chemistry between Chris and Craig. So I guess it would be going up and down a bit when you have to work together so much and have a connection, for better or worse.
Could very well be that Robert and Danny had more of a rapport with each other, and they are both very talkative types. Despite the kind of occupation Chris has, he always struck me as being more reserved and introvert than the others, so with those two going off at 100 miles an hour, he would probably withdraw a bit (one of the things that makes me see a connection between him and Rimmers personality). Maybe that is why Craig is winding him up a bit on purpose to get a reaction out of him :-)

[kahvi.livejournal.com]

Oh, he is... Chris does his voice. ;) And since you can't tell the difference (seriously!) it's quite disconcerting. And listening to what he says as Craig, and replies, is quite honestly what say the most to me about their relationship than anything else I've seen or heard, almost. There'a great bit where he even gets into an argument with "Craig," yelling "Shut up, Craig!"

Great stuff, and very... Ahem. *does not do RPS* *does not do RPS* *does not do RPS* *does not do RPS*

*cough*

[roadstergal.livejournal.com]

I adore Season V's commentary! It's amusing and delightfully slashy to listen to Chris impersonate Craig, and you hear Hattie more than on any other commentary (I love Hattie!).

I think conversational groups form, but I think they're fluid. Chris does tend to go quiet when he's embarassed, so he talks less when they're going on about his bum or his arms or his Hugh Hefner package (good lord, I listened to the I commentary last night - holy slash city, Batman!), but he definitely gets his two cents in. I love how he's the one who gets people going when they dribble off and just watch the episode. I remember it particularly in Marooned, when they all trailed off and he said something along the lines of "Delightful as it may be to listen to these magnificent actors [this was a Rimmer scene] we are here to commentate, and commentate we shall..."

[kahvi.livejournal.com]

"Why are we talking about my arms?"

Beyond cute.

[roadstergal.livejournal.com]

And don't forget in V, Chris talking about Craig always trying to talk him into another drink at the pub after shoots...

And lordy, that Future Echoes bit, with Craig talking about the package-stare being the leadup to the VII kiss!

[roadstergal.livejournal.com]

Oh, god, there was that bit in Confidence and Paranoia when you got a camera shot from 3/4 towards the legs of Chris in his bunk in his T-shirt/shorts ensemble, and Danny said something about how the only acting there was going on between Chris's legs...

[kahvi.livejournal.com]

It does some fine acting in your icon there too!

[roadstergal.livejournal.com]

It's a method actor, methinks.

[nessaancalime.livejournal.com]

BTW, despite the discussion earlier, I can not remember to ever have seen an RPS Dwarf story. Even if I don't read them, I usually register that they exist. Do they exist?
I guess in a way the actors are taking it so far out that there is nothing left to write about ::BG::

[roadstergal.livejournal.com]

I've seen a few floating around.

I've seen them floating around my MSN Messenger window, too, but that's something different.

[beetle-breath.livejournal.com]

I remember reading one eons ago about Craig & Chris after The Kiss, but I have no earthly idea where it was from.

[dracothelizard.livejournal.com]

and poor Chris was doing his best by doing Craig impersonations too!

[felineranger.livejournal.com]

I always kind of got the impression from what they say about each other that Craig and Chris have quite a brotherly relationship in that kind of 'I love you and everything but sometimes you really drive me up the wall' sort of way. I think I remember reading an interview with Craig once where he said he thought he was probably closest to Robert out of the whole cast.

The series 5 commentary was fantastic and everything but it was definitely a little more subdued than the others. I get the feeling that Craig is the bubbly one in the group who gets everyone else to be that little bit more upbeat and giggly. They seemed a bit lost at moments without him there. (Although Chris did a lovely job of filling in for him!)

[nessaancalime.livejournal.com]

A bit the way Lister holds the Dwarf boys together and make them upbeat when things go wrong?
I got the same impression about the Chris and Craig thing - they got this connection, but it sometimes a thing like that can be like a straight jacket when you want to be somewhere else or do some(thing) else...

[roadstergal.livejournal.com]

Kahvi and I were talking about this the other night - about how they got along so badly about in the middle of the series, but seemed to... not put aside their differences, but accept them, and that's why they became so very close afterwards, closer than if they had gotten along decently from the outset. There's something different about a mately affection and the opposites-attract kind of affection vibe I get from them. *beats RPS with a stick*

[nessaancalime.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I was getting associations to similar experiences. Sometimes you just feel a closeness and understanding to people, nothing to do with sexual attraction, you just instinctively understand each other, an almost chemical reactions. But you can still be very different and irritate each other and then the understanding is just a nuisance because you don't want to understand! If you can get past that and into acceptance of the other person, one will be very close even just as friends.
Don't beat it off - transform it into another beautiful Rimmer/Lister fic.

[roadstergal.livejournal.com]

A fic? Twist my arm!

I still like to think they canoodled at some point. *whistle*
I agree - I think Understanding Level 1 was an irritant for both of them, and Understanding Level 2 broke through that.

I still like how, even when they didn't get along, they didn't get along in a try-to-get-under-the-others'-skin way - I'm thinking of the horse incident in Gunmen and the light-cig-in-the-swamp bit in Terrorform, and how they imitated each other in Thanks For The Memory and Bodyswap.

[nessaancalime.livejournal.com]

Yeah, they are pros, and got that valuable thing: a sense of humour :-)
Chris imitated Craig, who freely admitted imitation was not his strongest thing.
Did you notice they both got divorced around the first seasons of the series ::whistles innocently::

[roadstergal.livejournal.com]

Ja, imitation isn't his thing, but he still seemed to enjoy playing Rimmer with his nose in the air in Bodyswap. ;) And Chris so looked like he was taking the piss as Lister with Lise in Thanks...

Oh, they did. Argh! More RPS bunnies! Down!

God, I didn't think Season I was all that slashy until I watched the cast commentary. And dang it all, I need to get my hands on that smegup that's only on the tapes, where Craig ends up hugging Chris.

[kahvi.livejournal.com]

*reads thread*

I wonder if there is a way to set up my laptop to shock me if I try to write RPS? I might need it...

[roadstergal.livejournal.com]

I know. Argh.

[nessaancalime.livejournal.com]

I have a tape of smegups. Should get it out and check, if its there I can probably digitise it.

[roadstergal.livejournal.com]

OMG! If you did, I would love you! It's a smegup that's apparently on the tape, from the end of Me Squared...

[nessaancalime.livejournal.com]

Not at home right now, will check when I get back later this week. Remind me if it takes time, in case I forget it again.
Think it is a smeg-up tape from season 1, but haven't watched in a long time. Digitising should be easy if it is actually there.

[shivvlan.livejournal.com]

Holy cow! I wrote this comment just before I went to sleep and I wake up with the thought 'i'll just check LJ then i'll flip a coin to see if i'm watching the rest of the season two and then the season one cast commentry, or seeing if i can hit the 13000word mark on my fik'. o_O
This is insane T_T i'm trying not to broach RPS, I really really really am. (*wails* but their so nice when they're together they make it so hard not to get the idea).
I admit i loved Chris Barrie's impersonations of Craig Charles in the Season V commentry; I could pick who the other two were when they were doing them, but Chris Barrie did it so well I kept suspecting Craig was actually there and pretending not to be.
From watching the commentrys backwards, as I am, it's kinda hard to believe that Chris Barrie and Craig Charles didn't get along there for a while; they have brilliant chemistry and it really did feel like Chris's silences were falling more in the spaces where Craig wasn't talking either. He didn't spend all the much time replying to the others unless it was pertenent or they were asking a question.

[roadstergal.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure all of the commentaries were recorded once they had made it to their marvelous friendly squoogly phase. Huzzah!

[nessaancalime.livejournal.com]

Don't worry about it :-)
Altough RPS may be lurking under the surface here, it is a relevant discussion to the series. I alwyas felt that the writers were using the actors persoalities as well as the way they related to each other when they developed the personalities and also in coming up with plots. Also the actors will make the characters their own and insert the parts of themselves that is suitable.
And you can have chemistry but still not always get along...

[felineranger.livejournal.com]

They did? Intriguing...I knew Craig was divorced cos he talks about his ex quite a bit on the dvd's, but didn't know about Chris. Perhaps that's why they didn't get on series 2 so well. Maybe they were both feeling a bit sensitive and not in the mood for any snarkage.