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Series 7 is by far the worst of the series, even worse than series 8, but it's also the one series where they tried to make the show look like a "film." So that's the idea of the edit, to create a Red Dwarf movie. Can't be any worse than the Doctor Who movie (Cushing or McGann, take your pick).
And you could make it funnier with faster pacing, cutting out the fat and making it all 16x9 and cinematic.
Also both Tikka to Ride and Ouroboros have a very "flashback" like structure which would allow you to sneak back to other series and provide clips from every series that seem to sum up the show .... look in the DVD deleted scenes and you'll find material without laugh tracks on it that can be used.
My feeling is that Rimmer should be kept in the movie ... at least he's in Tikka To Ride, which is a pretty cinematic episode, and some clever editing should keep him "around" in the plot for at least most of the proceedings.
The bad CGI that's all through series 7 and 8 should be replaced whenever possible by the original model effects from series 1-6 which you can get in lovely quality in the DVD extras. Shot on film, the model shots are presented uncut and look VERY filmic.
There's even an easter egg on one of the series which shows a cool effect where a wide shot of the Dwarf crew is shot on film, and then there's a shot of them literally projected into the Starbug cockpit, a very difficult effect, unused in the final show.
This could make a good title sequence.
Okay, here's some ideas ....
The opening should be like it was in series 1 .... very slow and cinematic, a la 2001. With THAT theme music. Y'know. You could use some effects model shots of Starbug from any series to run with the opening titles, which would be very understated a la MST3K the movie or Serenity. The aforementioned "shot on film" tests of the Dwarf crew could be used. Maybe.
I would love to see Holly have the first line with "This is a distress call from the mining ship Red Dwarf." Although at this point in the story Red Dwarf is lost in space, the distress call would still be floating out there, if we were in the right place to receive it. So that would be cool.
Actually I had thought at one point that Holly should be edited into the movie, just to have him in there. There's more than enough deleted/laugh track less Holly material from series 1, 2, Nanarchy and 8 to do something with him. He would be aboard Starbug in the way that HattieHolly was.
I definitely feel that Tikka to Ride and Ouroboros can link together as one story, since there are a few things they have in common.
Preferably I'd like to see Kochanski NOT introduced in this version of Ouroboros, as if she's already there in the storyline, but I can live with this movie including her introduction as a character.
As long as you don't kill off Wash or Book ... wait, wrong show ...
Red Dwarf, the Movie.
I'm watching Red Dwarf series 7 for the first time - I'd always avoided it after seeing one awful episode from it (Stoke Me a Clipper) ... it's clearly the worst series for a great show ...
But watching the DVD's extended versions of "Tikka to Ride" and "Ouroboros", which are presented without a laugh track ...
This might as well be Red Dwarf the movie. They're all filmlooked, and only rarely look like video during these episodes due to the single-camera style. There's a flashback and time travel aspect to both episodes that would lend itself well to a movie, and to including clips from previous series ... we flash back to the end of series 6, the beginning of series 1 (to annoyingly rewrite history and include the black hole of comedy herself, Chloe Annett, who sucks the humor out of the series ... but never mind, it'd be a good excuse to revisit series 1 or 8 in the movie) ... Lister's wedding to a Gelf back in ... series 5 I think ... is also referenced.
These being flashbacks, they wouldn't have to look like film, if you kept them brief. You'd have to be carefully choose non laugh track material though ... thankfully the DVDs contain lots of material without laugh tracks as deleted scenes, outtakes etc.
These two episodes do link together slightly, despite Rimmer not being in the latter. The ending to Ouroboros, which is a good one, uses the time travel device from Tikka to Ride.
I think that these episodes and others from Red Dwarf series 7 could be edited together into one coherent story. I think the pace should be picked up a bit, because it doesn't quite work without the laugh track.
Effects shots from previous series could be used in all their filmy glory, and if possible, I'd like to see Holly brought back somehow. You'd have to keep Rimmer in the story too somehow.
You'd also have to crop the 4x3 footage to 16x9, and sort of rework the order of things, introduce the plotlines of all the episodes you're using together at the beginning of the film.
But it would definitely work. It's halfway there already.
Just an idea.
