Dimension Jump XII
Friday Night
The club team's outfits could not, of course, last long. And how pleasing to see twins Jenny and Caz stripping... erm, in order to exhibit the latest Fan Club T-shirts.
The evening kicked off with a quiz, which was nearly scuppered at the first hurdle by the technical problem of getting a laptop hooked up to a projector. (The solution was a keyboard combination of Fn and F5, apparently.)
Dealing with various topics ? from costumes and ships to who said what and when ? fans once again scratched their heads and shouted their guesses out too loudly. Sad to say it seems hardly anyone remembers Tony Slattery's ITV sitcom Just a Gigolo. Question 70's main challenge, it turned out, was for the question-asking twins, who ? with magnificent comic timing ? faltered over three separate attempts to read the damn thing out in synch.
It was also a night for impromptu performances, with one quizee launching into a rendition of the Auf Wiedersehen Pet theme tune, and two others mounting the stage to sing Red Dwarf anthem Tongue Tied.
It was with some trepidation that Andrew Ellard ? that's me ? took to the stage (well, sat on the edge of it anyway) to show a preview of the Series VII DVD documentary Back From the Dead. But the section ? based on the episode Blue and featuring never-before-seen footage of the Rimmer/Lister kiss ? went down exceedingly well.
It was also good to hear from Doug Naylor, who once again appeared via email:
Hi, Everyone,
I'm really sorry I can't be with you this weekend. On Tuesday, this week, 25% of our movie budget fell through and so I have to be somewhere else this weekend. I've found it's very helpful to wear one of Kryten's old masks on an almost permanent basis so I don't hurt myself any more when I smash my head against walls - although I do get strange looks in Sainsbury's.
Despite this setback I'm still unbowed and idiotically optimistic. We've got some really terrific people working their tails off both here and in Australia who've asked me not to divulge too much at this point, other than to tell you, we're doing our damndest to raise the dosh and if there's any justice we'll come through at some point soon.
Strangely enough the people who are now on board aren't the stone-faced investors and bankers I had to deal with in the past, but genuine Red Dwarf fans. They're really behind it and I've promised them as soon as they've raised the budget I'll answer all their questions, like: 'Why did Lister have his appendix out twice?' and 'Does Norman Lovett ever moan in real life?'
Have a great weekend. Keep smeggin'
Best wishes,
Doug Naylor
A (thankfully) short Q&A followed ? much like a firing squad, but without the redeeming feature of a blindfold. A roomful of raised hands proved that pretty much everyone wants this job. Keeps me on my toes, I guess.
The first of several Auctions followed, with a Series VIII prison outfit proving a distinct highlight. Modelling for the crowd, poor Caz ended up running between the two top bidders as an indicator of who was winning. (She was told to stop, though ? "they don't want your sweat all over it!") Attempting to learn more about who originally wore the outfit, James checked the label. "Oh. 'Do not boil wash'."
Tables H and K were then announced as the quiz runners-up, with table A the victors... but the fans weren't happy until the lowest scores had also been read out and the losers suitably humiliated. They hung their heads in shame... at least until Saturday morning.
