"David Lister, Technician, 3rd class. Captain's remarks: "Has requested sick leave due to diarrhea on no less than 500 occasions. Left his previous job as a supermarket trolley attendant after ten years because he didn't want to get tied down to a career. Promotion prospects: zero."
The follow-up line was better
"Arnold J Rimmer, Technician, 2nd class. Captain's remarks: "There's a saying amongst the officers: If there's a job worth doing, it's worth doing well. If it isn't worth doing, give it to Rimmer. He aches for responsibility but constantly fails the engineering exam. Astoundingly zealous. Possibly mad. Probably has more teeth than brain cells. Promotion prospects: comical"
Really hoping this new series can redeem the quality that it lost for the specials and series 8.
Only my opinion but series 7 was far worse than 8. No Rimmer for most of it, and Naylor tried to fill the void by bringing back Kochanski and it ruined the whole dynamic of the show. It didn't work. However, Rimmer was back for 8 and it had its moments, although taking the show out of its claustrophobic confines and back into the 'wider world' isn't my favourite idea ever.
The biggest problem though is the absence of Rob Grant from the writing and that hasn't changed. I've got the four Red Dwarf novels and the first two (Red Dwarf and Better Than Life) were co-written and are as good as you'd expect. The third and fourth were solo projects by each of the writers and in my simple mind the Rob Grant one (Backwards) is the funny one whereas the Doug Naylor one (The Last Human) is the sci-fi one. I've got a feeling that this new series will be like the Only Fools and Horses specials - there will be enough to remind you how good the show can be without threatening to raise the bar higher. Hope I'm wrong, but the Dave specials don't fill me with a great deal of confidence.
