Interesting summary there liam - glad you liked it.

Aye, perhaps the Blade Runner reference went on a bit too long, but regardless, I enjoyed it quite a bit ... although I was kinda half-expecting to see Doug Naylor on screen as their creator, hehe.

I think The Cat is still funny, but the character suffered the most at the hands of the lack of studio laughter (which is an element of the show that goes right back to the beginning, for those not in the know out there somewhere) - so it really sticks out in the first episode where there are CLEAR gaps for audience laughter to come in.

There was probably no laughter because they'd not want to show it to an audience before transmission in this day and age of "teh intarwebz" and super small cameras etc - the last new Red Dwarf was in the dial up era of 1998/1999 after all. Methinks a laugh track will be recorded for the DVD - which I think will help round it out.

Mind you - it would have also been pointless filming in front of an audience due to the story and sheer volume of F/X and location work - a series would be more studio based methinks, ergo, more audience participation.

The references to previous episodes - ultimately it wasn't too big a distraction, and some worked nicely - like call backs to the previous episodes, as certainly one purpose of Back To Earth was to get the fans all hot & bothered for the show again, reminding them of some of the classic episodes (mission accomplished with me at least), hence the boat load of 'best episodes' that were shown on the nights in question.

Interesting you mention series 8 - while flawed and not perfect - I actually enjoyed it a lot more upon 2nd, 3rd and 4th viewing on DVD. I was a bit non-plussed when it originally aired, but it's better these days than it once was ... even with the "just still too early" use of TV-budget CGI - something which NOW can be used to great effect thanks to the likes of Dr Who employing some 'good in general, very good for TV' CGI use.

Funnily enough, I was quite annoyed with BTE#1 for not explaining how they got from the end of series 8 to now, but BTE#2 explains WHY they wouldn't fill that gap. Hopefully they get picked up for a new full series, and THEN we'll get to know.

As for Kochanski, I was a bit gutted she wasn't in it - it is nice to have the guys all together, but it's also nice to have a bit of female company for them as a counter-balance. Plus, the ball breaking hologram woman was essentially filling Kochanski's shoes somewhat - what with Kochanski being the only one who properly knows what she's doing (something flagged up many times in series 7 in the cockpit scenes).

I found episode 2 to be the most 'classic Dwarfy' if you will. It had far more jokes, make episode 1 make a LOT more sense, and I did enjoy the self-aware/referential storyline. As for episode 3, it was somewhere between ep1 and ep2 in terms of exposition and jokes.

Aye, the show was at its best when Rob Grant was involved - he was perhaps more suited to the jokes, whereas Doug Naylor was/is perhaps more suited to the stories ... but they were both capable of doing the other, if you get my drift, but they each had a strength, again if you get what I'm saying.

Anyway - woo!