Just when we thought Series VIII was the last...

So - the Red Dwarf Interactive Quiz DVD. Snappy title, don't you think?

Neither did we. But we'll come back to that. Welcome to GNP's recent thought process...

A quiz DVD is, by nature, a very different beast from the Series I-VIII discs. Our first step into something new. So we started with research. What's available, what's popular, what works? No way do we let this be some cheap Christmas novelty - the Dwarf quiz had to stand on its own as worthwhile of your time and money - so what has repeat play value?



A lot of quiz playing later - proving once and for all that Helen Norman knows everything, whereas I have the IQ of an unambitious amoeba - and we thought we had it. Then Doug Naylor came in and proved that we were on the right road, but he had the map and compass.

The result was Red Dwarf: Beat the Geek.

For the record, we love the term 'geek'. We're not going for the derogatory use, here. Geek is chic these days. The current top-rated TV franchise on the globe is CSI, a cop series not about car chases and shootouts, but about painstaking examination of microscopic evidence. Doesn't matter how cool they look, how slick the soundtrack - these, my friends, are the geeks of the cop world.

Those of us who are given the name should be proud to wear it. Everybody these days is a geek. Just among Red Dwarf's main cast we have a car collector, two music fanatics, a comedy aficionado and a bloke obsessed with the future of technology. Beautiful, wonderful geeks all.



The biggest problem with any quiz, we realised, was subject matter. Weakest Link and Millionaire have crossover appeal because the questions cover every general knowledge topic. But as soon as your quiz is about a single subject - football, say, or music - the number of people who will happily sit and play with you diminishes.

And Red Dwarf ain't exactly football.

I've never bought the James Bond DVD board game for this exact reason. It's not that I don't want it - I do - but when none of your mates are into the same franchise as you...well, you start to wonder if you'll ever take the thing out of its box.

What was needed was a game that rewarded the hardcore fan for his encyclopaedic knowledge, rewarded the regular viewer with an entertaining experience... and still left room for Auntie Jane, who's never really seen the show but thinks that floating head bloke is funny.

Beat the Geek, then, will allow you to play as one of three types of contestant: Viewer, Geek, or General Knowledge.

Sure, with a one-player game, chances are the player is a Red Dwarf fan. Or, at least, a viewer. But when it comes to multi-player - either one-on-one, or playing in teams - the chances are at least one person in the room will be less than au fait with just how many irradiated haggis there are in the ship's inventory.



Hence the new, competitive edge. Players can choose to be any of the three types. It's more inclusive, and it allows the game to adjust to suit whoever's involved. Will the players be able to beat the geek? Or will all that time with the Series I-VIII DVDs have paid off?

So - that's the name. But there are a few more elements that we think will really have you dancing for joy.

What are they? Ah, well, you'll have to wait for the next update. Don't worry, you'll cope.

More DVD Details will follow soon...

Red Dwarf: Beat the Geek will be released on DVD in the Autumn/Winter of 2006.

-Reddwarf.com & reddwarf.co.uk

Interesting.....not sure if i'll pick this up or not, will have to wait for some reviews...

Can't wait!

More news from RedDwarf.com


So in our last update we promised some news on Red Dwarf: Beat the Geek that would have you dancing for joy.

Big news first, slightly-less-big-but-also-excellent news second.

The all-new interactive DVD quiz will be hosted by Holly. In fact, it'll be hosted by both Hollys.

Norman Lovett and Hattie Hayridge have stepped back into the black polo necks to reprise their role (roles?) as the brain-addled computer to guide you through the entire interactive experience.

Were we right? Are you dancing yet?

It's the perfect choice for all the obvious reasons. Holly's a computer! On a screen! Just like the one you'll be looking at when you play! Plus, of course, legions of fans adore these characters (I've switched back into plural there; ho-hum) and the actors who play them. It was impossible to pick between them - so we figured, what the hell, we'll shove them both in.

When playing the game single-player you'll be able to pick which Holly you want to guide you through the eight levels and tell you if you're right or wrong. When competing in two-player (or in teams), you'll be granted a different Holly each. Aside from making the game flow that little bit smoother - no confusion over whose turn it is! - it adds a lot more variety.

We're all too aware that a badly made game can be very, very dull. And while the questions have all the requisite twists and turns, we wanted to keep things alive with the format. We want you to play and play again. The dual Hollys are a big part of that.

Which leads us on to the other news, another part of the variety fun-pack that is Beat the Geek.

Fans of our previous DVDs will no doubt remember the painstaking effort authoring house Deluxe Digital put into recreating some of the most fondly remembered sets from the TV series. Meticulous visions of the sets were used to navigate around the disc. And they looked amazing.



Well, Deluxe are back! They'll be creating the DVDs for GNP/2 entertain once again, bringing far more passion to the project than is entirely reasonable.

You remember those eight levels of action we mentioned before? Each level will be set in a different area aboard the Red Dwarf ship.



Based, for the most part, on the existing digital sets, the quiz will kick-off inside Starbug, then make its way up through the ship from the grey bunk and drive rooms, through the science lab, prison, and officers' quarters to the captain's office.

What's that you say? That's only seven levels? Hmm, so it is. That must be why, somewhere in the middle there, we'll be paying a visit to a brand new digital set. And the location of choice? That would be the Observation Dome!



As seen in series two, the metal-and-plexiglass bubble sat on the hull of the ship, allowing visitors to look out at space without that horrible 'lack of oxygen' problem. It'll now also be home to Beat the Geek's seventh round.

The entire game will take place in a whizzy AR environment, a virtual Red Dwarf. And in keeping with that style, the ship's interior will be seen as a funky red wireframe between levels - rocketing past as you zoom around at high speeds from one location to the next. (This is all something of a homage to the wireframe Dwarfs and Starbugs that appear on monitors in the background of the show's fifth and sixth seasons.)



We've seen some test footage and it's already shaping up to be very, very gorgeous. But then, with Deluxe on the case, did you expect anything else?

You may now cease dancing.

More DVD Details will follow soon...

So, we have the concept, we have the format - now to the filming.



Following a lengthy script process where more than 200 alternatives for 'correct' had to be conjured (in that way this is more like working on a videogame than a DVD), Norman Lovett and Hattie Hayridge were called.

And boy did they ever pick up. Both were more than willing to reprise their character(s) from the TV series - bringing a peculiar mix of energy, enthusiasm... and deadpan delivery.

And so it was that we found ourselves running around three towns before locating any black polo-neck jumpers, the 'costume' which allows the actors to appear as floating heads. And which, apparently, is 'not really in this season'. Typical.



By dint of availability, Hattie's recording came first. On Thursday, March 16th we once again took to Waterfall Studios, just a stone's throw from BBC Broadcasting House in White City.

Make-up diva Andrea Finch was on-hand to bring Holly back to life under the watchful eye of producer Helen Norman and director Andrew Ellard... which is, um, me.

Hattie was incredibly relaxed as she worked through the hundreds of lines on autocue, recapturing her original performance effortlessly. (No doubt helped by the fact that this production was streets ahead of the 'find a spare room and shoot it from memory in ten minutes' style of the Series IV DVD's A Life in Lamé shoot!)



Norman Lovett arrived early on the morning of Friday, March 17th with an amazingly cool attitude... and a bad throat. We panicked - was he going to be able to record his lines clearly? Would we have to re-dub? Wouldn't it cost the same just to reshoot completely?

Well, one trip to the chemist later and all worries evaporated. The combination of hot drinks, throat spray and lozenges soon settled the growling - aside from the odd occasion where we had to do a retake. "Norman, can you do that one again, but with less mucus?"

It's interesting to note how differently these two very similar performers work as Holly. Hattie likes to have her neck in a black surgical collar. It keeps her in position and helps maintain her posture. Norman, on the other hand, prefers to be free to move a little more. Rather than use a high collar, his neck is painted with thick black make-up from the jaw line down.



All these Holly snippets, filmed direct to camera with no 'scene' to be played out with the other characters, felt like as much as anything like the Holly introductions that began Series I and II (and, as the Series III Deleted Scenes showed, didn't quite make the cut for the third season). It's all direct-to-audience, fuelled by a plethora of information and a smattering of one-liners.


Though the Hollys won't be asking questions within the quiz - there will be far too many to make that feasible - their presence will be felt throughout the game. They are the absolute hosts. Every level - whether Viewer, Geek or General Knowledge - begins with their introduction and welcome to a new locale, every correct or wrong answer will be confirmed by them (often in some very funny ways), and every round ends with their summing up.

So - you'll be seeing a lot of Holly. To keep things varied we had to collect a lot of material, and it's a testament to both performers that they never let their energy flag, even when recording the thrilling game instructions: "highlight the answer with your remote and hit 'select'".

Actually, there may be one other thing that helped keep the mood up-beat... but we'll save that for another report.

More DVD Details will follow soon...

The Red Dwarf Interactive Quiz DVD will be released in the Autumn/Winter of 2006.

More info today from the official site.



We've shot a lot of material, written a lot of jokes and compiled a lot of questions for Beat the Geek. But what exactly constitutes 'a lot'? This is how it breaks down:



Number of DVDs. One.

Number of levels. Eight, each set in a different Red Dwarf location.

Number of questions per level. Six (per player).

Number of ways Holly says 'That's Wrong'. There are around 60 'wrong answer' lines from the male Holly, and another 60 for the female version. The same is also true for the number of 'right answer' lines. The exact total - both Hollys, all 'right' and 'wrong' responses - is 248.

Number of other Holly 'level' lines. Every level has about five possible intro lines and three outro lines. Times eight levels, times two Hollys. Over 120 more lines there.

Any more Holly lines? Oh yeah - if you unlock one of the bonuses, Holly will appear and walk you through the drill. There are also a dozen or so 'hurry up' lines for each version of the character, not to mention footage of them sitting around waiting for you!

Number of episode clips. Well over a hundred, split between observation/knowledge questions and 'what happens next?'

Number Holly has a blind spot for. Seven.

Number of quiz questions. More than 1,300, split between Viewer (regular Dwarf questions), Geek (hardcore fans only) and General Knowledge (about the real world... apparently there's all sorts of stuff out there). Each question has four possible multiple-choice answers - though in some cases the trick is to put those four in a specific order.

Number of bonuses. Five. If you score 100% on levels 1, 3, 5 and 7 you'll unlock a bonus DVD game to play via a code entered into the main menu.

Erm... that's only four. The fifth and final unlockable game is only available if you complete the entire game with full marks - a total of 48 points. Get that and Holly will appear to ask you the final bonus question (different for Viewers, Geeks or General Knowledge players). Get it right, you pick up two points and become a Funky Fifty player. Get it wrong and you'll have to try all over again...

Which was far less mind-numbing to write down than it was to do.

The Hollys also recorded full game instructions, which will be available to view at any time from the main menu. But then how much help do you need to figure out the selection of one of four multiple-choice answers?

The Red Dwarf questions were all compiled in-house at GNP, and an outside firm were contracted for the general knowledge rounds. They were given some interesting guidelines - not the least of which is a Dwarfy influence that will make fans giggle. Expect a few questions to include iconic things from the show, from Esperanto and Elvis to stasis, Hitler and Marilyn Monroe!

The challenge of Beat the Geek is, therefore, not simply limited to playing against the DVD or a friend. Have you seen all the Holly lines yet? We've whacked in a lot of jokes to make this extra-worthwhile. Have you unlocked all five bonus games, themed to the TV series?

Even just by the numbers, Beat the Geek is the DVD that keeps on giving.

More DVD Details will follow soon...

Sounds interesting, but don't think I'll be picking it up

Cover from Reddwarf.com



Artist Colin Howard is probably best known to a certain generation of Red Dwarf fans as the man responsible for some of the Smegazine's best and most beautiful covers, as well as creating all kinds of genre artwork.

Well now he's back (from outer space, etc.). We've pulled Colin into the Red Dwarf fold once more to create the cover art for the Beat the Geek DVD.

Colin: It was a one of those really nice 'outta the blue' moments. I'd recently got a website gallery up and running with a lot of my paintings on display. One day in May I received an email from Grant Naylor asking if I might be interested in the possibility of providing some artwork for this project.

Andrew: During a production meeting with Doug Naylor, we'd landed on the title Beat the Geek and were knocking around ideas for the cover art. Doug was keen that we make use of Dwarf's resident geek character, Duane Dibbley, to tie into the quiz's title and concept.

Meanwhile Helen and I were adamant that the cover showcase the two Hollys, seeing as they were the stars of the game. I had the glimmer of an idea and scrawled a doodle in my notepad, putting the two together in the most... symbolic way possible. Doug took one look and went "Yeah, like that."

There was no way a concept like this could be created from existing pictures, not with the comic energy we needed. Colin had done a Smegazine cover of Kryten and a 'monster' called a GEAP - when I remembered that, and showed it at the meeting, we knew it was just the style we needed. Energetic, funny, epic, but also basically 'realistic'.

Colin: Andrew had sketched out this idea that Duane [Dibbley] was being hit on the head with a television set, steered by both Hollys. A photo mock-up had already been produced at a very rough stage, however it needed more humour injected in a way that photo manipulation just couldn't supply.

I had a look at the design and then started on a pencil [drawing]. I put Duane back in his traditional 'geek' livery and added a pose that showed the 'shock' of the impact. Initially I'd used reference [shots] of Hattie and Norman from an earlier season, but these were ditched in later versions as we updated the Hollys to their current looks as featured on the DVD.

Andrew: While we knew some of the specifics of what we wanted - Holly and Holly looking as they appear in the quiz, Duane geeking it up - other things were really up in the air. We had no clue what the background was going to be, for example, and Colin was the one who figured that out. He came up with a spacescape that paid a little homage to the book jacket for Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers.

As soon as we saw that extra space around Duane, we realised that the planet surface, while good, could be made more specific to the show by placing him on top of the Red Dwarf ship. This really ties in with the game itself, which makes a pretty big deal of the fact that you're moving around the ship.

Colin: I added Starbug as the source of the plummeting TV, [and] the television was altered to 'Mel Bibby' it up a bit. I added a B-Movie style aerial on top as well as a trailing plug to add a little more humour to the piece. After approval from Doug it was then time to take the art to colour.

Andrew: We'd had to change the scale a little from the first version, to make the artwork function as a DVD cover - the characters had to be reduced to allow space for logos and captions. With all those elements locked, Colin was sent a rough mock-up of the layout. He didn't complain once about the pretty ugly 'colouring in' job we'd done to his pencil art!

Colin: I [still] work in much the same way as I used to. I'll start with a blank sheet and pencil the rough idea down. Sometimes, as in this case, getting a reference photo in on another layer to work from/around. Then I'll create a new layer for the background and paint that in using the airbrush.

The television was a tricky thing to paint, particularly because of getting the colour choice right to tie all the elements together. Hints of green and yellow to link with the 'Bug, Dwarf and background. I'd also realised my pencil [drawing] was a little out of 'square' for the screen, so I altered that at this stage.

Both Hollys were painted straight from reference [photos]. I had a nice screen grab [of Duane] from Polymorph II - Emohawk, it was just the right expression for what was needed.

This meant, however, that I really had to go all-out to get the completely invented pose/costume as good as possible due to the quality of the reference I was using. There are tons of little details on his Parker and cardie. [Plus] I thought it'd be nice to sign his Thermos and brand it 'Smeg'!

Andrew: It's a great piece of work, and so strange to see it progress from a notebook doodle. It's important that people get a look at the art close-up - the detail and photo-quality of Colin's picture is probably going to be missed when it's printed at DVD cover size. Which is a huge shame. Maybe there should be a poster...

Colin: I'm really chuffed with the end result. I think my likeness' are among the best I've ever painted, and the whole thing being artwork should help the DVD really stand out on the shelves amongst all the other 'samey' covers that are around at the mo'.

Andrew: It finally came to me the other day what this reminds me of - it's like a computer game cover. Not the current crop of console games, which are usually trying hard to look like movies, but the old Amiga and PC games of the early-to-mid 90s. All artwork, no photos. That gives it a really likable, kind of 'retro' quality.

Please note: The final image displayed here is still a GNP mock-up. The final Geek cover art will be posted in reddwarf.co.uk in the near future.

More DVD Details will follow soon...

Beat the Geek will be released in the Autumn/Winter of 2006.

It's too bad they haven't made the movie yet

I know, they have time to produce this DVD but cant find the time to get the movie or at least one more series made. They know its a money maker so why such a long delay?