Judgement Dave blog

I am a geek. I have seen Blade Runner more times than I care to remember and know facts about its production that no one person should.

I am a geek. I own more than one T-Shirt from geek haven "Last Exit To Nowhere". A website specialising in designs inspired by fictional organisations featured in geektacular movies such as Alien, Robocop and John Carpenters "The Thing".

I am a geek. I have been known to listen to the soundtrack of "The Empire Strikes Back" for pleasure.

I am a geek. When I heard that Dave was bringing back Red Dwarf I actually punched the air. Thankfully I was alone at the time but never-the-less air was punched and this was accompanied by a geeky exclamation of "awesome". Red Dwarf is the geek Holy Grail. It features special effects that in the eyes of the unenlightened could be seen as "a bit crap" but actually have a hand crafted charm all their own. There is a cornucopia of catch phrases to choose from, my personal favourite being "Smoke Me A Kipper I'll Be Back For Breakfast".

And Red Dwarf has cult character favourites (Cat's alter ego, Duane Dibley, and the heroic "Ace" Rimmer for example) and the all-important shark jumping moment in Season 7's replacement of Rimmer with Kristine Kochanski the equivalent of killing off Han Solo in favour of Jar Jar Binks. Man, I love that show.

But one look at the feverish excitement generated on the boards of this fair site shows that I am not alone in my geekish pride. The geeks, it seems, will inherit the earth.

So why is it then that a popular television channel dedicated to Science Fiction - you know the one I'm talking about - has recently decided to "re-brand" in order to be rid of its Geeky reputation? Is this not the equivalent of The Church re-branding because it attracts too many Christians? It's time for geeks to beam up and be counted. Be not ashamed of your fascination with the fantastical. Revel in your ability to suspend disbelief and find inspiration in the "what-ifs" of SF.

To those who balk at our belief in The Force, our allegiance to "The United Federation of Planets" and our affection for the ungainly yet lovable offspring of Joss Whedon we say: "Klaatu Barada Nikto."