CREDITS:
Created by/Principal Writers: Rob Grant and Doug Naylor (aka “Grant Naylor”)
Regular Cast:
Craig Charles: David “Dave” Lister
Chris Barrie: Arnold Judas Rimmer
Danny John-Jules: Cat
Norman Lovett/Hattie Hayridge: Holly
Robert Llewellyn: Kryten 2X4B-523P
Clare Grogan/Chloë Annet: Kristine Kochanski
Broadcast Dates:
Series 1 (or “Season 1,” if you’re not British) premiered in March of 1988 (6 half-hour episodes on BBC2), Series 2 in September of that year (another 6 episodes), Series 3 in November of 1989 (6 episodes). The show was on hiatus until Series 4 premiered in February of 1991 (6 episodes), Series 5 in February 1992 (6 episodes), and Series 6 in October of 1993 (also 6 episodes), when production again ceased.
It would be 5 years before Series 7 premiered (February 1997, 8 episodes), with Series 8 following 2 years later (another 8 episodes).
Then it was a full decade before a 3-episode “special” entitled “Back to Earth” aired (April of 2009), commissioned specifically for the BBC digital over-air channel “Dave” (now known as “U&Dave”).
In October of 2012, “Dave” premiered Series 10, Series 11 came along in September of 2016, and Series 12 a year later – all of 6 episodes each.
Then, in April of 2020, came “The Promised Land,” a TV movie, again on “Dave,” written and directed by Doug Naylor.
There’s rumor that in 2025 they’re supposed to have some new episodes, but there’s some question if that will happen.
There are certain productions which reach levels of popularity and longevity that are usually reserved for literature. For episodic television, particularly science fiction television, that list is incredibly short, and invariably British…
Only Doctor Who can claim a longer run than Red Dwarf. But Doctor Who can’t claim to still have the same cast as when they began – Red Dwarf can.
But the larger difference is that Red Dwarf was – and is – a comedy in the best tradition of British humor.
Set aboard the enormous Jupiter mining ship Red Dwarf, in the first episode the entire crew is killed by a radiation leak from a faulty engine repair. Only Dave Lister (Craig Charles) and his pregnant cat survive, due to the fact he was in suspended animation when the radiation disaster occurred (as punishment for bringing the cat aboard), and the cat was trapped in the lowest part of the ship, where it was screened from the deadly radiation. It should be noted that at the time of his punishment, Lister ranked lower than the robot “skutters” and vending machines on Red Dwarf.
3 million years later, when the radiation had reduced to the point he could survive, the ship’s computer, Holly (Norman Lovette) reanimated Lister, and gave him a holographic companion to keep him sane. The hologram, Arnold J. Rimmer (Chris Barrie), was Lister’s nemesis; an overzealous, egocentric, completely incompetent junior technician who was actually responsible for the radiation accident that killed his crewmates – and himself. It was also discovered that the cat’s descendants had evolved into an intelligent – if supremely vain – humanoid life form they would call “Cat” (Danny John-Jules).
That really doesn’t do the show justice… So…
Our Erik Matthews has been a Red Dwarf fan for many years, and counts it as one of his favorite sci-fi productions. Our John Pickard was only recently introduced to the show. We’ve asked them to provide us with their analysis and impressions of the production.
Erik Matthews: I’m not a Brit so I didn’t come to Red Dwarf on Day One. But I am among the “first generation” of US fans who started watching it when it began airing on local PBS stations in the early 90’s. I believe it was 1993, a rough time in my life (one of many), when I came across the listing in TV Guide for this new British science fiction show. It was the first episode “The End” and I watched it live and was entranced. Now I was already a fan of British humor (or Humour 🙂 ) but this was something totally different. They kill the whole cast in the first episode? Three million years in the future? Yeah… I’d be checking out future episodes.
John Pickard: I was not expecting what I got. I’ve known of Red Dwarf for years, of course, but I’d never seen it. But as someone who was – all unconsciously – expecting something closer to “Dr. Who” than “Monty Python,” it took me a couple episodes for it to crystallize in my mind exactly what it was I was watching.
I found it delightful. Silly, unrealistic (I mean, seriously, I like curry as much as the next guy, but Lister was absolutely addicted to the stuff), it was classic British humour on the more slapstick end of the spectrum (“Keeping Up Appearances” as opposed to, say, “As Time Goes By”), set in space, three million years in the future – what’s not to love?
EM: I strongly remember how it would air every Saturday night on my local PBS station. I watched it whenever I was home but, being young, I still tried to have something of a social life. I also moved around a bit to places where it wasn’t airing so I missed episodes. I saw bootleg videotapes (remember those?) of it circling at comic shops. But I was up to series five when I picked up the first book “Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers.” That book was so laugh-out loud funny. It cemented me as a major fan of Red Dwarf. I think I’ve read it 20 times or more. John needs to read it. He has no excuse not to.
JP: I’ve read it. Funny book, kept me smiling throughout. It recaps and enlarges on the first seasons/series. “Grant Naylor” managed to capture the silly fun of the show, which isn’t always translatable into print. I may have to read it again before I send it back to Erik…
EM: Now you need to read “Better Than Life” 🙂 ….
JP: I intend to… Anyway…
The early episodes are the best. I’d heard that this was Craig Charles’ first acting gig (it actually wasn’t, but he was still a “new” actor), and he’s a natural in the role. Of course, the Lister character isn’t hard to figure out; the guy’s not the brightest bulb in the chandelier, and he’s a slob’s slob – rarely washed, never did laundry (he’s always in a beat-up leather jacket and a T-shirt that’s kept from falling apart by the curry stains, and he beats his socks with a hammer to get them soft enough to put on)… Dreadlocks tied at the back of his head… But he has a plan – buy land in Fiji where he’ll raise sheep and horses. But he won’t turn over the pregnant cat he smuggled aboard – named Frankenstein – to the captain for testing and dismemberment, so as punishment he’s put in suspended animation for the duration of the 18-month tour, giving up his pay to protect the cat.
This is all in the first 10 minutes.
There’s no segue – not really. The next scene is Lister being awakened, and Holly trying to convince him that the rest of the crew is dead. That bit’s particularly funny – as dark a concept as that is – and the two pull it off admirably. It’s now that we’re introduced to the holographic Rimmer, who’s just as much of a smeghead as he was when he was alive. I don’t want to spoil too much, though…
EM: Now in 1994 I did something significant. I joined the first class of Americorps, the domestic Peace Corps. I was stationed in South Carolina but was sent around to different areas on the eastern seaboard performing lots of good acts and community service (please hold your applause). Now the reason I mention this is because during that year I took my love of Red Dwarf with me. I read the second novel in the early days and, despite the fact that I was only making minimum wage, I began special ordering the video tapes from shops at malls. $29.95 a pop per tape (ouch). But I was hooked at that point and couldn’t stop. I introduced the show to others who had never heard of it, and they all liked it. I usually started with “Backwards” before showing anyone the earlier series’. By the time my year was up I had seen all of the “classic era.”
Now personally I have a love of the first two series where it was all about characterization. I do love all of the “classic” episodes (and I don’t use that word lightly) but the first 12 were my favorite. Other than “Confidence and Paranoia,” for some reason I’ve never really cared for that one. In the following series’ Grant Naylor sidestepped the “no aliens” rule with all the gelfs and simulants. Yeah, they weren’t technically aliens but you know, they served the same purpose. But I still love all the episodes. I’ll get into specifics once John stops watching his car crash videos and gives his opinion on them.
JP: Dude, I don’t watch car crash videos -well, dashcam videos. Very often. Anymore… Movie fight scenes, yeah, but dashcam videos, not so much. Very often…
I must say that I agree with your assessment of the “classic” episodes, “Backwards” (Series 3, Episode 1) in particular. But “Backwards” wasn’t the first episode that dealt with space/time issues, nor would it be the last. The second episode of Series 1 was called “Future Echos,” and you can guess what it dealt with (Red Dwarf breaks the speed of light, and time is no longer a linear constant so they would see their future selves appear – and Lister may get blown up). Again, I don’t want to spoil anything for anybody, but “Grant Naylor” was adept at taking quantum physics and turning it on its head. Alternate universes, viruses that make hallucinations real, time paradoxes, they’re all fair game, and they are all used throughout the series. “Backwards” is a particularly good example of this.
EM: I love “Future Echoes.” It’s probably in my top three favorite episodes. But it’s not one to introduce others to the show. True fact, when Series Two was getting ready to premier, Grant Naylor specifically asked the BBC not to re-air Series One because they weren’t that happy with it. It was considered the “lost” series for a couple of years until the VHS tapes came out. This didn’t affect us in America of course.
JP: Yes, the first 12 episodes (Series 1 and 2) are my favorites as well, and for the same reasons, although Series 3 – 6 are by no means lesser efforts; the first 12 half-hours established the four main characters: Lister, Rimmer, Cat, and Kryten (the mechanoid), and established their chemistry together, most of which carried through the next 4 series (over 5 or 6 years, counting production hiatuses). Sure, they had a few clinkers in the mix (“Confidence and Paranoia” – I agree, this was a weak one), but we also got to meet alternate universe incarnations of the characters that allowed the actors to play their characters differently – but equally broadly (“Ace” Rimmer, anyone?).
EM: It’s very difficult for me to pick favorites among the first Six Series. They all have great moments, hilariously funny bits and quotable dialogue. Some are better than others but they’re all great. There’s not a single Red Dwarf episode I hate. Though… I don’t love some of the later ones. We’ll get to that shortly.
JP: There was also the switch in Hollys – Red Dwarf’s super-intelligent but somewhat “peculiar” mainframe computer, who seemed to enjoy pulling practical jokes – after Series 2. Norman Lovett left the show (which ultimately proved temporary) and was replaced in Series 3 – 5 by Hattie Hayridge, who had played Holly’s alternate-universe self (“Hilly”) in the episode “Parallel Universe” (Series 2). In retrospect, after the initial surprise the change didn’t really have an impact on the show. Holly was missing the entire Series 6 and most of Series 7, with Lovett returning to the role in the final episode (and would be the only actor to portray Holly thereafter despite repeated disagreements with the producers).
As I go through the episode list for the first 6 series, I find none of them evoke a feeling of “I wish I hadn’t watched that one.” There are a few that I could pass on watching again (like “Confidence and Paranoia,” where Lister contracts a mutated pneumonia virus and his hallucinations are made solid), but most of the others – “Future Echos,” “Balance of Power,” “Better Than Life,” “Parallel Universe,” “Backwards,” “The Last Day,” etc. – those I’ll probably go watch again.
At the end of Series 5, in 1992, there was a move to, perhaps, recreate Red Dwarf for the American market (“Red Dwarf USA”). The story was the same as the opening episode of the original British production. Two pilots were produced, with Robert Llewellen reprising his role as Kryten in both, but all the other parts were recast with (mostly) American actors. In the first pilot, Jane Leeves (Frasier) played Holly the mainframe computer, along with Craig Bierko and Chris Eigeman as Lister and Rimmer, respectively, and Hinton Battle as Cat (who we only see in one, less than flattering, scene). And, a point of interest: the soundtrack of the first pilot was composed and performed by Todd Rundgren.
In the second, shorter, pilot, Eigman’s Rimmer was recast with Anthony Fusco, and Battle’s Cat was gender-swapped and replaced by Terry Farrell, later of Star Trek fame. This second pilot recapped the first, and used much of the same script.
The production didn’t sell, so there was no American version of Red Dwarf. This prompted the BBC to continue the production with Series 6 the following year.
EM: This jumps around a bit for me, but it wasn’t until around 2000 or so I finally got a bootleg version of the American pilots on VHS. There was no quickly scrolling to YouTube back then. So, my opinion… lots has been written about them but to be honest I don’t think it’s as bad as people say. I think it might have even worked. Bierko could have worked as Lister if the material was written for him. There are still a couple of one-liners in the pilot that make me chuckle. So it’s an interesting “what if” scenario. If it had been picked up, it no doubt would have been canceled after 13 episodes (whether they were good or not) and we never would have had a British Series Six. So everything worked out as it should I suppose. Plus, Jane Leeves wouldn’t have been available for “Fraiser” so I’m sure she thanks her lucky stars it wasn’t picked up.
JP: They had their moments, yes, but unlike US remakes of other British comedies (I’m thinking specifically of “The Office”), these pilots really didn’t click with me. I’m a fan of Terry Farrell’s – I think she’s great – but this Cat was just wrong. And her jokes fell really, really flat.
EM: “The Office” is really the preeminent exception to the rule when it comes to translating British comedies so I usually don’t consider it. We’d have to go back to the 70’s with “Sanford and Son” or “Three’s Company” to really find other successful examples. I agree that Terry Farrell’s cat was no good. Hinton Battle was fine though. Even Danny John-Jules was impressed with that casting.
JP: Battle may have been good (and if John-Jules was impressed by him, he must be), but I was not impressed by the brief moment he was on screen; there wasn’t enough there for me to make a judgment call on the actor, but the character did not leave me with a positive impression. I agree with you that it wouldn’t have lasted beyond a single season, so, yes, sending it back for the BBC to do Series 6 worked out for us. Although, if I’m honest, I think Series 6 was probably the weakest of the “classic” Red Dwarf – although it does have its moments, making it very watchable.
EM: Love Series Six.
There was a four-year gap before Series 7 premiered in January of 1997. The long break was caused by several factors, not the least of which was the dissolution of the partnership of creators/producers/writers Grant and Naylor.
EM: Imagine being there during that gap, that did affect us in the US. It was a long wait. And again, no Youtube, no bit torrents. I waited and waited, checking the TV Guide every week until Series Seven premiered on a PBS station. But it wasn’t my local PBS blast it! It was in the next city over. I had to camp out in my aunt’s living room until after midnight one night to get them all on tape. She wasn’t particularly happy. Truthfully, I would have rented a hotel room and brought a VCR if I had to. I had been waiting so long.
Then I watched it…
Series Seven is by no means classic. I don’t “hate” it. It did have some chuckles along the way and the VFX were good for their time. But the addition of Kochanski was just wrong. It threw off the whole dynamic of the show. How can Lister bemoan being the last human when his ex-girlfriend is across the hall? This isn’t Chloë Annett’s fault, she’s a fine actor even if comedy isn’t her forte. Though I do admit my opinion might be different had they used Claire Grogan again. I always thought she was cute. I’ll let John comment on the individual episodes.
JP: I’ll put it this way (and yes, your mileage may vary): Red Dwarf was always silly, but Series/Season 7 slipped into absurdity – and not in a good way. For example:
Episode 4, Duct Soup. Truly awful. Kryton’s abrupt devolving into an emotional cripple, the other-reality Kochanski – Lister’s long-lost, more-or-less-unrequited love of his life – I thought the actress (Chloë Annett) was great, the character, not so much.
Episode 5, Blue. Continued Episode 4. Another 27 minutes of my life I’ll never get back…
Episode 6, Beyond a Joke. Still continuing… By no stretch of the imagination does this even reach the level of “silly” humor.
Episode 7, Epideme. OMG, please, make it stop…
Episode 8, Nanarchy. I wonder if Craig Charles really knows how to play guitar. Lister sure can’t. But Holly’s back…
EM: Wow… harsh… Craig actually can play guitar… a little. But better than Lister. Remember that scene in “Psirens” Series Six? That was a hand double.
JP: Well, maybe a little harsh, but remember I binge-watched this, so I watched them one after the other over 2 evenings, and wrote this as I was watching them, so those were my immediate reactions. And, in retrospect, I stand by them.
EM: No problem. I binged watched them too. All in one night back in 1997 I think. My aunt and I don’t talk anymore.
JP: Personally, I blame the breakup of Grant and Naylor more than any other factor for the abrupt downturn in quality. These guys were magic together, and Naylor alone (with other writers, including Robert “Kryten” Llewellen), just couldn’t recreate that magic.
The plus side is that the actors stayed with it, with apparent good humor – no matter how humiliating the dialogue or action – which lent a degree of continuity the show needed. They continued to present their characters, which was one of the few positives of this season.
EM: Okay, at this point in time the “Remastered” episodes were made. The first three series were “remastered” with a filter, a lot of new sound effects, some bizarre editing of dialogue, re-shots of Norman as Holly and the complete replacement of all the model shots with some very poor CGI literally done by one guy in his garage. And note, I’m not dogpiling on that guy (Chris Veale), he did the best he could with the budget and technology he had. But you’d need to see it.
I understand why Doug Naylor did it. Foreign markets were asking for a more unified look to the series as a whole and Doug was thinking forward to his movie (we’ll get to that in a bit). But for a while, that was all you could see. If the show aired it was the remastered, video tapes sold were only the remastered. Fans absolutely hated them. I mean really, really hated them. So, unlike Lucas (hee-hee) the remastered episodes were “removed from the timestream” and the originals were restored. Plans to remaster the Fourth through Sixth Series were abandoned. The remastered episodes are hard to find now unless you have the old video tapes or the one Region Two DVD release. John has never seen them, and he likely won’t unless he sends me some blank DVDs. Even then, there’s a lot more “good” Red Dwarf stuff I’d rather send him.
JP: Yeah, I don’t think I need to see them, under the circumstances. Maybe the next time I take a cross-country trip…
And I’m sorry, but Series 8 (February, 1999, 8 episodes) didn’t exactly wind up any better. The AI/nanobot reconstruction of the Red Dwarf, the dancing mini-ships… And the basketball game in Episode 6 was genuinely offensive.
EM: Ah yes, Series 8. Generally considered the nadir of the show among fans. I had to camp out at my aunt’s house again to get them all on tape. Binged watched them all in a single night again. I wasn’t impressed. Didn’t find much funny. Offensive… no I wouldn’t go that far. Patently unfunny? Sure, but nothing in Red Dwarf has offended me yet. I have a little trouble calling it the “worst” series. It depends on if you consider “Back To Earth” a series or a special. If the former than that gets my vote for the worst. But if the latter than yeah, Series 8 it is. There are a few things to like, we got some return-to-form bunk scenes again. Maybe a few chuckles here and there, but ultimately Doug Naylor just couldn’t do it on his own.
I do admit that I would like to see some resolution to the cliffhanger someday. The jokes about it in Series 10 were funny but I’d still like to know what happened to the crew. I only have my fan theory so far.
JP: I’m not easily offended, either, but that sequence was in such poor taste I couldn’t help but be offended, if only for the actors – and the rest of male humanity. I’ll say it this way: If I never see an episode from either of these seasons again, it’ll be exactly three days too soon.
EM: You are harsh.
JP: I are truthful… 😉
EM: It’s worth noting, that throughout the late 90’s and early 00’s, Doug Naylor (with the magical 52 episodes under his belt) was determined to make a theatrical Red Dwarf movie. Exactly what it would have entailed is still unknown but there were several iterations depending on the budget he thought he’d have. It is known that, while it would have starred the original cast, it would have been a “remake” of sorts starting at the beginning, not a continuation from Series 8. Some drafts were written to star name American actors in supporting roles, but Hollywood only wanted to do it if they could recast everyone (surprising isn’t it?) It did get far enough for lots of storyboards, a couple of which we’ll show below, and some cast read throughs, but despite many stops and starts, it never got made. The script, to my knowledge, has never leaked out but some material written for it did end up in Series 10.
JP: I don’t know if I’m glad the movie never got made, or wish it had been…
EM: Another “what if?”
JP: Yeah, maybe an “if only”… But at this stage of the game, knowing what I know now, I’m probably just as happy it never happened.
Anyway, to get back into the sequence… Series 9 really wasn’t a season (and I’m one who won’t consider it as such). It was just three episodes, released on April 10, 2009, called “Back to Earth.” It was basically a stand-alone miniseries celebrating the show’s 21st anniversary, commissioned by the BBC for their free-to-air digital channel “Dave” (now known as “U&Dave”). The cast “returned” to modern-day Earth. It really wasn’t any better than Season 8… Only one or two even remotely amusing moments. But the very beginning and ending – about two minutes from the closing credits – were actually pretty cool. I like Craig Charles – he’s a better actor than Seasons 7-9 material otherwise let him be. With that exception, I lump “Back to Earth” (which is listed on my BritBox subscription at Amazon as “Series 9,” FYI) with Series 7-8 as just this side of unwatchable (at least a second time).
EM: Okay… Back To Earth. Now this had been an excruciating wait, almost a decade. A decade of promises about a movie that never happened. True, we had all the DVD releases with their wealth of behind the scenes features and documentaries, but it was still a long wait. But a funny thing happened. Re-runs had been airing on DAVE and getting very good numbers. So, they wanted to produce a couple of new specials. This ultimately became “Back to Earth.” Luckily, technology had finally caught up with me so I didn’t have to camp out at my aunt’s house. I saw them as they were released (anti-piracy people don’t get mad, I bought the blu-ray as soon as it was available here.)
And boy, was I let down.
Nearly a decade and that was what I got? Yeah, I wasn’t happy. Now it looked beautiful, shot on the new digital “RED” camera. That showed what could be done with Red Dwarf with modern technology. I also agree the acting was very good. The boys had matured. But the story… The funny thing is that “Blade Runner” is one of my favorite SF movies. But I still felt all the jokes and homages fell flat. It was great to see everybody again but that’s about all I can say. I was disappointed.
JP: And an aside: they have a “Making of” special for “Back to Earth” that I quite enjoyed. It was nice seeing the actors and behind-the-camera staff talking about how it was made. Even though the production itself was eminently forgettable.
EM: There is such a wealth of documentaries and deleted scenes and whatnot for the whole show. It’s one of the most documented SF shows ever, really, second probably only to Dr. Who (see? we managed to bring that up again!) You really need to see it all, John.
Seasons 10 – 12 (2012-2017):
EM: I greatly enjoyed the DAVE era. After Back to Earth they were like a breath of fresh air. No, they still don’t hold a candle to the “Classic” era, but it seemed like Doug Naylor was finally “getting” what made Red Dwarf work and what didn’t belong there. Some were better than others of course, but all the episodes had at least one good joke and some had several. Plus, there was some actual physical model work again in addition to good visual effects. I would definitely be happy if we got another few series of that quality.
JP: I agree. My take is that although series/seasons 10 through 12 were far superior in quality and writing than the previous couple of series, I didn’t think they were able to recapture the same “lighting in a bottle” of Series 1 – 6. I agree with you; I think Naylor and his writing team figured a few things out… Again, the fact the same actors portrayed the same characters throughout gave the entire run a consistency and chemistry that worked very much in its favor. Still, some of the episodes worked better than others. For example, Series 11 Episode 3, “Give and Take,” had some fairly impressive special effects. Kind of a silly story, but charming. Episode 4 wasn’t as charming…
If I’m going to be critical, I found that throughout these 18 episodes, quite a bit of the humor was forced, less natural than in the early years, and some of the situations the characters found themselves in lacked the novelty of those first series. Again, not quite capturing the magic that Series 1-6 had. But if I’m not being critical…
EM: But you got to love Snacky…
JP: Oh, yeah, Snacky was great – and what a reveal! One of the funnier moments, to be sure.
“Season 13” (“Promised Land,” the 87-minute TV movie):
EM: The Promised Land I’ve only seen once on Britbox. I still need to pick up the blu-ray (yes, I’m a Luddite, I prefer video discs to streaming for productions I really like.) I enjoyed it, some funny bits. I did have some quibbles (given the timeline, the Cat’s never before mentioned brother would have to be hundreds of years old) but if it is the Red Dwarf swansong we could’ve done worse.
JP: I just now watched it, and I had the initial impression of: this is fun! I laughed out loud several times in the first 20 minutes – and often after that. For the first time in years, Rimmer has his pen and notebook back! Even though he’s got extension cord issues to power his light bee (holographic emitter). But frankly, I found the use of cat doors a bit overdone…
I had to laugh; Lister is the “Holy Poppadom…” (For those unfamiliar with what a poppadom is, it’s basically a deep-fried Indian (the South-Asian Indian) tortilla.) I love it… And I’ll say this out loud: Sister Luna (Mandeep Dhillon) is cute…
Seriously, this was not by any stretch the worst Red Dwarf production in its history; in fact, I did enjoy it throughout; Naylor found the right team for this one. There was a spark of the original magic…
The scene in the StarBug between Lister and Rimmer was borderline touching.
And Holly’s all the way back. I like the slightly crazy Holly…
They’ve got some great special effects in this telemovie, too; some wonderful CGI and model work. It’s entirely possible a few screengrabs grace this very page.
And cats love laser toys. And – surprise, surprise, Rimmer turns out to be a decent sort after all.
Erik, you’re absolutely right – could have been better in spots, but not a bad way to end the series – if the end it actually is. I can only hope that if anything is produced in the future, it’s as good as this.
Final Thoughts:
EM: It’s hard to imagine life without Red Dwarf. It’s definitely my favorite British show and my second favorite SF show ever behind only the original Star Trek. I give the whole show a rewatch, yes even the bad ones, once every year or two.
JP: Let me put it this way: The first 6 series are eminently watchable, and I will maintain my BritBox subscription (for a while, at least) to watch them again (along with other British comedies I’d watched on PBS over the years), and I will probably purchase the DVDs (or Blu-Rays) of the first six series for myself; I want to see the special features. Will any future productions recapture the magic of those early years, or even the telemovie? Based on the history, I’m not holding my breath, but I will check them out, if they’re ever made.
EM: So, will there be more Dwarf? At the time of this writing, it’s looking about 50/50. I certainly hope so. Doug Naylor has said he doesn’t ever see himself writing a “final” episode for the show. And that’s a little sad. I’d like to see a happy ending for the boys eventually. But that’s after a few more Series of course 🙂
Our thanks to several Red Dwarf sites – official and fan-owned – for many of the images on this page, particularly The Smega Drive (https://smegadrive.ganymede.tv/), an archive of hundreds of screen shots from the entire series.