The Oregon
The Oregon is mentioned by Captain Hollister in "The End", citing example of a ship that had experienced an animal quarantine related incident, apparently involving rabbits.
SS Hermes
The SS Hermes spaceship was reduced to a skeletal carcass after a highly corrosive and chameleonic microbe got loose on board and ate away at the very ship itself, killing the crew in the process. Because of this little is known about the Hermes, or the nature of the ship-devouring virus it fell victim to (although it is stated that the virus was synthetic, so it is possible the virus was made in the laboratory of the Hermes).
The deadly microbe then escaped on a pod from the wrecked vessel, along with the lone survivor Talia Garrett (an old acquaintance of Red Dwarf Captain Frank Hollister). The virus was unknowingly taken aboard Red Dwarf along with the escape pod, in the last ever episode, "Only the Good...".
The deadly microbe then escaped on a pod from the wrecked vessel, along with the lone survivor Talia Garrett (an old acquaintance of Red Dwarf Captain Frank Hollister). The virus was unknowingly taken aboard Red Dwarf along with the escape pod, in the last ever episode, "Only the Good...".
The Enlightenment
The Enlightenment only appears once, in the episode "Holoship" (Series V, Episode 1). In the commentary for this episode Danny John-Jules amusingly gasps when the characters refer to the Enlightenment as "a computer generated ship". It was in fact a model made of transparent perspex. In the Series V extras DVD, there are unused clips of the Enlightenment bending its main structure about its articulation points; no other ship in the Red Dwarf series is known to do this.The Enlightenment is a hologramatic ship with no mass or volume and composed entirely of tachyons, or super-light particles, and which has the ability to travel many multiples the speed of light and even create wormholes to travel instantaneously from one point in space to the other. Kryten knew about the "holoship" as the project was in its initial phase when he left the Solar System.
The Enlightenment carries the "hologrammatical cream of the space corps" and the hologram crew are all top in his or her field; some are geniuses and most of them have an IQ over 200. Because of their intellectual superiority, they are notoriously arrogant towards other the crews of other "lesser" vessels. They see stupidity everywhere. They are described by Dave Lister as being "emotionally weird" as they have abandoned all concept of relationships and family, which they view as the results of "short term hormonal imbalances". However, ship regulations say that each crew member must participate in sexual congress at least twice daily, for exercise and to relieve frustration. As they are holograms and the ship is also a hologram, and a very sophisticated one, holograms can have an effective physical presence onboard, being able to eat, drink, touch, feel and taste anything on the ship
With a full crew complement of 2000 (no more holograms can be projected or it would be too much of a drain of the system, so it would seem), the only way for another hologram to join the crew is "dead man's boots", or to challenge an existing crew member and prove intellectually superior. For any new crew members, another crew member must go through a series of two ridiculously difficult tests. If the original crew member fails the test or withdraws, the new crew member takes the place of the original crew member along with their run-time, effectively killing the loser.
Arnold Rimmer temporarily joined this crew when he challenged flight officer Nirvanah Crane and she withdrew from their challenge (to give him a chance), and Crane was deactivated so Rimmer could take her place. However, Rimmer had developed feelings for Crane (the first time in his life he had ever felt feelings for anybody) and resigned back to Red Dwarf so that Nirvanah could be reinstated and live again. For her he gave up a position of command, something he had always wanted, he also gave up an effective physical presence and a life of constant sex with beautiful women.
Gemini 12
The Gemini 12 was a mysterious spaceship capable of time travel and originating from the 28th Century. According to the Gemini 12's black box, her ill-fated maiden voyage was a covert reconnaissance mission to the 20th Century, during which the unfortunate crew inadvertently contracted a 20th century influenza virus. Apparently all viruses had long since been wiped out by their time, and so by the 28th century the human immune system had become so weak through inaction it no longer had the ability to combat illness. The crew of the Gemini 12 knew they were dying and so, to stop the time machine aboard falling into the wrong hands (knowing how it could be abused and how dangerous it could be to mess with time) they sent the ship away into deep space on autopilot.After falling into orbit around a gas giant, the Gemini 12 activated its unusual security system — a giant enveloping gas cloud which contained a "reality minefield". This consisted of temporary bubbles of "unreality" which would confuse and disorientate any trespassers and deter them from delving deep into the gas cloud surrounding the Gemini 12. The effects of these "unreality bubbles" included making Dave Lister, a human crew member, appear to be a robot; making the Cat become invisible and removing his existence from the memory of the other crewmembers; making Starbug appear to disappear around the crew; and the heads of the crew transforming into the heads of animals. As any ship penetrated deeper into the gas cloud, the effects of the "unreality bubbles" would become more and more unnerving, more ridiculous and more extreme.
Starbug went through the unreality bubbles, with the crew in cryogenic sleep so they wouldn't be affected by the unreality bubbles, to find out what they were protecting. When they found the Gemini 12 they took the Time Drive and installed it on Starbug. Soon after they came into a conflict with their future selves from fifteen years from then (who had grown incredibly decadent and amoral through abusing the Time Drive) which concluded with their future selves killing them. This caused time to reset to before they discovered the Gemini 12. However the time paradox of the battle with their future selves caused severe dimensional anomalies, which in turn caused the appearance, size and properties of Starbug, Gemini 12 and the Time Drive to alter greatly. Also the Dwarfers retained all memory of the meeting and subsequent battle with their future selves, which should have been enough deterrent to leave the Gemini 12 alone. It was not so...
They once again went and retrieved the Time Drive afterwards on Lister's insistence, so they could go back in time to Earth and replenish their curry supplies. To get the rest of the crew in on it, Lister swapped Kryten's normal head with spare head 2, which was less morally upstanding than Kryten's normal head.
The crew accidentally warp to Dallas in 1963, and get caught up in the assassination of President Kennedy. The Dwarfers manage to set the timeline straight but not after nearly bringing the Earth to nuclear holocaust. Afterwards the crew finally decide to no longer use the Time Drive as it proves too much hassle, or perhaps it was faulty or broken, which is implied during the episode "Tikka to Ride". As such the Gemini 12 is not seen again. Although not mentioned, the red flash of light and sound effect of the Time Drive is used in the background of the next episode ("Ouroboros") when Lister places the child of himself and Kochanski under the pool table where Lister was originally "found" as an orphan.
The Gemini 12 has had four different appearances, none of which are compatible. For the first episode it appears in, "Out of Time", they weren't able to build a new model and instead used stock footage from the episode "Justice". For the next episode, "Tikka to Ride", there was a failed attempt to build an all-new CGI design before it was decided to use another ship that would appear later in the same series, the SS Centauri. Finally, for "Tikka to Ride Remastered" on the Red Dwarf Series VII DVD, an entirely new design was made using CGI.
Simulant Battle Cruiser
This unnamed vessel appears in two episodes of Series VI: "Gunmen of the Apocalypse" and "Rimmerworld". It is crewed by Rogue Simulants who roam deep space, looking for other vessels to hunt or compete with in battle for the purposes of sport, and occasionally to capture humans to torture for their sadistic pleasure. It contains a number of components looted from other vessels, including an escape pod taken from a seeding ship. It also incorporated a great deal of advanced technology (most notably a teleporter) and a large store of food in order to sustain the Simulants' torture victims.The Simulant ship is heavily armed with laser cannons, and the Simulants will occasionally equip unarmed vessels with their own weaponry to make the hunt more sporting. The Simulant ship is apparently not very well armoured, however, as a few laser blasts from Starbug were enough to blow the Simulant ship into two halves. Apparently the Simulants were accustomed to their prey fleeing, and were not accustomed to their prey standing ground and fighting back.
The Dwarfers later return to the site of the battle and board one half of the wrecked Simulant ship as they are in need of food supplies.
The ship's first design was in the shape of a human skull. This was changed to a goat skull and finally, to make it fit in with the overall Western theme of "Gunmen of the Apocalypse", to a cow skull.
SSS Esperanto
The SSS Esperanto was a designated "ocean seeding ship" featured in "Back to Reality", the last episode of Series V.Its three-year mission was to explore deep space and locate potential S3 (or Earth-like) planets that were covered by ocean, introduce primitive life-forms to these extraterrestrial environments and finally speed up the evolutionary process. Her mission was successful; indeed, it was off all predicted charts — on one ocean planet the Esperanto succeeded in causing five million years' worth of aquatic evolution in just three solar years.
The SSS Esperanto crashed onto the ocean floor when it was attacked by one of the creatures she had helped create: a gigantic squid-like creature whose ink had hallucinatory and despair-inducing properties. The ink caused all the crew of the Esperanto, and even a stray fish, to have hallucinations which made them despair and commit suicide. The fish committed suicide by voluntarily closing its own gills.
It is revealed that, of all the ocean-dwelling species the Esperanto created, the giant squid had either eaten them all or caused them to die with its despair-inducing ink, leaving the ocean devoid of life except for the squid.
When Starbug found the Esperanto, the crew were also attacked by the squid and had a bizarre but elaborate group hallucination which led them to believe all their experiences on Red Dwarf were nothing but a video game, and their real identities to be people whom they all despised. In their hallucination, a brummy technician named Andy says that to kill the squid they were supposed to use the SSS Esperanto's laser cannons, citing the name "Esperanto" as a clue (Esperanto means "one who hopes", and hope defeats despair).
Holly destroys the despair squid with limpet mines. After surviving their hallucinations, the Dwarfers leave the empty hulk of the Esperanto behind on the now lifeless ocean floor.
The Esperanto was used as the background for the Red Dwarf Series V DVD cover.
Wildfire
Wildfire (Original Model)Wildfire is Ace Rimmer's personal ship. Wildfire is a one-man craft with only a cockpit, and is run by a computer who has a crush on Ace Rimmer. It first appeared in the episode "Dimension Jump", which also introduced Ace Rimmer. Its second appearance was in the episode "Stoke Me a Clipper", where it was slightly redesigned, being small enough to fit inside Starbug's hangar.
Wildfire (CGI Version)Wildfire was created in Ace Rimmer's own dimension by his team on Mimas, including "Spanners" Lister, and is capable of crossing the barrier between alternate dimensions. Ace Rimmer agreed to test-fly it even though it was a one-way ticket as there was no way of returning to his own dimension, but he couldn't resist due to his natural character of daredevil bravado. Ace used it to cross into our dimension where he met the Dwarfers. Afterwards he used it as his own dimension-jumping spaceship, and gained a reputation across many alternate dimensions as a kind of intergalactic space adventurer and dashing hero.
Ace Rimmer "caught the business end of a neutron tank in Dimension 165", after which another version of himself in that dimension took up his persona and continued adventuring through the dimensions with Wildfire. This has since occurred many times since and many alternate counterparts of Ace from various dimensions have piloted Wildfire. When each Ace dies, Wildfire is given to the next one in the counterpart dimension.
Wildfire is never named in the TV series: it's only named in the Red Dwarf novel Backwards, where it was built on Europa rather than Mimas. In that novel (the novels had different stories to the TV series) Wildfire is taken by Lister and Cat after Ace dies so they can escape the sun Starbug is flying towards.
The DNA Ship
All that is known of its origins is that it was from a later period of Earth's history and crewed by a human — who died after the DNA-transforming machine on board caused him to grow three heads.This was an unnamed vessel of extremely advanced construction — so much so that Rimmer assumed it belonged to aliens intent on returning Glenn Miller. Its most notable feature, however, was the advanced machine for the transmogrification of human DNA. This machine was so advanced it could turn, say, a human being into a chicken and back again without lasting effects.
It could also turn a mechanoid into a human being, if there were even the slightest organic material used in the mechanoid's construction. Kryten used the DNA machine to become human for a time, if somewhat accidentally.
However as the Dwarfers discovered the DNA transforming machine could also malfunction; for example, when Lister tried to turn a mutton vindaloo into a chicken vindaloo, it reanimated the dead organic matter creating into a ravenous snarling beast (referred to as "the Mutton Vindaloo Beast" or the "Curry Monster"). Lister then used the DNA machine to make Robocop-like armour so that he could battle the Curry Monster. In the end Lister killed the Curry Monster by exploding cans of lager in its mouth, as lager is "the only thing which can kill a vindaloo".
Lister and Kryten used the DNA machine one last time to revert back to their original states, and the DNA ship was not seen again.
Nova 5
The wreck of the Nova 5 was discovered in the Series II episode "Kryten", and is in fact the first spacecraft seen in the show apart from Red Dwarf itself.The spaceship originally had 3 female officers and and an unspecified number of male officers but it crashed into an asteroid an unspecified amount of time previous to the episode, and the male officers were killed on impact, and the 3 surviving women died an unknown time later. The hyperactive series 4000 service mechanoid Kryten was still attending to his long-dead masters (now skeletons) when encountered by the members of Red Dwarf.
Kryten, programmed to serve and nothing more, refuses to believe they are dead and continues to prepare meals for the skeletal remains and dress them for centuries, perhaps millennia, after their deaths. Ironically, and hilariously, the crew of the Red Dwarf heed Kryten's distress call with much excitement and enthusiasm when faced with the prospect of meeting real live women for the first time in three million years.
Nova 5 is never seen after that episode, but is mentioned several times afterwards and recalled by Kryten with much fondness.
In the Series VII episode "Ouroboros", it was revealed that Kryten was responsible for the accident that killed the ship's crew. A reason has not been given in the series, but the novel Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers explains that the crash was caused by Kryten cleaning the sensitive computer terminals with soapy water.
In the novel, Nova 5 is an American vessel owned by The Coca-Cola Company which was sent on a mission to induce the supernova of 128 supergiant stars in order to create a five-week-long message in the sky visible even in daylight, reading "COKE ADDS LIFE!" After the Red Dwarf crew finds the wreck it is brought aboard and repaired in order to utilise its Duality Jump engine, which could get the crew back to Earth within three months. However, although the ship is successfully repaired, circumstances prevent them from ever going through with it.
White Giant
White Giant is a shuttlecraft on Red Dwarf that only features in the Red Dwarf novels and is never mentioned in the television series. It's never explained what the craft looks like. It is thought that the craft's name may be a reference to the original name of Starbug — White Midget.
In the second Red Dwarf novel, Rimmer and Cat use White Giant to find Lister on Garbage World. Given that Starbug was destroyed by acid rain, and the destruction of Blue Midget, White Giant was left as the only remaining shuttlecraft for Red Dwarf. However, in the two sequel novels Starbug has been rebuilt and White Giant never appears — presumably because of Starbug's popularity in the television series.
In the second Red Dwarf novel, Rimmer and Cat use White Giant to find Lister on Garbage World. Given that Starbug was destroyed by acid rain, and the destruction of Blue Midget, White Giant was left as the only remaining shuttlecraft for Red Dwarf. However, in the two sequel novels Starbug has been rebuilt and White Giant never appears — presumably because of Starbug's popularity in the television series.
White Midget
White Midget was going to be the second type of shuttle held aboard Red Dwarf in addition to Blue Midget - the introduction of the character Kryten necessitated the introduction of a larger shuttle. White Midget went through at least one redesign in the concept stage, which changed it to the shape of three spheres like the segments of a bug. It was later renamed Green Midget and later still Starbug.In the Series VII episode "Ouroboros", a craft called White Midget finally appeared, albeit briefly and only from the stern. It is seen approaching Red Dwarf in a flashback and appears to be a transport/passenger/personnel specialised vehicle as it delivers Dave Lister back to Red Dwarf from his shore leave on Mimas before the accident that wiped out the crew of Red Dwarf.
However, it did not look anything like Starbug or the original design concept. The White Midget model used for "Ouroboros" was actually a converted Blue Midget model, last used in Series III. Mike Tucker and freelancer Alan Brennan refurbished the original model, adding a nose-cone, wings and back engines and repainted it. [1] Because the flashback is of an alternate reality (Kris Kochanski's dimension) and because White Midget has never been seen before or since on the show (including the evacuation of every shuttle in the final episode), it has been theorised that White Midget as seen in Series VII was merely that dimension's equivalent of Blue Midget.
Starbug (Notes)
Starbug's introduction was prompted by the introduction of Kryten as a main character, which required a new, bigger shuttle to hold the crew. The original concept of Starbug was named White Midget and was going to be white. With the second episode seeing Starbug crashing into a snow-covered planet the design team decided to recolour the ship green to increase contrast and renamed it Green Midget, before realising its similarity to a bug and renaming it once more as Starbug. However, a script error does have Lister saying "How else can I pilot White Midget?" — although he was misnaming Blue Midget, the reference has left some fans intrigued. A ship named White Midget would finally appear on-screen in Series VII, in a flashback to Kochanski's alternate universe pre-accident. Like the crew's alternate uniforms in blue rather than beige, however, this is presumably a difference in her universe — although a different, unnamed, white ship would appear as the Canaries' primary transport in Series VIII.
The Red Dwarf Companion includes a sketch of an unused shuttlecraft design that is described as being the design for White Midget. This also features an early Starbug design labelled "Green Midget".
In the audio commentaries for the Series IV DVD, Chris Barrie surmised that Starbug's spherical construction was the reason for its durability.
Starbug (Novel)
In the Red Dwarf novels, Starbug also crashes onto an ice world: a rogue planet which, after being captured in a star's orbit and having its ice melted, turns out to be the Earth itself, which was ripped from its orbit after being officially renamed "Garbage World" and turned into the solar system's rubbish tip. Following the thawing of the ice, Starbug is all but destroyed by extremely concentrated acid rain. However, Starbug is back and functional in both the following novels (again, possibly a second Starbug vessel).
Starbug
The Jupiter Mining Corporation transport vehicle Starbug is a relatively small shuttlecraft, green in colour. It has three bulbous sections; the cockpit, mid-section and engine rooms, somewhat resembling a bug from the exterior. Starbug replaced Blue Midget as the crew's primary choice of shuttle in Series III and became the show's primary vehicle throughout Series VI and VII.The original Red Dwarf came equipped with at least four Starbug vessels, as Starbugs are abandoned in "Backwards" and "Terrorform" as a result of crashes by Rimmer and Kryten, with Lister and Cat retrieving the two in another Starbug both times, and in "Bodyswap" after Rimmer (using Lister's body) crashes it and is retrieved by the others in Blue Midget. The reconstructed Red Dwarf of the Series VIII "Back in the Red" episode contained an entire fleet of Starbugs and Blue Midgets, but the nanobots reconstructed Red Dwarf to its original design specifications.
Series VI takes place a full two centuries after the final episodes of Series V. As the internal layout of Starbug differs from that of the vessel's appearances in previous episodes, it is possible that Kryten remodelled one of the Starbug vessels during this time to better suit the crews needs, and extended it in size, being the only one not in suspended animation.
The new design featured four main areas: the cockpit in the front section, the midsection and galley on the middle section bottom deck, the observation room (which doubled as quarters and medibay) on the middle section top deck, and the engine room, which was over all three decks of the rear section. In addition, Starbug was finally armed with laser cannons in the episode "Gunmen of the Apocalypse" by rogue simulants looking for a challenge.
Throughout Series VI and VII, Starbug is regularly seen travelling through different planetary systems and through completely different regions of interstellar space within short periods of time. Thusly it stands to reason that Starbug is capable of interstellar travel. However, it is clearly stated that Starbug has no faster-than-light capability; it merely runs on hydrogen-powered thrusters, and so it remains a mystery how the craft manages to travel trillions of kilometres every few hours or every few days. One fan-proposed theory is that Starbug has an extremely powerful albeit semi-functional tachyon-powered drive that can periodically provide massive jumps through space (but still not enough, however, to catch up to their mothership). Super tachyon-powered drives are mentioned at various points in the Red Dwarf television series (such as in the episodes "Holoship" and "Ouroboros"), so they are indeed part of the Red Dwarf canon.
For Series VII, Starbug was redesigned again, partially rendered in CGI and the sets were made substantially larger (the Starbug of Series VII was apparently similar to the TARDIS in Doctor Who; being larger on the inside than outside). The complex explanation on this occasion for the redesign was due to a time paradox caused by the battle with their future selves at the finale of the previous series (see episodes "Out of Time" and "Tikka to Ride"). Kryten explains that "dimensional anomalies" caused by this time paradox had expanded the engineering section, the cargo bay section and the maintenance ducts by over 212%. Apparently parts of the upgraded future version of Starbug from the timeline they erased also came to co-exist with the present Starbug.
The new model had a smaller cockpit window (as a result of the rest of the craft being larger) and newly backward-angled legs, and its larger size allowed for many extra rooms, including separate quarters, a medibay and a re-designed artificial reality suite. This version of Starbug would finally be destroyed when the ship crashed and exploded in the newly-rebuilt Red Dwarf at the beginning of Series VIII.
Starbug is shown to have an internal cloaking device installed in series III episode 'Backwards', as this feature has been rarely seen in the series it is not known if it is a standard feature of the craft or a custom modification.
Starbug was used as the background for the Red Dwarf Series III DVD cover.
Blue Midget (Novel)
Blue Midget also features in the first two Red Dwarf novels. In the second novel, after a polymorph finds its way aboard the shuttlecraft, the craft is made to self-destruct at the insistence of Lister.
Blue Midget
Blue Midget (Original Design)
Blue Midget is a type of shuttle which Red Dwarf carries. Its fuselage resembles that of a Chinook helicopter, although it also has features of a truck or tank (as it features caterpillar tracks and a bumper sticker that reads "My Other Space Ship is a Red Dwarf"), and its cockpit can hold a maximum of four people. Blue Midget was the only shuttlecraft used for Series II. By Series III, and the introduction of Kryten as a main character, a bigger shuttle was needed and Blue Midget faded into the background, only featuring in two episodes of Series III and not showing up at all again until Series VIII.
For Red Dwarf Remastered, Blue Midget was completely redesigned to resemble a bubble car with retractable legs used for taking off and walking (replacing the caterpillar tracks).
The new design was also used for Blue Midget's reappearance in Series VIII, where the ship gained its third, substantially larger cockpit more akin to the Series VI–VII Starbug cockpit; the redesign was ascribed to the nanobots and their reconstruction of Red Dwarf and the Blue Midgets.
Blue Midget was used as the background for the Red Dwarf Series II DVD cover.
Red Dwarf The Ship
The spaceship Red Dwarf is an enormous mining vessel owned by the Jupiter Mining Corporation and commanded by Captain Frank Hollister. It is 6 miles (10 km) long, 5 miles (8 km) tall, and 4 miles (6 km) wide, according to the novels. The jagged shape and dull red colour of the vessel has led to the vessel being described as a "giant red trash can". All of Red Dwarf's systems are controlled by the computer Holly.A small moon is embedded in Red Dwarf's underbelly — however, structurally it remains apparently unaffected (upon the reconstruction of Red Dwarf in Series VIII, the moon was gone). Also various exterior model shots of the vessel seem to indicate that a large part of the interior may in fact be rocky, leading to speculation that the vessel may have originally been carved out of a large asteroid or small moon; however this has not been clearly stated in either the television series or the novels. It is more likely that it was constructed around an asteroid or collects them on a mission for mining.
It has so far been travelling for roughly 3,000,000 years, and a few centuries on top of this. The ship has enough food and drink to last 30,000 years (although they have run out of cow's milk, Shake 'n' Vac and have just one After Eight mint left, which everyone is too polite to take).
The "scoop" on the front of the ship sucks hydrogen from the currents in space and converts it into fuel. Red Dwarf has a large complement of shuttles, including Starbugs and Blue Midgets. Another shuttle type only mentioned in the novels but never seen or heard on the television series is White Giant (see Starbug). Red Dwarf is powered by a Bussard ramjet and can, theoretically, keep going forever.
It is briefly mentioned in the first episode, "The End", that Red Dwarf has botanical gardens, when third-class technician Dave Lister and second-class technician Arnold Rimmer are sent off to repair a "faulty pourous circuit" there. If Red Dwarf has botanical gardens then it is possible the vessel has a closed ecological system or systems aboard similar to those which exist on Earth today, such as Biosphere 2 (although these are never seen in the television series).
The crew size was repeatedly stated in Series I to be 169, but the number grew with time: in the Series IV episode "Justice" it was said to have been 1,169 (although this retcon was implicitly reversed by Lister giving his crew number as 000169 in "The Inquisitor"), and in the books the figure is given as 11,169. In the programme, however, these continuity errors are more or less ignored. There is an additional 400 people in a classified prison on the secret Floor 13.
Red Dwarf itself was the main setting for the first five series of the programme, but was apparently lost for 200 years before "Psirens" of Series Six. It was later discovered that a collective of rogue nanobots which formed the mechanoid Kryten's auto-repair system dismantled Red Dwarf and created their own nano-version of the ship. The crew chased this nano-version of the ship in Starbug 1 and eventually convinced the nanobots to rebuild the ship.
Unbeknownst to the crew Holly created a new set of nanobots to resurrected the dead crew as well, causing some disorientation among the formerly dead denizens of the reconstructed Red Dwarf. The rebuilt ship was based on the original specifications, before the Jupiter Mining Corporation made cutbacks, meaning it was even larger than the Red Dwarf of the first five series, with a quark-level matter/anti-matter generator and a karaoke bar (this was at least partly meant as justification for new sets and a new CGI model of the ship's exterior).
The ultimate fate of the ship is unknown as the cliffhanger ending of the last series was never resolved (see episode "Only the Good..."). It appears as though the ship was again destroyed, this time by a corrosive microbe which ate away at the vessel. Frank Hollister and the flight officers escaped in the fleet of Starbugs and Blue Midgets. Lister, the Cat, Kryten and Kochanski escaped through a portal into a mirror universe and Arnold Rimmer was left accidentally alone on board a disintegrating Red Dwarf.
Notable areas of the ship over the past series include:
Rimmer and Lister's original sleeping quarters — The main setting for the first two series. A grey room with bunk beds built into the wall, a table, two lockers, a sink with a mirror that also acts as a computer screen and a voice activated toilet. It made a reappearance in the first episode of Series VIII. This room is to be used as the background for the Red Dwarf: The Bodysnatcher Collection DVD cover.
Rimmer and Lister's second sleeping quarters — In Series III, they relocated to a room in the unused Officer's Block; substantially larger, with a cream colour scheme and en suite shower as well as classier versions of much of the apparatus from their original quarters. This room was used as the background for the Red Dwarf Series IV DVD cover.
Level 147 appears to have been the nerve centre of the vessel. It contained the Central Drive Room, the navigational control centre of the ship, where Kristine Kochanski used to work as well as the other top officers. The Central Drive Room also contains the Navicomp, the ship's navigational computer, and several computer monitors which Holly used to project his/her image and communicate with the crew. The Captain Frank Hollister's office was also on Floor 147, next to the Central Drive Room. The stasis booth in which Dave Lister was frozen in suspended animation for three million years was also on Level 147.
The Science Room — This became the crew's main area of conducting technical business such as mind swaps and consultations with Holly, the ship's computer, in Series III–V. Apparently the vessel could be navigated from the Science Room as well as the Drive Room.
The cargo bay — The area of the ship where the fleets of Starbugs and Blue Midgets were stored and from where these ships launched and landed.
White Corridor 159 — The initial site of the accident that wiped out the crew. Also, due to a lack of original script, it is where Lister collapses in the episode "Confidence and Paranoia".
The CopaCabana Cocktail Bar — where Lister and his drinking buddies Petersen, Chen and Selby often met to drink. Seen in various episodes of Series I.
Parrot's Bar — A wine bar on G Deck, apparently named purely for a Casablanca gag. ("We'll always have Parrot's.") This area was seen in the episode "Camille".
The Tank — A two-hundred cell prison on the top-secret Floor Thirteen of Red Dwarf, which held in custody 400 hardened criminals on their way to a penal colony on Adelphi 12. However, when the nanobots rebuilt Red Dwarf (at the beginning of Series VIII), they do so to original JMC plans, also rebuilding The Tank in the process and resurrecting the inmates of the prison too. The Tank is the main setting for Series VIII as the regular cast are imprisoned there. The Tank was used as the background for the cover of the Red Dwarf Series VIII DVD.
Red Dwarf itself was used as the background for the cover of the Red Dwarf Series I DVD.
The Ships
Red Dwarf prominently features many different spaceships. Three feature regularly, and several have appeared for one or two episodes only but are nonetheless important to Red Dwarf continuity or well-known among the fan community. Dozens of spaceships have been seen only in one episode and no more. A few ships have also been mentioned but not seen.
1 Main ships
2 Guest ships
3 Ships mentioned by name
1 Main ships
- 1.1 Red Dwarf
- 1.2 Blue Midget
- 1.2.1 Novels
- 1.3 Starbug
- 1.3.1 Novels
- 1.3.2 Notes
- 1.4 White Midget
- 1.5 White Giant
2 Guest ships
- 2.1 Nova 5
- 2.2 The DNA Ship
- 2.3 Wildfire
- 2.4 SSS Esperanto
- 2.5 The Simulant Battle Cruiser
- 2.6 Gemini 12
- 2.7 Enlightenment
3 Ships mentioned by name
Continuity
Red Dwarf is particularly known for its creators' lax attitude towards continuity. As such, there were many facts and events that go contradicted (sometimes multiple times) from series to series. In the beginning, changing such things as the number of people on-board the ship (Originally 169, later became 1169), the number of times Rimmer took his astronavigation exam, or even what century Lister was from (In the 1st & 2nd series Lister was from the mid 21st century, but in the series 4 episode "Justice" Lister claims to be from the 23rd century), was a result of Grant and Naylor not bothering to check their facts because they assumed that no-one else would either. Perhaps the best-known example involved Lister having been said to have already had his appendix removed in an episode in series II, only to suffer from peritonitis and have it removed during series VI, an error that has received numerous attempts at explanation by writers and fans alike (most famously during the Smeg Ups video, when Kryten declared that Lister "liked the operation so much, he decided to have it again"[13]). Once the show began to attract a quite large fan base, however, such errors began to be gleefully pointed out by fans the world over, to the extent that they became one of the series' most notable features. Most of the series' continuity errors are therefore now treated with a certain amount of tongue-in-cheek reverence, and cheerfully ignored (just as Grant and Naylor ignored them when writing the show).
Parody & Pastiche
While Red Dwarf is a comedy series, there is a mistaken belief that it exists solely as a 'parody' of existing science fiction shows. This, however, is untrue — the science fiction elements of the series were always treated seriously by Grant and Naylor, and indeed there were many concepts introduced by the series that would later go on to be used by more "serious" programmes. Nevertheless, like many sitcoms of its era, a number of its episodes contained references to other (not always science fiction) television shows, films, books and plays. These included spoofs of films and TV programmes as diverse as 2001: A Space Odyssey, Alien, Neighbours, Casablanca, Top Gun, RoboCop, Doctor Doolittle and Pride and Prejudice.
Invented Words
Red Dwarf, like many other science fiction series, developed its own distinct vocabulary. Words and phrases such as Hologrammatic, Dollarpound, Felis sapiens, Fuchal, Rogue Simulants, GELF, Space weevil and Zero G Football appear at various points during the series, highlighting a development in language, political climate, technology, evolution and culture in the future.
The series also famously employed a vocabulary of fictional expletives in order to avoid using potentially-offensive expletives in the show, and to give nuance to futuristic colloquial language. By far, the most famous example is 'smeg'. The word can be considered a substitute for either "shit" or "fuck" depending on circumstance, and so variations of the word include 'smeghead', 'smeg off' and 'smegging hell'. Grant and Naylor have stated that they invented the word "smeg", and that it has no connection with any similar real words, such as 'smegma' or the brand name that appears on the front of kitchen appliances. However, lexicographer Tony Thorne, in his 1990 Dictionary of Contemporary Slang (ISBN 0-7475-2856-X), reports instances of 'smeg' (and derivatives) being used as a term of 'mild contempt and even affection' among 'schoolboys, students and punks' as early as the mid-1970s — a decade or so prior to the inception of the Red Dwarf phenomenon — and unequivocally traces the etymology of the term back to 'smegma'. A character in the 1978 DEVO promotional video "The Men Who Make The Music" employs the term in the line "You're dying under Daddy's Cap, Smeghead."
Other invented expletives and euphemisms include 'goit' (one who is annoying or awkward) and 'gimboid' (one who is stupid or clumsy). Another term of abuse used once in the show was the word 'gwenlan', the last name of Gareth Gwenlan, a former BBC head of comedy who had once passed on the show.
The series also famously employed a vocabulary of fictional expletives in order to avoid using potentially-offensive expletives in the show, and to give nuance to futuristic colloquial language. By far, the most famous example is 'smeg'. The word can be considered a substitute for either "shit" or "fuck" depending on circumstance, and so variations of the word include 'smeghead', 'smeg off' and 'smegging hell'. Grant and Naylor have stated that they invented the word "smeg", and that it has no connection with any similar real words, such as 'smegma' or the brand name that appears on the front of kitchen appliances. However, lexicographer Tony Thorne, in his 1990 Dictionary of Contemporary Slang (ISBN 0-7475-2856-X), reports instances of 'smeg' (and derivatives) being used as a term of 'mild contempt and even affection' among 'schoolboys, students and punks' as early as the mid-1970s — a decade or so prior to the inception of the Red Dwarf phenomenon — and unequivocally traces the etymology of the term back to 'smegma'. A character in the 1978 DEVO promotional video "The Men Who Make The Music" employs the term in the line "You're dying under Daddy's Cap, Smeghead."
Other invented expletives and euphemisms include 'goit' (one who is annoying or awkward) and 'gimboid' (one who is stupid or clumsy). Another term of abuse used once in the show was the word 'gwenlan', the last name of Gareth Gwenlan, a former BBC head of comedy who had once passed on the show.
Mixed Reactions
The many changes that were made to the series' cast, setting, creative teams and even production values from series to series have meant that opinions differ greatly between fans as to the quality of certain series. Series VI was based around the supply ship Starbug. In the opening show of the series, 'Psirens', the reason given by Rimmer was that Red Dwarf was stolen after Lister had forgotten which planetoid he had parked it on. However there was a real reason for the change — too much of the Red Dwarf set did actually go missing. Series VI is often regarded as a highlight for lovers of one-line jokes but some saw it as a continuation of the 'Monster of the week' philosophy of Series V, which was nevertheless visually impressive. In Series VII and VIII there was a discernible shift away from both 'Monster of the week' and the stereotypical antagonism between Lister and Rimmer.
Series VII was seen by many as a disappointment: while much slicker and higher-budget in appearance, the shift away from outright sitcom and into something approaching comedy drama did not impress a significant number of long-standing fans. Furthermore, the attempt to then shift back into traditional sitcom format for series VIII was greeted with a response that was similarly lukewarm — and at times downright hostile — by many fans who felt that the level of humour in that series was far below that which they had come to expect from the show. There was also a significant amount of criticism aimed at the decision to resurrect the entire crew of Red Dwarf, as many felt this detracted from the series' central premise of Lister being the last human being alive.[9]
On the other hand, there are other Red Dwarf fans who feel that Series VII and VIII, either separately or as a whole, are no weaker than the earlier series, and the topic is therefore the subject of constant fervent debate among the show's fanbase.[10] Similar discussions revolve around the quality of Series VI (seen by some as the strongest series, but by others as a descent into formulaic comedy with an unwelcome change of setting), although not to the same extent; and there are even those who argue that the show lost its way with the significant changes made after Series II.
Within the context of British comedy in general, meanwhile, Red Dwarf occupies an ambiguous position. While revered by many — and still a successful programme, as recent DVD sales have shown (series IV and V were the third and fourth best-selling BBC DVDs respectively in 2005[11]) — it is also often looked down upon by those in the comedy fraternity (comedians such as Armando Iannucci and Lee and Herring have remarked on their dislike for the series)[citation needed]. This could be the result of any number of factors — its niche content, the fact that its writers largely worked alone and are noted for little else in the industry, or the 'unfashionable' status of its main cast members (consisting of a dancer, a poet, an impressionist, and a stand-up comic, rather than previously-noted comedic actors) and the science fiction setting. Despite this, Red Dwarf consistently topped ratings (e.g. the series VIII opener "Back in the Red" received 8.05 million viewers when first broadcast in February 1999[12]), and remains the longest-running BBC2 comedy series.
Series VII was seen by many as a disappointment: while much slicker and higher-budget in appearance, the shift away from outright sitcom and into something approaching comedy drama did not impress a significant number of long-standing fans. Furthermore, the attempt to then shift back into traditional sitcom format for series VIII was greeted with a response that was similarly lukewarm — and at times downright hostile — by many fans who felt that the level of humour in that series was far below that which they had come to expect from the show. There was also a significant amount of criticism aimed at the decision to resurrect the entire crew of Red Dwarf, as many felt this detracted from the series' central premise of Lister being the last human being alive.[9]
On the other hand, there are other Red Dwarf fans who feel that Series VII and VIII, either separately or as a whole, are no weaker than the earlier series, and the topic is therefore the subject of constant fervent debate among the show's fanbase.[10] Similar discussions revolve around the quality of Series VI (seen by some as the strongest series, but by others as a descent into formulaic comedy with an unwelcome change of setting), although not to the same extent; and there are even those who argue that the show lost its way with the significant changes made after Series II.
Within the context of British comedy in general, meanwhile, Red Dwarf occupies an ambiguous position. While revered by many — and still a successful programme, as recent DVD sales have shown (series IV and V were the third and fourth best-selling BBC DVDs respectively in 2005[11]) — it is also often looked down upon by those in the comedy fraternity (comedians such as Armando Iannucci and Lee and Herring have remarked on their dislike for the series)[citation needed]. This could be the result of any number of factors — its niche content, the fact that its writers largely worked alone and are noted for little else in the industry, or the 'unfashionable' status of its main cast members (consisting of a dancer, a poet, an impressionist, and a stand-up comic, rather than previously-noted comedic actors) and the science fiction setting. Despite this, Red Dwarf consistently topped ratings (e.g. the series VIII opener "Back in the Red" received 8.05 million viewers when first broadcast in February 1999[12]), and remains the longest-running BBC2 comedy series.
Releases On Other Media
Smeg Ups was re-released on UMD in June 2006, with Smeg Outs originally intended to follow 'for Christmas',[8] but that release was subsequently cancelled.
Meanwhile, three episodes — "Marooned", "Quarantine", and "Cassandra" — are also available to view on selected mobile phones on a "ROK Chip".
Some episodes have also been made available to certain countries by the BBC for download through the Vuze client.
Meanwhile, three episodes — "Marooned", "Quarantine", and "Cassandra" — are also available to view on selected mobile phones on a "ROK Chip".
Some episodes have also been made available to certain countries by the BBC for download through the Vuze client.
VHS Releases
For the initial release of the VHS editions, the videos were named after the first episode on the tape, as were other BBC videos at the time. This was changed for the second half of series I, as the BBC already had another series called Waiting for God (the title of the fourth episode in the series) so the video was named after the fifth episode, "Confidence and Paranoia". Because of this, the episode summaries on the back of the tape were mixed up with the second episode being listed first. The first video of series VI was named after the third episode on the tape, presumably because the Emmy-winning episode "Gunmen of the Apocalypse" was seen as being more prestigious than "Psirens", the first episode of the series.
Boxed Sets / Speciality Releases: Prior to the DVD releases, all eight series had been available on VHS. All the videos are now deleted, but none — save for "Six Of The Best" — are particularly rare. Three episodes of series VII were also released as special "Xtended" versions with extra scenes and no laugh track (these "Xtended" episodes would later be included on the DVD), while the remastered versions of series I–III were released individually and in a complete box-set.
A special limited edition box-set, Six Of The Best, was released in 1997, featuring one episode from each (then-existing) series selected by the writers, and an audio CD of discussion and commentary by Rob Grant, Doug Naylor and Ed Bye (this discussion would later be split up and used as extras and easter eggs on the DVD releases).
Outtakes: Finally, two outtake videos were released, the famed Smeg Ups in 1994, and its sequel Smeg Outs in 1995. There was also a specially edited version of Smeg Ups for the Red Dwarf anniversary, which featured newly recorded links by Robert Llewellyn as Kryten, Chris Barrie as Rimmer and Craig Charles as Lister, the links were later released separately on the series VII DVD. The original, 1994 version of Smeg Ups contained outtakes from Series IV–VI, with brand new specially-recorded links performed by Robert Llewellyn as Kryten, and featured the never-before-seen original ending of the Series VI finale "Out Of Time". Smeg Outs featured out-takes from the first three series, with more new links (now also featuring Craig Charles as Lister), in addition to the full-length video for "Tongue Tied". These videos were a strong commercial success, and Red Dwarf's outtakes remain among the most famous in television. All the out-takes featured on the videos have now been included on the relevant DVDs, and will be released in their original form on DVD on November 5th (In the UK) as 'Red Dwarf: Just The Smegs'.
Boxed Sets / Speciality Releases: Prior to the DVD releases, all eight series had been available on VHS. All the videos are now deleted, but none — save for "Six Of The Best" — are particularly rare. Three episodes of series VII were also released as special "Xtended" versions with extra scenes and no laugh track (these "Xtended" episodes would later be included on the DVD), while the remastered versions of series I–III were released individually and in a complete box-set.
A special limited edition box-set, Six Of The Best, was released in 1997, featuring one episode from each (then-existing) series selected by the writers, and an audio CD of discussion and commentary by Rob Grant, Doug Naylor and Ed Bye (this discussion would later be split up and used as extras and easter eggs on the DVD releases).
Outtakes: Finally, two outtake videos were released, the famed Smeg Ups in 1994, and its sequel Smeg Outs in 1995. There was also a specially edited version of Smeg Ups for the Red Dwarf anniversary, which featured newly recorded links by Robert Llewellyn as Kryten, Chris Barrie as Rimmer and Craig Charles as Lister, the links were later released separately on the series VII DVD. The original, 1994 version of Smeg Ups contained outtakes from Series IV–VI, with brand new specially-recorded links performed by Robert Llewellyn as Kryten, and featured the never-before-seen original ending of the Series VI finale "Out Of Time". Smeg Outs featured out-takes from the first three series, with more new links (now also featuring Craig Charles as Lister), in addition to the full-length video for "Tongue Tied". These videos were a strong commercial success, and Red Dwarf's outtakes remain among the most famous in television. All the out-takes featured on the videos have now been included on the relevant DVDs, and will be released in their original form on DVD on November 5th (In the UK) as 'Red Dwarf: Just The Smegs'.
DVD Releases
All eight series remain available on DVD in Regions 1, 2 and 4, with each release from Series III onward being accompanied by an original documentary about the making of each respective series, and a bonus disc filled with extra material. The DVD releases have been praised for their particularly extensive bonus material, which includes cast commentaries, exhaustive deleted scenes, raw effects footage, previously-broadcast one-offs and specials about the show, outtakes and much more, including — in one instance — a special audio/part-animated version of an unmade episode, performed by Chris Barrie. In all of the DVDs there are hidden extras among the menus, known as Easter Eggs. These include extra animated interviews with Grant Naylor and Ed Bye, as well as other model shots and unseen footage.
There are also various country-specific releases, usually without extras, across the globe.
Regions 2 and 4 have also seen the release of two Just The Shows, digipack boxsets containing all the episodes from Series I–IV (Volume 1) and V-VIII (Volume 2) with static menus and no extras. In October 2006, meanwhile, an Interactive Quiz DVD entitled Red Dwarf: Beat The Geek was released. The quiz allows "hardcore fans" to compete against casual viewers, in addition to offering general knowledge questions for friends/family not au fait with the series.[4] The DVD is hosted by Norman Lovett and Hattie Hayridge, both reprising their roles as Holly. It is currently only available in regions 2-4, and in region 2 the initial release also included an internet treasure hunt competition called "Geek Chase",[5] with a prize of £5,000. (Now expired, though the game itself remains available online.)
The Region 1, 2(UK) and 4 releases of series 1-3 are the originally aired versions of the show. Some European countries such as Poland, France, Belgium, Luxembourg and The Netherlands have localised releases which contain the Remastered versions of Series I-III. Bonus features on these DVDs vary. An earlier release in Japan featured the NHK versions of the show - remastered and dubbed, but with significantly altered title sequences and shorter running times, reflecting the fact that these edits were originally created for showing on commercial television.
In December 2006, it was announced[6] that a DVD boxset of Red Dwarf : Remastered was being prepared for release in October 2007. It was subsequently announced in April 2007[7] that the name of the boxset would be Red Dwarf : The Bodysnatcher Collection rather than Red Dwarf Remastered. The new title highlighted one of the set's other main bonus features: a storyboard construction of "Bodysnatcher" (the "lost" episode from series 1, performed by Chris Barrie as for the series VII extra "Identity Within"), notable for being an original 1987 script "finished" by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor in 2007, working together for the first time since 1993. The intention of the boxset retitling to was to ensure that no buyers or reviewers would mistake the set for a 'vanilla' edition of the 1997 Remastered series (akin to the Just The Shows sets) or even a new 2007 Remastering of the series. It was felt by GNP that the renaming would focus attention onto the array of bonus features that had not been financially viable when the early series were originally released on DVD.
On Friday 24th August, 2 Entertain confirmed that another Red Dwarf DVD would be released by the end of the year. 'Red Dwarf: Just The Smegs' contains the original video releases of 'Smeg Ups' and 'Smeg Outs' (Out-takes from Series 1 - 6), plus the half hour version shown on 'Red Dwarf Night' and the Series 7 & 8 Smeg Ups released on the original series video releases. The Region 2 DVD will be released on November 5th in the UK.
There are also various country-specific releases, usually without extras, across the globe.
Regions 2 and 4 have also seen the release of two Just The Shows, digipack boxsets containing all the episodes from Series I–IV (Volume 1) and V-VIII (Volume 2) with static menus and no extras. In October 2006, meanwhile, an Interactive Quiz DVD entitled Red Dwarf: Beat The Geek was released. The quiz allows "hardcore fans" to compete against casual viewers, in addition to offering general knowledge questions for friends/family not au fait with the series.[4] The DVD is hosted by Norman Lovett and Hattie Hayridge, both reprising their roles as Holly. It is currently only available in regions 2-4, and in region 2 the initial release also included an internet treasure hunt competition called "Geek Chase",[5] with a prize of £5,000. (Now expired, though the game itself remains available online.)
The Region 1, 2(UK) and 4 releases of series 1-3 are the originally aired versions of the show. Some European countries such as Poland, France, Belgium, Luxembourg and The Netherlands have localised releases which contain the Remastered versions of Series I-III. Bonus features on these DVDs vary. An earlier release in Japan featured the NHK versions of the show - remastered and dubbed, but with significantly altered title sequences and shorter running times, reflecting the fact that these edits were originally created for showing on commercial television.
In December 2006, it was announced[6] that a DVD boxset of Red Dwarf : Remastered was being prepared for release in October 2007. It was subsequently announced in April 2007[7] that the name of the boxset would be Red Dwarf : The Bodysnatcher Collection rather than Red Dwarf Remastered. The new title highlighted one of the set's other main bonus features: a storyboard construction of "Bodysnatcher" (the "lost" episode from series 1, performed by Chris Barrie as for the series VII extra "Identity Within"), notable for being an original 1987 script "finished" by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor in 2007, working together for the first time since 1993. The intention of the boxset retitling to was to ensure that no buyers or reviewers would mistake the set for a 'vanilla' edition of the 1997 Remastered series (akin to the Just The Shows sets) or even a new 2007 Remastering of the series. It was felt by GNP that the renaming would focus attention onto the array of bonus features that had not been financially viable when the early series were originally released on DVD.
On Friday 24th August, 2 Entertain confirmed that another Red Dwarf DVD would be released by the end of the year. 'Red Dwarf: Just The Smegs' contains the original video releases of 'Smeg Ups' and 'Smeg Outs' (Out-takes from Series 1 - 6), plus the half hour version shown on 'Red Dwarf Night' and the Series 7 & 8 Smeg Ups released on the original series video releases. The Region 2 DVD will be released on November 5th in the UK.
Stage Plays
Blak Yak Theatre, a theatre group in Perth, Western Australia, were also given permission by Grant Naylor Productions to mount stage versions of certain Red Dwarf episodes in 2002, 2004 and 2006. Most notably, the cast featured a Lister speaking with an Australian accent and a white Cat. Tentative plans were also announced by GNP in September 2007 for an official project titled Red Dwarf : The Movie : The Stage Play, but no further information has yet been forthcoming.
Specials
On February 14, 1998, the night before the tenth anniversary of the show's first broadcast episode, BBC2 devoted an evening of special programming to the series, under the banner of Red Dwarf Night. The evening consisted of a mixture of new, specially-recorded content and existing material, and was introduced and linked by famed actor and Dwarf fan Patrick Stewart. In addition, a series of special take-offs on BBC2's famous idents, featuring the "2" logo falling in love with a skutter, were used.
The night began with Can't Smeg, Won't Smeg, a spoof of the popular cookery programme Can't Cook, Won't Cook, presented by that show's host Ainsley Harriott (who had himself earlier appeared in Red Dwarf, albeit under heavy make-up, prior to his career as a celebrity chef). Taking place out of the continuity of the series (not least as it features both Kochanski and the hologram Rimmer, who never actually met in the series, on-board Starbug), two teams (Kryten and Lister versus Rimmer and the Cat, although the Cat quickly departs to be replaced by alter ego Duane Dibbley) are challenged to make the best chicken vindaloo. The show was part-scripted by Paul Alexander, and part-improvised by the cast. Can't Smeg, Won't Smeg is available for viewing as a special feature on the series IV DVD.
After a compilation bloopers show, featuring out-takes that had already been seen on the various Smeg Ups releases (see DVD and video) but new linking material from the cast, the next special programme was Universe Challenge, a take-off of the University Challenge (or College Bowl in the USA) format. Hosted by original University Challenge presenter Bamber Gascoigne (following an introduction in which Chris Barrie mimicked current host Jeremy Paxman — who Gascoigne subsequently 'blew up' with a Bazookoid), the show saw a team of knowledgeable Dwarf fans defeat a team consisting of Chris Barrie, Craig Charles, Robert Llewellyn, Chloe Annett and Danny John Jules. Universe Challenge has not yet been released on DVD due to copyright complications.
Universe Challenge was followed by The Red Dwarf A-Z, a half-hour documentary special that chose a different aspect of the show to focus on for each letter of the alphabet. Talking heads on the episode included Stephen Hawking, Terry Pratchett, original producer Paul Jackson, and Patrick Stewart, in addition to an appearance from two (officially-licensed) Daleks. Finally, the night ended with a showing of the Emmy award-winning episode from 1993, "Gunmen of the Apocalypse". The Red Dwarf A-Z is available for viewing as a bonus feature on the series II DVD, and as part of some countries' series VII VHS release.
Another one-off Dwarf special was produced in November of that year — a short sketch serving as a prelude to Series VIII that was broadcast as part of the annual Children in Need fundraising night. The sketch saw the Dwarf crew (again featuring both Rimmer and Kochanski — with Rimmer still sporting his holographic H to avoid spoiling the nature of his return) onboard the newly-redesigned Blue Midget, discussing fund-raising and telethons.
The night began with Can't Smeg, Won't Smeg, a spoof of the popular cookery programme Can't Cook, Won't Cook, presented by that show's host Ainsley Harriott (who had himself earlier appeared in Red Dwarf, albeit under heavy make-up, prior to his career as a celebrity chef). Taking place out of the continuity of the series (not least as it features both Kochanski and the hologram Rimmer, who never actually met in the series, on-board Starbug), two teams (Kryten and Lister versus Rimmer and the Cat, although the Cat quickly departs to be replaced by alter ego Duane Dibbley) are challenged to make the best chicken vindaloo. The show was part-scripted by Paul Alexander, and part-improvised by the cast. Can't Smeg, Won't Smeg is available for viewing as a special feature on the series IV DVD.
After a compilation bloopers show, featuring out-takes that had already been seen on the various Smeg Ups releases (see DVD and video) but new linking material from the cast, the next special programme was Universe Challenge, a take-off of the University Challenge (or College Bowl in the USA) format. Hosted by original University Challenge presenter Bamber Gascoigne (following an introduction in which Chris Barrie mimicked current host Jeremy Paxman — who Gascoigne subsequently 'blew up' with a Bazookoid), the show saw a team of knowledgeable Dwarf fans defeat a team consisting of Chris Barrie, Craig Charles, Robert Llewellyn, Chloe Annett and Danny John Jules. Universe Challenge has not yet been released on DVD due to copyright complications.
Universe Challenge was followed by The Red Dwarf A-Z, a half-hour documentary special that chose a different aspect of the show to focus on for each letter of the alphabet. Talking heads on the episode included Stephen Hawking, Terry Pratchett, original producer Paul Jackson, and Patrick Stewart, in addition to an appearance from two (officially-licensed) Daleks. Finally, the night ended with a showing of the Emmy award-winning episode from 1993, "Gunmen of the Apocalypse". The Red Dwarf A-Z is available for viewing as a bonus feature on the series II DVD, and as part of some countries' series VII VHS release.
Another one-off Dwarf special was produced in November of that year — a short sketch serving as a prelude to Series VIII that was broadcast as part of the annual Children in Need fundraising night. The sketch saw the Dwarf crew (again featuring both Rimmer and Kochanski — with Rimmer still sporting his holographic H to avoid spoiling the nature of his return) onboard the newly-redesigned Blue Midget, discussing fund-raising and telethons.
Tongue Tied
The song "Tongue Tied", originally featured in a dream sequence in the series II episode "Parallel Universe", was rearranged and rerecorded by Danny John Jules (under the name 'The Cat') and released as a single in October 1993. It reached number 17 in the UK charts, and was expected to get higher, but a planned performance on Top Of The Pops never happened, thus halting momentum for the single. The single also included the actor's performance of the Red Dwarf theme song.
A video to accompany the release which starred Danny John-Jules as some of his Red Dwarf alter-egos, including Duane Dibbley, was also produced. This was primarily available to readers of the Red Dwarf Smegazine. It was based around a storyline written by Danny John-Jules and featured music videos for some of the remixes, with guest appearances from the rest of the Red Dwarf cast, along with Clayton Mark ("Elvis" in Meltdown) and Charles Augins ("Queeg 500" in Queeg). In addition an eight-minute "Making Of" documentary featuring the cast was included.
The main melody of the song is also used in background music cues elsewhere in the second series - it appears in rearranged form in the episodes "Stasis Leak" and "Better Than Life", both of which actually precede "Parallel Universe" in the broadcast order.
A video to accompany the release which starred Danny John-Jules as some of his Red Dwarf alter-egos, including Duane Dibbley, was also produced. This was primarily available to readers of the Red Dwarf Smegazine. It was based around a storyline written by Danny John-Jules and featured music videos for some of the remixes, with guest appearances from the rest of the Red Dwarf cast, along with Clayton Mark ("Elvis" in Meltdown) and Charles Augins ("Queeg 500" in Queeg). In addition an eight-minute "Making Of" documentary featuring the cast was included.
The main melody of the song is also used in background music cues elsewhere in the second series - it appears in rearranged form in the episodes "Stasis Leak" and "Better Than Life", both of which actually precede "Parallel Universe" in the broadcast order.
Red Dwarf - The Movie
Since the end of series Eight, Doug Naylor has been attempting to get funding to make a feature length film version of the show, but on every occasion so far has been thwarted by circumstances. He has long persisted with his conviction that the making of the movie (for which the script has been written for many years) takes precedence over any other possible future incarnation of Red Dwarf. On the series VIII DVD documentary The Tank, however, he admits to being — perhaps mindful of the age and schedules of the principal cast — close to having to make a final, outright decision of whether to continue to pursue the film, make a series IX or some one-off TV special(s) (as Only Fools & Horses did previously), or simply end the series as it is. Naylor sent a letter to the Red Dwarf fans at a convention in 2004, which mostly consisted of his failed attempts to create the film, such as a fake Duke of Manchester sending forged money to fund the film. In 2007, meanwhile, a further message from Naylor mentioned that in years previous, Miramax had agreed to fund the film on the condition that it was entirely recast, Recommending Hugh Grant for the part of Dave Lister and Emma Thompson for Christine Kochanski. Naylor refused.
U.S. Version
A pilot episode for an American version (known to fans as Red Dwarf USA) was produced for NBC in 1992, though never broadcast. The show followed essentially the same story as the first episode of the original series, substituting American actors (including Craig Bierko as Lister, Chris Eigeman as Rimmer, and Hinton Battle as the Cat) for the British; exceptions being Llewellyn, who reprised his role as Kryten, and the British actress Jane Leeves, of Frasier fame, as Holly. It was directed by Jeffrey Melman and written and produced by Linwood Boomer of Malcolm in the Middle fame.
It was later revealed on the series V DVD that Chris Barrie had been offered the chance to reprise his role as Rimmer for the US series, but turned it down believing he would be under contract "for years" afterwards if the show was a success.
It was also revealed that Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, with the support of the cast, convinced the pilot's producers to use a revised script of their creation, but in the course of production the American team reverted back to their original script.
As a result of this the two hastily put together an extremely low-budget network promo consisting of scenes from the first pilot and the British show edited in with newly-filmed footage (featuring a new Rimmer and, from a suggestion made by the network, a female Cat, played by Terry Farrell). This was also unsuccessful.
Clips from the first pilot can be found on the DVD of series V in the featurette Dwarfing USA, along with interviews with the British cast and Doug Naylor. Bootlegs of the pilots are widely circulated among Red Dwarf fans, and sold at conventions, while some low-quality recordings can be found on the Internet for downloading.
It was later revealed on the series V DVD that Chris Barrie had been offered the chance to reprise his role as Rimmer for the US series, but turned it down believing he would be under contract "for years" afterwards if the show was a success.
It was also revealed that Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, with the support of the cast, convinced the pilot's producers to use a revised script of their creation, but in the course of production the American team reverted back to their original script.
As a result of this the two hastily put together an extremely low-budget network promo consisting of scenes from the first pilot and the British show edited in with newly-filmed footage (featuring a new Rimmer and, from a suggestion made by the network, a female Cat, played by Terry Farrell). This was also unsuccessful.
Clips from the first pilot can be found on the DVD of series V in the featurette Dwarfing USA, along with interviews with the British cast and Doug Naylor. Bootlegs of the pilots are widely circulated among Red Dwarf fans, and sold at conventions, while some low-quality recordings can be found on the Internet for downloading.
Books
The franchise has expanded to include four novels, written by the show's creators, Doug Naylor and Rob Grant (under the combined name of Grant Naylor).
Red Dwarf: Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers (published 2 November 1989) — Rob Grant, Doug Naylor — ISBN 0-451-45201-1
Red Dwarf: Better than Life (published 25 October 1990) — Rob Grant, Doug Naylor — ISBN 0-14-012438-1
Last Human (published April 1995) — Doug Naylor — ISBN 0-14-014388-2
Backwards (published 2 May 1996) — Rob Grant — ISBN 0-14-017150-9
These novels contain deeper insights and more thorough backstories for the main characters, as well as more information on humanity's future state of affairs. Rather than adapting the show outright, the books provide yet another, possibly idealized version of the series' backstory. They reinterpret and reposition elements from past episodes, and even introduce ideas that would later be used in the show.
It was reported that both authors were working together on a sequel to Better than Life, called The Last Human, but after falling out with each other, and still owing Penguin Publishing two more Red Dwarf books, Grant and Naylor decided to each work alone on the novels. Two completely different, contradicting sequels were made as a result. Last Human (by Doug Naylor, who would go on to make two further television series) added Kochanski to the crew and places more emphasis on the science-fiction and plot elements, while Backwards (by Rob Grant) was more in keeping with the previous two books, borrowing more extensively from established television stories. The styles of these sequels vary wildly from the two predecessors and each other, and gave some insight into which author had been more responsible for different elements and characters in preceding works. While opinion differs strongly on which solo effort is superior, neither matched the widespread fan acclaim of the original co-written novels.
All four books were published in audiobook format, the first two read by Chris Barrie, Last Human read by Craig Charles, and Backwards read by its author Rob Grant.
The BBC World Service re-recorded the first two books as The Red Dwarf Radio Show, with Chris Barrie narrating and additional sound effects. These re-recordings were abridged versions of the original novels. The first series was broadcast from 3 December 1995 to 17 February 1996, and the second from 13 March 1997 to 28 March 1997.
An Omnibus edition of the first two books, including a few edits to the original text and some extra material such as the original script to the first episode of the TV series, was released in 1992 (ISBN 0-14-017466-4).
Other books include:
The Official Red Dwarf Companion — 1992 — Bruce Dessau — ISBN 1-85286-456-7
Red Dwarf VIII Scriptbook — 1999 — Doug Naylor (with Paul Alexander) — ISBN 1-85227-872-2
The Making of Red Dwarf — 1994 — Joe Nazzaro (with photographs by Nobby Clark) — ISBN 0-14-023206-0
Red Dwarf Programme Guide — 1993 — Chris Howarth & Steve Lyons — ISBN 0-86369-682-1 (with three subsequent revisions until 2000)
The Space Corps Survival Manual — 1996 — Doug Naylor & Paul Alexander — ISBN 0-7493-2374-4
The Red Dwarf Quiz Book — 1994 — Nicky Hooks & Sharon Burnett — ISBN 0-14-023662-7
Red Dwarf Log No. 1996 — 1995 — ISBN 0-434-00370-0 (Diary)
The Man in the Rubber Mask — 1994 — Robert Llewellyn — ISBN 0-14-023575-2 (Autobiography)
Red Dwarf: The Role Playing Game — 2003 — Todd Downing, Mark Bruno, John Sullivan, Andrew Kenrick, Lee Hammock, Gavin Downing, Allan McComas & Samantha Downing — ISBN 0-97-108203-0
There have also been two script books — Primordial Soup (1993, ISBN 0-14-017886-4) and Son Of Soup (1996, ISBN 0-14-025363-7) — each containing six scripts; and an extremely rare short book entitled Scenes From The Dwarf (ISBN 0-14-600243-1) was released in 1996 as part of the Penguin 60s series, containing scripts of a handful of scenes from the series.
The Log: A Dwarfer's Guide to Everything (1997, ISBN 0-14-026862-6), a collection of humorous observations on a wide variety of topics written by Craig Charles and Russell Bell, was not affiliated with Red Dwarf, Grant/Naylor or the BBC. However, Charles was pictured on the cover in costume as Lister and, in the introduction, describes the book (tongue in cheek) as an attempt to compile a comparative list of scientific and sociological milestones in the development of the human race from the viewpoint of the last human being alive (i.e. someone very much like Lister). This book can therefore be considered an unofficial Red Dwarf spin-off.
Red Dwarf: Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers (published 2 November 1989) — Rob Grant, Doug Naylor — ISBN 0-451-45201-1
Red Dwarf: Better than Life (published 25 October 1990) — Rob Grant, Doug Naylor — ISBN 0-14-012438-1
Last Human (published April 1995) — Doug Naylor — ISBN 0-14-014388-2
Backwards (published 2 May 1996) — Rob Grant — ISBN 0-14-017150-9
These novels contain deeper insights and more thorough backstories for the main characters, as well as more information on humanity's future state of affairs. Rather than adapting the show outright, the books provide yet another, possibly idealized version of the series' backstory. They reinterpret and reposition elements from past episodes, and even introduce ideas that would later be used in the show.
It was reported that both authors were working together on a sequel to Better than Life, called The Last Human, but after falling out with each other, and still owing Penguin Publishing two more Red Dwarf books, Grant and Naylor decided to each work alone on the novels. Two completely different, contradicting sequels were made as a result. Last Human (by Doug Naylor, who would go on to make two further television series) added Kochanski to the crew and places more emphasis on the science-fiction and plot elements, while Backwards (by Rob Grant) was more in keeping with the previous two books, borrowing more extensively from established television stories. The styles of these sequels vary wildly from the two predecessors and each other, and gave some insight into which author had been more responsible for different elements and characters in preceding works. While opinion differs strongly on which solo effort is superior, neither matched the widespread fan acclaim of the original co-written novels.
All four books were published in audiobook format, the first two read by Chris Barrie, Last Human read by Craig Charles, and Backwards read by its author Rob Grant.
The BBC World Service re-recorded the first two books as The Red Dwarf Radio Show, with Chris Barrie narrating and additional sound effects. These re-recordings were abridged versions of the original novels. The first series was broadcast from 3 December 1995 to 17 February 1996, and the second from 13 March 1997 to 28 March 1997.
An Omnibus edition of the first two books, including a few edits to the original text and some extra material such as the original script to the first episode of the TV series, was released in 1992 (ISBN 0-14-017466-4).
Other books include:
The Official Red Dwarf Companion — 1992 — Bruce Dessau — ISBN 1-85286-456-7
Red Dwarf VIII Scriptbook — 1999 — Doug Naylor (with Paul Alexander) — ISBN 1-85227-872-2
The Making of Red Dwarf — 1994 — Joe Nazzaro (with photographs by Nobby Clark) — ISBN 0-14-023206-0
Red Dwarf Programme Guide — 1993 — Chris Howarth & Steve Lyons — ISBN 0-86369-682-1 (with three subsequent revisions until 2000)
The Space Corps Survival Manual — 1996 — Doug Naylor & Paul Alexander — ISBN 0-7493-2374-4
The Red Dwarf Quiz Book — 1994 — Nicky Hooks & Sharon Burnett — ISBN 0-14-023662-7
Red Dwarf Log No. 1996 — 1995 — ISBN 0-434-00370-0 (Diary)
The Man in the Rubber Mask — 1994 — Robert Llewellyn — ISBN 0-14-023575-2 (Autobiography)
Red Dwarf: The Role Playing Game — 2003 — Todd Downing, Mark Bruno, John Sullivan, Andrew Kenrick, Lee Hammock, Gavin Downing, Allan McComas & Samantha Downing — ISBN 0-97-108203-0
There have also been two script books — Primordial Soup (1993, ISBN 0-14-017886-4) and Son Of Soup (1996, ISBN 0-14-025363-7) — each containing six scripts; and an extremely rare short book entitled Scenes From The Dwarf (ISBN 0-14-600243-1) was released in 1996 as part of the Penguin 60s series, containing scripts of a handful of scenes from the series.
The Log: A Dwarfer's Guide to Everything (1997, ISBN 0-14-026862-6), a collection of humorous observations on a wide variety of topics written by Craig Charles and Russell Bell, was not affiliated with Red Dwarf, Grant/Naylor or the BBC. However, Charles was pictured on the cover in costume as Lister and, in the introduction, describes the book (tongue in cheek) as an attempt to compile a comparative list of scientific and sociological milestones in the development of the human race from the viewpoint of the last human being alive (i.e. someone very much like Lister). This book can therefore be considered an unofficial Red Dwarf spin-off.
Red Dwarf - Remastered
In 1998, on the tenth anniversary of the show's first airing (and between the broadcast of series VII and VIII), the first three series of Red Dwarf were remastered and released on VHS. The remastering included reformatting the series in 14:9 widescreen (albeit, only for the VHS releases. TV showings were in original 4:3), applying the same 'field-removal' film effect as Series VII, replacing model shots with computer graphics, cutting various small pieces of dialogue (and, in some cases, entire scenes), re-filming Norman Lovett's Holly footage, creating a consistent set of opening titles for use in all episodes, and updating music and ambient sound effects with a digital master. Grant Naylor explained:
“We're basically remastering the whole of the first six series for BBC Worldwide (the video company) who feel that they would be able to sell it more easily in Europe and America if there was a more unified look and feel to the whole of the series. What this means is ... consistent opening titles; it means that in places we can replace and improve the model shots.”
Red Dwarf Remastered was met with a generally poor fan reaction in the UK, but significant international broadcast sales - due mainly to the newer-looking visuals and the availability of isolated audio tracks for language dubbing. No further series were remastered and the later DVD releases of the same series reverted to the original versions; although the first episode of Series VII ("Tikka to Ride") would also include an alternative Remastered version, featuring upgraded CGI as the only difference to the original broadcast version.
The Remastered episodes are due to be re-released on DVD in November 2007, as part of the Red Dwarf : The Bodysnatcher Collection boxset.
“We're basically remastering the whole of the first six series for BBC Worldwide (the video company) who feel that they would be able to sell it more easily in Europe and America if there was a more unified look and feel to the whole of the series. What this means is ... consistent opening titles; it means that in places we can replace and improve the model shots.”
Red Dwarf Remastered was met with a generally poor fan reaction in the UK, but significant international broadcast sales - due mainly to the newer-looking visuals and the availability of isolated audio tracks for language dubbing. No further series were remastered and the later DVD releases of the same series reverted to the original versions; although the first episode of Series VII ("Tikka to Ride") would also include an alternative Remastered version, featuring upgraded CGI as the only difference to the original broadcast version.
The Remastered episodes are due to be re-released on DVD in November 2007, as part of the Red Dwarf : The Bodysnatcher Collection boxset.
Hiatus, Changes & Disputes
A period of three years elapsed between series VI and VII, partly due to the imprisonment and subsequent exoneration of Craig Charles on a rape charge, but also due to cast and crew working on other projects (notably Chris Barrie in The Brittas Empire) and disputes over pay. When the series returned, it was filmised and no longer shot in front of a live audience (a common misconception is that canned laughter was used, when in fact the completed episodes were later shown to an audience), allowing for greater use of four-walled sets, location shooting and single camera techniques. Although some critics praised the higher production values, many fans disliked the series (see "Mixed reactions"), and when the show returned for its eighth series two years later, it had dropped use of the filmising process and restored the live audience.
Writing, Producing & Directing
Grant and Naylor wrote the first six series together (using the pseudonym Grant Naylor on the first two novels and later as the name of their production company, although never on the episodes themselves) before Grant left in 1996, leaving Naylor to write the final two with a group of new writers, notably including Paul Alexander and actor Robert Llewellyn.
For the most part, Ed Bye produced and directed the series. He left before Series V due to a scheduling clash (he ending up directing a series starring his wife, Ruby Wax), and Juliet May took over as director, but she parted ways with Grant and Naylor partway through the series for personal and professional reasons. Grant and Naylor took over direction of the series, in addition to writing and producing. Series VI was directed by Andy De Emmony, with Bye returning for the final two series.
Series I, II and III were made by Paul Jackson Productions, with subsequent series produced by the writers' own company Grant Naylor Productions, all for BBC North; all eight series were broadcast on BBC2. At the beginning of Series IV, production moved from the BBC's Manchester studios to Shepperton.
The theme tune and incidental music were written and performed by Howard Goodall, with the distinctive vocals on the theme tune courtesy of Jenna Russell. Goodall also wrote music for the show's various songs, including "Tongue Tied", with lyrics written by Grant and Naylor, which Danny John-Jules re-orchestrated and released as a Top 20 single. Craig Charles wrote, performed and sang "Cash" — from the episode "Timeslides" — with his band. Goodall's own voice can be heard in the version of the song "High Noon" in "Queeg" (Series II), and in the "Rimmer Munchkin Song" in "Blue" (Series VII). Chris Barrie purports to have been upset by not being invited to sing this song himself (Back from the Dead, series VII DVD); Howard Goodall, however, insists that Barrie was asked but turned the invitation down (Howard Goodall, Settling the Score, series VI DVD).
For the most part, Ed Bye produced and directed the series. He left before Series V due to a scheduling clash (he ending up directing a series starring his wife, Ruby Wax), and Juliet May took over as director, but she parted ways with Grant and Naylor partway through the series for personal and professional reasons. Grant and Naylor took over direction of the series, in addition to writing and producing. Series VI was directed by Andy De Emmony, with Bye returning for the final two series.
Series I, II and III were made by Paul Jackson Productions, with subsequent series produced by the writers' own company Grant Naylor Productions, all for BBC North; all eight series were broadcast on BBC2. At the beginning of Series IV, production moved from the BBC's Manchester studios to Shepperton.
The theme tune and incidental music were written and performed by Howard Goodall, with the distinctive vocals on the theme tune courtesy of Jenna Russell. Goodall also wrote music for the show's various songs, including "Tongue Tied", with lyrics written by Grant and Naylor, which Danny John-Jules re-orchestrated and released as a Top 20 single. Craig Charles wrote, performed and sang "Cash" — from the episode "Timeslides" — with his band. Goodall's own voice can be heard in the version of the song "High Noon" in "Queeg" (Series II), and in the "Rimmer Munchkin Song" in "Blue" (Series VII). Chris Barrie purports to have been upset by not being invited to sing this song himself (Back from the Dead, series VII DVD); Howard Goodall, however, insists that Barrie was asked but turned the invitation down (Howard Goodall, Settling the Score, series VI DVD).
Casting
Alan Rickman and Alfred Molina were two of the notable names that auditioned for roles in the series, with Molina actually being cast as Rimmer originally. However, after having difficulties with the concept of the series, and of his role in particular (it has been said by Doug Naylor that he was constantly wondering when his character would stop being a hologram), the role was recast and filled by Chris Barrie, a professional voice-actor and impressionist who had previously worked with both the writers on Spitting Image, and with the producers on Happy Families and various Jasper Carrott productions. Craig Charles, a Liverpudlian "punk poet", was given the role of Dave Lister. He was originally approached by Grant and Naylor for his opinion about the character 'The Cat' as they were concerned it may be considered by some people as racist. On the television programme 'Comedy Connections', Charles described the character as 'pretty cool' and after reading the script he decided he wanted to audition for the part of Dave Lister. Laconic stand up comedian Norman Lovett, who had originally tried out for the role of Rimmer, was kept in the show as the senile computer of the titular ship, Holly. A professional dancer and singer, Danny John-Jules, arriving famously late for his appointment, stood out as The Cat immediately. This was partly due to his "cool" exterior, partly due to his dedicated research (reading Desmond Morris's book Catwatching), and partly because he showed up in character, wearing his father's 1950s-style suit.
Other actors attached to the project with supposed major roles at some stage during the pre-production years of the show include Ronnie Barker, Hugh Laurie, and David Baddiel. Many who came close to getting leading roles were rewarded with guest parts, including Craig Ferguson, Lee Cornes and David Gillespie.
Other actors attached to the project with supposed major roles at some stage during the pre-production years of the show include Ronnie Barker, Hugh Laurie, and David Baddiel. Many who came close to getting leading roles were rewarded with guest parts, including Craig Ferguson, Lee Cornes and David Gillespie.
Concept & Commission
The concept for the show was originally developed from the sketch-series Dave Hollins: Space Cadet on the BBC Radio 4 show Son of Cliché in the mid-1980s, written by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor. Some of their influences came from 1970s movies such as Alien, Dark Star, Silent Running, and the television series Lost in Space; but their concept had a large element of British-style comedy and satire thrown into the mix, ultimately moulded into the form of a sitcom. Having first written the pilot script for Red Dwarf in 1983 during a stay at a Welsh cottage owned by Naylor's father, the former Spitting Image writers had hawked their unusual and original script around a number of places but it was rejected by everyone at the BBC for three years, as it was erroneously believed a sitcom based around science fiction wouldn't be popular.
However it was finally accepted by BBC North in 1986, a happy result of a spare budget being assigned for a second series of Happy Families that would never arise. The show was lucky to be remounted after an electrician's strike partway through rehearsals shut the entire production down, and the first episode, The End, finally made it onto screens on 15 February 1988. The creators have long admitted that without the persistence of producers and commissioners such as Paul Jackson and Peter Ridsdale-Scott, the series might never have seen the light of day.
However it was finally accepted by BBC North in 1986, a happy result of a spare budget being assigned for a second series of Happy Families that would never arise. The show was lucky to be remounted after an electrician's strike partway through rehearsals shut the entire production down, and the first episode, The End, finally made it onto screens on 15 February 1988. The creators have long admitted that without the persistence of producers and commissioners such as Paul Jackson and Peter Ridsdale-Scott, the series might never have seen the light of day.
Guest Actors
Actors who played more than one role in Red Dwarf include Tony Hawks, Rupert Bates and Tony Slattery. Guest stars have included Brian Cox, Craig Ferguson, Nicholas Ball, Sarah Alexander, Arthur Smith, Gordon Kennedy, Mark Caven, Jack Docherty, Lee Cornes, Morwenna Banks, Don Henderson, Don Warrington, Angela Bruce, Koo Stark, Jenny Agutter, Maggie Steed, Jane Horrocks, Geraldine McEwan, Ruby Wax, Samantha Robson and Timothy Spall.
Recurring Guest Characters
- Captain Frank Hollister (played by Mac McDonald) appears in Series VIII, two episodes of Series I and one episode of Series II.
- Olaf Petersen (played by Mark Williams) appeared in two episodes of Series I and one episode in Series II, and is mentioned regularly when Lister talks about the days before the accident, and during his imprisonment in Series VIII. Typically Lister refers to this character by his surname only.
- Selby and Chen (played by David Gillespie and Paul Bradley, respectively) appeared in three episodes altogether.
- Kill Crazy (played by Jake Wood) and Baxter (played by Ricky Grover) appeared in several episodes of series VIII.
- Warden Ackerman (played by Graham McTavish) appears in series VIII.
- Bob the Skutter is a small maintenance robot and friend to the regular characters.
Regular Characters
- Dave Lister played by Craig Charles. A genial Liverpudlian (and self-described bum) and the lowest-ranking crew member on the ship before the accident. He has a long-standing desire to return to Earth and start a farm on Fiji, but is left impossibly far away by the accident that renders him the last surviving member of the human race.
- Arnold Judas Rimmer played by Chris Barrie. Born on the moon Io, Rimmer is a fussy, bureaucratic, neurotic coward, who is nevertheless judged to have the highest chance of keeping Lister sane when chosen to be the ship's one available hologram.
- The Cat played by Danny John-Jules. A humanoid creature who evolved from Lister's smuggled pet cat. In the early series the Cat is concerned with little other than sleeping, eating and fawning over his appearance, and tends not to socialise with other members of the crew. As the series go by, however, he becomes more influenced by his human company, and so begins to resemble a stylish yet dimwitted human.
- Holly in series I, II, VII and VIII played by Norman Lovett. Hattie Hayridge takes over the role for series III to V. The character makes no appearance in series VI. The ship's on-board computer has an IQ of 6,000, although this is severely depleted by the three million years he/she is left alone after the accident, having developed "computer senility". The change in actor for series III is explained by Holly changing his face to resemble that of a computer from a parallel universe with whom he'd fallen in love.
- Kryten played by Robert Llewellyn from series III onwards. Full name Kryten 2X4B-523P. In his original one-off appearance in series II, Kryten was played by David Ross. Salvaged by the crew from a crashed spaceship (upon which he had continued to serve the ship's crew despite their having been dead for thousands or even millions of years), and rebuilt by Lister, Kryten is a sanitation mechanoid with an overactive guilt chip. When first encountered by the crew, he is bound by his "behavioural protocols", but Lister gradually encourages him to break his programming and think for himself.
- Kristine Kochanski in series VII and VIII played by Chloë Annett. Kochanski was originally, in series I, II and VI, a supporting character played by Altered Images vocalist Clare Grogan (credited as CP Grogan). In the first two series, Kochanski was introduced as a longtime crush of Lister's whom he had never managed to pluck up the courage to ask out on a date. In the first novel, however, she was described as having actually dated him for a month, and this development was retroactively introduced into the later series.
Plot
The mining ship Red Dwarf is a spaceship 6 miles (10 km) long, 5 miles (8 km) tall, and 4 miles (6 km) wide belonging to the Jupiter Mining Corporation. In the first episode, an on-board radiation leak of Cadmium II kills everyone except for low-ranking technician Dave Lister, who is in suspended animation at the time, and his pregnant cat, Frankenstein, who is safely sealed in the cargo hold. Following the accident, the ship's computer Holly has to keep Lister in stasis until the background radiation dies down — a process that takes three million years. Lister therefore emerges as the last human being in the universe — but not the only life form on-board the ship. His former bunkmate and immediate superior Arnold Rimmer is resurrected by Holly as a Hologram after the accident to keep Lister sane, while a creature known only as The Cat is the last known surviving member of Felis Sapiens, a race of humanoids that evolved in the ship's hold from Frankenstein and her kittens during the millions of years that Lister was in stasis.The main dramatic thrust of the early series is Lister's desire to return home to Earth. Along the way are frequent distractions that usually see the not-so-intrepid Dwarf crew encountering strange races and lifeforms that have developed in the intervening millions of years.
The crew roster changes as the years go by. During the second series, the group encounters the sanitation mechanoid Kryten, rescuing him from a long-since crashed vessel. Initially, Kryten only appears in one episode of series two, but by the beginning of series three he has become a full time character in the series. At the end of series five, Red Dwarf itself is stolen from the crew, forcing them to travel in the smaller Starbug craft for the subsequent two series, with the added side-effect that they lose contact with Holly. And in series seven, Rimmer departs the crew to take up the role of his alter-ego from a parallel universe, Ace Rimmer, whose name has become a long-standing legend and a legacy passed down from dimension to dimension. Shortly afterwards, the crew find a replacement for Rimmer when they encounter another parallel version of themselves from a universe in which Kristine Kochanski, Lister's ex-girlfriend, was the person put into stasis and so the last remaining human. A complicated series of events leaves Kochanski stranded in "our" universe, and she is forced to join the crew.
In the eighth (and, so far, final) series, Red Dwarf itself is reconstructed by the nanobots that had originally stolen it and broken it down into its constituent atoms. In the process, the entire crew of the ship — including a pre-accident Rimmer — are resurrected, but the Starbug crew all find themselves sentenced to two years in the ship's brig on a set of convoluted charges. The series ends, however, with Red Dwarf being eaten away by a virus and all on board evacuated, save for Rimmer who is, in the cliffhanger ending, left stranded alone to face Death.
The Show
Red Dwarf is a British science fiction comedy franchise, the primary form of which comprises eight series of a television sitcom that ran on BBC2 between 1988 and 1999, and which has achieved a global cult following. It was created and originally written by Grant Naylor (a so-called 'gestalt entity', in reality a collective pseudonym for the writing duo Rob Grant and Doug Naylor). The show had its origins in a recurring sketch, Dave Hollins: Space Cadet, in the mid-1980s BBC Radio 4 comedy show Son Of Cliché, also scripted by Grant and Naylor. In addition to the Red Dwarf television series, there have also been four bestselling novels, two pilot episodes for an American version of the show, and a significant number of tie-in books, magazines and other merchandise.
Despite the pastiche of science fiction used as a backdrop, Red Dwarf is primarily a character driven comedy, with many off-the-wall science fiction elements used as complementary plot devices. For example, in the early series, a recurring source of comedy was the "odd couple" relationship between Dave Lister and Arnold Rimmer, the two central characters of the show, who have an intense dislike for each other but are trapped together in an isolated deep space scenario.
Red Dwarf's highest accolade came in 1994, when an episode from the sixth series (Gunmen of the Apocalypse) won an International Emmy Award in the Popular Arts category. The show also won Best BBC Comedy series at the British Comedy Awards during the same year, and attracted its highest ratings — of over eight million viewers[1] — by the eighth series in 1999. In a 2004 BBC poll to find Britain's best sitcom the show was voted 18th out of 100 nominations.
The current status of the show remains uncertain, as Doug Naylor (now in sole control of the franchise following the departure of Rob Grant in 1995) is committed to writing and producing a feature film version of the sitcom. Naylor has also stated that he hopes one day to tie up the cliffhanger upon which the eighth series ended, perhaps with a one-off, feature-length television special although production of a ninth series has not been ruled out, depending on the success of the feature film.
1 The Show
2 Characters and actors
3 Production history
4 Spin-offs
5 DVD and VHS
6 Notable series characteristics
Despite the pastiche of science fiction used as a backdrop, Red Dwarf is primarily a character driven comedy, with many off-the-wall science fiction elements used as complementary plot devices. For example, in the early series, a recurring source of comedy was the "odd couple" relationship between Dave Lister and Arnold Rimmer, the two central characters of the show, who have an intense dislike for each other but are trapped together in an isolated deep space scenario.
Red Dwarf's highest accolade came in 1994, when an episode from the sixth series (Gunmen of the Apocalypse) won an International Emmy Award in the Popular Arts category. The show also won Best BBC Comedy series at the British Comedy Awards during the same year, and attracted its highest ratings — of over eight million viewers[1] — by the eighth series in 1999. In a 2004 BBC poll to find Britain's best sitcom the show was voted 18th out of 100 nominations.
The current status of the show remains uncertain, as Doug Naylor (now in sole control of the franchise following the departure of Rob Grant in 1995) is committed to writing and producing a feature film version of the sitcom. Naylor has also stated that he hopes one day to tie up the cliffhanger upon which the eighth series ended, perhaps with a one-off, feature-length television special although production of a ninth series has not been ruled out, depending on the success of the feature film.
1 The Show
2 Characters and actors
3 Production history
- 3.1 Concept and commission
- 3.2 Casting
- 3.3 Writing, producing, and directing
- 3.4 Hiatus, changes, and disputes
- 3.5 Red Dwarf Remastered
4 Spin-offs
- 4.1 Books
- 4.2 U.S. version
- 4.3 Red Dwarf: The Movie
- 4.4 Tongue Tied
- 4.5 Specials
- 4.6 Stage Plays
5 DVD and VHS
- 5.1 DVD Releases
- 5.2 VHS Releases
- 5.3 Releases on other media
6 Notable series characteristics
- 6.1 Mixed reactions
- 6.2 Invented words
- 6.3 Parody and pastiche
- 6.4 Continuity
Characters
1 Major characters
2 Alter egos
3 Shipboard robots
4 Other Red Dwarf crew
5 GELFs
6 Simulants
7 Miscellaneous characters
8 Guest stars
- 1.1 David Lister
- 1.2 Arnold Rimmer
- 1.4 Kryten
- 1.5 Holly
- 1.6 Kristine Kochanski
2 Alter egos
- 2.1 Ace Rimmer
- 2.2 Duane Dibbley
- 2.3 The Dog
- 2.4 Queeg 500
3 Shipboard robots
- 3.1 The Skutters
- 3.2 Talkie Toaster
- 3.3 The Chocolate Dispenser
4 Other Red Dwarf crew
- 4.1 Captain Frank Hollister
- 4.2 Olaf Petersen
- 4.3 Selby and Chen
- 4.4 Carol Brown
- 4.5 George McIntyre
- 4.6 Frank Todhunter
- 4.7 Prison Governor Ackerman
- 4.8 Warden Knot
- 4.9 Kill Crazy
- 4.10 Other minor characters
5 GELFs
- 5.1 GELFS
6 Simulants
- 6.1 Simulants
7 Miscellaneous characters
- 7.1 The Cat Priest
- 7.2 Mr. Flibble
- 7.3 Lise Yates
8 Guest stars
- 8.1 Guest Stars
Welcome
Welcome to Ultimate Dwarf - quite literally the ultimate fan site for all Red Dwarf fans and enthusiasts with an extensive collection of info and media from both the show and fans.Created as a source for all things Dwarf, a resource that is completely independent and profit free and designed to bring joy to all existing fans and create some new ones too.
Hang around, watch some clips, view some pics, learn about RD, reminisce with RD, rekindle those fond memories of the Sci-Fi Sitcom that is Red Dwarf.
Contact
If you'd like to get in touch for whatever reason, whether it be sending content, recommendations or feedback please feel free to drop me a line. For anti-Spam reasons I can't link my email address but you can make out what it is: skapunkmetalskater at googlemail.com
About
I've wanted to setup a website about Red Dwarf for a long time. Due to the time the show was aired, the Internet was still in its infancy and consequently all RD fan sites were complete rubbish and terrible. Very poor quality images and sound clips etc.
Now with the ease of setting up a blog and various other user-friendly tools available I wanted to work on the RD project that is "Ultimate Dwarf". The official site is great for the official side of things and selling merchandise and although I'm not knocking it, I wanted to create a place where fans and those looking to get more info on the show can come and relive great moments and memories.
So, as this is the first thing I write starting this site/blog I hope it works out well and you're happy with what goes up.
Now with the ease of setting up a blog and various other user-friendly tools available I wanted to work on the RD project that is "Ultimate Dwarf". The official site is great for the official side of things and selling merchandise and although I'm not knocking it, I wanted to create a place where fans and those looking to get more info on the show can come and relive great moments and memories.
So, as this is the first thing I write starting this site/blog I hope it works out well and you're happy with what goes up.
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