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

• Plot

2 Characters and actors

• 2.1 Regular characters
• 2.2 Recurring guest characters
• 2.3 Guest 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