Cult sci-fi sitcom Red Dwarf has been recommissioned by digital broadcaster Dave for two more series. The news was announced at the Dwarf-based Dimension Jump convention yesterday.
Created by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor and originally produced by the BBC between the late Eighties and late Nineties, the show’s central concept follows a mismatched team of (now quite old) space travellers killing time on a vast ship whose crew were wiped out by a nuclear explosion. Cast members have come and gone, but the core group of Craig Charles (Lister), Chris Barrie (Rimmer) and Danny John-Jules (Cat) have remained constant over four decades. Robert Llewellyn joined the group as mechanoid Kryten in Series 3 and has been a fixture ever since.
Following an attempt to finance a big screen version, the show was revived in 2009 for the awful miniseries Back To Earth, before its new home took the plunge and made Series 10 in 2012. This was well-received by critics and proved there was life in the old star dog yet. Naylor is writing the scripts once again, and may well direct as with the previous run.
Grant Naylor Productions are collaborating with Steve Coogan’s company Baby Cow on Series 11 and 12. The episodes are to start airing next year.
Source: Chortle