Thirty-one years after the premiere, new Red Dwarf episodes are coming
If you’re a fan of the oft-revived BBC sci-fi comedy series Red Dwarf, which first launched into space back in 1988, we have good news: series actor Danny John-Jules, who plays the Cat, has confirmed to The Sun that the show is slated to return and that filming commences later this year.
Four of the principal actors — John-Jules, Craig Charles (Dave Lister), Chris Barrie (Rimmer) and Robert Llewellyn (Kryten, since series III) — will reprise their roles once again. “All we know is it’s going to be done by the end of the year,” John-Jules explained. “We haven’t seen a script yet, it’s all in negotiation. But I’m never worried about Red Dwarf. I’ve never been so comfortable in a gig.”
LONDON – APRIL 08: (UK TABLOID NEWSPAPERS OUT) Chris Barrie, Danny John-Jules and Robert Llewellyn attend a VIP screening of Red Dwarf: Back to Earth at the Mayfair Hotel on April 8, 2009 in London, England. (Photo by Fergus McDonald/Getty Images)
John-Jules teased fans during a London cast reunion earlier in June with an Instagram video. “We’re not allowed to say a damn word about what we’re doing.” But after spilling the beans in the new The Sun interview, the actor is giddy. “The fans are over the moon, spinning cartwheels because unless you’re watching Netflix, what are you going to watch as a sitcom in England?” he asked.
Show creators Rob Grant and Doug Naylor been busy feeding the voracious appetite of their loyal cult following built over the last 20 years of sci-fi nonsense: Red Dwarf ran on BBC 2 between 1998 and 1999, on then again on UKTV channel Dave since 2009, generating 12 full seasons of comedy in all, plus one “special” miniseries. The latest series, Red Dwarf XII, premiered in October of 2017.
The character-driven comedy is set in the late 22nd century aboard the clunky old mining spaceship called the Red Dwarf. A radiation leak kills the entire crew except for lazy technician Dave Lister and the ship’s pregnant cat, named Frankenstein. In order to save Dave’s life, the ship’s computer (Holly, played by Norman Lovett) places him in stasis for 3 million years.
Dave awakens alone and endless galaxies away from Earth with an oddball assortment (initially) for company: Holly the computer and an annoying, neurotic shipmate (Rimmer) she resurrects as a hologram to keep Dave sane, plus a weird humanoid character named Cat, the product of 3 million years of feline evolution from Dave’s original pet.
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