Creator of ‘absolute genius’ BBC series shares hopeful update after reboot axe
The show's co-creator confirmed the news.
Fans of ‘the funniest comedy series ever’ were left disappointed after plans for a reboot were scrapped, but its creator has issued a hopeful update.
Created by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, Red Dwarf was a science fiction comedy that aired on BBC Two between 1988 and 1999.
It followed low-ranking technician Dave Lister, played by Craig Charles, who wakes up after being in suspended animation for three million years to discover that he is the last living human.
It then charted his experiences being stuck alone on the mining spacecraft Red Dwarf, bar a hologram of his deceased bunkmate Arnold Rimmer and ‘Cat’, a life form which evolved from Dave’s pregnant cat.
Upon its release, Red Dwarf was a massive hit – winning awards including an International Emmy and being named the Best BBC Comedy Series at the British Comedy Awards in 1994.
At the time the show wrapped, it was drawing in more than eight million viewers, with many fans still posting about their love of the ‘must-watch’ series on review sites years later.
Red Dwarf initially aired between 1988 and 1999, before returning to screens in 2009 (Picture: Des Willie/ UKTV)Despite the loyal fan base the show still holds, Doug has now revealed that while he’d been working on the show’s return – it’s now been cancelled.
On an ‘ask me anything’ Reddit thread this week, he explained: ‘Back in January 2023, I went in for a meeting with UKTV who said they wanted to progress a new 90-minute Red Dwarf special. The cast were all on board and I was told to start writing.
‘Several months later, things were progressing and I had got two-thirds of the way through the script, I had just signed my writer’s contract, when I got an e-mail from UKTV who said they had difficult news to share – they were no longer going to commission scripted comedy, including the RD special, which I hadn’t yet sent them.’
But days after the news, Dog shared a hopeful update that the plans aren’t ‘dead.’
‘Absolutely, yeah, there’s always that possibility,’ he told Radio Times when asked if the show could come back.
‘It’s public knowledge now this week, because I’ve announced it, and so now we will go out. The [cast] are really keen to do more.
There could be a future for Red Dwarf yet (Picture: Dave)‘I’ve also done two-thirds of a movie called Out of the Red, where the guys play fictitious versions of themselves, and there’s real interest in that as well, both from a distributor and from a production company.
‘In fact, I had a meeting about that this morning, so there’s that possibility as well. So it’s not dead, Dave – yet!’
Red Dwarf had been set to return for a three-part special, which would also see stars from the original run, including Craig (who went on to star as Lloyd Mullaney in Coronation Street), appear.
He also detailed his plans for the plot. ‘The script involved Lister going back in time to help his 23-year-old self-escape from stasis. He and a reluctant younger Lister would go on the run as Lister was trying to give his younger self a more fulfilled life. Meanwhile Rimmer teams up with his younger self to hunt them down on behalf of JMC,’ he explained.
In a statement to Metro, a UKTV spokesperson said: ‘UKTV has no current plans to commission further episodes of Red Dwarf.
Fans said they ‘wanted more’ of the beloved show (Picture: Gareth Gatrell)‘It’s been a privilege to work with Doug Naylor and the cast in a relationship that began with the Back to Earth specials, which premiered to 4 million viewers, and has subsequently produced three full series, a retrospective and Red Dwarf’s first ever feature length, The Promised Land.’
Soon after the news was revealed, many fans of the show expressed their disappointment.
‘Well, that’s my week ruined and it’s not even 10am on Monday morning,’ user ImaDJnow posted on Reddit.
‘Won’t lie, this has saddened me,’ Such_Bug9321 shared.
‘This sucks. Hopefully the BBC pick up the rights and bring back Red Dwarf if Dave is unwilling to bring it back. Especially with how big of a deal it was when they brought all the episodes to BBC IPlayer and the big Blu Ray boxset they’re releasing soon, surely they should see the audience is there and wants more,’ TheLoneJedi-77 added.
Red Dwarf also starred Chris Barrie as Rimmer, Danny John-Jules as Cat, Robert Llewellyn as the droid Kryten, and Norman Lovett as the ship’s computer, Holly.
Craig later went on to play Lloyd Mullaney in Coronation Street (Picture: Joseph Scanlon/ ITV)Last year, Robert also told the British Comedy Guide: ‘We knew we were going to do more Red Dwarf and we’re actually now doing it in the middle of October to the middle of November this year.
‘A 90-minute special, three half-hours. So yes, we are making more.’
He also joked: ‘I can’t believe I’ve agreed to do it, I’m insane. I’m much too old.’
Red Dwarf originally ran for eight seasons on the BBC before it was axed in 1999.
However, a decade later, it was revived by UKTV’s Dave, where it ran for a further four seasons. It was also followed by a special in 2020 – titled The Promised Land.
Metro has contacted UKTV for comment.
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