Red Dwarf (science fiction series)

See red dwarf for the type of star by that name.

Red Dwarf

Format: Science Fiction; Comedy

Country: United Kingdom

Channel: BBC Two

First Aired: 15 February 1988

Last Aired: 5 April 1999

Episodes: Six series of six episodes; two series of eight

Creators: Rob Grant, Doug Naylor

Starring: Chris Barrie, Craig Charles,

Danny John-Jules, Robert Llewellyn,

Norman Lovett, Hattie Hayridge,

Chloë Annett, Mac McDonald

Red Dwarf is a science fiction situation comedy originally aired on British television by the BBC in 1988. By the final series in 1999, it had gone from a cult television favourite to mainstream success, spawning several original novelisations and merchandise, even popularising several mild expletives in British English. It won an Emmy award in the United States in 1994, reflecting its popularity outside the UK, though an American pilot version failed to generate a series. However, interest in Red Dwarf remains high, with a loyal fan base and continuing attempts to launch a movie version of the series.

Red Dwarf was created by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, Manchester-based scriptwriting partners who worked under the pseudonym Grant Naylor. Their partnership began in the late 1970s, and by the early 1980s had contributed to several comedy series. During this time, they were attempting to get a sci-fi 'sitcom' into production, with the central character the last human in the universe. In 1983, this saw the light of day on radio as Dave Hollins: Space Cadet, though Grant and Naylor continued to approach the BBC via producer Paul Jackson with a script made for television which expanded upon the basic idea. This script, which was rejected by the BBC for three years, was called Red Dwarf, after the mining ship on which the central character would find himself almost alone.

The new programme had been considerably changed and expanded upon. Hollins became Dave Lister, a lazy and rather unkempt employee of the Jupiter Mining Corporation, who has the dubious honour of being the lowest-ranked crew member of the JMC's gigantic ship Red Dwarf, a vessel sent through the solar system on a mining expedition. His room-mate is Arnold Rimmer, a deeply competitive, thoroughly nasty incompetent who has reached the dizzying heights of second-lowest rank aboard the ship. Lister is punished for bringing aboard an unquarantined cat by being placed in suspended animation for eighteen months; however, while he and his cat are respectively sealed in stasis and the ship's hold, a radiation leak kills everyone else on board.

Having set up the idea of a near-empty ship the size of a city drifting through space, Grant and Naylor now had Lister almost alone in the universe; three million years passed before Red Dwarf's computer, the artificially-(un)intelligent Holly, was able to release him unharmed. Whereas Dave Hollins had only the ship's computer for company, Dave Lister was given two new companions: a hologram simulation of the long-dead Rimmer, and Cat, apparently the last of a race of feline humanoids that evolved from Lister's pet. With the crew reduced to dust (as Lister discovered, but not before accidentally eating some of their remains), these four characters would find themselves travelling through an empty universe; initially confined to the ship, the series moved towards comedy drama as more money flowed into the production team's coffers and more special effects and location filming was made possible.

Characters, cast and crew came and went over the years. Having initially resisted the idea of including a robot in the show, Grant was persuaded by Naylor to make Kryten, a sanitation droid, one of the central characters, in the process removing much responsibility for exposition from Holly - who was later written out for some years. After six series, Rob Grant opted for a solo writing career, leaving Doug Naylor in charge of the programme. Towards the end of its run, Naylor added a female character, a version of Lister's former girlfriend Kristine Kochanski, and for the final series both returned Holly to the programme and took the surprising step of abolishing the 'last human' idea by having Red Dwarf's original crew resurrected via nanotechnology. He continues to pursue backing for a big-screen return for Red Dwarf.

Characters

Spoilers below.

Lister

Dave Lister is possibly the least ideal candidate for the last surviving human; a none-too-clean slob whose upbringing was notable for petty theft (Justice), a ninety-minute stint at Art College (Kryten - classes first thing in the afternoon were too much), and a long career shifting shopping trolleys - a job he moved on from to avoid getting tied down. Having signed on with the Jupiter Mining Corporation as the lowliest crew member of Red Dwarf, this working-class Liverpudlian is content with a life of beer-drinking and curry-eating in between dreaming of a retirement to Fiji with Kochanski, an officer with whom Lister is permanently in lust (The End). A run of bad luck having marooned Lister in deep space changes little on a practical level: Lister's disgusting antics continue even three million years in the future.

Rimmer

Arnold Judas Rimmer had a marginally more successful career in life than his Red Dwarf room-mate and sole subordinate, Dave Lister; he managed to advance a single rank in fifteen years' service for the JMC, rather than remaining at the bottom. A professional chicken-soup-machine repair man, Rimmer blames his failings on his eccentric parents and lack of an élite background. A snivelling, conniving, cheating, weaselly, miserable excuse for a human being, Rimmer also has an obsession with all things military despite being an abject coward; he believes himself to be the reincarnation of Alexander the Great... 's chief eunuch (Marooned). Always prepared to bravely sacrifice the lives of others (e.g. Rimmerworld), Rimmer is heartily despised by all on board - a hatred that continues even after his death. Though the original Rimmer is reduced to radioactive dust, Holly opts to create a sophisticated hologram simulation of Lister's long-dead 'superior', in the belief that Rimmer might keep Lister sane (Balance of Power). Later, Holly resurrects another version of Rimmer as a human (Back in the Red) for similar reasons - but with an identical personality.

External links

• Red Dwarf - the official site by Grant Naylor Productions.
• BBC - Comedy - Red Dwarf - the official BBC site.
• Red Dwarf (1988) - Internet Movie Database page.