Red Dwarf is a TV phenomenon, a science-fiction comedy series made by a BBC who were insistent that sitcoms should revolve around sofas, drawing rooms and French windows, and definitely should not feature curry obsessed chicken soup machine repair operatives, uptight holograms, loopy computers and well-dressed cat people.
Beginning in 1988, it has been cancelled multiple times, but rumours are swirling of yet another iteration coming in 2025. My exhaustive book on the subject is out now (and you can come to a launch event on 3 October if you’re in London) but to whet your appetite, here are some facts and figures to annoy your friends with.
- Having racked up 74 episodes over 32 years, Red Dwarf is one of the longest running comedy series in the world. 74 episodes is more than Only Fools and Horses, more than 2.4 Children, more than Absolutely Fabulous and more than Porridge, Some Mothers Do ’Ave ’Em and Open All Hours combined.
- The only actors to appear in all 74 episodes are Craig Charles and Danny John-Jules. Chris Barrie does not appear in four of the Series VII episodes and Robert Llewellyn joined the cast in Series III. Three decades later on the set of the 90-minute special “The Promised Land”, Charles was still calling Llewellyn “new boy”.
- Depending on which episode you’re watching, the mining ship Red Dwarf is from the 21st, 22nd or 23rd century and its crew compliment is either 169 or 1,169. Writers Rob Grant and Doug Naylor never allowed continuity to get in the way of a good story or a good gag.
- Speaking of Grant and Naylor, before Red Dwarf, they had been head writers on Spitting Image, where they wrote the lyrics to spoof novelty record The Chicken Song.
- Many of the episodes mention Lister’s lost love Kristine Kochanski, played in the first two series by Altered Images singer CP Grogan. But she only has four lines in the first episode and when she reappears in episode three, it turns out to be Rimmer using hologram technology to impersonate her. That means that in the first series, Grogan has more lines as Rimmer than she does as Kochanski.
- In the second series, Grogan appears on location as Kochanski in a story called “Stasis Leak”, but in the closing scenes of the episode, she wasn’t available and so she is doubled by diminutive floor assistant Donna di Stefano, who was grateful for the large broad-brimmed hat which Grogan wore for the location filming.
- As well as a TV series, Red Dwarf stories can also be found in four novels, various comic strips, across 23 issues of a fan magazine, TV specials spoofing Can’t Cook Won’t Cook and University Challenge, 23 animated “mobisodes” sent to mobile phones in 2007, a role playing game and a couple of TV ads for the AA. And no doubt more besides.
- The last episode of Series II (“Parallel Universe”) opens with an unrelated comedy song and dance number called “Tongue Tied” with Danny John-Jules taking the lead on lyrics which describe how the singer is so lovestruck that his utterances are reduced to gibberish. As a professional dancer, John-Jules was delighted with how this turned out and successfully lobbied for it to be released as a single – which it was, reaching number 17 in the UK charts in 1993. It was accompanied by a bizarre thirty-minute dream sequence-cum-pop video-cum-sitcom episode-cum-documentary featuring an array of Red Dwarf actors and friends of Danny John-Jules.
- At the time of writing 2020’s “The Promised Land” is the last we’ve seen of Lister, Rimmer, Cat and Kryten, but this story revolves around the other members of the cat race, who we first heard about in the very first episode. Who knows what tiny details from the earliest versions of the show will be revisited and re-examined if, and when, we get another chance to hang with the Boys from the Dwarf.
Red Dwarf: Discovering the TV Series by Tom Salinsky will be released on 30th September 2024 and is available for pre-order from Amazon here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Red-Dwarf-Discovering-TV-1988-1993/dp/1399034944
To celebrate the launch of the book, comedian Bec Hill will be interviewing Tom at an event on Thursday 3rd October in London. There will also be readings from the book and a prize quiz. Tickets are available here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/bec-hill-and-tom-salinsky-talk-red-dwarf-tickets-952245641347
