Series Description

Red Dwarf was a 30 minute British comedy series with a sci-fi twist that aired on BBC2. It was about a mining space ship named, "Red Dwarf". A radiation leak onboard killed all of the crew except Dave Lister who was safely sealed in a suspended animation pod at the time. His pregnant pet cat was with him in the pod and also survived. Three million years later, Lister's pod opened and he found that the only other living thing on board was a lifeform that evolved from his cat. There is also a holographic projection of his dead bunkmate, "Arnold Rimmer", the ship's senile computer, "Holly", and a service mechanoid, "Kryten".

Red Dwarf Cast

Danny John-Jules .... The Cat (1988-Present)
Craig Charles .... Dave Lister (1988-Present)
Chris Barrie .... Arnold Rimmer (1988-Present)
Robert Llewellyn .... Kryten (1989-Present)
Norman Lovett .... Holly (1988-1999)
Hattie Hayridge .... Holly (1988-1992)
Chloe Annett .... Kristine Kochanski (1997-2009)
Mac McDonald .... Captain Frank Hollister (1988-1999)
Graham McTavish .... Warden Ackerman (1999)

Red Dwarf Trivia

Writers Rob Grant and Doug Naylor also wrote a radio series in 1984 named, "Son Of Cliche". It was about a space cadet who was trapped alone on a spaceship with a slightly senile computer. Sound somewhat familiar?

There was a "temporary blooper" in episode #32 of Red Dwarf titled, "Legion". Lister has his appendix removed but it had already been removed in episode #9, "Thanks For The Memory". It was "fixed" later in the Red Dwarf novel, "Last Human" by explaining that due to a genetic defect, Lister was born with two appendixes. Ok, I guess.

During series 5, the audience grew so much that the BBC asked that the sixth series open with something that would bring new viewers "up to date". They did it by having the first five minutes of the episode with Lister suffering from amnesia. Kristen explained the general happenings of the series to date to Lister and, thereby, to the new viewers.

During the first five seasons of Red Dwarf a model was used for filming the ship, "Red Dwarf". Then in episode #29, "Demons & Angels", the "Red Dwarf" was destroyed in an accident and, therefore, so was the model. As the storyline for the sixth season had the "Red Dwarf" stolen and missing, there was no problem. In the seventh season, they used archived footage from previous episodes only. Computer animation was used for the last season.

Red Dwarf won an international emmy in 1994 for episode #33, "Gunmen of the Apocalypse".

The series was filmed in front of a studio audience in every season except the seventh season. They wanted to try an audience free set to gain flexibility in set design and camera positions but returned to the old methods in the last season.

The reason for the more than three year hiatus between series 6 and series 7 of Red Dwarf was that Craig Charles (Lister) was charged with rape. He was later found "not guilty" and the series continued.

In episode #14, "Marooned", Lister eats some dog food because supplies run low. Craig Charles agreed to actually eat dog food to make the scene as realistic as possible.

Theme Song

Title: "Red Dwarf Theme"

Written By: "Howard Goodall"

Performed By: "Jenna Russell"

It's cold outside, there's no kind of atmosphere.
I'm all alone, more or less.
Let me fly, far away from here.
Fun, fun, fun in the sun, sun, sun.

I want to lie shipwrecked and comotose,
Drinking fresh mango juice,
Goldfish shoals nibbling at my toes.
Fun, fun, fun in the sun, sun, sun
Fun, fun, fun in the sun, sun, sun.

Opening Narrative

(Norman Lovett as Narrator:)

Version #1: "This is an S.O.S. distress call from the mining ship Red Dwarf. The crew are dead, killed by a radiation leak. The only survivors are Dave Lister, who was in suspended animation during the disaster, and his pregnant cat, who was safely sealed in the hold. Revived three million years later, Lister's only companions are a life-form who evolved from his cat, and Arnold Rimmer, a hologram simulation of one of the dead crew."

Version #2: "Three million years from Earth, the mining ship Red Dwarf. Its crew: Dave Lister, the last human being alive; Arnold Rimmer, a hologram of his dead bunk mate; and a creature who evolved from the ship's cat...Message end."

TV Specials

Red Dwarf Night (2/15/1998)
Children In Need (11/13/1998)
The Making of Back to Earth (4/12/2009)