From The TV IV

Red Dwarf (1988–99) is a comedy/science fiction series created by writers Rob Grant and Doug Naylor. It first appeared on the BBC in 1988 and last appeared in 1999, though its current status is unclear.

The series, set three million years in the future, followed the motley crew of the 22nd century mining ship Red Dwarf, lost in deep space. Dave Lister, a lowly technician, was sent into suspended animation for illegally smuggling aboard a cat. The rest of the crew were wiped out by a radiation leak shortly afterwards. He is held in stasis until radiation levels are safe for him to emerge.

When he is finally released, three million years later, he finds that he is the last human being alive. His regular companions include Holly, the ship's super-genius computer, who is now suffering from computer senility, Arnold Rimmer, a hologram simulation of his dead bunkmate, a creature who evolved from Lister's cat, Frankenstein, and from season three onward, Kryten, a sanitation robot eager to break his programming and live more like a human.

Over the course of its eight seasons, the setting and situation of the series has changed a number of times; in season six, Red Dwarf itself was "lost" by Lister, who left it around a planet described as "blue green and planetoidy". This left the crew stranded aboard the small transport craft Starbug. In season seven, after the behind-the-scenes departure of co-creator Rob Grant, other writers were allowed to contribute for the first time, including one script by Kryten actor Robert Llewellyn. During this controversial season, Rimmer left (due to actor Chris Barrie having other commitments) and a new character was added, Kristine Kochanski, the parallel-universe double of Lister's former girlfriend. Season eight brought the most (and most controversial) changes yet: Red Dwarf was recovered; the crew, including a non-hologrammatic Rimmer, were brought back from the dead; and Lister and friends found themselves locked in the ship's prison, for unlawful piloting of Starbug.

The final episode, "Only The Good," ended on a major cliffhanger, which as of this writing looks like it may never be resolved. Doug Naylor has written a script for a Red Dwarf movie, to feature the original cast, and has spent the last several years trying to raise funding to produce it. In the meantime, the cast have all moved on to other projects.

In 1992, the US network NBC produced a pilot for an American remake of Red Dwarf. Of the original cast, only Robert Llewellyn reprised his role as Kryten. When NBC requested changes, Grant and Naylor produced a fifteen minute show reel, now featuring a female cat, featuring scenes from the UK version reshot with the American cast. Neither the pilot nor the show reel ever aired, though bootleg copies can be found at conventions or on the internet.

Contents 1 Cast 2 In-Depth 3 Seasons 4 Specials 5 DVD Releases 6 External Sites

[edit] Cast

Actor	Character	Duration
Billed Cast
Craig Charles	Dave Lister	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Chris Barrie	Arnold J. Rimmer	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Danny John-Jules	The Cat	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Robert Llewellyn	Kryten			3	4	5	6	7	8
Norman Lovett	Holly	1	2					7	8
Hattie Hayridge	Holly			3	4	5
Claire Grogan	Kristine Kochanski	1	2
Chloe Annett	Kristine Kochanski							7	8
Mac McDonald	Captain Frank Hollister	1	2						8
Graham McTavish	Warden Ackerman								8

[edit] In-Depth

• At a Glance: Additional information about the series
• Food: The culinary side of Red Dwarf.
• Inhabitants: A list of creatures (human and non-human) in the series.
• Institutions: A list of organizations in the series.
• Locations and Places: A list of known locations in the Red Dwarf universe.
• Technology: Technology that populates the series, including ships and weaponry.
• Terminology: A short summary of language use and a glossary of special words.
• Trivia: A collection of interesting trivia about the series.

[edit] Seasons

Season	Premiere	Finale	#
BBC
Season One	February 15, 1988	March 21, 1988	6
Season Two	September 6, 1988	October 11, 1988	6
Season Three	November 14, 1989	December 19, 1989	6
Season Four	February 14, 1991	March 21, 1991	6
Season Five	February 20, 1992	March 26, 1992	6
Season Six	October 7, 1993	November 11, 1993	6
Season Seven	January 17, 1997	March 7, 1997	8
Season Eight	February 18, 1999	April 5, 1999	8

[edit] Specials

Name	Premiere
Smeg Outs	[1994]
The Red Dwarf A-Z	February 14, 1998
Can't Smeg Won't Smeg	February 14, 1998
Smeg Ups	February 14, 1998
Universe Challenge	1998

[edit] DVD Releases

Title	Release Date	#
Season Sets
Series 1	November 4, 2002	2
Series 2	February 10, 2003	2
Series 3	November 3, 2003	2
Series 4	February 16, 2004	2
Series 5	November 8, 2004	2
Series 6	February 21, 2005	2
Series 7	November 7, 2005	3
Series 8	March 27, 2006	3

[edit] External Sites

• The Official Website of Red Dwarf
• The Official Red Dwarf Fan Club
• Groovetown
• The Red Dwarf Food and Drink Guide
• Space Corps Directives