Red Dwarf

:This article describes the British science fiction comedy television series. For the type of star, see red dwarf.

Production history

The first series aired on BBC2 in 1988. Seven further series have so far been produced, and a film is currently in pre-production. The idea was originally developed from the sketches introduced on Grant and Naylor's 1984 BBC Radio 4 show Son of Cliché.

Related Topics:
BBC2 - 1988 - Film - 1984 - BBC Radio 4

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Rob Grant and Doug Naylor wrote the first six series together, before Grant left in 1996 leaving Naylor to write the next two with a series of new and less well-known writers, notably Paul Alexander.

Related Topics:
1996 - Paul Alexander

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For the most part, Ed Bye produced and directed the series. He left before Series V, and Juliet May took over as director, but she was sacked partway through the season and replaced by Grant and Naylor. Series VI was directed by Andy DeEmmony, with Bye returning for the final two series.

Related Topics:
Ed Bye - Juliet May - Andy DeEmmony

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Series I and II were BBC productions, series III was made by Paul Jackson Productions, and all subsequent series were made by Grant Naylor Productions; all eight series were broadcast by the BBC. At the beginning of series IV production moved from the BBC's Manchester studios to Shepperton.

Related Topics:
BBC - Paul Jackson Productions - Grant Naylor Productions - Manchester - Shepperton

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The theme tune and incidental music were written by Howard Goodall. Goodall also provided the musical accompaniment for the chart hit 'Tongue Tied', which was written by Danny John-Jules.

Related Topics:
Howard Goodall - Danny John-Jules

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A period of four years elapsed between Series VI and VII. The show was apparently not expected to last beyond five series, indicated by the closure of major plot elements and continuity during the first two series. However, Grant and Naylor were contractually obliged to make eight series for the BBC. When the series returned, it was filmized and no longer in front of a live audience. Although critics praised the higher production values for Series VII, when the show returned two years later for Series VIII, it had dropped use of the filmizing process.

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In 1998, on the tenth anniversary of the show's first airing (between the releases of Series VI and VIII), the first three series of Red Dwarf were remastered. The remastering included reformatting the series in widescreen, applying film grain techniques and more critically replaced model shots with computer graphics, cut small pieces of dialog and changed music and sound effects. Red Dwarf Remastered was met with a generally poor fan reaction, no further series were remastered and the later DVD release reverted to the original versions.

Related Topics:
Remastered - Red Dwarf Remastered

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