tonyinblack I'm a huge fan of Red Dwarf, but have always been oddly suspicious of other people who are. I can't say why with any certainty. If I meet a fellow X Files fan, I'll happily declare myself and chat an afternoon away. If I meet another Red Dwarf fan, I won't say a word. Red Dwarf, just by existing, makes a lifetime of underachievement much easier to deal with and has always made me feel a lot less alone. Only the most blinkered would claim that it has never lost it's way, but only the most unreasonable wouldn't accept that these instances are brief. But it's the frequent flashes of dazzling brilliance that allows the occasional heavy handedness to be forgiven. It is with some reluctance that I admit to identifying with Rimmer, when everything suggests it should be Lister. But the best comedy teaches, without you being aware it does.

sbull1983 There's a small few of shows I love & Red Dwarf I've loved since I was a kid - season 12 comes out this autumn! A crew who are with their fellow piers on a mining ship one day, the next they're 3 million years in the future lost in space! Lister - loves his drink & curries, smoking, Kochanski, & in some odd way is a true hero; Rimmer - power obsessed, judgmental upon others, self destructive, oddly humorous; Cat - fashion obsessed, amazingly selfish, with a hint of humanity; Kryten - self obsessed human server, strangely entertaining, lots to offer; Holly - strangely forgetful yet very amusing forgetful ships computer...this show has evolved emensely throughout the years! If you love sci fi and comedy watch this - UK, forget the US as it's insulting they redid ours, it's truly a waste of time! Red Dwarf UK in my opinion is fantastic and has many hours of fun to offer!

RaspberryLucozade 'Red Dwarf' was not the first sitcom to be set in orbit. In 1977, Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft constructed a vehicle for Mollie Sugden entitled 'Come Back Mrs. Noah' in which she played a housewife who is shown around a space craft as a prize in a cookery competition and is accidentally blasted into space. Though very funny, it failed to get beyond the first series. In 1981, Graeme Garden and Bill Oddie ( two of the team behind 'The Goodies' ) devised 'Astronauts' which starred Christopher Godwin and Bruce Boa. Though it managed two series, it never amounted to anything more than a misfire. In 1988, we were then given 'Red Dwarf', ( written by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, whose previous comedy work included 'Spitting Image' and radio comedy 'Son Of Cliché' ), which starred Craig Charles as the only human survivor of the derelict space shuttle 'Red Dwarf'. Despite a not too promising start, 'Red Dwarf' went on to become one of Britain's funniest and best loved sitcoms of all time, racking up a total of ten series with work underway on an eleventh series.The central character is third ranking technician Dave Lister ( Craig Charles ), a man so lazy as to give a sloth an identity crisis. His hobbies are getting drunk, eating curry and generally just being a slob. The first episode kicks off with Lister being locked in stasis for a month after smuggling his pregnant pet cat, Frankenstein, on board. Upon release he is horrified to find that all of the crew are dead, alas having been killed by an atomic explosion. In order to keep Lister sane, the ship's dim-witted computer Holly ( Norman Lovett, later Hattie Hayridge ) revives in the form of a hologram second technician Arnold Rimmer ( excellently played by Chris Barrie ), a snidey little weed of a man whose popularity with the crew was like that of fleas on a dog. Later on, both Lister and Rimmer meet Cat ( Danny John Jules ), a humanoid descendant of Lister's cat with a huge ego and a ludicrous dress sense. 'Red Dwarf' was not an immediate hit. The first outing attracted six million viewers but by the end of the run the figure had dropped drastically to two million. However, despite being regarded as a flop, BBC Television believed there to be life in 'Red Dwarf' yet and saw fit to give another go. The second series ( which I personally did not think was as good as the first ) proved popular enough to convince the beeb that it was worth carrying on with and so the groundwork for 'Red Dwarf' was laid.The third series saw the introduction of Kryten ( played first by David Ross, then later Robert Llewellyn ), a conceited android servant who speaks in a Canadian accent and has a head shaped ( as described by Rimmer ) like a half chewed rubber-tipped pencil! This, for me, was when the show was at its best period. Kryten fitted perfectly in the surroundings and remained from then on a permanent character. In 1993, after its sixth series. 'Red Dwarf' was put on hold when Rob Grant crossed over to the states to work on the ill fated American version of the show. In 1997, the show was back for a seventh series. It had its moments but also suffered from some setbacks - Rob Grant was unavailable for writing and so Doug Naylor wrote scripts along with Kim Fuller and James Hendrie and many others but they did not have the same feel for the characters. Also, Chris Barrie was busy with other commitments and hence only appeared sporadically in this season. The worst problem of all was the inclusion of a female character, Christine Kochanski ( Claire Grogan, then Chloe Annett ). Kochanski offered no comedy value and after series eight ( which saw the return of Norman Lovett as Holly ) was thankfully dropped.In 2009, after plans for a 'Red Dwarf' movie were scrapped, the show was revived as a mini series for sky television entitled 'Back To Earth'. The revival was a chore to sit through and is generally regarded by fans as being very poor. However, despite its lukewarm response, sky television commissioned a tenth series a year and a half later. Despite some minor improvements, it was still nothing more than a half hearted rehash. When 'Red Dwarf XI' will arrive is not yet known but one hopes after this the cast and crew will call it a dayAll in all, 'Red Dwarf' is one of the finest sitcoms the BBC has ever smegging produced and shall continue to entertain until the end of time.

whitedwarf2013 I watched this when it first aired, and many years later have since watched them all many times after. Without a doubt this is the funniest weirdest most interesting SF series that I have ever seen.Some parts don't really make sense, especially if you start watching over and over and nit pick like I have done, but that takes nothing away from the fact that the characters and plot are absolutely brilliant and that nothing will ever come close to this.I have to say that when Kryten tries to lie for the first time it's hilarious... I wont spoil it for you, just wait till you see it for yourself.The depth, emotion, stories, and everything are so good that it makes you want to watch it over and over again..I have read books by both Rob Grant and Doug Naylor and they each have interesting styles, and you can tell here that their joined work have most definitely paid off.If you have never seen Red Dwarf then start watching from the first season now, and you will be hooked!