Robert Llewellyn (Kryton), Chris Barrie (Rimmer) and Danny John-Jules (The Cat) on the set of Coronation Street (Dave)
Behind the scene pictures of the forthcoming mini-series of the UK space comedy, Red Dwarf, have just been released by the Dave channel. TV comedies are out of the remit of Astroengine, but Red Dwarf will always have a special Astroengine.com VIP Pass. Why? Because it’s awesome.
The pictures above were taken on the Coronation Street set (a UK soap, that I also miss terribly) during the making of the upcoming Easter pair of episodes in April. For me, seeing the cast back together, after nearly a decade apart, is great. I loved each series (although the original four seasons were probably the best in my opinion) and I can’t wait to see how these new episodes turn out.
Chris Barrie (front), Craig Charles, Robert Llewellyn and Danny John-Jules (back), plus computerized Hattie Hayridge (series 3-5)
I don’t usually post stuff about TV shows, but this is HUGE news.
Besides, Red Dwarf was the best sci-fi sitcom, and it still is the BEST SCI-FI SITCOM to grace the TV in the UK ever since the mining spaceship Red Dwarf‘s crew was wiped out by a radiation leak, 3 million years ago. Lister (played by Craig Charles), the last remaining crew member (who was held in suspended animation for the duration), is joined by Rimmer (a hologram of Lister’s despised crew mate, played by Chris Barrie) and a descendent from Lister’s pregnant cat, called… Cat (Danny John-Jules). As the second series progressed, the trio meet the mechanoid Kryten, played by Robert Llewellyn (who, incidentally, I leant this news from via @bobbyllew).
The first show was aired back in 1988 and it continued (for eight seasons) until 1999, and I was addicted to each and every episode. Red Dwarf taught me many things, including:
1) There is no Silicon Heaven.
2) Toasters should not be allowed to talk.
3) There’s no such thing as “brown alert”.
4) The BSc in “Arnold Rimmer BSc” stands for “Bronze Swimming Certificate”.
5) Kryten has some amazing uses for his groin attachment.
So it looks like there will be a returning Easter special of two episodes, plus another two improvised episodes that will be done in front of a live audience! Alas, I’ll be in the US when it airs on the UKTV Channel Dave in April, but I will be sure to get it recorded!
UPDATE: The Dave Channel Overlord just left a message informing me that Dave will be “revealing an exclusive piece of news from the production set every Wednesday at noon at http://www.joindave.co.uk. Enjoy!” Hopefully this will also be accessible to the continentally-challenged individuals like myself who’ll be missing out on the live airing in the UK… is there any news the new episodes will be online?
Please Dave, polymorph Red Dwarf into joyful smegtastic streaming video… pleeeaase?
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