Red Dwarf is a British science fiction comedy programme created by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, consisting of a sitcom that aired on BBC Two between 1988 and 1999, and on Dave since 2009, gaining a cult following.

As of 2020, the cast included Chris Barrie as Rimmer, Craig Charles as Lister, Danny John-Jules as Cat, Robert Llewellyn as the sanitation droid Kryten, and Norman Lovett as the ship's computer, Holly.

[9] In the first episode, set sometime in the late 21st century,[a] an on-board radiation leak kills everyone except lowest-ranking technician Dave Lister, who is in suspended animation at the time, as punishment for smuggling a cat aboard the ship.

The crew encounter phenomena such as time distortions, faster-than-light travel, mutant diseases and strange lifeforms (all evolved from Earth, because the series has no aliens) that had developed in the intervening millions of years.

[15] In Series VI, a story arc is introduced where Red Dwarf has been stolen, and the crew pursue it in the smaller Starbug craft, with the side effect that the character Holly disappears.

Early in series VII, Rimmer departs (due to actor Chris Barrie's commitments) and is replaced by Kristine Kochanski, Lister's long-term love interest, from an alternate universe.

[28] It was finally accepted by BBC North in 1986, a result of a spare budget being assigned for a second series of Happy Families that would never arise, and producer Paul Jackson's insistence that Red Dwarf should be filmed instead.

When the show won an International Emmy Award in 1994, Naylor's attempts to have the cast invited to a party thrown by the BBC proved futile when they objected to Craig Charles' and Danny John-Jules' inclusion, claiming they were "fire risks".

This was partly due to his "cool" exterior, dedicated research (reading Desmond Morris's book Catwatching), and his showing up in character, wearing his father's 1950s-style zoot suit.

[35] Grant left in 1995,[15] to pursue other projects,[36] leaving Naylor to write series VII and VIII with a group of new writers, including Paul Alexander and actor Robert Llewellyn (who portrayed the character Kryten).

[36] When the series eventually returned, it was filmised and no longer shot in front of a live audience, allowing for greater use of four-walled sets, location shooting and single-camera techniques.

Some previous Red Dwarf episodes had been shot in that way ("Bodyswap" and all of the seventh series), but Back to Earth represented the first time that a laughter track was not added before broadcast.

[73] Discounting guest stars, only the core cast of Charles, Barrie, Llewellyn and John-Jules returned for Series X, with Annett and Lovett absent, though the scripts include references to Kochanski and Holly.

During the Dimension Jump fan convention in May 2013, Doug Naylor stated that discussions were ongoing with all involved parties and while arrangements had not been finalised, he hoped shooting could begin in February 2014.

[79] At the April 2014 Sci-Fi Scarborough Festival, during the Red Dwarf cast panel, Danny John-Jules stated that filming of the eleventh series would commence in October 2014, with an expected release of Autumn 2015 on Dave.

The two series would be shot back-to-back towards the end of 2015 for broadcast on Dave in 2016 and 2017, respectively,[81] and would be co-produced by Baby Cow Productions, with company CEO, Henry Normal, executive-producing the new episodes.

In January 2020, the first publicity photos of the special were released, with Ray Fearon revealed as the first confirmed guest actor portraying Rodon, the "leader of the feral cats".

[94] A rough release date of sometime in April was given and, a day later on 11 March 2020, the official Twitter account for Dave revealed the title of the television film: Red Dwarf: The Promised Land.

These have included references to the likes of 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968),[97] Top Gun (1986),[98] RoboCop (1987), Star Wars (1977), Citizen Kane (1942), The Wild One (1953), High Noon (1952), Rebel Without a Cause (1955), Casablanca (1942), Easy Rider (1969), The Terminator (1984),[99] Pride and Prejudice (1813), Isaac Asimov's Robot series (1939–85) and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

Words and phrases such as hologrammatic [sic], dollarpound, bazookoids, Felis sapiens, Simulants, GELF, space weevil, and Zero Gee Football appear throughout the series, highlighting a development in language, political climate, technology, evolution and culture in the future.

[108] The changes seen in Series VII disappointed some; while much slicker and higher-budget in appearance, the shift away from outright sitcom and into something approaching comedy drama was seen by one reviewer as a move in the wrong direction.

For instance, the song "Tongue Tied," featured in the "Parallel Universe" episode of the show, was released in 1993 as a single and became a top 20 UK hit for Danny John-Jules (under the name "The Cat").

[127][128][129][130] In October 2006, an Interactive Quiz DVD entitled Red Dwarf: Beat The Geek was released, hosted by Norman Lovett and Hattie Hayridge, both reprising their roles as Holly.

[131] In 2005, Grant Naylor Productions and Studio Hubris, in conjunction with Across the Pond Comics, collaborated to produce the spin-off webcomic Red Dwarf: Prelude to Nanarchy.

This was at the request of Grant and Naylor, who had wanted to but, for financial reason, were unable to use the technique for the television series (Rimmer did appear in greyscale in "low power mode" in "The Promised Land").

[163] The show essentially followed the same story as the first episode of the original series, using American actors for most of the main roles:[164] Craig Bierko as Lister, Chris Eigeman as Rimmer and Hinton Battle as Cat.

The area was featured in the game's Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them expansion pack released on 18 November 2016, where the player was able to explore a small section of the titular ship including the sleeping quarters.

Talking heads on the episode included Stephen Hawking, Terry Pratchett, original producer Paul Jackson, Mr Blobby, Patrick Stewart and a Dalek.

[189] Robert Llewellyn in-character as Kryten hosted the event's daily videos, making references to Lister, Rimmer and the Cat whilst presenting featured uploads.

Written by Rob Grant, directed by Ed Bye and produced by Paul Jackson, the one-off performance was broadcast live to Holly Hop attendees on Zoom.