We are living in difficult times and are looking for TV shows to bring feelings of unity, warmth and nostalgia. Well, The Boys from the Dwarf are here to provide you with just that.
Still floating in deep space after three million + years and 32 years in linear time the team of Lister (Craig Charles), Rimmer (Chris Barrie), Cat (Danny John-Jules) and Kryten (Robert Llewellyn) come across a situation that brings the past back with a bang and teaches them a valuable lesson about unity.
Three million years ago… David Lister, a vending machine repairman, was sentenced to eighteen months in suspended animation for smuggling his pregnant cat aboard the mining ship Red Dwarf. While Lister remained in stasis, a radiation leak killed the rest of the crew. Safely sealed in the hold, the cats evolved into humanoid form who worshiped Lister (or Cloister as they call him) as their god. Many of the cats left the Dwarf to explore the universe, kept evolving, and now roam deep space in a fleet of their own. Over the centuries some cats kept their believe in Lister and some moved on.
Fleeing from a disaster of their own the Dwarfers meet three cat clerics (Tom Bennett, Mandeep Dhillon, Lucy Pearman) who still worship Lister as their God. Feeling responsible Lister vows to help them when he finds out they are being hunted by Rodon, the ruthless feral cat leader (Ray Fearon) who has vowed to punish all Cats who worship anyone but him. Trying to protect the cats leads the Dwarfers into some of the most complicated situation they have ever found themselves in, all while also dealing with issues of their own. The passage of time and living an isolated life away from any other life forms has proven difficult for Lister especially. Kryten and Cat are trying to counsel him without much success. Thankfully the arrival of the Cat people provide him with a sudden purpose.
Meanwhile Rimmer, the hologram, is intent on embracing middle age and just letting everything be. Receiving an unexpected upgrade changes his mind and outlook on life. Sadly it’s consequences soon drive him to despair. Seeing Rimmer so low and the others soon ganging up on him snaps Lister out of his own low mood. He knows he needs Rimmer and wants to help him. This leads to one of the deepest conversations between the pair in years, brilliantly acted by Chris Barrie and Craig Charles. Knowing each other and the characters for so long they know what they are doing and the conversation rings true and feels rather emotional.
Needless to say, the Dwarfers are faced with many difficult situations along the way as they discover more and more about the myth of Cloister and a mythical holy artefact that could save them all. Also, the Cat has a difficult choice to make when united with his people.
Red Dwarf the Promised Land has the perfect mixture of adventure, humour and emotion, it’s journey ending on a very satisfying note with a message the world needs right now.
Good news for any people new to Red Dwarf: you can step right in, as a pre-credits sequence brings you right up to date. Why not join the biggest experts on self-isolation out there!!
Red Dwarf The Promised Land: Thursday April 9th – 9pm, on Dave.
Red Dwarf fans solved a series of codes to unlock the first five minutes of the new Red Dwarf special, The Promised Land.
Watch the full feature length special Thursday 9th of April at 9pm, and until then, enjoy! pic.twitter.com/CMN6yazbOz
Only a few more days until Red Dwarf: The Promised Land is released (Thursday, April 9th 9 pm, on Dave.) It’s an action-packed and exciting special that manages to be funny as well as emotional without losing any of the essence that makes it Red Dwarf.
The core of the episode centres on the heart of the show: the Rimmer and Lister relationship.
Here Chris Barrie (Arnold Rimmer) tells us more:
This special has been a long time coming…
Yes, it has. I suppose when we were talking about a Red Dwarf special way back in the noughties and then we did Back to Earth and that kind of satisfied the muscle of doing a longer piece. But I think it was always looked upon as a three-parter and it was looked upon as reasonably experimental so then we went back to doing 10, 11 and 12 in the normal way as a series.
Did it feel quite different making it?
In a sense, it did because in a shorter half-hour episode you kind of know after one read-through of the script where you are when you’re shooting it. Whereas when you’re doing a film piece it’s an hour and a half so you think hang on when does this bit happen? Does it happen before that bit or have we done that bit yet? It was a little bit more of studying the script to find out where we were with the piece. Although the audience scenes were very similar to what we do when we do the half-hour episodes, it was quite weird just doing little clumps of the piece in front of an audience. But it’s going to be unique in the sense that it’s going to be an hour and a half piece in front of a studio audience.
What can people expect from it?
I think people can expect a solid storyline involving the Cat people, which in itself is a strong story given that our own Cat has got to meet his makers and find out who they are. All the characters have their own storylines; we’re not breaking from the tradition of the Red Dwarf posse.
The interaction between the characters is as it’s always been, and it’s more of the same within the framework of a fantastic story.
Ⓒ DAVE TV
Your character becomes a superhero wearing an incredible suit!
You always know when you put on a costume, as soon as you’ve been to wardrobe and makeup and start walking into the studio, you can immediately tell by people’s reactions what it’s going to be like. I think both Vanessa and Howard in the makeup and wardrobe departments respectively did an absolutely A1 job and gave me the base to really enjoy the moment in that outfit and perform this uber Rimmer as it were. I wanted to be in the costume longer!
Things get quite deep and emotional for Rimmer at points, don’t they?
Well yes, there’s a scene with Lister where Rimmer does really feel lower than maybe he’s ever felt in the last 33 years. You can’t really tell whether Lister’s taking the mick or if he’s actually boosting Rimmsy but I think there’s a lot of good in Lister. At some point you think is he doing this for his own purposes or is he really helping Rimmer along here? But however, that may be in the subconscious of Lister it turned out to be a pretty good scene and very exciting to do.
Did you feel quite reflective once you were all back together? You have a very special relationship…
Oh yes. It’s always very easy to switch into character on Red Dwarf because as soon as we get the costumes on and the dialogue going it’s like we’ve never been away. And every time we’re there we’re always reflecting on the old shows and obviously, we can go way back now to 1987 so there’s a lot to talk about and recall! And all the characters and people we’ve met along the way. In this piece we met and worked with another great batch of people. The three cat clerics Tom Bennett, Mandeep Dhillon and Lucy Pearman were great performers. Ray Fearon – what a top performance as the feral king. And Al Roberts his apologetic flunky was brilliant as well. So many great performances and it was fun to see them add another dimension to the show.
Holly is back too and got a very big cheer!
Oh, how could I forget! Norman (Lovett) is back, what a great guy and a proper comic with proper timing and delivery. Cynical as ever but brilliant to see him back, and the audience absolutely go nuts when they see him.
Who corpses the most?
Oh, I think we all corpse occasionally. I look back on the shows and there are only a few times in 33 years that I’ve managed not to be able to stifle a corpse. Obviously, Doug would always try and go for a take that doesn’t have us corpsing in the background but it is a comedy and you like to play it for real. We all love playing in front of an audience and thinking we’re going to get a big laugh.
Are your working relationships the easiest you’ve had with anyone?
It’s been my main working relationship in my career. I was 27 when we started doing this and now I’m 60 so all my life I’ve worked with Craig, Danny, Norm and a year or two later Robert. Doug and Rob (Grant) I worked with right from the outset of my career. I’ve known Doug for 37 years so it is the backbone of my working life. Having said that we had a lovely company on The Brittas Empire for a lovely eight years. I worked on Spitting Image back in the 80s and we had a lovely company on the voice and puppeteering side, so I’ve been very happy and lucky to have some great working relationships over the years. But obviously Red Dwarf stands in the middle as the longest and probably most successful show in terms of my career. When we all started as youngsters we were different young men; we were ‘I must get on, I want more lines’ blah blah. But as the years go on you realise that we’re a team and we’ve come through so much from young single men to getting married and having children. And now we’re passing through the middle age era and I think we appreciate each other as much as we’ve ever done, if not more.
How does it feel to have a documentation of you over all those years?
Yeah, it’s interesting. Obviously, when series three crops up every now and then you see yourself as a 30-year-old, you tend to go my God! Or as my son said, ‘Dad what happened to you!’ But I think it’s been a real privilege to be around to do a show for so long. And the fans still love it I hope.
Especially as there was a long period of time when they didn’t think you’d come back…
Well yes, the ‘will there, won’t there, who’s going to be involved’, usually on the other side of the camera, that’s always been a soap opera in itself at Red Dwarf! There have always been interesting times on that admin side. But when we’ve got to the studio, got the script and hit our marks and said our lines, that’s when it all comes to life and when everyone says isn’t it good that we’ve waded through the – to use a Red Dwarf phrase – smeg to get where we are now.
Technology has obviously changed a lot – you have a laugh with that…
Oh yes. To think that back in the old days we had the old flapping sets and some fairly ropey kind of stuff. We used models more and I loved using models, we still use them a little bit these days and of course, the quality of those have gone up but we’re always making comments on various topical things when we do Red Dwarf – the tech ban in M-Corp in series 12 for example. Technology and the use of it and comment on it is never going to be far away from Red Dwarf.
Are you recognised all the time?
Not these days because I now look myself and quite different from Rimmer. Mainly due to the disappearing barnet but you know, that’s life and in many ways, it’s quite good. But a lot of people do still recognise me and go ‘You’re that bloke aren’t you?’ Then they ask where they’ve seen you and it all falls into place. You get recognised just enough to know you’ve done a reasonable job.
It does have a fan base….
We do and we know that from going to conventions. Even when we’ve been off with no new product insight we’ve always packed in a good crowd at the conventions. I don’t know when we’ll next be doing that but we’ll see.
Will there be more specials like this?
Just as things stand right at the moment given the global circumstances with you know what, COVID 19, I don’t know when there’s going to be more of anything and what form that might take. We just have to ride out this storm and go from there. I know that’s a very depressing answer but it’s the way everything is – it’s not just Red Dwarf. We’ll see what happens but later this year or early next year if someone asked if we’re going to do another one, I think we’d discuss it and there’d be a strong possibility it would go forward given the health and desire of cast, and especially Doug of course and his son Richard. In the meantime, I think we’ll give the fans a good opportunity to sit at home and watch this latest Red Dwarf, which I’m confident they’ll enjoy.
To help us through the dark days the Red Dwarf team decided we could do with another dose of a trailer to lift our spirits.
And what a trailer it is!! We are treated to Lister reacting to the news that many decades later the cat race is still dying for their belief in him. The man who never wanted to be a God explains he isn’t one and all the Dwarfers agree.
The next snippet tells us that circumstances change. Soon the Dwarfers become part of the war and Lister might have to “act like a God” after all, even though he “scarcely mastered human”, according to Rimmer.
Rimmer’s arc is intriguing: we see him going through a lot of his old wardrobe, presumably before settling on that interesting new getup we showed you earlier this week. Then we see Lister throw what looks like his lightbee into the corridor. With Rimer saying what seems like his goodbyes to Lister in trailer one, we wonder: could Rimmer be sacrificing himself for him? We will find out on Dave Channel, April 9.
Only a few more weeks until the return of Red Dwarf on Dave, not in sitcom form this time, but a massive movie-style special called: Red Dwarf The Promised land.
Over the last few days, we have been teased with cast pictures, a teaser trailer that tells us big things are afoot and today the poster was revealed. It’s all looking good!!
None of these revelations, though, caused as big a stir as the single new picture that was revealed of the series resident hologram Arnold J Rimmer (Chris Barrie).
He is expected to receive an upgrade in the special that has him looking rather … different.
A lot of fans were shocked by the change from his usually smart look, but many rather appreciated the change as well. What do you think?
Meanwhile here is the trailer and our info on the special so far, from he official synopsis:
The new 90-minute special is the thirteenth outing of the legendary sci-fi comedy. It reunites the original cast of Chris Barrie (Rimmer), Craig Charles (Lister), Danny John-Jules (Cat) Robert Llewellyn (Kryten) and sees the return of Holly (Norman Lovett) the much-loved ship’s computer. Written and directed by Doug Naylor, it was recorded in front of a live studio audience over two nights at the world-famous Pinewood Studios.
Three million years ago… David Lister, a vending machine repairman, was sentenced to eighteen months in suspended animation for smuggling his pregnant cat aboard the mining ship Red Dwarf. While Lister remained in stasis, a radiation leak killed the rest of the crew. Safely sealed in the hold, the cats evolved into humanoid form. The cats now roam deep space in a fleet of their own…
The special will see the posse meet three cat clerics (Tom Bennett, Mandeep Dhillon, Lucy Pearman) who worship Lister as their God. Lister vows to help them as they’re being hunted by Rodon, the ruthless feral cat leader (Ray Fearon) who has vowed to wipe out all cats who worship anyone but him.
Actor, comedian, singer, dancer and now author of his own theatre show I’ve Gotta Be Me, a tribute to the life of Sammy Davis Junior. There isn’t much that Danny John-Jules, star of Red Dwarf and longest running main cast member of Death in Paradise can’t do.
Here he talks about why he had to create his Sammy Davis tribute (currently touring the UK). He also talks about the now filming Red Dwarf special (which will be shown on Dave/UKTV) next year and what makes the series so enduring.
Why a show about Sammy Davis Jr?
Sammy Davis Jr wrote the blueprint for ‘Performing’. And if you are going to be inspired in your chosen career, it’s only wise to look to the best. And the consensus is Sammy Davis Jr.
What does Sammy mean to you?
Sammy Davis Jr to me was (And still is) ‘The professor Of performance’. The Lola that Barry Manilow sang about was discovered and mentored by Sammy Davis Jr. Lola Falana ’The Queen Of Las Vegas’.
Who created the show?
I created the show after I read an article by Sir Bruce ‘Mr Entertainment’ Forsyth in which he said that the highlight of his career was working with Sammy Davis Jr and that he thought his legacy had been forgotten.
Which Sammy quote do you live by?
“You always have two choices, your commitment versus your fear”.
What are your future plans?
My future plan is to ‘Remind’ everyone of the person that ‘Opened the doors that generations of performers like myself have had the privilege to walk through.
Will you ever return to Death in Paradise?
I outlasted three leading men in seven years. When you’ve been inspired by Sammy Davis Jr, you crave challenges. I’ve Gotta Be Me is such a challenge. As I said:“You always have two choices, your commitment versus your fear”.
It seems new Red Dwarf is on the way, anything you can reveal?
I will be filming Red Dwarf while touring. It’s a 90 minute special. It will sit nicely alongside the AA series of commercials we did earlier this year. It will be funny.
Why do you think Red Dwarf remains so popular?
Red Dwarf remains popular because they obviously haven’t come up with a sitcom with the legs to keep up with us or they wouldn’t keep making it.
The only other character on UKTV that can hold a candle (in the wind) up to the face of The Cat, in the department of Camp, Drag, Hair and Make-Up, Elan, sashaying, glide, and the wickedest put downs is, RuPaul!! LOL.
You can still see Danny John-jules’ I’ve Gotta Be Me at the following theaters this November:
Next year Red Dwarf will celebrate its 30th anniversary: a fact that has been marked by many lovingly inserted callbacks throughout the last two series of the show – last week’s recreation of the opening scene from ‘The End’, the series very first episode, was the biggest one to date – but this week’s edition; Skipper, the series finale, is set to take it even further.
Arnold Rimmer (Chris Barrie) falls into his annual depression when reading an old report the Captain made on him. Reminded of all his failures he laments on the fact he wanted to make so much more of himself in life – and death. Soon he yearns for a chance to make amends. We’ve all been there.
Soon the opportunity arrives when Kryten (Robert Llewellyn) presents the Hologram with a dimension skipping device that allows him to live his life in other and opposite dimensions allowing him to find the reality where he lives the life he always wanted. So, after a (very) quick goodbye Rimmer sets off on an adventure that sees him journey through the shows rich history meeting old friends and other versions of his shipmates.
Though we are still hoping for something amazing in the anniversary year (Doug Naylor has mentioned a stage show) this comes very close to an anniversary special: the callbacks, the journey and choice Rimmer makes it both nostalgic and looking to the future in a way Doctor Who did in its 50th anniversary year.
A great closure to the XI and XII series journey that begun in May 2015 that leaves the door wide open for more. Happy anniversary Red Dwarf and all who sail her, let’s journey together for many more years to come.
Last week we heaped praise on the excellent “Mechocracy” and if you enjoyed that as much as we have, be prepared to enjoy this week’s instalment even more. Called “M-Corp”, this episode is a Lister centred Black Mirror-esque adventure that seamlessly combines humour with emotion and nostalgia.
Poor Lister’s (Craig Charles) birthday doesn’t start well and it is set to get even worse as the ship receives the upgrade from hell from M-Corp. It all seems so perfect at the start when the fabulous Helen George (Trixy from Call the Midwife) tells them about all the wonderful things the company’s products can bring to their ship. Unfortunately, things soon turn sour as Lister finds himself cut off from his friends and at M-Corp’s mercy. Craig Charles displays both great comedy as well as dramatic timing acting Lister’s despair and confusion at being all alone in strange surroundings.
While Helen George is deliciously creepy as the faux kind robotic face M-Corp. the rest of the cast is relegated more to a “supportive” characters role this week, but use what they are given brilliantly.
A special mention should be given to the wonderful end scene that should melt the heart of every true Dwarfer.
So after a very divisive episode last week, we are presented with a very uniting one this week.
Mechocracy has been hailed as one of the best episodes since series 6 and it’s easy to see why.
This episode has Rimmer and Lister bickering, Kryten on cheeky form, the Cat in a bit of a pickle and the return of an old “friend” or rather “frennimy”.
The Dwarfers find themselves in trouble when all the machines go on strike and demand a leader to do their bidding. Soon the boys find themselves locked in a gloves-at-dawn election battle complete with smear campaigns and Rimmer (or rather Chris Barrie) doing a pitch-perfect David Cameron impression.
A wonderful idea with some very nostalgic moments that fit seamlessly into the episode and reminds us of the fact that this series leads us into the 30th anniversary year.
For some strange reason, this week’s episode of Red Dwarf was a divisive one for the fans when it was pre-released on UKTV Play this week. It’s not really clear to see why, as the episode is simply a lot of fun.
TV REVIEW Red Dwarf XII, Episode 3, Timewave
The story starts when Rimmer decides to claim undiscovered planet with valuable substance, dreaming of untold riches once they find their way back to earth. When a timewave sends a 24th-century ship on a crash course towards that very same planet the Boys from the Dwarf decide to board the ship to warn the crew. The ship, though, is rather unusual – as the people at the top decided to make criticism illegal, so no-one can voice their opinions. Naturally, the Dwarfers soon find themselves in deep trouble.
This episode features a hilarious guest turn from Johnny Vegas as a “ crit-cop” unhappy with his lot and an interesting Eddie Murphy impression from a very fed up Cat (Danny John-Jules). Stealing the show, though, for a second week in a row is Chris Barrie as a deliciously creepy alter-ego of Rimmer.
After the darker themes of Siliconia this is a fun high camp romp of an episode that leads to interesting questions: how does criticism affect people? Does true positive criticism exist?
Solid effort by all.
Red Dwarf XII is tonight (26th October) 21.00 – Dave
You’d be forgiven for wondering why so many Sci-Fi shows have such high budgets when you see what Red Dwarf pulls off this week on a far lower one.
The much announced and high awaited “Siliconia”, aka “The One Where Everyone is Kryten” has it all: questions about obedience, sides and morality, an epic fight scene and oh such feels! Yes, hidden behind his android mask and by own admission feeling rather ill because of it, Chris Barrie delivers a heartbreaking speech that will stick with you for quite some time.
Meanwhile, Danny John-Jules gets the laughs this week with several zingers while Craig Charles makes a meal of Lister’s battle against his new android mind taking over.
In other scenes, Robert Llewellyn shows off the humanised traits of the original Kryten very well as the android questions where his loyalties lay.
An almost cinematic effort by Doug Naylor who by now is clearly a seasoned writer/director.
Red Dwarf XII is tonight (19th October) 21.00 – Dave
Red Dwarf is returning to Dave TV tonight in the UK. Here’s what you need to know about the new series starring Craig Charles, Chris Barrie, Danny John-Jules and Robert Llewellyn.
The brand new season of the cult classic, Red Dwarf returns to British TV screens tonight, on Dave with the original cast Chris Barrie, Craig Charles, Danny John-Jules and Robert Llewellyn all reunited for another series.
What is Red Dwarf about?
For nearly 30 years, the sci-fi classic Red Dwarf has been delighting audiences around the world. So what is it about? All but one of the crew, Dave Lister, (who was in suspended animation) are killed by an onboard radiation leak aboard the mining ship Red Dwarf. Three million years later, when the radiation levels have returned to normal, the ship’s computer Holly reanimates the lone crew member who discovers that he is all alone on the giant mining ship, except for a humanoid cat who evolved from Lister’s pregnant cat, a hologram of a former roommate and a service-bot Kryten.
So what happens in Season 12?
Speaking to THEGAYUK.com the series creator, Doug Naylor said that although lots of information had already leaked about the 12th series, however the very last episode is his favourite. The last episode; called Skipper, has been much talked about as it sees the return of the original ships computer Holly as played by Norman Lovett and Arnold Rimmer appears to be time travelling to the setting of the first series.
The series has six episodes in it and explores what would happen if evil was curable.
Will there be a 13th series?
Naylor revealed to THEGAYUK that “everyone” wants to do another series- saying, “Everyone wants to do more and by everyone, I don’t mean just me and the cast”.
Where can I watch Red Dwarf?
Red Dwarf is available to watch in the UK on the digital channel Dave at 9 PM.
