She Rides! Red Dwarf to Return After Legal Dispute Settled
Finally, some good news for fans of the small rouge one. After a legal dispute over the rights for the classic science-fiction sitcom Red Dwarf, which seemingly put the show’s future in doubt, co-creators, Doug Naylor and Rob Grant have settled their differences, allowing the show to ride again once more. Here is their statement to that effect, in full.
“Rob Grant and Doug Naylor are delighted to announce that the ongoing dispute over the Red Dwarf rights has been resolved.
Moving onwards and upwards Rob and Doug hope to launch separate iterations of Red Dwarf across various media, working again with the cast and other valued partners, and wish each other the very best.
Smoke a kipper, Red Dwarf will be back for breakfast!!”
For those of you who don’t know, Red Dwarf is about the adventures of Dave Lister, professional bum and possibly the last man in the universe, who has drifted three million years into deep space after a radiation leak killed every other crew member of the mining ship Red Dwarf, while he was shielded in a stasis pod. His only companions are Rimmer, his annoying bunkmate, who has been helpfully resurrected as a hologram to continue getting on Lister’s nerves, a self-regarding creature who has evolved from his pet cat; a mechanoid with a head like a novelty condom and a penchant for cleaning, and the ship’s now senile computer, Holly.
Doug Naylor and Rob Grant co-wrote every episode for six exceptionally good seasons from 1988-1993, airing on the BBC, before they dissolved their writing partnership. The show continued on the BBC with Naylor and other collaborators for two more seasons, which involved a cast addition, longer story arcs and a more cinematic style. After a hiatus, the show relaunched on Dave, with every episode written and directed by Naylor. This relaunch started with the special Back to Earth. Naylor then wisely returned the show to its original format – half hour, individual stories, focused on the main cast, and in front of a studio audience – which brought about a near-complete return to form over series X, XI and XII. Most recently Dave aired the special Red Dwarf: The Promised Land.
The exact cause of the split between Naylor and Grant has never, to this author’s knowledge, been fully explained. But it’s a great relief to hear that they have settled their differences and the show can move forward. Since Naylor has been single-handedly keeping the Red Dwarf flame alive since the mid-nineties, it will be interesting to see what those “separate iterations” of Red Dwarf might be. Would it be too much to hope that the two men will once again write together? Probably, but here’s hoping. Personally, this author is just happy to know that the now very middle-aged boys from the Dwarf will be able to get back to what they do best: eating curry, getting on each other’s nerves, looking in the mirror, and cleaning Mr Lister’s underpants.
