Sci-Fi Sitcom ‘Red Dwarf’ Graces Our Screens Again

by Josh Roth @ 5:06 pm April 10th, 2009

This is going to be an exciting weekend for sci-fi fans. Tonight saw the first of three brand new half hour Red Dwarf specials, continuing through the weekend, and tomorrow we’ll finally get to see the next Doctor Who special! But before that let’s focus on the first new episode of Red Dwarf in 10 long years. Well fear not fellow smegheads!! Red Dwarf is back, in high definition, with the original cast, original writers, and all new effects, and it is bloody fantastic.

Series co-creator Doug Naylor has been trying to ressurect Red Dwarf for quite some time now, whether it be in the form of a movie, short series, anything, and his (as well as our) dream finally came true. Only a few months ago Channel Dave in the UK offered Naylor a chance to bring back the show as a short series of brand 30 minute episodes. Since many of the sets and props had been destroyed long ago, and in an effort to keep down costs, the team chose some seriously forward thinking production techniques to re-create the show’s original sets and effects. To get technical for a moment, they shot the new series on the utterly revolutionary RED Camera, which shoots at a resolution four times that of 1080p HD. It shoots digitally so no need for film, only hard drives.

As for the show, part one aired Friday night, with the subsequent two parts airing on Saturday and Sunday. It felt like returning home. Everything just sort of clicked. It didn’t take long for the original cast to slip right back into their old routine, like they never stopped doing the show. Sure the effects were updated, everything felt a bit shiner, and Rimmer looked a bit older, but the whit and sci-fi humor was all still there.

Plot wise Back to Earth gets a bit too convoluted for me, but the novelty of having the old gang back together was rewarding enough. Back to Earth follows the Dwarfers as they are thrust into our own universe, where they are just characters in a TV show. They must search for their creators and beg for more life before the series is extinguished once and for all. The plot only works because of the wacky universe Red Dwarf exists in, I mean they’ve dealt with crazier stuff before.

Back to Earth feels more like a proof of concept, proof that the show could be produced again, cheaply, with the original cast, and with surprisingly high production values. I really truly deeply hope this leads to Red Dwarf getting picked up for a full new series, if it’s anywhere near the quality of this miniseries, fans will be satisfied.