Red Dwarf Returns - One Not To Be Missed!

Red Dwarf is a sci-fi sitcom which broke all boundaries when first released in 1988. It was created by writers Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, who were behind, amongst other things "Sptiing Image", another big hit of the eighties. For those who have never seen this before, the basic premise is as follows:

Far into the future, on a mining space ship (Red Dwarf), chicken soup repair man Dave Lister shares his quarters with his immediate superior Arnold Rimmer. The two are complete opposites; Lister is the ultimate slob, whilst Rimmer is fanatically tidy, organised and full of neuroses. To say they don't get along with each other is a serious understatement - they can't stand each other!

Lister smuggles a cat on board for company, but he has to keep this hidden for fear that he will be punished and the cat will be killed. However, he doen't quite manage this, and he gets caught by the Captain. He gets sentanced to months in stasis. Whilst there, a radiation leak kills the whole crew, and by the time it is safe to release him, millions of years have passed! In this time, the cat has not only survived, but evolved, and Holly (the ship's computer) creates a hologramatic version of Rimmer - designed to keep Lister sane!

From there onwards follows their hilarious expoloits in space. They stop off to pick up Kryten, a mechanoid who has inadvertently killed his crew, and later meet a version of another crew member Christine Kochanski (the love of Lister's life) from a parallel dimension.

All in all, this series contains some great ideas for science fiction, whilst making it extremely funny too. The big question is, will the comeback episodes fare as well in the 21st century?

Craig Charles started his career as a poet, performing readings of his work on the BBC TV show "Wogan". Since his days on Red Dwarf, he has become sucessful as a writer, TV presenter and stand up comic.

However, he still continues acting, and has recently appeared on ITV's Coronation Street.

Chris Barrie started out as an impressionist, and was a regular performer on ITV's "Spitting Image". He has also played the lead role as Gordon Brittas in the long running BBC comedy programme "The Brittas Empire.

Danny John Jules is a dancer by profession, and has skillfully incorporated this in his role as the cat. He also released a single "Tounge Tied" which made the top 20 back in 1993. This was first performed as a segment of the Red Dwarf episode parallel universe.

Since leaving the show, he has continued to act, most noteably in the children's programme "Maid Marion and her merry men".

Since Robert Llewellyn's performance in Red Dwarf, he has become sucessful as a TV presenter, most famously in Channel Four's programme "Scrapheap Challenge".

The role of Christine Kochanski, was originally played by Claire Grogan of Altered Images fame (listed as C P Grogan). However, when it was decided that this role would expand, and she would become a regular cast member, a more suitable actress had to be cast.

Prior to Red Dwarf, Chloe Annette was probably best known for her work in the BBC TV series "Crime Traveller".

Comedian Norman Lovett played the ship's computer Holly for the first two series, before leaving for his own comedy series "I Lovett". He only mad one series of this.

He was replaced in series three by Hattie Hayridge, whose character was originally designed to be his female equivalent. Hattie is also a stand up comedian, and has also appeared in "Jonathon Creek"