Red Dwarf I (1988) The pilot script was written in 1983; the writing duo team of Grant and Naylor handed the finished script to their agent
Paul Jackson who had trouble convincing the BBC to take on the series. Three years after the initial rejections, the script was accepted by BBC North West. The series almost did not happen due to an electricians' strike at the BBC in 1987 which prevented filming and thus the project was shelved. Filming eventually went ahead after the industrial action was resolved. A
remastered version of this series was produced and broadcast in some countries.
Red Dwarf II (1988) Realising that they were limited with stories based on the huge, but empty, mining ship of
Red Dwarf, writers Grant and Naylor decided to go in a different direction for Series II. A small shuttle ship,
Blue Midget, was designed to ferry the crew to and from different locations. The mechanoid, Kryten, appeared in the first episode as a one off. The writers had resisted using robot characters as they had considered the practice a sci-fi cliché. The opening credits sequence was changed. A new upbeat version of the theme tune played over clips from the series. A new official
Red Dwarf logo also appeared at the end of the credit sequence. The look of the series had been overhauled with the incoming Mel Bibby who had re-designed the old grey sets. Costumes were overhauled too, as designer Howard Burden brought in a new stylish look to the crew. A
remastered version of this series was produced and broadcast in some countries. There were a number of loose ends from the first two series, and changes in the third series, that were explained off by a text intro to the first show of Series III. This was done in the form of scrolling text across outer space, in a parody of the introductions to the
Star Wars movies. The loose ends included the return of Kryten, Lister being pregnant, delivering twins Jim and Bexley, who grow up in a matter of days, then wind up in the parallel universe with the female version of Lister. The regular cast changed for Series III:
Robert Llewellyn came in as Kryten, and
Hattie Hayridge replaced the departing Lovett as Holly. Craig Charles, Chris Barrie and Danny John-Jules remained as Lister, Rimmer and Cat, respectively. The character of
Kryten was originally intended as a one-off appearance in the series two episode "
Kryten", but had returned mainly to broaden the story potential. The series was becoming difficult to write for. At the insistence of Naylor, Kryten returned to complete the team. They had approached
David Ross with the intention of bringing him back to play the regular role of Kryten; but Ross was committed to the stage play
A Flea in Her Ear and thus not available. Eventually, Grant and Naylor went to see Robert Llewellyn in the stage production
Mammon: Robot Born of Woman, playing a robot; they saw his performance and were impressed. The broadcast was not as originally intended; the BBC had decided to start off with the romantic story of "Camille" for
Valentine's Day, while the outbreak of the
Gulf War affected the series' running order, thus both the anti-war "Meltdown" and heroic Ace Rimmer's "Dimension Jump" were almost postponed.
Red Dwarf V (1992) The series returned without regular director Ed Bye, who had agreed to direct
The Full Wax, fronted by his wife
Ruby Wax. New director
Juliet May found it hard to work with the science fiction elements, which were much more involved and complex than in previous series and left before the series had completed. The remaining episodes were directed by Grant and Naylor.
Red Dwarf VI (1993) The writing of Series VI was rushed, due to the fact that the BBC wanted the episodes completed as soon as possible. Grant and Naylor had originally hoped to both write and direct Series VI, but the rapid production schedule meant this was unfeasible, and
Andy de Emmony was brought in to direct the series. The writers decided to make changes for the new series—
Red Dwarf itself was written out, thus removing Hattie Hayridge as Holly—and the series was set entirely aboard
Starbug. During the series, Rimmer would also obtain "hardlight", which would effectively give him a physical presence. For the first time in the series' history, a
story arc was introduced and followed throughout the episodes, leading up to the series' cliffhanger.
Red Dwarf VII (1997) After Series VI ended, co-creator and writer Rob Grant decided to leave the series to pursue other projects, but Naylor continued with the series to build towards the often discussed movie, and the series was expanded to eight episodes to meet US syndication requirements. To help with the expanding episode number, Naylor brought in the help of other writers such as
Paul Alexander. Chris Barrie, disappointed with the hectic workload of Series VI, had decided to only take part in four of the episodes. Kochanski (now played by
Chloë Annett) was brought back as a regular character. Changes to the series itself were evident with the mix of science fiction and sit-com episodes throughout. This was an attempt by Naylor to move away from the "
monster of the week" format that he felt Series VI suffered from. Episodes were still videotaped, but were digitally processed to look like film, and although there was no live audience, a laughter track was later recorded at a screening of the episodes before an audience. The laughter track is only present on some episodes shown on the streaming service Netflix as of 2020.
Red Dwarf VIII (1999) Having changed the look and format for Series VII, Naylor returned to the series' original roots for Series VIII. Writing the scripts himself, Naylor resurrected the original crew of
Red Dwarf, along with Holly, this time played by Norman Lovett, and Chris Barrie as Rimmer. With the old cast and
Red Dwarf itself now, the series returned to being videotaped in front of a studio audience, and ended on a cliffhanger that remained unresolved until 2009's
Red Dwarf: Back to Earth.
Red Dwarf: Back to Earth (2009) In 2009, UKTV channel
Dave screened three new 25-minute specials to celebrate the 21st anniversary of the show. The new episodes form part of an effort by Dave to screen more original programming, instead of just repeats. The specials were made up of a three-part story, "Back to Earth", as well as a "Making-of" special. Originally, there were to be two episodes, a "Making-of" and a live show titled
Red Dwarf: Unplugged. However, according to Robert Llewellyn on Twitter, the Live Show had been cancelled due to time and money, and that there would be three episodes instead. As with series 7, these episodes were not filmed in front of a live studio audience.
Red Dwarf X (2012) Red Dwarf returned for its first full series since 1999 in October 2012 for six new episodes written by Doug Naylor filmed before a live audience. It was released on DVD and Blu-ray on 19 November 2012. All four original cast members from
Back to Earth reprised their roles.
Red Dwarf XI (2016) It was confirmed on 2 May 2015 that an eleventh and twelfth series of
Red Dwarf (consisting of six episodes each) would be filmed in late 2015 and early 2016 for
Dave. After the announcement,
Craig Charles resigned his role on
Coronation Street to focus on filming for both new series.
Red Dwarf XI began broadcast in September 2016.
Red Dwarf XII (2017) Filming on
Red Dwarf XII began in early 2016.
Red Dwarf: The Promised Land (2020) In 2018, Naylor confirmed discussions were being held about commissioning another series of
Red Dwarf, though suggested that a stage show or a film could also be possibilities. UKTV would announce in October 2019 that a feature-length special would see production, to be filmed later in the same year. ==Unproduced scripts==