Big bang

The thing about a cult following is that it generally means that not an awful lot of people watched it to start off with. A lot of people have seen Red Dwarf. People all over the world are calling each other ‘smeg head’ and telling each other that Mr Wibble made them do it whilst rekindling a love of gingham. There are Red Dwarf conventions, for crying out loud. But maybe it’s that devotion and lo-fi effects combination that make up a cult following. From small acorns…

This, the tenth series, made up of six new episodes directed and written by creator Doug Naylor, delivers on the recognisable charm of a pared down set and silly logic. With all the ridiculous fun of making a fort out of sofa cushions and raiding the linen cupboard, Red Dwarf is back with what looks like its original budget to match the original cast and original quick wit.

Initially, I must admit to being suspicious. As a fan of the older series, before Kochanski came back and the cast was expanded beyond the main four with occasional visitors (who invariably tried to kill them in some bizarre manner or another), I was aware of the peril of adding to a nostalgically enhanced comedy series.

Imagine if Ben Elton announced he was going to release a Christmas Special of The Young Ones – there’d be an uproar. So this was very precarious Martian ice Mr Naylor and the Dave channel were treading out onto. The thing about this return that made it better than previous revisits is that, rather than try to make it bigger and better, they recognised the strengths the programme had in keeping it sparse and comedically strong. The great laughs to be had were in the human (and Cat and Mechanoid) interaction. And in the basic crapness of Red Dwarf’s technology. As the Cat so succinctly puts it; “that crate’s slower than the speed of dark!”. And that’s the way we like it.

“It’s Waiting For Godot in space, with more laughs”
From Rimmer’s spinning beach balls for eyes we all recognis

e from endless loading screens of the twenty first century to Swedish 1970s road statistics, it’s the little things that work to best effect. The boredom of the crew. It’s ‘Waiting For Godot’ in space, with more laughs. Very little ever seems to change from one day to the next, but a day’s adventures can be filled with a lot.

This opening episode goes back to the basics of our core characters; Rimmer’s resentment, Kryten’s ethics, Lister’s petty bloodymindedness in the face of disaster, and Cat’s simplicity and very… Cat-ness. The actors have inhabited the roles again like favourite dressing gowns, a bit smelly and frayed around the edges but much loved. You can almost smell the lost curry coming out of Lister’s dreadlocks. And the writing’s there too. Doug Naylor’s books on the Red Dwarf have kept him there, in touch with the banter and casual but creative insults, thank goodness. So… Smoke them all kippers, thank smeg they’re back for breakfast!

Red Dwarf X, Dave, Thursday 4 October 2012