Is quirky British science fiction show Red Dwarf getting a movie? Fans have been clamoring for one for years. Now it looks like the movie is totally going to happen, with key cast members reprising their roles. This won’t be a theatrical release, but instead it’s going to television, rather like the 8th Doctor Doctor Who TV movie. Original reports had made it sound like it would be a special about Red Dwarf, rather than a new adventure, but no, it’s a new story, made especially for Dave TV, a subsidiary of UKTV.
An announcement confirms the news, on the official Red Dwarf website:
“The wait is over. We’re delighted to announce that Red Dwarf will return to Dave [TV] next year for its first ever feature-length special. Craig Charles, Chris Barrie, Danny John-Jules and Robert Llewellyn are back as Lister, Rimmer, The Cat and Kryten, in an all-new story written and directed by Doug Naylor and produced by Baby Cow Productions.”
Red Dwarf is a British science fiction comedy set aboard a mining ship. A catastrophe has occurred, leaving only Dave Lister, played by Craig Charles, (Lexx: the Dark Zone Stories) as the last living human; Arnold Rimmer, a hologram of Lister’s former shipmate, played by Chris Barrie (Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Blackadder the III); Cat, played by Danny John-Jules, (The Tomorrow People, Blade II, Murder in Paradise) the highly evolved descendant of generations of ship’s cats; Holly, the ship’s computer, once sentient, but now senile, voiced by Norman Lovett (Last Contact, Madrigal, the Secret Witch) and Kryten, a service mechanoid, played by Robert Llewellyn (Mirrormask).
The full-length feature is scheduled to be on British television in 2020. No word yet when or if it will appear elsewhere in the world, but given the popularity of Red Dwarf, it’s pretty likely that some sort of international distribution will be worked out.
Set aside some curry and popcorn and remember that Red Dwarf, the movie, is happening.
Maybe put the curry on the popcorn. We won’t judge.
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Susan Macdonald is the author of the children’s book “R is for Renaissance Faire”, as well as 26 short stories, mostly fantasy in “Alternative Truths”, “Swords and Sorceress #30”, Swords &Sorceries Vols. 1, 2, & 5, “Cat Tails” “Under Western Stars”, and “Knee-High Drummond and the Durango Kid”. Her articles have appeared on SCIFI.radio’s web site, in The Inquisitr, and in The Millington Star. She enjoys Renaissance Faires (see book above), science fiction conventions, Highland Games, and Native American pow-wows.
