CRAIG CHARLES has revealed that two more series of Red Dwarf will go into production in 2011.
While standing in as presenter on Janice Long's BBC radio show, he said: "I can now announce we are going to be doing two more series of it starting in January next year.
"I got the call today: They said 'Craig can you do it?', I said 'I'll sort it out'. So I will be able to do it in January."
Craig, who plays Dave Lister in the sci-fi comedy, joked: "I'm a bit nervous, I don't think i'll be able to fit into the leather trousers any more."
Co-star Chris Barrie, who plays hologram Arnold Rimmer, has also confirmed the show is returning.
He told us: "There are plans afoot to have a 10th series. I find it very hard to call it a 10th series, because that obviously means we're calling the Easter special from last year the ninth series. But yes, certainly, I would say some more new Red Dwarf product. There are plans afoot to get that into gear.
"I think of Back To Earth as a sort of 21-year celebration, really, as a proper three-part special. But yes, it would be nice to do, and hopefully we will, another six half hours.
"I don't really know anything more than I'm saying, believe me. I do know plans are afoot, but that's all I can say.
"In terms of the direction of the show, I don't really want to see it change that much. I just want more strong storylines, probably in a half-hour format. I think that it's nice to do the old-fashioned sitcom type format. Having said that, there was something strong about the trilogy, where there's a little bit of a cliffhanger after each half hour."
Last year's special Back to Earth was perhaps the most dramatic Red Dwarf seen so far. So would Chris like more drama in the scripts when the show returns?
He said: "I think the special, if anything, took us in that direction. It was shot very filmically: no studio audience of course, and that helps the dramatic element. When you don't have to punch up the gags for an audience, for example, you can afford to shoot it much more dramatically and moodily. I think that could be the way the show goes. But it's Red Dwarf - it ain't ever gonna stop being funny."
Chris says he was happy with how Back to Earth turned out: "I was very pleased with the final product. The production schedule was a pretty tight one - it was a pretty serious one, really. I think we did extremely well, in my view, producing some of the best Red Dwarf we've ever produced.
"Because it was a three-parter, I can understand some people looking at the first half hour and saying, it's not like the Red Dwarf we remember. But I think those same people, or at least 99.9% of those same people, by the end of the third episode were saying this is some of the best stuff we've seen.
"It was roughly nine years since we'd put the outfits on and started to do some proper dialogue. There might have been one or two early moments where we thought, crumbs, this feels weird, but as soon as we got into the first few scenes, the years just dropped away and it seemed like nine weeks, nine days, since we'd been working together."
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Red Dwarf is coming back for 2 seasons
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