In 1988, anarchic British sci-fi comedy, Red Dwarf, blasted its way onto the airwaves. The TV sitcom, set millions of years in the future, followed the story of Dave Lister – the last human alive, who travels through space aboard the starship, Red Dwarf.
Over the course of multiple seasons, Lister finds himself in the midst of a variety of weird and wonderful (and often very comical) situations, as he meets new life forms and navigates his journey amongst the stars. Along the way he is joined by a rag-tag collection of companions, including holographic frenemy Arnold Rimmer, a humanoid-feline known as The Cat, and the android Kryten.
Starring Craig Charles, Chris Barrie, Danny John-Jules, and Robert Llewellyn, Red Dwarf was (and still is) a cult favourite comedy in the UK, which has developed a strong and loyal fanbase. The show’s popularity in the UK has also helped it travel abroad, where it has found a legion of new fans overseas.
But if you’re new to Red Dwarf, where do you start? Is Red Dwarf simply a multi-season show, that moves from year-to-year, or are there movies or specials to watch?
For all the rib-tickling details and more, keep reading. Red Dwarf is simple to follow, but there are a couple of instances where you may require some additional knowledge, so it’s best to be prepared.
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Understanding Red Dwarf
As noted above, Red Dwarf is fairly simple to follow, because it is predominantly a TV show comprised of multiple seasons. There are no movies to worry about, which makes the show pretty straightforward to keep track of.
However, there are a couple of television specials, which pop up during the show’s run. These specials follow a slightly different format to the regular seasons.
To understand Red Dwarf’s chronology, it’s best to start at the beginning. As mentioned at the top of this post, Red Dwarf first aired in 1988, with a six-episode season simply titled Red Dwarf.
This first season was a hit with audiences and was soon followed by season two (aka Red Dwarf II), season three (Red Dwarf III), and then four, five, and six (Red Dwarf IV, V, and VI etc). Following the conclusion of season six, Red Dwarf took a short break for four years, before returning to screens with season seven (Red Dwarf VII), and then season eight (Red Dwarf VIII).
Following an eight season run on the BBC (where the show was broadcast between 1988 and 1999), Red Dwarf went on hiatus for the next ten years. When the show returned in 2009, it had moved to a new home, taking pride of place on the digital channel Dave.
Red Dwarf also returned with a new format. In place of a ninth season, Red Dwarf returned to screens in the form of a three-part TV special called Back to Earth.
Following the broadcast of Back to Earth, Red Dwarf took another break, before returning in 2012 for a tenth season (Red Dwarf X). The show then left the airwaves again, this time for four years, before coming back for season 11 (Red Dwarf XI), followed quickly by season 12 (Red Dwarf XII).
After season 12 aired, Red Dwarf took another break, before returning once more in the form of another TV special (replacing a 13th season). This one-off special was a feature-length story called The Promised Land, which aired in 2020 to become the final Red Dwarf story… for now.
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Red Dwarf in order
As you can see from the information above (as well as the list below), Red Dwarf is fairly simple to follow. So long as you know when to watch the specials, the series should be a breeze to view!
Anyway… for those not sure, here is a list of all the Red Dwarf TV seasons and specials in chronological order.
- Red Dwarf (1988) – TV season
- Red Dwarf II (1988) – TV season
- Red Dwarf III (1989) – TV season
- Red Dwarf IV (1991) – TV season
- Red Dwarf V (1992) – TV season
- Red Dwarf VI (1993) – TV season
- Red Dwarf VII (1997) – TV season
- Red Dwarf VIII (1999) – TV season
- Red Dwarf: Back to Earth (2009) – Three-part TV special
- Red Dwarf X (2012) – TV season
- Red Dwarf XI (2016) – TV season
- Red Dwarf XII (2017) – TV season
- Red Dwarf: The Promised Land (2020) – Feature-length TV special
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Thank you for stopping by It’s A Stampede! to read this post about Red Dwarf – I hope it has proved useful. For more posts, be sure to check out the recommended reads below.
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