Comedy bosses are a bunch of smegheads now

ONCE upon a time, Red Dwarf was a really big deal.

- MEG JORSH

Set on a starship drifting millions of light years from Earth, its cast of lonely misfits brought families together in front of the telly every week.

The show launched in 1988 and went on to spawn 12 series, a feature-length special, four novels and even a magazine - the Red Dwarf Smegazine, published from 1992 to 1994.

Devoted fans still turn out for annual Red Dwarf conventions.

But according to co-creator Doug Naylor, the space odyssey may finally be over. "I wanted to do a story about present-day Lister going back in time to prevent himself having the life that he did," he says.

Crisis

"I got quite far into it. I was excited, Craig was excited. Then UKTV said, 'We're no longer commissioning comedy. The comedy shows we have no longer get the ratings, except for Red Dwarf.'"

And he's not exaggerating there. The last feature-length special, 2020's The Promised Land, notched up more than 2million viewers, making it Dave's highest-rated show in seven years.