the series returned in 1999 it gained the highest audience figures yet—over eight million viewers tuned in for series VIII's opening episode "Back in the Red: Part I". The series has won numerous awards including the Royal Television Society Award for special effects, the British Science Fiction award for Best Dramatic Presentation, as well as an International Emmy Award for series VI episode "Gunmen of the Apocalypse", which tied with an Absolutely Fabulous episode, "Hospital", in the Popular Arts category. The show had also been nominated for the International Emmy Award in 1987, 1989 and 1992. Series VI won a British Comedy Award for 'Best BBC Comedy Series'. The video sales have won eight Gold Awards from the British Video Association, and the series still holds the record for being BBC Two's longest-running, highest-rated sitcom. In 2007 the series was voted 'Best Sci-Fi Show Of All Time' by the readers of Radio Times magazine. Editor Gill Hudson stated that this result had surprised them as 'the series had not given any new episodes this century'. In January 2017, series XI was voted "Best Returning TV Sitcom" and "Comedy of the Year" for 2016 by readers for the British Comedy Guide. A year later Red Dwarf once again was voted "Best Returning TV Sitcom" for series XII retaining the title from British Comedy Guide. Spin-offs and merchandise The show's logo and characters have appeared on a wide range of merchandise. Red Dwarf has also been spun off in a variety of different media formats. For instance, the song "Tongue Tied", featured in the "Parallel Universe" episode of the show, was released in 1993 as a single and became a top 20 UK hit for Danny John-Jules (under the name 'The Cat'). Stage plays of the show have been produced through Blak Yak, a theatre group in Perth, Western Australia, who were given permission by Grant Naylor Productions to mount stage versions of certain episodes in 2002, 2004 and 2006. In October 2006 an Interactive Quiz DVD entitled Red Dwarf: Beat The Geek was released, hosted by Norman Lovett and Hattie Hayridge, both reprising their roles as Holly. In 2005, Grant Naylor Productions and Studio Hubris, in conjunction with Across the Pond Comics collaborated to produce the spin-off webcomic Red Dwarf: Prelude to Nanarchy. Novels Working together under the name "Grant Naylor", the creators of the series collaboratively wrote two novels. The