Red Dwarf is a British comedy franchise which primarily comprises ten series (the ninth being a mini-series) of a television science fiction sitcom that aired on BBC Two between 1988 and 1993 and from 1997 to 1999, and on Dave in 2009 and 2012, gaining a cult following. In May 2015, it was announced that Series XI and XII will film back-to-back later in 2015 and will air exclusively on the Dave channel in 2016 and 2017. The first episode of Red Dwarf XI will air at 9pm on Thursday 22 September 2016 on Dave and will be available via streaming service UKTV Play from Thursday 15 September 2016.
The series was created by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor. In addition to the television episodes, there are four novels, two pilot episodes for an American version of the show, a radio version produced for BBC Radio 7, tie-in books, magazines and other merchandise.
The Red Dwarf Magazine – the magazine part of the title changed to “Smegazine” from issue 3 – was launched in 1992 by Fleetway Editions. It comprised a mix of news, reviews, interviews, comic strips and competitions. The comic strips featured episode adaptations and original material, including further stories of popular characters like Mr. Flibble, the Polymorph and Ace Rimmer.
Notably, the comic strip stories’ holographic characters, predominately Rimmer, were drawn in greyscale. This was at the request of Grant and Naylor, who had wanted to use the technique for the television series, but the process was deemed too expensive to produce. Despite achieving circulation figures of over 40,000 per month, the magazine’s publisher decided to close the title down to concentrate on their other publications. A farewell issue was published, cover dated January 1994, and featured the remaining interviews, features and comic strips that were to feature in the following issues.
Another Red Dwarf magazine was started called Red Dwarf: Better Than Life which is only available through the Red Dwarf Official Fan Club. It features cast interviews and the latest news. Each person gets four issues each year.