As we reported late on Saturday, Red Dwarf fans attending this year’s Dimension Jump convention in Birmingham at the weekend were treated to a special announcement on Saturday. Doug Naylor sent an email message via associate producer Andrew Ellard, to announce that digital channel Dave have commissioned six new episodes of the series, to be broadcast late next year.
Despite a mixed reception, the Easter special Back To Earth was a huge ratings success for Dave, and it’s thought that this – along with sales of the DVD – that led to the commissioning of this new series.
Ellard revealed that, dependent on budget, the possibility exists that more than six episodes will be made. It was hinted that the new episodes could well be filmed in front of a live audience, as in the majority of previous series. He also reminded everyone that the fabled “series nine” referred to in Back To Earth had turned out to be nothing more than a hallucination, implying that any new series would be officially referred to as the ninth.
Actor Robert Llewellyn subsequently posted on his Twitter page that everything was at an early stage, with no firm details beyond the fact that the green light has been given to start putting scripts together.
Surprise!