In 2009, with the release of the awful Back to Earth miniseries, it seemed like all hope was lost for Dwarf fans. If you had told me back then that we would be getting at least 2 more series that were actually good I would not have believed you (of course we don't know how good XI is going to be yet but the first episode has me very optimistic). Fuck BBC, praise Dave (let's just agree to forget BtE).
So what exactly is Red Dwarf? It's a tale of the last surviving human, Dave Lister, 3 million years in the future, on a drifting mining ship called Red Dwarf (duh). His only companions are a hologram of his dead crewmate Rimmer and a being that evolved from his pregnant cat. It sounds pretty dumb and it kind of is, but who cares when it comes to the funniest show of all time, right?
First 2 seasons are based on character-driven comedy, which sets up the more sci-fi-grounded seasons 3-7. Let's not talk about season 8. The interactions between the 3 (eventually 4) main characters stay the crux of the show no matter what crazy plot happens in any given episode. One of the biggest recurring themes is time travel (coincidentally, the main plot of the 1st episode of the new season is based on it too), which has an episode focusing on it in every single season. What does NOT show up in Red Dwarf is aliens, something not very common in sci-fi shows. That doesn't stop Rimmer from believing they are around every corner though, especially in early seasons.
I'm really bad at describing things and I don't think Red Dwarf is a show that any description can do justice to, so I'm just gonna tell you to go watch it if you like having a good laugh and/or sci-fi stuff.
For people that are fans of the show like me: what do you think of Red Dwarf X and the upcoming XI?