Red Dwarf

Red Dwarf X: the Twitter reaction

Smegging fantastic was the verdict across most of the Twittersphere with regard to last night's opening episode.

Red Dwarf - is it still funny?

A brilliant return to form, or a series too far? David Brown and Tom Cole go head-to-head over the merits of the latest run of the sci-fi sitcom.

Red Dwarf 10.1 'Trojan' review

This week British comedy went into a time warp. And you know what? Good.

Red Dwarf: Series X Episode 1 review

Trojan is an episode that frequently displays sparks of the wit and the originality that made the series so remarkable, and for that all involved must be congratulated.

Red Dwarf: Smegging good!

Sci-fi comedy Red Dwarf is back on Dave - and it's funny again. Good news for fans.

The rust-bucket mining ship Red Dwarf has been off our TV screens for light years but tonight it returns for a tenth series as if it's never been away. The crew's all present and incorrect - Rimmer (Chris Barrie), Lister (Craig Charles), Cat (Danny John-Jules) and Kryten (Robert Llewellyn) - with the comedic nonsensicality as sharp as ever. Swedish moose and a stray spaceship loom large in the opening adventure.

Three years on from the sprawling (but largely underwhelming) Back to Earth mini-series, the boys from the Dwarf go back to basics for this tenth series. It's a smart move, for this is a lively re-creation of the show as we most fondly remember it. It's all here: the studio audience, the bunkroom sparring and the strategies employed by the crew to make their lonely lives bearable.

For the incompetent Rimmer, this means attempting to pass the astronavigation exam and become a Space Corps high-flyer. We've seen him try and fail before, but this time the stakes are higher thanks to an SOS call from an old foe.

Writer Doug Naylor gets plenty of laughs from Rimmer's sense of thwarted ambition while also taking witty pot shots at some classic sci-fi conventions. Watch out for a nice gag that involves Lister faking a talent for touch telepathy, plus the sight of the guys in snug, elasticated Star Trek-style jumpsuits.

Red Dwarf: a beginner's guide

Get up to speed with the smegging sci-fi sitcom ahead of its long-awaited series 10.

Having overreached itself with 2009's Back to Earth, co-creator Doug Naylor sensibly brings Red Dwarf back into the confines of studio sitcom, where it feels more comfortable if also more dated - although any modern day Mac user will nod sadly at the reference to 'spinning beach balls of doom'. We're back to the big four: slobbish human Lister, uptight hologram Rimmer, officious mechanoid Kryten and 'supercool' human-feline hybrid The Cat, the latter now more Little Richard-meets-Bill Cosby than Prince-meets-James Brown. Each is of course played to the hilt, with the flawless cast getting an admirable number of chuckles out of an occasionally creaky script. Tonight revolves around Rimmer, who comes face-to-face with an old enemy while studying, once again, for his oft-failed officer's exam. The laughs are more sporadic and the invention spread more thinly, but TV is still a better place for its return.