19. 10. 2025 | Barbucha Stardust
Last Sunday, the cervenytrpaslik.eu crew headed to Comic Con Bristol to find out the latest news and information from the Red Dwarf universe. The following text is based on the Red Dwarf panel we attended.
Red Dwarf, the spaceship that became home to a weird crew, headed to Comic Con Bristol 2025. The meeting with creator Doug Naylor and actors Chloe Annett (Kochanski), Danny John-Jules (Cat), and Craig Charles (Lister) brought lots of laughter, but also sad news about the future. Get ready for a crash course in space history, the evolution of cats, and stories about inverted toupée!
How it all began: No Lycra, just a senile computer
What exactly is Red Dwarf? As Doug Naylor aptly described it, it’s about „4, 5, 6 weird people in space on a spaceship“ and their quest to return to Earth.
The original idea came from a radio sketch called Dave Hollins: Space Cadet, which told the story of the last man in space and a genius (but slightly senile) computer. Doug Naylor and Rob Grant had a clear vision: they didn’t want aliens or robots (at first). Instead, they decided to bring a cat on board so that the new species would evolve from cats rather than monkeys. And most importantly? No Lycra and no tails!
When it came to favorite episodes, Doug compared the choice to deciding which child is your favorite—it’s simply impossible to answer! Even the „problematic“ episodes deserve love and care. Actress Chloe Annett finally confessed that her favorite episode is „Duct Soup,“ which she loves because it is very conversational and captures the original essence of Red Dwarf.
The future? Sad news that hurts more than Rimmer’s monologue
Fans naturally asked if they would see a new Red Dwarf. Unfortunately, Doug confirmed that there are no plans at this moment.
Although UKTV ordered a 90-minute TV special, they ultimately canceled the order! Doug had already written two-thirds of the script when he got a call saying that the TV station had decided to stop commissioning comedy scripts. This was despite the fact that Red Dwarf was their most successful show on the channel. Danny John-Jules added to the situation with cynical charm: „Personally, I never trusted them. UKTV. I never trusted them.“
However, the written story will not disappear! Doug confirmed that he plans to publish the unpublished script as a novel. The story of the special was about how the present-day Lister travels back in time to rescue 23-year-old Lister from stasis and give him the life he never had. He also tried to track down Kochanski.
Backstage madness: Duane Dibbley and the torn cassette
What is it like to work with actors? Doug smiled and said that they are nice and easy to work with, „except for…„, at which point Danny shouted, „Bullshit!“
We also learned that Doug Naylor observed the actors and wrote the characters based on them. While Craig is Lister, Danny is Cat, Chris is Rimmer, and Robert is Kryten, Chloe thinks that Doug was a little unfair in her case, because she says she is not as bossy and neurotic as Kochanski.
The funniest story was about Danny’s role as the crazy Duane Dibbley.
„I remember it quite vividly when I saw you in Dibbley’s costume when it was finished, and I didn’t know it was you. I really didn’t know. It was so different,“ Doug admitted.
Danny John-Jules revealed how Dibbley’s iconic look came about:
„It wasn’t even a wig, actually. I went to the costume department and said, ‚I’m going to be playing the character Duane Dibbley now.‘ The makeup artist pulled a toupée out of a box, put it on my head, turned it around, and — Duane! Duane Dibbley came out of the box of toupées. And he’s wearing it backwards,“ Danny laughed.
When it came to the most difficult shoot, everyone agreed on the episode „Backwards,“ where they had to constantly think about when the scene began and when it ended. They had a player on which they recorded the dialogues and then played them backwards. In post-production, this tape became „more and more crazy, tearing, falling apart, etc.“ Today, it would be much easier digitally.
Plans for the future (and Cat’s autobiography)
Although new television episodes are not on the horizon, the 40th anniversary celebration in 2028 is shaping up to be interesting. The team is discussing organizing a limited theater run, likely in the range of 10-20 performances. It will be something like Fawlty Towers in the theater, but with significantly fewer performances.
And as a bonus: Danny John-Jules mentioned that he is writing his autobiography. We gave you the exclusive scoop on his plans in the article Operace Kocour v kroji. Did you know that the panel guests have lots of pets? Danny has a cat named Cindy and a dog named Pepe, Doug has three dogs (Coco, Roxy, Woody), and Chloe has four (Billy, Sydney, Earl, and… Doug)!
With these entertaining stories and the promise of a theater show, we can look forward to the fact that even though Red Dwarf is not currently cruising the space channels, it lives on in the hearts of fans!
