The Year In Dwarf

reddwarf.co.uk takes a look back at 2009.

24 December, 2009

January The title of the new Dave specials was announced, and it was a shocker: Back to Earth. Other details released included key cast and crew details, the broadcast date and the interesting mention of a mini-project entitled Red Dwarf: Unplugged.

Robert Llewellyn kicked off Carpool in earnest, Hattie Hayridge joined the Totally Loopy live tour and Series VII and VIII were released on DVD in France.

February The first cast photo in a decade is revealed. And, damn them, the stars of Red Dwarf have stubbornly refused to age.

Peep Show royal Sophie Winkleman is announced as a new guest character, Unplugged is dropped to make the new spectacular even more spectacular, and confirmation came of the tabloid-snapped revelation that the show had filmed on the set of Coronation Street. Probably not that important...

March An extra day is added to the shooting schedule down in Shepperton, images are emerging thick and fast, including an exclusive cover for SFX magazine that will also appear in the show itself, and episode synopses drive everyone guesswork crazy... before the TV ads and clips appear and make them even crazier.

Radio 1 co-producer Matt Fincham played the Red Dwarf theme on the Chris Moyles show. On the cello. To seven million people. Respec'.

April People who have been playing the Artificial Reality Game online descend on London to meet the cast in advance of Back to Earth's broadcast.

The show breaks records with its viewing figures - the most-watched British show on multichannel TV. Check out the final list for the year on the Guardian wesbite - the show even got a larger audience share than this winter's ITV2 X-Factor result!

Elsewhere, the series-by-series release begins on download store iTunes, and the all-new Fan Club magazine Back to Reality is launched.

May News of the Back to Earth DVD emerges - doccos, commentaries, and a Director's Cut that puts all three parts of the story together, with a few removes for pace. This puts Doug Naylor in the rare company of Ridley Scott and Steven Spielberg as a director whose special cut is actually shorter than the original.

Chris Barrie appears in a brand new Massive series and gets his hands all oily. Probably.

June The Back to Earth DVD is released. In a mind-melting bit of post-modern confusion the cover art matches the version of the DVD shown in the programme. Even though that was a figment of the crew's imagination. Unless it wasn't, the multiverse being what it is and everything.

Oh, who's got an aspirin?

July Red Dwarf begins its assault on Germany with the reveal of the cover art for the first Red Dwarf novel, Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers. It's actually very nifty indeed. A solid pewter Starbug belt buckle is released to help fans keep their trousers up. Especially important. if they plan on bumping into Chloë Annett at a convention.

'The Creator' himself, Richard O'Callaghan, is confirmed alongside the regular cast for Dimension Jump '09, and writer Rob Grant makes the move into stand-up comedy. If only he had some experience of making people laugh to draw upon...

August Back to Earth arrives on Blu-ray in the UK, giving everyone the chance to scrutinise the tiniest details in high-def. Sky+HD also offer the top-quality directors' cut for on-demand viewing. On top of all this, the show is nominated for both the MediaGuardian and Conch awards.

Danny John-Jules and Rob Grant launch their own websites, and BBC Worldwide take the bold step of having the remastered editions of Series I to III removed from the iTunes store in favour of their original-edition counterparts. Fans applaud.

September Steve North, channel head of Dave, diplomatically confirms nothing, and thus gets everyone awfully excited about a possible new series. Including Grant Naylor Productions.

October America gets DVD and Blu-ray releases of Back to Earth, and there was much rejoicing. The new issue of Carbug goes up for auction, and there was much bidding.

Oh, and there's the official Red Dwarf convention. The biggest in a decade, it's the first since the new series and there are stories and festivities aplenty. Then Doug Naylor's entirely confidential email to the attendees regarding his immediate future plans is read out by Andrew Ellard and everyone goes nuts.

November A special Just the Shows DVD boxset is released containing all 52 BBC episodes of Red Dwarf in vanilla form, complete with new nifty slipcase.

Danny John-Jules posts an image of himself wearing glasses and the Duane Dibbley teeth that causes all kinds of inaccurate speculation. And the Fan Club announces a price drop for those quick to sign-up for the 2010 Red Dwarf convention.

December Australia's ABC2 and New Zealand's UKTV show Back to Earth to anxious fans in the southern hemisphere. Grant and Naylor's Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers is given an audio-airing on BBC Radio 7. And Newsnight Review includes the show in its run-down of 2009's most significant SF and fantasy releases, putting it next to Watchmen and Star Trek. Quite smegging right, too.

The Soundboard is the first Red Dwarf app released for the iPhone. Series I to VIII are released for download in the USA.

Carbug makes an appearance with Santa in a Devonshire garden centre, suggesting that we're now trapped in the reality the Dwarfers escaped earlier in the year.

Congratulations everybody - we made it through 2009! reddwarf.co.uk wishes you all a fantastic 2010.