All That Reaction
Red Dwarf XI/XII news makes waves.
8 May, 2015
You know, we spend so long existing in our happy little bubble of Red Dwarf fandom that it's easy to forget just what an impact the show can have in the outside world. And then something comes along that makes us remember - something like, oh, we don't know, the announcement of two brand new series?
Taking the world by surprise on an otherwise unassuming Saturday lunchtime (and comfortably overshadowing news of the birth of Princess Charlotte), the announcement was made live on stage by Doug Naylor to a whooping crowd at the Dimension Jump XVII convention before making its way to Twitter in short order. Here, in fact, is the moment of that announcement in Nottingham:
... which was cleverly joined by a near-simultaneous posting from Doug's Twitter account:
Delighted to say UKTV have commissioned two brand new series of #RedDwarf - Red Dwarf XI + Red Dwarf XII
— Doug Naylor (@DougRDNaylor) May 2, 2015Begin shooting series XI later this year, then shoot series XII early next year. Live studio audience obviously. #RedDwarfXI RedDwarfXII
— Doug Naylor (@DougRDNaylor) May 2, 2015Audience tickets will be available later this year. #RedDwarfXI RedDwarfXII
— Doug Naylor (@DougRDNaylor) May 2, 2015Did I mention we might also be doing a live tour? #RedDwarf
— Doug Naylor (@DougRDNaylor) May 2, 2015As you can probably imagine, the reaction to this across Twitter was one of immediate, pants-wetting excitement:
Rimmer, we're home...
#RedDwarfpic.twitter.com/RlxWc717Hm
— Dave (@Join_Dave) May 2, 2015IT'S HERE! IT'S HERE! A NATION REJOICES!....Oh and Kate's had a baby.
#RedDwarf
http://t.co/J0vmfEu0eB
— Dave (@Join_Dave) May 2, 2015Everyone excited over birth of the royal baby girl but I'm here like
#RedDwarf#RedDwarfXIXII#TeamSmegpic.twitter.com/fs6a5Kotp2
— Georgia Thomas (@twistedgeee) May 2, 2015Two new red dwarf series!!! Can I get a oooooo, oooooo, LOUDER Oooooo, Oooooo! #RedDwarf#DJXVIII
— Nickie Mcintyre (@TinkerbellsFury) May 2, 2015I'm in profound shock mode... #RedDwarf XI and XII ...Oh my goodness... I cannot believe it, I simply cannot b--- pic.twitter.com/JQDQ34PnYD
— Red Dwarf Kryten (@KrytenRD) May 2, 2015"Well spin my nipple nuts and send me to Alaska" #NothingIsMoreImportantThanRedDwarf#RedDwarfhttps://t.co/oaizDhduLG
— daddykoolest (@daddykoolest) May 2, 2015It's like Christmas RT @DougRDNaylor: Did I mention we might also be doing a live tour? #RedDwarf
— Ian Bamford (@IanBamford) May 2, 2015Hope the royal baby is appropriately delivered in a box under a pool table in honour of #RedDwarf news. @DougRDNaylor
— Leon Oldman (@leonoldman) May 2, 2015Only thing better than the news of two new series of #RedDwarf is hearing the news from Doug Naylor himself! #GreatTimes#DJXVIII
— Dave Billingsley (@dab051176) May 2, 2015Very excited to be working alongside @babycowLtd again. Such a great team. #RedDwarf
— Richard Naylor (@RichardDGNaylor) May 2, 2015Almost as enjoyable as the news itself has been the reaction to it. This show inspires so much love, and keeps getting new fans. #RedDwarf
— Seb Patrick (@sebpatrick) May 2, 2015It was so popular, in fact, that for the first time since Series X, #RedDwarf became a trending topic on Twitter:
Red Dwarf made it to number 9 today on the top trending topics in the UK. pic.twitter.com/dEL0wWAwnW
— Richard Naylor (@RichardDGNaylor) May 2, 2015We've waited so long for #RedDwarf to start trending...I feel so... so *high pitched voice mode* I feel so emotional right now! BWAAAHH!
— Red Dwarf Kryten (@KrytenRD) May 2, 2015In the meantime, however, there was also the small matter of additional detail about the new series, beyond what was established in the official announcement. Here's a roundup of some of what was said by Doug onstage at DJ - although of course we should stress that as the series is still in pre-production, plenty could change between now and the time the episodes are shot!
No confirmation on extended cast, Holly or Kochanski.
— Ganymede & Titan (@ganymedetitan) May 2, 2015Doug says he's considering a Kochanski episode.
— Ganymede & Titan (@ganymedetitan) May 2, 2015"There is a show they want to do where they all get to be Kryten. And we're doing that show" - Doug #DJXVIII
— Ganymede & Titan (@ganymedetitan) May 2, 2015Doug confirms the reuse of old sets to allow the budget to expand the scope to things like Starbug.
— Ganymede & Titan (@ganymedetitan) May 2, 2015Shooting of the new series will be at Pinewood this time. #DJXVIII
— Gazpacho Soup (@GazpachoSoupRD) May 2, 2015Doug written 9 scripts so far. Will also be directing. #DJXVIII#RedDwarf
— Dan Pendleton (@pendo86) May 2, 2015Budget means they can tell stories they want to tell. #DJXVIII#RedDwarf
— Dan Pendleton (@pendo86) May 2, 2015It wasn't just Twitter that reacted to the announcement, though: in fact, it quickly became one of the biggest television stories of recent weeks, and was covered by (deep breath) the Independent, the Evening Standard, the Radio Times, the Metro, the Mirror, the Mail, BBC News, Yahoo! News, Chortle, Digital Spy, Den of Geek, Empire and... well, a lot more publications and websites besides.
Then, of course, there was the additional news that Craig Charles would be leaving Coronation Street to concentrate on his Red Dwarf commitments - something which became front-page news of its own on Monday morning.
We can now also reveal that Craig Charles is leaving #Corrie later this year. https://t.co/ncHMIDZF6I
— Coronation Street (@corriespoil) May 2, 2015Press say CC leaving friends on Corrie to work with 'colleagues' on RD. Sounds like 'we're people he's come to regard as people he met' :)
— Doug Naylor (@DougRDNaylor) May 3, 2015The announcement also saw several websites publish Red Dwarf-related articles in tribute. Shortlist gave us The Ultimate Red Dwarf Quiz (we scored 20 out of 20, and thoroughly expect you to do the same), while Radio Times asked Which Red Dwarf Character Are You? (we were Rimmer, surprising no-one). Over on the Metro, meanwhile, we were given a list of 6 times the show was the best thing on TV. Which was nice.
And all of this, of course, is just the beginning. We've got two whole years of this to look forward to before these two series even finish reaching our screens - Red Dwarf is once again alive and kicking bottom in a way that may just top everything before. Strap on in, it's going to be quite the ride...
Red Dwarf XI and XII will be broadcast on Dave in 2016 and 2017!
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