2018 - The Year In Dwarf

Running back through Red Dwarf's anniversary year.

28 December, 2018

There may not have been a new series of Red Dwarf being filmed or shown in 2018 - the first time in four years that that's not been the case - but that doesn't mean we forgot how to have a good time. With February marking 30 years since the show debuted on BBC2, we spent basically the whole year in a festive mood; and furthermore, we were able to bring you the exciting news of the brand new, high-def remaster of the first eight series, due out on Blu-ray in January.

All this plus award wins, fan conventions, lots of new work from the cast and crew... all just another year in Red Dwarf's universe, really!

Here's a look back over what you might have missed in the last twelve months...

It was a relatively quiet start to the month in January, but that was probably just the breather we needed before things got hectic quickly in February! We were delighted to see the show shortlisted in the Comedy.co.uk Awards once again, while we topped up our full set of series-based quizzes with twenty fiendish questions on Series XII.

In February, the celebrations got underway early, with Red Dwarf featuring again as a specialist subject on Mastermind  (and our congratulations and commiserations go to Ken Moreland, who later made it all the way to the Grand Final but was sadly defeated); and for the second year in a row, Red Dwarf taking home Best Returning Comedy at the Comedy.co.uk Awards!

But the big date, of course, was February 15th - which marked the 30th anniversary of the broadcast of The End. We marked the occasion with a lengthy exploration of the relationship the show has enjoyed with its fans over those three decades(featuring several star contributors!), while there was also plenty of celebration and reflection to enjoy on social media. We're still immensely proud and humbled by the worldwide affection that's been shown to Red Dwarf over these past thirty years - long may it continue!

March began with some sad news, with the passing away of Stephen Hawking, the legendary physicist who had revealed himself as an enormous Red Dwarf fan during the 1998 Red Dwarf Night festivities. Elsewhere, Craig Charles powered up the latest series of The Gadget Show, and we topped up our Complete Guide section with an in-depth look at the making of Series XII.

In April came the news that Red Dwarf co-creator Rob Grant was due to publish a new novel and broadcast a new radio series; although helpfully, for the easily confused, they would have the same title and be released at the same time. Co-written with Andrew Marshall, The Quanderhorn Xperimentations would debut later in the year.

In May, Red Dwarf made it onto the telly in some unusual places, thanks to playing a part in an advertising campaign flying the flag for the Freeview service; while we began giving one of this site's biggest sections a bit of enhancement with the addition of new episode capsules in the Complete Guide.

June saw the release of the latest piece of new Red Dwarf merch, with the somewhat ironic Bottle Opener in the shape of a Leopard Lager can. With Father's Day also landing this month, we took a look back at how the show has explored paternal issues over the years. And The Quanderhorn Xperimentations arrived on the radio and in print, with the added Dwarfy bonus of Twentica's Kevin Eldon as one of its stars.

For a time in July, the headlines were dominated by a dispute between broadcaster UKTV (parent, of course, of Red Dwarf's home channel Dave) and provider Virgin Media. This resulted in Virgin customers not being able to get Dave on their set-top boxes any more, but while we did provide a handy guide to how else they could watch the show, thankfully the dispute was eventually resolved and service resumed.

In August came the announcement that many eagle-eyed fans had already got an inkling of via social media and online stores: Red Dwarf Series I-VIII were coming to Blu-ray! The initially planned release date of October 2018, however, would ultimately be delayed due to some unforeseen technical circumstances. We dusted off our screencapping machine for another instalment of our Smegging Difficult Screenshot Quizzes, and it was announced that Danny John-Jules was to appear on the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing.

If one thirtieth anniversary wasn't enough for you in 2018, how about two? The unique circumstances of Red Dwarf's first year meant that in September, we were also able to celebrate thirty years since Red Dwarf II. And furthermore, the sixth series just so happened to hit its silver anniversary later the same month, so we had a look back at that, too.

October brought with it the centrepiece Red Dwarf fan event of the year: Dimension Jump XX. And what an event it was, with every main cast member ever and both co-creators, as well as a wide assortment of additional special guests, all manner of fun and games, and the imbibing of plenty of fermented vegetable drinks. It also, however, brought both good and bad news for the Blu-ray set: bad, because of the release delay; but good, because we were able to exclusively reveal the utterly gorgeous cover art!

In November there were more extra-curricular activities, with Robert Llewellyn's new memoir Some Old Bloke seeing publication, and the end to a spectacular run of dances from Danny on Strictly. But it also saw the latest Red Dwarf breaking out into new horizons, as Series XI debuted in the Czech Republic.

And so that brings us to December, where we gave you the latest updates to our in-depth episode capsules, and a confirmed run-through of all the extras on the Blu-ray.

And with just a couple of weeks to wait until that Blu-ray hits the shelves, we can already see we're going to be in for a busy 2019, too...

Thanks from everyone at Red Dwarf and Grant Naylor Productions for your support in 2018 - all the very best wishes for the new year!