2019 - The Year In Dwarf

Rounding up a busy twelve months!

27 December, 2019

Years that end in a 9 are generally quite big in Red Dwarf terms - with 1989, 1999 and 2009 all giving us exciting new episodes to enjoy. 2019 didn't exactly have a new series, but there was still an awful lot going on, the surprising release of new material, and the start of production on the episodes that will take us into another decade.

Here's our run through a busy thirty-first year around the sun for the show...

JANUARY

The year began with a bang, with the much-awaited release of the Series I-VIII Blu-ray boxset. In case you missed it, this 19-disc set features the first eight series of the show newly upscaled into high-definition, with extras including every bonus disc from the original series DVD releases, and most of the content produced for the now out-of-print Bodysnatcher Collection. So if you've got a post-Christmas gift voucher burning a hole in your pocket and you still haven't nabbed a copy, well, what are you waiting for?

January also saw the Offical Red Dwarf Fan Club announce the next date for their Dimension Jump convention - following 2018's hugely successful anniversary event, DJ XXI will take place in May 2020.

FEBRUARY

Just as 2018 had seen February mark the 30th anniversary of the first series, so 2019 saw another big landmark for a later one - as 18th February was the 20th anniversary of Series VIII. We took one of our customary looks back at the series that still holds Red Dwarf's highest viewing figure record.

MARCH

The question everyone wanted to know in 2019 was whether there was going to be any more new Red Dwarf on the horizon. March didn't see the answer to the question, but it did keep everyone guessing thanks to teasery photos of a curry-based lunch date between Doug Naylor and the cast.

In March we also brought news of a necessary fix for the Blu-ray boxset - with a production error identified on two of the discs, replacements were created and can be obtained via the BBC.

This was also the month that some deep-dive analysis of Red Dwarf took place in a couple of media outlets - with The Guardian looking back at the show's early days with Doug and Craig, and the popular Rule of Three podcast exploring the first novel.

APRIL

April saw another of those "make you feel old" anniversaries land, with ten - ten! - years having elapsed since the show landing on Dave with Back to Earth.

This month also saw the announcement by Danny John-Jules of a new set of live shows running in autumn and winter 2019. I've Gotta Be Me is a musical trip through the life of legendary entertainer Sammy Davis Jr, and its initial run has already attracted raves. Look out for the show hopefully making a return in 2020!

MAY

We learned this month that Series XII of Red Dwarf was making it to the Czech Republic. This makes the home of small off-duty traffic wardens the first locale to have received full translated versions of all twelve series.

JUNE

A quiet summer month nevertheless saw the launch of the Fan Club's convention logo design competition - eventually won by Anne Billaut - and Tony Hawks' new musical stage comedy and book.

JULY

In July, perhaps the biggest news moment of the year thus far, as Red Dwarf suddenly returned! With barely any prior warning (except some social media teases), the Stellar Rescue series of adverts for the AA exploded onto TV and radio, starting with a specially-filmed mini-episode. Keep your eyes out in 2020 for the campaign to continue!

Meanwhile, hot on the heels of the Czech Republic, Japan became the second country to get the latest series translated, with a brand new pair of boxsets of Series XI and XII released. These were actually the first HD Blu-ray releases of the show ever in the country...

AUGUST

... but they would be followed very swiftly by the second, as a Japanese edition of the Series I-VIII Blu-ray set was released at the beginning of August. This set marked the first time that full, unedited versions of some of the episodes had ever been made available in Japan.

In August we also saw the show featured in a special edition of TV Years magazine, and gave you one of our customary Smegging Difficult Quizzes.

SEPTEMBER

A bit of a calm before the storm in September - big things were on the horizon, but before we could get to them, we brought some updates on the cast's public whereabouts, including a list of gigs for Craig. Did anybody notice a bit of a break in November? Can't think what that might have been for.

OCTOBER

October was a quiet month, really. Well, apart from this. Some of you, it seems, were waiting for this one?

NOVEMBER

In November we were looking both to the future, as production got underway on the new special, and the past, as we celebrated the thirtieth anniversary of the transformational Series III.

DECEMBER

And that brings us to the final month, as the first audience shooting night took place  (a week later than originally planned). And the polls opened in Gold's Greatest Ever Comedy Character vote - so if you haven't gone over and cast your vote yet, it would be a lovely late Christmas present to us if you did!

Phew. It's been quite a year, and that's before we even get to the year of the special going out. Thanks to everyone who's visited the site, engaged with us on social media or otherwise shown Red Dwarf your support over the past twelve months - we hope you'll stay tuned through what promises to be a very, very exciting 2020 indeed...