It’s something I’ve been thinking about recently, and most likely it’s been mentioned somewhere before but I can’t reacall anything.

I mean, Series VIII peaked at 8 million viewers, yeah? So, what I want to know is whether the BBC are chomping at the bit waiting for Doug to accept a commission for a ninth series, or did they actually cancell the series completely with no interest in a ninth?

It would be a strange situation to be in to have the BBC wanting a new series but with no one to make it, and the Doug wanting to make a film with no one to commission it.

6 comments on “Was Dwarf cancelled?

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  • I’m pretty certain, with the ratings that VIII had, and the money the DVD sales are taking in, that the BBC would commission a documentary on Doug Naylor’s bowel habits – let alone another series of Red Dwarf…

  • What I’m hoping is that Doug, on his Australian ventures, has been writing a new series or something. Maybe even a novel, which would be great. I’m sure that he will have had a lot of time on his hands waiting around for stupid execs and studios. The Movie is still in production limbo as far as we know (Charles joining Coronation Street doesn’t bode well for anything Dwarf…….ah well, it was time Lister was played by someone else anyway……..he he, did anyone see him doing the Sumo last night! fuckin funny to see him in the nappy…).

    I doubt the BBC properly cancelled it, but there’s never been an option for a ninth series as Doug has been trying to get the movie made since 1999. But if Doug did pitch series IX to the BBC they would be essentially recommisioning it, and I think they would due to Dwarf DVD sales and maybe going off the success of Doctor Who (if it IS a long term success that is, though it got over 10 million viewers for the first episode). I think Doug should do it…get the BBC to bump up the budget a bit…make a worthwhile series and prove to the fucking film companies that there’s life in the old rouge one yet (imagine film execs looking at series VIII for Dwarf reference! Would YOU give money to make a film of it??!!).

    Even if Doug’s script is fucking fantastic, all film people are bothered about is the money-making prospect. You’ve got to admit, there IS a chance it could flop and people could lose money. Not that I wouldn’t see it about 20 times in the cinema, but if the general audience don’t go for it, the money made from Dwarf fandom wouldn’t be enough. Look at the League of Gentlemen film coming up in June. They have loads of fans (I am a massive fan), but if it isn’t marketed right and made to suit the general movie-going audience, no-one other than League fans will go to see it, and they will have failed. Movie-making is always one big gamble, especially when the millions aren’t in your back pocket like George Lucas.

    Whatever happens, I will HATE it is VIII is the last series. I don’t care if they wait until the cast are in their 70s, as long as VIII isn’t the last series. I just thought of something, maybe they could explain the cast’s age difference between series by saying that the nanobots aged them or something (that is shit, I know, but something along those lines), or that they ended up in a hypersleep (not stasis) for 7 years.

  • It was on Comedy Connections the other week that Goodness Gracious Me was cancelled with no warning, so it is form for the BBC to cancel relatively successful shows for no reason. The next year another Asian-based comedy appeared, The Kumars at No 42.

    If we go by this logic Red Dwarf would have been replaced by another sci-fi comedy in 2000, and guess what, another sci-fi comedy did appear, this magnificent effort was called “My Hero”, Dwarf for a new generation.

    I was trying to make a point, but I think I just made myself sick.

  • “Or, at a pinch, it could take place 7 years later.”

    Superb.

    I may be deluding myself here, but that doesn’t sound half bad. The plots in series 8 were going nowhere interesting anyway, so I’d like an all new Red Dwarf set 7 years later. Maybe something would become of Lister and Kochanski’s relationship, and maybe there might even be an ending.

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