OFFICIAL: Big Finish to produce Red Dwarf audio adventures

Rob Grant’s buttski has finally borne fruit. It was announced this morning via a long-awaited TOS update and a tweet from Big Finish themselves that a deal has been struck for the company famed for their audio revivals of Doctor Who, Torchwood, Blake’s 7, The Avengers and more to add Red Dwarf to their stable. They will produce three full-cast audio dramas per month on both CD and download, featuring dynamic sound design, original music and specially commissioned artwork.

Due to the ongoing legal situation currently engulfing the show, the rights to produce original new material featuring the characters of Rimmer, Lister, Cat and Kryten are not available to Big Finish, so instead they’ll be focussing on stories from Red Dwarf‘s expanded universe, building new worlds and concepts based on those in the background of the show itself.

With literally hundreds of stories to look forward to over the period of the initial ten year contract, today’s announcement included a number of titles, synopses and cover art for the first few months:

I, TOASTER
Four-part origin story for Lister’s chirpy breakfast companion, from his early days in a factory on Titan, through his dramatic journey in a shipping container, and his months spent on a shelf in a cosmic branch of Curry’s, concluding with the fateful lump hammer incident.

THE MEMORIES OF LISE YATES
Sabra Williams narrates a series of stories from her relationship with Lister, as well as revealing what happened to her in the intervening years. (She got a job in finance and went about her ordinary life on Earth)

IRRADIATE
A previously-unseen perspective on major events in Red Dwarf, from the point of view of the toilet from Balance of Power. Mainly just the audio from existing bunkroom scenes, but slightly muffled and occasionally interrupted by the toilet thinking its heard someone say they wanted to use it, but then deciding they probably hadn’t.

RED DWARF UNBOUND
Non-canonical stories presenting a number of what-if scenarios with key characters recast. With Craig Bierko, Alexandra Pigg, Alfred Molina, Jake Abraham, Jimmy Nail and Nicholas Briggs.

THE ACE RIMMER CHRONICLES
Endless stories about Ace Rimmer having adventures, culminating in a multi-Ace Rimmer six-parter featuring several hundred thousand incarnations of Ace turning up in the same dimension.

THE INQUISITOR CHRONICLES
Endless stories about The Inquisitor judging minor characters from the show’s history, such as the Groovy Channel 27 news hologram, the woman who says “gosh”, the ski holiday couple, Miss Jane (but NOT Miss Tracy and Miss Anne), the girl Rimmer sat next to at school, the bus driver from Back to Earth, The Universe and Jimmy Nail.

THE CUSTOMER IN CAFE CHRONICLES
Endless stories about a woman stuffing whole eclairs into her mouth and chucking tea everywhere.

A BUTLER’S TALE
The multi-talented mechanoid Butler comes across all the enemies the Dwarfers have ever faced, becomes friends with them and helps them overcome their issues in order to live peaceful lives.

ANOTHER BUTLER’S TALE
Series exploring what happened to Gilbert (played by Jon Culshaw) now that the timeline has been restored and he didn’t end up working for Lister. He instead worked for the inventor of the condom that calls you back.

SNACKY AND CHIPPY INVESTIGATE
The two popular guest characters from recent episodes team up to solve crimes on board the ship, slightly hampered by the fact that one of them is just a small medical implant, incapable of independent mobility.

PETERSEN AND PETER’S SON INVESTIGATE
Red Dwarf’s catering officer teams up with Pete Tranter’s Sister’s Nephew in order to solve crimes.

THE FRANK ACCOUNTS
Hollister, Todhunter, Rimmer’s brother, Rimmer’s uncle, a Scouse pub customer, a washing machine and Lister’s cat team up to solve crimes.

WOR KRYTEN
The adventures of a previously unknown incarnation of Kryten, sandwiched between the David Ross and Robert Llewellyn versions, played by Jacob Dudman pretending to be Jimmy Nail.

KNOT GOING OUT
Travelogue starring The Shend.

Release dates and prices are to be announced in due course, along with writers, production team and supporting cast. It’s a lot to take in, but one thing’s for sure – this is a very exciting announcement for any Red Dwarf fans with a spare sixty quid or so knocking about every month for the next decade. With such a high turnover of stories, the one concern is just how much material can be squeezed out of the franchise, but we spoke to an anonymous source at Big Finish, who reassured us that they have a cache of over 12,000 ideas to work through.

EDIT (01/04/22 12:00PM):