When do you think they should officially finish the show?

HHmm this is a difficult one as i think the characters and actors could keep on going for at least another 3 series, but Naylor and co have waisted too much time, or maybe too much time has been waisted by idiots not commisioning the show earlier, and really we should have more series of red dwarf. However, as I said, as long as Naylor is prolific and returns to form with his writing I think that the guys have 3 series in them and hopefully a movie at the end of that. To be honest I have come to that conclusion becaus eth dwarf lads have kept in good shape and look 5 years younger than they are, and BTE looked much more aesthetically better than I thought.

In about 1993.

Yestomorrow.

I don’t know. BtE proved the actors can all still successfully play the parts….I would say probably until they can’t do it anymore and/or until they stop getting shows commisioned. They should still keep going…provided they can keep the funny coming.

I look forward to seeing the characters as they grow older and wiser and more mature….ha!

>the franchise itself could have decades, if exploited in a meaningful way rather than as a cash-in. A completely new show set in the Red Dwarf universe would be incredibly interesting to the fans

This is complete bullshit, by the way. As much as it’s tempting to turn Red Dwarf into an all-conquering Star Wars-esque expanded universe, it is -plain and simple -a sitcom, the strengths of which are solid characters and a tried and tested cast, neither of which would be present in some “next generation” bollocks. What you’re looking for is some other show; it’s certainly not Red Dwarf.

>>In about 1992.

Woah, harsh. Who said that?

> I do think however, that when it does end, while not leaving anything hanging, it should end with the crew just going about their usual day to day mishaps, not with some grand epilogue (reaching Earth, going back in time, Lister dying etc). I like the idea of Our intrepid band of Smegheads carrying on up there, even if we can’t see them.

Something like the end of ‘Back to Reality’ or ‘Back to Earth’ is what I am hoping for. If they did end the show at ‘Back to Reality’ (glad they didn’t!) it would have been a perfect end.

Of course I don’t want the show to end for a long while yet, the show has had a resurgence and I hope this means another 3 or 4 series at least, after having no hope of the show continuing through 2004-2008 I am now pumped with confidence of its continued success and continuation now.

The fact that Doug still won’t give any hints about the movie script shows (I hope) that he still hasn’t given up on it, so I’d like to see that script filmed before the show finally ends. I’m not optimistic enough to presume that they’d ever raise the money to do a full-blown movie, but if they had the means to make a feature-length TV movie then that would be nice.

I’ve still never played the RPG. I bought the book, and devised a character, but never played it.

A single spin off episode could work….a Jim and Bexley story….but not as a whole seperate series

IMO of course…

> first scenario I ever wrote up was Ace saving a princess from a nazi bunker and he kicked so much arse it was ludicrous, especially when he saved a Kinatawowi from a cell who tags along like Chewie, ripping the arms off helpless nazis.

You’ve gotta admit it – we couldn’t have had a more fun afternoon unless it involved sex.

Yes, I know Red Dwarf as we know it is about the characters and their situation, but Grant & Naylor have crafted their own little universe, and there are endless possibilities to expand on that, especially some of the stuff we see in the books. As I stressed, “done well” it could be interesting.

A spin-off could be set aboard Red Dwarf a couple of hundred years after the death of the original crew, with some new characters to explore (and maybe Kryten to bridge the gap). It could be set away from the ship: before the accident, on one of the colonies maybe… or even on Earth. If only I could envisage anybody else playing Lister (I wouldn’t wish to see that) it would be interesting to see the Earth that Lister originated from. Or his exploits on Mimas. Or Rimmer’s upbringing on Io. It could be set aboard another vessel all together – one we’ve seen already or one we haven’t. As long as the new characters were as well realised as the originals and it was funny, why not?

It all hinges on the crucial “done well” – I wouldn’t even want to see more Dwarf if it wasn’t done well, let alone anything else within that universe.

Eh? That’s not what I meant at all.

Or the exploits of Rimmer and Lister as youngsters. We could reach the giddy heights of ‘First of the Summer Wine’.

Maybe. A horror state where youngsters need to steal to eat, people are penniless, and the law is useless.

You could do that as a reality show.

I think one of the things that makes Dwarf so amazing is the Lister/Rimmer dynamic. Add in new actors and it would just be a generic sitcom set in space, which – while possibly being funny – would not be Red Dwarf.

I personally vote for cloning the actors ASAP, so that by the time the current cast are too old/senile to make more series, the younger versions will be ripe and ready to go again. Think of the possibilities.

> I like ‘Last of the Summer Wine’

Then you might like this new blog from my mate Andrew and Bob Fischer, author of Wiffle Lever to Full! http://ftgetgo.wordpress.com/