The very sad news has reached us that Mike Agnew has passed away. As the Production Manager for Red Dwarf Series 2 and III, he was one of the driving forces behind the show’s early success, and provided us with so many memorable behind the scenes stories.

Mike started out as an actor, before moving behind the scenes as Rowan Atkinson’s tour manager. He broke into television after meeting Paul Jackson on the first ever Comic Relief, becoming part of his and director Ed Bye’s trusted team on Craig Goes Mad in Melbourne and Don’t Miss Wax. Joining Red Dwarf for its second series, Mike made a big impact on both sides of the camera, famously standing in for Craig Charles during the location shoot for Thanks For The Memory, after the actor sped off to attend the birth of his child. He made further notable appearances in Series III, as the auto-destruct voice in Bodyswap, Kevin the Polymorph, and most famously “Git in Pub” in Backwards, where you can also hear him shouting “!noitca” at the end/start of the fight scene.

But it was behind the scenes that he made the biggest impression, with his Production Manager role encompassing floor management, location scouting, and assistant directing. He recounted some of his war stories in the It’s Cold Outside and All Change DVD documentaries; highlights include the tale of a mishap with a drape during a crucial moment of the Kryten shoot, and of the time Danny and Craig went missing on location for Backwards, which culminated in Ed Bye having to physically restrain him. More recently, he joined Rob, Ed, Paul and Dona Distefano for the Quarantine Commentary on Thanks For The Memory, and was interviewed for Dave’s Red Dwarf: The First Three Million Years.

Immediately post-Dwarf, Mike was floor manager for such programmes as The Jack Dee Show, Knowing Me Knowing You With Alan Partridge and TFI Friday.  Having got his first taste of directing on a scene in Timeslides, he then graduated to a mixture of producer and director roles, across such shows as The Big Breakfast, Don’t Forget Your Toothbrush, Tarrant on TV, You’ve Been Framed, Dog Eat Dog, Friends Like These and The Great Garden Challenge. Mike was a well respected figure in the television industry, and he leaves a big hole in the Red Dwarf family. Our thoughts and condolences go out to all those who knew him.