Red Dwarf return to be filmed next month

With a live studio audience

Filming on the comeback series of Red Dwarf will start at the end of November, star Danny John-Jules has revealed.

And the six episodes, for digital channel Dave, will be recorded in front of a studio audience – in contrast with the 2009 Back To Earth miniseries.

In an interview with the Cult Box website, the actor, who plays Cat, said: ‘We’ve gone back to our original format, for obvious reasons. Everyone missed the studio audience... It’s a different play, it’s a different rhythm when you’ve got a studio audience and I like that.’

He said the cast had not yet seen the scripts, but added: ‘There’s never been any question about the scripts. Usually we all just read them and go “wow”. Then you read a script from one of the soaps and go “oh dear”.’

He added that the BBC might have been short-sighted not to renew the sci-fi comedy, after the Back To Earth scored aggregated audiences of between three and four million, counting recorded viewings and reruns.

‘The reason why it’s on Dave is that the BBC said there’s no audience for Red Dwarf anymore,. This is what we’re up against,’ John-Jules said.

‘We’re quite happy - at the end of the day, the people who watch the show will decide whether it stays on telly or not. When a show gets three and a half million viewers on a cable channel, it’s not rocket science.’

Published: 13 Oct 2011

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