'I like shooting in front of an audience'

Craig Charles has said he doesn’t want to make a Red Dwarf movie – saying it works better as a sitcom.

A film version of the long-running sci-fi comedy was announced as long ago as 2000, but has never come to pass.

But speaking at the launch of the forthcoming 12th series at the Edinburgh International Television Festival last night, Charles – who plays Lister – poured cold water on the idea.

‘You know something? I don’t want to make a Red Dwarf film,’ he said in response to a fan’s question.

‘I like it the way it is, shot in front of an audience. We pick up our game in front of an audience.’

He also said the three-part series which relaunched Red Dwarf on Dave in 2009  – a decade after the last BBC Two shows – was effectively a movie. Called Back to Earth, or Red Dwarf IX, the plot sent the characters back to present-day Earth, only to find that they are characters in a TV series called Red Dwarf.

‘We did sort of do a Red Dwarf film in Red  Dwarf IX,’ he  said, ‘And that’s kind of what a Red Dwarf film would be like.’

Writer Doug Naylor pointed out that was made on a ‘tiny budget’ but a film would allow them greater scope.

But Charles insisted: ‘I think it works well as a sitcom, to be honest.’

Nick Helm, who was chairing the session, suggested to the fan who’d asked the  question: ‘Just watch three episodes in a row.’

The audience at the screening of the first episode of the new series  were sworn to secrecy not to reveal any spoilers from the programme.

It has, however, already been revealed that it one episode of the series, the entire Red Dwarf crew become mechanoids like Kryten, played by Robert Llewellyn.

Charles said he had a new respect for his colleague after having to undergo the lengthy make-up process needed to achieve the look… and after experiencing the practical difficulties in acting under such circumstances.

‘I could fill a pint glass with the sweat that came out of my ear,’ he said.

‘At one stage I thought, why am I crying? I wasn’t crying I was just sweating out of my eyelids. It was really uncomfortable.’

And he remembers in the early days of the sitcom, when it was shot in Manchester, that he and Danny-John Jules, who plays Cat, would go clubbing at the Hacienda. As they would head back to their hotel at 5am they would often meet Llewellyn as he was heading out, going to have his prosthetics fitted, ready for a 10am shoot.

Red Dwarf XII is due to air on Dave from October.

Published: 24 Aug 2017