As of XII, Naylor has run just about as many series of the programme solo as he did with Grant. Over the course of the last five-and-a-bit series, the show was cancelled by the BBC, a potential movie spin-off became stranded in development hell, and the cast were all working on various other projects.

Even with all of these broadcasting and scheduling issues taken into account, Red Dwarf has found a second lease on life in the multi-channel age of television. With a 13th series and other possible projects still somewhere on the horizon for now, it’s impressive to look at what this sci-fi sitcom has achieved in the Dave era so far and what’s still to come…

Dear Dave

The Series VIII finale Only The Good ends with a cliffhanger and the simple caption “The End? The Smeg It Is”. However, having accrued a syndication-friendly package of 52 produced episodes, the BBC would then turn down Naylor’s proposals for a ninth series. Instead of another series, Naylor began to write Red Dwarf: The Movie.

Originally announced for a 2002 release, the film was set to feature the original cast, in an adventure where they’d run up against a race of ruthless cyborgs bent on wiping out the last of humanity. But as planned, the film required at least a £13 million budget and over a five-year period, the financing kept falling apart.

In the quest to get the film funded, at least one financier asked Naylor if he would consider recasting the characters with high-profile movie stars. Although there have been episodes without some of them, some of the time, a new Red Dwarf without Craig Charles, Chris Barrie, Robert Llewellyn, and Danny John-Jules would be unfathomable, and Naylor rightly “ran from the building”.