By Brent McKnight | 6 years ago

In the current landscape, you can’t keep a good television show down for long, or even some that are less-than-stellar or run their course. Arrested Development got a new season, and may get another; nerd-favorite Community is probably going to come back online, as is Veronica Mars; and former AMC cop drama The Killing has been cancelled twice, yet a new season appeared on Netflix at the beginning of the month. One thing we’re excited to see come back is my favorite show of all time, Red Dwarf. Nothing has been able to stop the crew, and apparently nothing is going to stop the show from getting a season 11.

We’ve heard that talks were in progress for another new season, and the writing was in progress, but now What Culture reports that not only is season 11 going to become a reality, there are already dates set for both production and the premiere. The news comes from cast members Chris Barrie, Danny John-Jules, and Robert Llewellyn, who all appeared at the Sci-Fi Scarborough fair over this past weekend. They confirmed that shooting is slated to begin in October of this year, with tentative airdates already penciled in for fall of 2015 on the Dave network.

This is incredible news for legions of fans across the globe, who have been wondering if we would be seeing more from the long-running series. The futuristic British sitcom has been a geeky favorite since it debuted in 1988. How can you not love a show about the last human being alive, his uptight holographic bunkmate, a creature evolved from a domestic house cat, and a prissy maintenance droid all kicking around deep space three million years in the future? That there’s a lot to get excited about.

An extended gap between seasons wasn’t unusual for Red Dwarf, but ten years elapsed—from 1999 to 2009—between season 8 and the revival, the much maligned Back to Earth miniseries that isn’t good. After that, many fans assumed, and hoped, that was it. When the tenth season, Red Dwarf X, appeared in 2012, I was skeptical, but the new episodes totally delivered, capturing the humor, heart, and feel of the classic episodes.

It’s hard to believe that the show has been chugging for 26 years (at my last few day jobs I had numerous co-workers who haven’t been on the planet as long as Red Dwarf). Hopefully the show will be able to continue the momentum they built up with Red Dwarf X, but regardless we’re always up for some deep space mayhem, hostile simulants, weird ass creatures, and the zany cast of characters.

And if you’re in the mood, here’s a full episode from the most recent season: