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Red Dwarf XI is here, and the unexpected juggernaut shows no sign of stopping.
However, for me, I loved series 1-3 – and actually went to see the first episode of the latter, Backwards, filmed in Manchester, although I particularly didn’t like the change to the more comical opening theme music from that one onwards. Series 4 and 5 were okay, 6-8 treaded water, No.9 – the Back To Earth 3-parter – left me cold, 10, I watched one episode and that was a struggle, so how does XI fare?
The threadbare plot centres on the foresome encountering some alien baddies where, somehow, a future Arnold Rimmer has been kidnapped and might die… even though he’s a hologram. The enemy are the Expanoids, using a Chronos machine travelling into the past to affect the present, but Lister’s using it to prop up the pool table.
They all end up back in 1952, even though it’s really a prohibition era… for toasters and technology in general, heading for an underground bar that’s more like a scientist’s club. Cue Albert Enstein, kinda, and there were about three times when I had a mild chuckle, but while I made it through the 28 minutes, mostly I was just staring at the screen waiting for something hilarious. I’m still waiting…
Red Dwarf clearly suffers from having lost Rob Grant, but incredibly, it’s got a cult following that’s never-ending, and after 2012’s Red Dwarf X, Dave shot Red Dwarf XI and Red Dwarf XII back-to-back, the latter due to air this time next year.
Red Dwarf XI begins tomorrow night on Dave at 9pm, but is available to watch early on Dave’s website. The series isn’t yet available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD, but you can check out other Red Dwarf releases, and click on the top-right image in this review for the full-size version.
Score: 1.5/10
Director: Doug Naylor
Producers: Richard Naylor and Kerry Waddell
Writer: Doug Naylor
Creators: Rob Grant and Doug Naylor
Music: Howard Goodall
Cast:
Rimmer: Chris Barrie
Lister: Craig Charles
Cat: Danny John-Jules
Kryten: Robert Llewellyn
Harmony: Lucie Pohl
Nearly Dead Guy: Kyle James
4 of 27: Kevin Eldon
3 of 63: Alexis Dubus
Einstein Bob: David Sterne
Big Bang Beryl: Rebecca Blackstone
Cpt. Dorothy McCutcheon: Susanne Braun
Undercover Scientist: Jonathan Cass
Bouncer: Sam Douglas
Lt. Clarence O’Neil: David Menkin
Various: Daniel Barker (voice)
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.