Good news for Red Dwarf fans after the recent feature-length special The Promised Land proved a ratings hit for Dave, pulling in more than a million viewers – writer Doug Naylor has said he’s got ideas for “lots of different stories”.
Speaking on the Two Geeks, Two Beers podcast Doug Naylor revealed that he’s keen to produce more 90-minute format episodes, but that he has to wait on the green light from broadcaster UKTV.
Doug, who studied at Liverpool University, where he invented the characters for the show said: “I love the format of the film-length [episode] and would love to do more.”
Red Dwarf producer Richard Naylor added: “There are a million ideas, but it’s hard to focus on something… at this point, we don’t know if anything’s happening or if it’s a special or it’s a series.”
“And also, I do want to do something new as well,” Doug said. “So it’s juggling the two.”
So what adventures might the boys from the Dwarf embark on after The Promised Land? Asked if Captain Hollister (Mac McDonald) and the revived crew of Red Dwarf – last seen fleeing the ship at the close of series eight – could return, Doug didn’t rule it out..
He added: “They could be on a planet somewhere and a whole new civilisation could have grown up, you just don’t know…”
“This is where you go, ‘Actually, we’re looking for a new antagonist’ and you go, ‘Oh, OK, what happened to the crew?’.”
“We’ve always said that we don’t want to do the ‘final show’ – where Lister’s back on Fuchal, he’s got his white horses and somehow he’s got Kochanski and they ride off into the distance and everyone goes ‘What a lame s**t show that was’ – it would be just horrific.”
Richard added: “I think if you were gonna end it… there’d possibly be a chance in a novel or something. [Doug has] got some things that he’s told me that I genuinely think would be great endings.
“But those big moments, sometimes when you try and do them on a sitcom budget, even if it’s a healthy budget, it just doesn’t quite have the impact.”
“And also I don’t want it to end,” Doug said. “Going ‘That’s the end’… I think that would be horrible. I’m tearing up just thinking about it!”