Watch Red Dwarf

The science fiction sitcom Red Dwarf was produced by the U.K. based television network BBC2 by writers Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, who also wrote the first six seasons of the show. First airing on BBC2 in 1988 the show has gone through various periods of hiatus before returning to the television to complete ten seasons. Alongside the television show Red Dwarf has become a multimedia phenomenon with comic books, novels and magazines created to tell the stories of the characters from the original TV show.

The basic plot of Red dwarf revolves around the slobbish maintenance worker Dave Lister onboard the mining spaceship Red Dwarf beginning in the late 22nd century. Lister is disciplined for smuggling his pregnant cat, Frankenstein onboard the ship by being placed in suspended animation with Frankenstein sealed in the ship's hold. While held in suspended animation the Red Dwarf suffers a radiation leak that kills everybody onboard except Lister and the cat. The ship's computer, Holly holds Lister in suspended animation for three million years until the radiation levels on the ship are safe for human habitation.

Upon his release Lister discovers he is the only living human and is to be accompanied onboard by a hologram of his nemesis Arnold Rimmer; Lister and Rimmer later discover Lister's cat, Frankenstein's kittens have evolved into a humanoid feline hybrid creature in human form, known as Cat. Throughout the early seasons of the show, Lister's main aim is to return to Earth and replace the hologram of Rimmer with the object of his romantic attention Kristine Kochanski who died in the radiation leak.

The focus of Red Dwarf shifted from the relationship between Lister and Rimmer during the first few seasons to a monster of the week format before writers and creators Grant and Naylor left the show after season six. The character of Kochanski has been brought back to the show at various times to provide Lister with a love interest; the addition of a cyborg called Kryton added another recurring cast member from the third season onwards.