Part II, Chapter XXIV: "I'm All Alone, More or Less"
“We decided pretty early into the fourth season that we wouldn’t go beyond a fifth. Barrie was spending more time on Brittas Empire, and with talks of an American version of the show, Llewellyn would be unavailable as well. I’m actually glad we decided to let it end there in retrospect, rather than suffer from too much seasonal rot.”
- Rob Grant, in a 2008 interview. [1]
The wait between the third and fourth seasons of
Red Dwarf had not gone unnoticed. When it was announced that there would be no season in 1990, despite the show being renewed for two more seasons, there were serious rumours that the show would suffer the same fate as the classic series of
Doctor Who. These fears were allayed when the airing date of January 31st 1991 was announced.
The outbreak of the combat phase of the Gulf War caused delays and a change in the running order, with the BBC changing it so that the episode “Camille” would be aired first, on the 14th of February. As a result, the episodes “Dimension Jump” and “Meltdown” (the latter of which had a strong anti-war message), were postponed. [2]
During the airing of the fourth season, Grant and Naylor announced that the fifth season, to be aired the following year, would be the final season. Chris Barrie was also starring in the successful sitcom
Brittas Empire, and wished to devote more time to it, and Robert Llewellyn was involved with the American
Red Dwarf pilots. This made it difficult to get the main cast together for filming. The fifth season would end in such a way that it would be possible for the show to continue in the future, should an opportunity arise.
Although fans would be disappointed by the news of
Red Dwarf coming to an end, the news that Universal Studios were in the process of making an American series was of some comfort. Both Grant and Naylor would be involved, as would Robert Llewellyn, who would retain his role as Kryten. However, the majority of the cast would be American, with the exception of Jane Leeves, playing Holly.
These would be the only two actors to remain after the first pilot, which the executives were unhappy with. Grant and Naylor were, however, given another chance to make a pilot, but on a greatly reduced budget, and with a mainly new cast. [3]
List of Episodes of Season 4 of Red Dwarf:
- Camille
- DNA
- Justice
- White Hole
- Dimension Jump
- Meltdown
1992 would bring both the end and the beginning of
Red Dwarf, as the fifth and final British season aired, and the American version was greenlit. [4]
[1] As yesteday's update gave away, British Red Dwarf ends at season 5. I do have plans for it, as this update entails.
[2] As with previous Red Dwarf updates, very little non-OTL stuff here. To be honest, the Red Dwarf updates have usually been to allow for other things to happen.
[3] In other words, Bierko isn't in the second pilot. I'll detail the second pilot in the next Dwarf update, which will be after the next ST and DW updates.
[4] Surprise! I wouldn't really mention Red Dwarf if I wasn't going to change anything about it.
Okay. Little update tonight. The next update was going to be the BIG music one, but I'm cleaving it in twain, because otherwise it will be far too long. Next update is focussed on the Wilburys, the one after is for other artists. After that, We go back to Trek and Who for a little while.