A Re-Run of the Comedy Series Set in Space

On the 7th January 1994, the very first episode of Red Dwarf, "The End", was repeated on BBC Two -- the first time it had been broadcast since its premiere on the 15th February 1988, something that has been attributed to Rob Grant and Doug Naylor's embarrassment over the quality of that series compared to what was to follow.

This run would not only continue past the first series, it would comprise 35 of the then 36 episodes, "Psirens" being skipped on account of Craig Charles' legal situation at the time; barring a couple of breaks for sports coverage, the show was transmitted weekly until the 28th October 1994 and the repeat of "Out of Time". So epic in scope was this all-encompassing repeat season that it was nicknamed "From Here to Entirety", although the name does not appear to ever have been used in listings magazines or onscreen.

Oh, you want to be more specific than 'a couple of breaks'? There was a break on 25/02 between "Kryten and "Better than Life" for Winter Olympics coverage; a two-week break between the broadcast of "Marooned" on 15/04 and "Polymorph" on 06/05 for snooker; the jumbled repeat order of Series IV was interrupted on 17/06 and 24/06 for World Cup fixtures, including the opening match of the whole tournament, and again on 15/07 for the first night of the BBC Proms; and the similarly-scrambled run of Series V also took a break on 19/08 for Proms coverage, and on 09/09 for athletics coverage.

But anyway. If you look at the Radio Times capsules for the repeats, it seems they were directly reproducing what was printed for the original broadcasts, occasionally truncating the synopses -- unfortunately at the expense of many of the jokes written by Grant Naylor themselves. They do preserve one truly excellent gag, however, if only by accident: Across the original broadcasts of all six episodes of Series I, Chris Barrie was billed as playing "Arnold Rimmer, BSC, SSC" -- a joke not given its punchline until the final episode of the run, "Me²", where Lister explains they stand for 'bronze swimming certificate' and 'silver swimming certificate'. As you can see from the link at the start of this post, Rimmer was also billed as such for all six repeats in 1994.

The 1994 repeat for "Stasis Leak" also curiously expands the original, and oddly short, synopsis:

Original: "A leak creates a doorway to the past...."

1994: "A defect in the suspended animation chamber creates a doorway to the past."

The shortened listings for the '94 repeats of Series III more or less match with the ones for an earlier repeat run in 1990, although the differences for the three different airings of "Backwards" seem worth highlighting:

1989 premiere	1990 repeat	1994 repeat
The crew of the Red Dwarf return for a brand new series. Twelve months have passed. Lister has given birth to twin boys but was forced to return them to their father. Kryten returns after... oh, just watch it... Lister and Rimmer finally arrive back on Earth -- only to discover time is behaving rather strangely.	12 months have passed. Lister has given birth to twin boys but was forced to return them to their father. Lister and Rimmer finally arrive back on Earth -- only to discover time is behaving rather strangely.	Lister and Rimmer finally return to earth, but time is behaving rather strangely.

I also find the 1994 billing for "Justice" rather amusing:

Original (and 1992 repeat): "Innate natural justice does not exist, except in Justice World, where the consequences of a crime are inflicted on its perpetrator. The innocent have nothing to fear, but Rimmer is in trouble."

1994 repeat: "Rimmer is in big trouble."

And for "Terrorform" (which perhaps indicates the 1992/93 airings couldn't run the full listing for some reason, and it was only in 1994 they were able to do so):

Original (and 1993 repeat): "Rimmer is taken prisoner inside his own mind."

1994 repeat: "Rimmer is taken prisoner inside his own mind. where he is stripped, oiled, menaced, manacled and humiliated."

Another curiosity can be found in the 1993 repeat listing for "Demons & Angels":

1992 premiere	1993 repeat	1994 repeat
The crew encounter evil doppelgangers.	The crew discover the evil that lurks in the hearts of men.	The Red Dwarf crew encounter their dark sides -- four evil doppelgangers bent on destruction.

Whilst "Psirens" was skipped from this repeat run, it was reinstated for two later repeats of Series VI in 1996. The original broadcast's capsule had had an extended preview of the new format, and the '96 repeat revealed the follow listing: "While in pursuit of their stolen spaceship, Lister and the others are attacked by Psirens, creatures who lure the unwary to their deaths by using a mix of telepathy and scanty clothing."

One really odd thing, though, is revealed if you compare all five listings for "Rimmerworld" -- the planned March 1996 repeat was pulled at the last moment due to the Dunblane Massacre, and it was eventually repeated a few weeks later:

1993 premiere	1994 repeat	Planned March 1996 repeat	April 1996 repeat	December 1996
Trapped aboard a disintegrating ship, Rimmer abandons his crewmates.	Trapped aboard a disintegrating ship, Rimmer abandons his crewmates, taking the only remaining escape pod. As he accelerates, he discovers the pod has no steering controls.	A cowardly scheme to save himself from a disintegrating ship backfires badly on Rimmer.	Rimmer's cowardly scheme to save himself backfires badly.	Trapped aboard a disintegrating ship, Rimmer selflessly takes the only remaining escape pod.

Quite why the December '96 repeat adds a joke that hasn't been in any of the others is beyond me. (Between February 2003 and September 2004, there was another rerun of all eight series in the post-Newsnight slot, and this time "Rimmerworld"'s billing is "Trapped aboard a ship that's disintegrating, Rimmer heroically abandons his crewmates," but that seems more likely to be down to someone at the RT altering the previous synopsis to fit. Similarly, the 2004 repeat of "Demons & Angels" combines both of the two previous listings.)

Picking our way through the remaining listings, a few further things of interest crop up. From the autumn 1997 repeat run of Series VII, the billing for "Nanarchy" states "A new series starts next summer", which would eventually slip to early 1999. When VIII does arrive on the 18th February 1999, "Back in the Red (Part One)" is stated to be "the first of a two-parter" -- the studio session to alter "Back in the Red" from the originally intended sixty-minute special to a three-parter had only taken place in December, so perhaps this wasn't known when the Radio Times went to press, and they assumed it had just been split in two?

The original synopses are still in use today on iPlayer, again truncated to fit a character limit; the descriptions Grant Naylor wrote have never been bettered as teasers, and "The End", "Thanks for the Memory" and "Marooned" remain particular favourites.