Red Dwarf XI is the eleventh series of the British science fiction sitcom Red Dwarf. It was broadcast on UK television channel Dave in September and October 2016.
The series follows the life of technician Dave Lister (Craig Charles), who is the only survivor of an accident on the spaceship Red Dwarf, and the last survivor of the human race, three million years in the future, and his shipmates, a holographic reproduction of his dead bunkmate and boss, Arnold Rimmer (Chris Barrie), a sapient Cat (Danny John-Jules) who is a result of three million years' evolution and sanitation droid Kryten (Robert Llewellyn).
Production Red Dwarf X had been the first full series since the revival by Dave, and had been written and directed by Doug Naylor alone, and production company Grant Naylor Productions had made nothing but Red Dwarf some time. This had proved to be difficult, and so Baby Cow were brought on as an additional production company.
The episodes were recorded at Pinewood Studios in November and December 2015, with the show having moved from its old base at Shepperton. The shooting of series XII, which had been ordered at the same time, followed after the new year.
The transport ship Starbug returned to the show as a set, after having been absent in the previous series. Location filming was done at Fawley Power Station near Southampton for "Give & Take".
Casting The main cast returned, with Craig Charles leaving his regular role as Lloyd Mullaney in Coronation Street in order to shoot this series.
Guest cast included the actors Kevin Eldon and Lucie Pohl in "Twentica", as a simulant and the underground scientist Harmony de Gauthier respectively, and Maggie Service and Dan Tetsell as two lovers in flashbacks in "Samsara".
The episode "Krysis" features Dominic Coleman as Butler, another mechanoid who Kryten sees as a rival.
Reception Writing for The List Henry Northmore said that "Old fans won't feel short changed. The cast are obviously incredibly comfortable slipping back into their old characters." but complained about the humour, saying that "The stories are still incredibly clever subversions of sci-fi tropes but the jokes are often clunky. There are some wonderful details like the scientists hustling physics in a prohibition era speakeasy in the first episode or the fun Naylor has with probability in the second. It's just a shame the humour doesn't match the smart scenarios."
SciFiNow gave the Blu-Ray review of the series 3 stars out of 5, saying that "It's a bit wobbly and somewhat inconsistent, but there are some great ideas here, and the chemistry between the cast is as wonderful as ever."
Tom Eames writing for Digital Spy said that they had been "pleasantly surprised with the high quality of Red Dwarf's 11th series on Dave", and that "'Twentica' and 'Officer Rimmer' were the only slight disappointments".
Episodes
References