The Best of British Comedy

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Time travel, parallel universes, and a host of other sci-fi tropes become fodder for comedy in the BBC's wacky, long-running series Red Dwarf. Writers-creators Rob Grant and Doug Naylor mold a sci-fi sitcom that follows the exploits of Lister (Craig Charles), a deep-space miner who emerges from stasis 3 million years in the future to find that his only companions are Rimmer (Chris Barrie), a hologram of his dead bunkmate; Cat (Danny John-Jules), a humanoid who evolved from his pet cat; and Holly (Norman Lovett), the ship's computer. The style of the show evolved radically during its 8-series run. Series 1 (1987) finds the show working out its premises on rudimentary gray sci-fi sets, but the basic Lister-Rimmer odd-couple dynamic is already clicking. Although the creators cite Dark Star as their inspiration, the bizarre sci-fi scenarios these early episodes plunge into are more reminiscent of Red Dwarf's BBC cousin, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Subsequent Red Dwarf series would move beyond the basic sitcom approach, adding a few additional characters along the way. But the first two series (available in a DVD 2-pack) started the cult phenomenon and stand up as one of the oddest -- and funniest -- comedies ever to come out of England.