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Catching up with Red Dwarf

June 19, 2026 by Neil Turner

After I’d caught up with Doctor Who, the next series I focussed on was Red Dwarf – another long-running BBC sci-fi series. I have a very minor connection to Red Dwarf – my godmother’s husband, Mel Cross, was a camera operator on the first two series. Sadly, Mel passed away last year.

I own the DVDs for the first eight BBC series, and the Blu-Ray for Series X which was commissioned by UKTV (which in turn is owned by BBC Studios, the commercial wing of the BBC). After series X, there were two further series, and a film, The Promised Land. Every episode of Red Dwarf, including the film, is available on BBC iPlayer in the UK. Which is odd as UKTV has its own streaming service, U, where these episodes aren’t currently available. Still, iPlayer doesn’t have adverts so it’s a plus.

Series XI

I started with Series XI, as I thought I hadn’t seen it before. It was first broadcast 10 years ago in 2016, back when our 10-year-old was a baby. However, as I watched the series it became clear that I had watched it before. Still, I enjoyed watching it again, and whilst none of the episodes are all-time classics, there are some inventive ideas there.

Series XII

These two series were filmed essentially back-to-back, either side of Christmas 2015. There are some stronger episodes here, like Siliconia where the rest of the core cast get turned into Mechanoids along with Kryten.

The last episode, Skipper, certainly feels like it was written with closure in mind, with various old faces re-appearing in cameo roles.

The Promised Land

And finally the film, or rather the ‘feature length TV special’. It was produced in 2019, and broadcast early in lockdown in 2020. The film focuses on the Felis Sapiens species – i.e. Cat’s distant relatives. There had been plans for a Red Dwarf film following series 8 that never went anywhere, and although series 9 (Back to Earth) could be considered a film, it was broadcast as three episodes.

The Promised Land, like all series apart from 8 and 9, was filmed in front of a live audience, and so it feels more like an extended episode rather than something different and special. Certainly, unlike when many other TV shows get adapted for the big screen, there doesn’t appear to have been a big increase in budget. For the most part, the story is free-standing and you can watch it without having caught up with the rest of the episodes.

The Man In The Rubber Mask

As well as watching lots of TV and film, I did also do some reading during my recovery period, and this included The Man In The Rubber Mask by Robert Llewellyn. Llewellyn plays Kryten in Red Dwarf, and this book is his autobiography. It was originally published in the 1990s, but Llewellyn has updated it more than once (as per the cover, it contains “57.4% more smeg”). The latest edition is self-published, and available from Llewellyn’s web site, and comes signed as well.

The future of Red Dwarf?

I suspect we won’t see any more new episodes of Red Dwarf now. The first series was broadcast all the way back in 1988, and apart from the addition of Kryten in series three, has had the same cast throughout. And they’re getting old; Llewellyn turned 70 this year, and the other three are in their 60s. However, I do hope that there is something special commissioned for Red Dwarf’s 40th anniversary in 2028 – perhaps an update to Can’t Smeg, Won’t Smeg?

Catching up with Doctor Who

June 13, 2026 by Neil Turner

Screenshot of the Doctor Who series on BBC iPlayer

Since I’ve had a lot of time at home recovering, I’ve taken the opportunity to catch up on missed episodes of Doctor Who. From when the series restarted in 2005, until 2020, I watched every episode either at or shortly after broadcast, and own several of the series on DVD and Blu-Ray.

Alas, after series 12 (the second one with Jodie Whittaker as the thirteenth Doctor), I fell behind, and hadn’t found the time to catch up with the series. So, a period of enforced rest was a great excuse to catch up, and bring myself up-to-date with the three more recent series and specials.

Series 13 – Flux

This appears on BBC iPlayer as nine episodes, as it encompasses the six episodes in the Flux story, broadcast on 2021, and the three specials broadcast in 2022 that tie up the thirteenth Doctor’s story arc. I liked Flux – since Doctor Who resumed in 2005, I don’t think we’ve had such a prominent story arc across six episodes. I also enjoyed the specials, especially the feature length Power of the Doctor which managed to incorporate three of the Doctor’s most well-known foes well.

2023 Specials

These are the first episodes to appear on iPlayer in the current ‘third’ era (the first being ‘classic’ Doctor Who from 1963 to 1996 and the second from 2005 to 2022). The Doctor regenerates into the Tenth Doctor (also considered to be the Fourteenth Doctor), played by David Tennant, and is reunited with his old assistant Donna Noble, played by Catherine Tate. There’s also a brief cameo from Bernard Cribbins, in what would be his final acting role before his death, as Wilfrid Mott, Noble’s grandfather.

The reason for the change in era was because Doctor Who became a joint production between the BBC and Disney, with episodes being released internationally on Disney+. It also saw the original 2005-2009 showrunner, Russell T Davies, return to the role. The title music changes with most series and it was nice for it to be closer to the 2006-7 music, which I consider to be the best. It felt like the series was going back to what made it great in the 2000s.

These are also the first episodes of Doctor Who to be broadcast in 4K Ultra HD – specifically HLG HDR which is backwards-compatible with older TVs. We bought a 4K TV during lockdown in 2022 and the improved picture quality was noticeable.

Series 14

Wikipedia calls this series 14, so I’m sticking with it even though the BBC considers it to be series 1 of the third era. This is the first series with the Fifteenth Doctor, played by Ncuti Gatwa, and I liked how the series included some musical numbers which was a first. As you would expect from a Russell T Davies series, some episodes were very camp, but I enjoyed Millie Gibson as the Doctor’s companion, Ruby Sunday.

Series 15

Which brings me to the most recent series, broadcast last year. It’s a bit of an odd series, as although there’s a new companion (Belinda Chandra, played by Varada Sethu), Ruby Sunday also appears in several episodes.

I also felt that in the last episode, Ruby’s story isn’t tied up very well. I gather she’s not likely to be in the next series, so it would be nice to know what she ends up doing instead.

The next series

So now I’m up-to-date, and ready for the next episode which was expected to be a Christmas special this December. Except it’s been cancelled, and the next series is now up in the air.

We know that there will be a new Doctor, as he regenerates at the end of the episode, but we’re not sure who they will be. On the whole, I’ve enjoyed the new episodes, and it’s been good to get caught up.

I’ll be blogging about some of the other TV series and films that I’ve been catching up with in the coming weeks.

A child-free night out

December 29, 2024May 15, 2017 by Neil Turner

Our toddler is approaching 17 months old now, and yet last night was the first time that Christine and I had a child-free night out, as a couple. We’ve struggled to get childcare in place, and our toddler is still breastfeeding before bedtime. Thankfully, this time we managed to arrange for a friend to look after them.

We went to a recording of I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue in Halifax. This is the second time we’ve seen the show be recorded; we saw the last two episodes of series 61 being recorded in Bradford in 2014. This time, they were recording the last episode of series 67, with guests Susan Calman (who we also saw later in 2014) and John Finnemore. Graeme Garden, one of the three regulars, wasn’t present for the recording, but Barry Cryer and Tim Brooke-Taylor were.

Though not quite a sell-out, the Victoria Theatre in Halifax was very busy. Tickets for ISIHAC recordings tend to only cost around £5, and so it’s a relatively cheap night out. Though each show is only around 30 minutes when broadcast, significantly more is recorded, and two episodes are taped at each recording.

These two episodes will be broadcast in July, I believe. Watch out for Susan’s lovely singing voice (although her vocal range did prove a limiting factor in the Pick Up Song round), and some controversial moves in Mornington Crescent. Sadly, you won’t get to see John’s facial expressions as he sings One Song To The Tune Of Another, such are the limitations of radio.

When we got home at about 10:30pm, our toddler was still awake but very, very tired. Suffice to say they were still asleep when we put them in the pushchair to go to the childminders this morning. Apparently they’d been perfectly happy whilst we were out. Hopefully, if our finances improve and we can get childcare again, then we’ll be able to have a few more nights out.

I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue comes to Bradford

December 29, 2024June 18, 2014 by Neil Turner

Last night, the long-running BBC Radio 4 show I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue came to Bradford, for the recording of the final two episodes of its 61st series. On the air since 1972, it has featured mostly the same participants throughout all 400+ episodes.

Unlike some TV and radio recordings, the tickets for ISIHAC were not free – but not expensive either; our restricted view tickets were £5 each, and others were £7.50. Although each episode of ISIHAC is broadcast in a 30 minute slot, the recording takes around three hours, with an interval. This is mainly because two shows are recorded at a time. If you’re a listener, the second, fourth and sixth episodes usually start with the host, Jack Dee, announcing that it is their second week at whichever location they are recording. In reality, the week is compressed into a twenty minute interval.

As you’d perhaps expect, a lot more is recorded than broadcast, and some bits have to be re-recorded at the end if the producer wasn’t happy with it. There was also a reference to the Tour de France having happened, as it’ll be broadcast in six weeks’ time, whereas in reality it’s still a couple of weeks away.

It was a really enjoyable experience, with the usual rounds of Uxbridge English Dictionary, One Song To The Tune Of Another, Sound Charades, Late Arrivals, Swanny Kazoo, and – of course – Mornington Crescent. As it was the last episode to be recorded in the series, ‘bog standard’ rules were played on this occasion. Christine wasn’t familiar with the game so I had to give her a quick overview of the rules, and there was controversy when Tim Brooke-Taylor tried to play Turnham Green after Parsons Green.

The guest was Andy Hamilton, along with the regulars of Barry Cryer, Tim Brooke-Taylor and Graeme Garden. These three are all in the 70s now and I’m sure this will be the only time I will have been able to see all three of them together. Sadly I didn’t have a chance to see the show when former presenter Humphrey Lyttelton was alive, as he sadly passed away aged 86 in 2008. But we did get to see the lovely Samantha, who, as always, was keeping the teams in check, and the state of the art laser display board.

There are usually two series of ISIHAC recorded each year – this being the first – so there will be another series being recorded in the autumn. I would definitely recommend going to watch it.

Bollywood Carmen Live in Bradford

December 23, 2024June 10, 2013 by Neil Turner

Last night Christine and I joined a few friends to be in the audience for Bollywood Carmen Live, a Bollywood-themed retelling of Bizet’s opera Carmen by BBC Three. It was broadcast live from Bradford city centre, in front of City Hall and in the adjacent City Park.

We managed to find a spot right in front of the main stage, where we got to see most of the dancing; a big screen behind us then showed the other bits (well, most of them). Admittedly the only person in it that I recognised was Meera Syal. It was great fun though. I didn’t take any photos during the broadcast but managed to snap the photo above about an hour beforehand.

Hopefully the show will show off the good side of Bradford – City Park is brilliant and still new to a lot of people. It’s also fitting that the BBC should choose to celebrate 100 years of Bollywood films in Bradford, which is the world’s first designated UNESCO City of Film.

It’s repeated on BBC Three tonight, and it’s also on the BBC iPlayer. You may be able to spot me in the audience.

Disclosure: My employer, the University of Bradford, was a partner in the production.