With all the Downton Abbey and Sherlock talk circulating around the Internets lately, let us pause for a moment and not forget the brilliance that is Red Dwarf. As we get closer to the targeted September 2012 premiere for Red Dwarf X on Dave, the self-decribed Home of Witty Comedy Banter, images are starting to emerge from series X filming which took place at Shepperton Studios at the end of 2011 and in early 2012.

Early on, before filming began, Craig Charles (Lister) joked that the show’s costumes would have to be let out to compensate for the cast’s middle-age spread. Charles, jokingly, took a swipe at his fellow cast members by saying, “Kryten’s going to be a much wider robot and Cat wears a wig so you can’t see his grey hair. And Rimmer – he’ll need a touch up. Noticeably absent, however, were any mentions about Lister’s potential wardrobe issues….

Sensing a possible groundswell of comments following yesterday’s release of the first ‘official’ photo, Robert Llewellyn (Kryten) was quick to respond by taking his case to Twitter to say, “Okay, steady with all the ‘Kryten looks old’ comments. The poor fella’s been tapping away with a smeg hammer for 3 million + years.”

Lest we forget, huge props to everyone that attended any or all of the six filming dates at Shepperton Studios who have not even once lobbed any internet grenades out there and spoiled it for the rest of the planet. Even though we all know you gave it a thought, you quickly came to your senses so as to not be called out by the Red Dwarf Nation.

Middle-aged spread or not, September can’t get here soon enough. In the meantime, Smoke me a kipper, I’ll be back for breakfast.