To those who are still having difficulty handling the notion that it was right at two years between new Sherlock episodes, try being a long-time Red Dwarf fan in recent years! As so very eloquently pointed out on the official RD website, reddwarf.co.uk, it was three years, three months and ten days between the 19th June 2012, the date when post-production of Red Dwarf X was completed and when the pre-production of Red Dwarf XI began on 28 September 2015. And that’s just pre-production!

Cast and crew began their studio recordings before a live audience at Pinewood Studios of the twelve episodes of Red Dwarf XI & XII in mid-November 2015. Now, with the studio portions all six episodes of Red Dwarf XI in the can and half of RDXII recorded, thanks to some intrepid reporting over at Digital Spy, we can report on what is known so far about the forthcoming efforts of the boys from the small rouge one.

• Co-creator Doug Naylor is once again back as its chief writer, while Henry Norman – the man behind everything from Alan Partridge to Mighty Boosh to Moone Boy to Gavin & Stacey – will executive produce. Steve Coogan’s company Baby Cow Productions will handle the production this time around.
• The core four of Craig Charles, Chris Barrie, Robert Llewellyn and Danny John-Jules are all back on board as Lister, Rimmer, Kryten and Cat, respectively.
• Plot details are pretty thin at the moment, but Chris Barrie was recently quoted as saying that it will include an episode that involves four Krytens, hinting that all the cast could become robots.
• The budget is also big enough “to tell the stories Doug wants to tell” (a reference to RD co-creator, Doug Naylor)
• Speaking at the latest Dwarf fan convention DJXVII, Naylor revealed that the new series will reuse the sets from series X, but that there will likely be a new Starbug interior.
• The Cat (Danny John-Jules) told Digital Spy that RDXI will go back to its early series roots. He said: “It’s going back to the old school, the four guys and loads of banter. That’s what we want.“
• Digital Spy sounded a bit over the top after their visit to the set saying they couldn’t reveal much yet, but “…trust us when we say that we were like a giddy schoolboy upon seeing the impressive set and all the classic Red Dwarf​ props that any smeghead would desire.”

Filming continues at Pinewood through Friday, 6 March 2016 with a tentatively proposed Summer 2016 (at the earliest) transmission possibility on Dave in the UK for RDXI with RDXII just around the corner in 2017. Let’s hope a U.S. broadcast on public television, the home of Red Dwarf in America, is only a short distance behind.