The Making of Red Dwarf

by Joe Nazzaro, Rob Grant (Foreword), Doug Naylor (Foreword)

BBC Comedy. Behind the scenes look at the cult classic, Time travel, over the top comedy series.

Genres: Nonfiction

95 pages, Paperback

First published May 16, 1994

Reviews

[Gavin Felgate · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book focuses on the making of Series 6 of Red Dwarf, which originally aired in 1993. Series 6 was a bit of a departure for the series, as the writers made the surprising decision to open it with the main characters stranded without Red Dwarf itself, also meaning that the ship's computer Holly got written out for several episodes (before reappearing at the end of Series 7).

This book is primarily about the making of Series 6's most acclaimed episode, "Gunmen of the Apocalypse", which takes the characters to a new setting involving a wild west simulation. It's understandable really, as this is the episode that this series is mostly associated with, and perhaps best remembered for.

This was quite a short read, and I found it enjoyable for finding out facts from behind the screens, including moments that did not make it to air, as well as stories about how different aspects of the episode were achieved, as well as almost feeling like a filmmakers' memoir. Better still, there were lots of script and storyboard exerpts and pictures that I probably wouldn't have seen otherwise, including the cast out of costume.

The only real issue was that sometimes the main narrative would be broken up in mid-sentence by a sidebar-type story, so I'd have to jump around a bit to be able to read the articles properly. I'm glad I picked it up secondhand though.

[Dane Cobain · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another of the obscure Red Dwarf books that I picked up from a car boot sale, and it was certainly a bargain when you consider what I paid for it. It takes you behind the scenes for the shoot of the infamous Gunmen of the Apocalypse episode, complete with high-quality photos by Nobby Clark. It won’t make that much sense to you if you don’t watch the show, but it’s great for fans.

[Derelict Space Sheep · Rating 2 out of 5]

Behind the scenes of Red Dwarf Series VI, especially ‘Gunmen of the Apocalypse’. After three months spent shadowing the production, Nazzaro wrote a stunningly dull (though mercifully short) exposé, bland as tofu. If not for the photographs, no-one would ever read this.

[Edward Davies · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one's probably only for fans of the show, with a behind the scenes look at the making of Series 6 back in 1993.