Original Red Dwarf cast unite for more episodes on Dave
Thursday, September 18th, 2008
The repeat-heavy UKTV channel Dave has announced that the original cast of space comedy Red Dwarf will reunite for a series of new episodes, to be broadcast next year. John Cleese, Jonny Vaughan and John Sergeant will also front original programmes for the channel.
Cleese will present a six-part gadget show called Batteries Not Included which will test out wacky new inventions, it was announced yesterday at a launch event for UKTV’s numerous rebranded channels. Meanwhile Jonny Vaughan, who currently DJs on the Capital FM breakfast show, will return to the small screen to front the four-part series Car of the Year 2008 in which the audience votes for its favourite vehicle. Political commentator John Sergeant will present a current affairs show called Argumentative in which comedians discuss issues of the day. Sergeant is also a contestant on the current series of BBC1’s Strictly Come Dancing.
The new shows are part of an attempt to move away from Dave’s reputation as a channel which only shows repeats. Originally called UKTVG2, the channel - a joint venture between Virgin Media and the BBC - was renamed Dave last year. UKTV has already committed to broadcasting 800 hours of original content across its channels next year.
UK Gold is to be rebranded as GOLD (’go on, laugh daily’) with a two-part documentary about Blackadder called The Whole Rotten Saga. The programme will feature interviews from the original cast, including Stephen Fry. Four new episodes of Red Dwarf which use both new and archived material will be broadcast to celebrate the comedy’s twentieth anniversary.
Meanwhile, Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan will launch their forthcoming show on new channel Watch, called Richard and Judy’s New Position.
In an interview with The Guardian, Richard Madeley said the show would run for “at least a year”, and that he expects the couple’s current Channel 4 audience to switch to Watch when the new programme starts.
“Audience research has found that they are happy to follow us,” he said. “People who used to watch us in the morning who couldn’t watch us at 5pm will also be able to watch.”
UKTV controller Matthew Littleford said “Over the last 12 months, we’ve been working closely with stellar talent and production companies to create new and exclusive programming for our entertainment channels.”
