The information in this little report isn’t exactly SCOOP information. In fact, a vast majority of its contents comes from the January 1998 issue of Britain’s "Cult TV" magazine. None the less, CHIEF JAWA sent in some information from the magazine that might help answer a few questions about a forthcoming restoration of television’s "Red Dwarf".

Usually, I try not to run news that has appeared elsewhere. At least, I do my best to avoid doing so. But I have been barraged with messages from people asking about the restoration of "Red Dwarf", and as no other information about the project appears to be forthcoming, I will make an exception and offer some tidbits that have been gleaned by another publication. Hopefully, this will help satiate the curiosity of some of the readers who have written in, wanting to know more.

Remember, much of this is from the January 1998 issue of "Cult TV". To give credit where credit is due. In the CHIEF’s own words:

Hi there, JIMMY here in the UK here with some extra juicy info on the
"Red Dwarf" series remasters: So without further ado here are the key
ingredients of making "Red Dwarf" Anniversary cake!

Take series 1 - 3 of top sci-fi comedy show "Red Dwarf".
Remove all old iffy model shots and replace with dazzling Computer
Generated FX. Re-record a brand spanking new music score for each episode and serve up with some newly recorded digital effects in Dolby Surround.
Next, top it all off by adding restored sequences to each episode.
Serve to the public on the BBC in February and allow them to take home
their slice of cake on February 16th in the form of video cassettes and
laserdisc.

Finally wait until winter and serve up series 4 - 6. As above, release
for the fans to take home, but not until sometime in early 1999.
If they want more, wet their appetite by telling all to prepare for
"Red Dwarf 8" in March of 99," and then brace themselves for the movie in the
year 2000!!!

What this basically means is Red Dwarf: Special Editions" will be shown
in early February (as everyone knows) and then released to the public on
video and laserdisc (the latter rumored to be presented in widescreen
format) on February 16th!

Series 4 - 6 remasters will appear on the BBC over the Christmas Period
of 1989, and they will be quickly followed by the video and laser releases
in early 1999. This makes way for Series 8 that will begin filming in
May of this year. And yes, a film will also appear, but not until the
year 2000!

Snippets of peoples views on the remasters have been appearing about the
place recently. Robert Llwellyn (Kryten) has said this about Episode 1.
"This is amazing. I can't wait to see the ones I'm in!"
Doug Naylor (the shows Co-Creator, Executive Producer and Writer) has
had this to say about the remastered series'. "There will be certain
fans who go, 'Sacrilege, how dare you change anything!' But different
people like different aspects of the show and so you have to, in the
end, do what you believe and hope people like it."

Additional stuff mentioned is the almost entire re-designing of the Red
Dwarf interior, and the new look "Blue Midget", which now has two legs
and is able to walk around on planets.

It is unknown when the US, or any other country for that matter, will
receive these new Special Edition episodes. It is worth mentioning that
the videos and laserdiscs being released will only work on PAL VHS and
Laserdisc players.

((Glen Note: In case you’re confused to the references to "series (and a number)",
think of a "series" as correlating (roughly) to what American’s call a television "season".))

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