History Trivia / RedDwarf

** Holly was envisaged as a woman but Norman Lovett was cast.

* ActorInspiredElement: Holly was originally intended to simply be a voice-over role, [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness as can be seen in some scenes in Series I]], and was turned into a face on a screen at the request of actor Norman Lovett.
* AmateurCast: The original cast had all ''appeared'' on TV and/or film before, but none of them were "proper actors": Creator/ChrisBarrie was an impressionist and voice actor, Creator/CraigCharles was a poet, Creator/DannyJohnJules was a dancer, and Norman Lovett was a stand-up comedian. Clare Grogan did have some acting credits, including a role in ''Film/GregorysGirl'', but she was primarily known as the lead singer of the new wave band Altered Images before ''Red Dwarf''. Likewise, Hattie Hayridge was also a stand-up comedian before joining the cast in Series III; however, Creator/RobertLlewellyn and Chloë Annett (who joined the cast in Series III and VII respectively) were both "legit" actors.

** Norman Lovett originally auditioned for the part of Rimmer. Instead, they changed Holly to a male and offered him the part.

** Chris Barrie's favorite episode was "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonIVDimensionJump Dimension Jump]]", followed by "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonIIIMarooned Marooned]]". He actually regards Marooned as the best episode, but he loves Dimension Jump more because it was such fun to do.

** Robert Llewellyn's favourite episode was "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonVIIIKrytieTV Krytie TV]]".
** Norman Lovett's favourite episode was "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonIIQueeg Queeg]]", one of the few Holly-centric episodes.

** Holly, the ship's computer and most notable example, was played by Norman Lovett for Series I-II and was replaced by Hattie Hayridge for Series III-V before being PutOnABus in Series VI. When the character returned for Series VIII (and the Series VII finale), Holly was once again played by Norman Lovett.

* PayingTheirDues: Of the four original main characters, only one was played by an experienced actor. Creator/CraigCharles (Lister) was a poet, Danny John-Jules (The Cat) was a dancer, and Norman Lovett (Holly) was a stand-up comic. Even Chris Barrie (Rimmer), although he had acting experience by the time the series started, was originally an impressionist.

* NamesTheSame: "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonXLemons Lemons]]" has the Dwarfers travel to the past and end up meeting a traveller named [[spoiler:Jesus during the years little was chronicled about him]]...but then it turns out [[spoiler:Jesus]] was a common name back then...

** Rebecca Blackstone played [[AIIsACrapshoot Pree]] in "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonXFathersAndSuns Fathers and Suns]]" and returned as [[HotScientist Big Bang Beryl]] in "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonXITwentica Twentica]]".

** Richard O'Callaghan played The Creator in "[[Recap/RedDwarfBackToEarth Back to Earth]]" and Hogey The Roguey in "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonXTheBeginning The Beginning]]".

** Ed Bye's wife Ruby Wax as Blaze Falconburger in "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonIIITimeslides Timeslides]]".

* AuthorsSavingThrow:
** After Series VIII's mixed to poor reception, the relaunch beginning with "Back To Earth" essentially restores the status quo. Series X in particular returns to a hybrid the Series III-V and Series VI versions of the show, without Holly or Kochanski but still set on a crewless version of Red Dwarf proper. And the possible ContinuitySnarl between Series VIII and Series X-XII has instead become a MythologyGag.
** Rimmer and Kryten in particular have been returned to their characterizations from Series III to V, though all of the characters have had their Jerkass behavior reduced.

** Series V aired quite close to its intended order, with one exception; "Demons and Angels" was intended to be the season premiere, but after it turned out that not one of the split-screen shots used to depict the main characters with their good and evil counterparts was usable, it was moved to being the second-last episode in order to allow time for reshoots. Turned UpToEleven on the VHS release of the season, which bore absolutely no resemblance to the intended or actual airing orders, as both "Back to Reality" and "Quarantine" were incredibly well-received by fans, and the BBC decided to have one headline a tape each, and allocated the other episodes to each tape seemingly at random.

** The badge Rimmer wears as part of his hologramatic uniform from Series III onwards was originally a capbadge worn by the Golgofrinchian captain in ''Series/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy''.

* ImageSource:
** ConsultingMisterPuppet: Rimmer and Mr. Flibble (who's very cross).
** DogfoodDiet: Lister is reduced to this in Marooned.

* QuoteSource: This series provides the page quote for:
** AlternativeCharacterInterpretation
** BringMeMyBrownPants
** EasterEgg
** EmbarrassingMiddleName
** EverybodysDeadDave
** EverybodyDidIt
** MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily
** RidiculousFutureSequelisation
** StatingTheSimpleSolution
** VillainyDiscretionShot

** IronyAsSheIsCast: Lister is a notoriously terrible guitar player. Creator/CraigCharles is a prominent musician.

* IronyAsSheIsCast: Lister is a notoriously terrible guitar player. Creator/CraigCharles is a prominent musician.

!!This series has [[TropeNamers named the following tropes]]:

* CrapolaTech: A reference to Crapola Inc, the company responsible for manufacturing Talkie Toaster.
* EverybodysDeadDave: Repeated to OverlyLongGag levels in the first episode.
* HardLight: Rimmer when his hologram is upgraded.
* MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily: Rimmer described the Polymorph like this.

!!This series [[ImageSource provides the page image]] for:

* ConsultingMisterPuppet: Rimmer and Mr. Flibble (who's very cross).
* DogfoodDiet: Lister is reduced to this in Marooned.

** ''Red Dwarf'' started as a sketch on the radio show, ''Son Of Cliche''. There were later ''Red Dwarf'' radio shows based on the first two novels.

* RoleReprise: Robert Llewellyn was the only actor who came back to play themselves in the American remake.

** Series IV aired completely out of order. The original planned order was "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonIVMeltdown Meltdown]]", "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonIVJustice Justice]]", "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonIVCamille Camille]]", "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonIVWhiteHole White Hole]]" "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonIVDimensionJump Dimension Jump]]" and "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonIVDNA DNA]]". However, "Meltdown"'s parody of war was considered insensitive at the time of the Gulf War. As a result, it was punted to the back-end of the series. "Camille" was moved to the first episode due to the popularity of Kryten, and "DNA" was moved to the second because of good responses from fans (it is still one of the most popular episodes). "Justice" was moved to the third episode, and "White Hole" and "Dimension Jump" remained the fourth and fifth episodes as originally planned. Reruns of the series broadcast the episodes in the original intended order, but VHS and DVD used the original broadcast order.

* FanNickname: The second American pilot episode is nicknamed "White Dwarf" due to having no black characters.

** An amusing anecdote from an interview (in a canteen) where he claimed to be nothing like Lister: He proceeded to squirt a blob of ketchup directly onto the table top, then swipe a chip from Danny John-Jules's plate, dip it in the ketchup and eat it. Which couldn't be more like Lister.

* ProductionRelatedPeriodPiece: The initial [=VHS=] releases of the {{Blooper}} compliations ''Smeg Ups'' and ''Smeg Outs'' included continuity links for two competitions. (Smeg Ups had one to allow the winner the chance to become an extra for Series VII, whilst Smeg Outs had the chance to allow two people a day on the set for the same series). This naturally would not have made sense to any viewers viewing them after the competition ended, so when they were rereleased on [=DVD=] (as ''Just The Smegs''), these competition links were cut.

* ProductionRelatedPeriodPiece: The initial [=VHS=] releases of the {{Blooper}} compliations ''Smeg Ups'' and ''Smeg Outs'' included continuity links for two competitions. (Smeg Ups had one to allow the winner the chance to become an extra for Series VII, whilst Smeg Outs had the chance to allow two people a day on the set for the same series). This naturally would not have made sense to any viewers viewing them after the competition ended, so when they were rereleased on [=DVD=] (as ''Just The Smegs''), these competition links were cut.

** Alexandra Pigg was originally cast in the role of Kochanski in the pilot episode but was unavailable for new recording dates following an electricians' strike, so the part then went to Creator/ClareGrogan.

* TheOtherMarty: Creator/AlfredMolina was originally cast in the role of Rimmer, but WordOfGod says that he wanted to make too many changes to the character for the writers' liking.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece:
** The first two series are instantly recognisable as '80s British sitcoms because of their low production values, their focus on a limited range of sets, the comedy mostly being based around two characters arguing, and the fact that there are barely any influences from American comedy. Subverted in that Series III, made in 1989, clearly reverses all of these, and led to the series becoming far more popular.
** Series I, II and III all have a lot of references to 1980s pop culture, which nowadays seem somewhat out of place in the futuristic setting. Starting with Series IV, they toned this down a lot.
** "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonVIIIKrytieTV Krytie TV]]" is a pretty specific parody of the prank TV shows that were around in the mid-late 1990s.