History WhatCouldHaveBeen / RedDwarf

* There was originally supposed to be more flashbacks in the style of Lister's one from "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonIBalanceOfPower Balance of Power]]" to highlight Lister's loneliness, but they could never get everyone's schedules to line up.

* "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonVIIEpideme Epideme]]" was originally intended to be played by Creator/PatrickStewart until they decided to make him LaughablyEvil and gave the part to Gary Martin.

* The Series VIII premiere "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonVIIIBackInTheRed Back in the Red]]" was originally intended to be a one-hour special. It was expanded into a three-parter with reshoots when several other episodes fell through due to lack of time and money.
* The episode "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonVIIICassandra Cassandra]]" was almost made as a two-parter. Conversely, the two-parter "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonVIIIPete Pete]]" began as a single episode titled "Captain's Office", but was expanded into a two-parter for similar reasons to "Back in the Red".

* TheMovie. Funding was impossible to get. Though the creators did want to fund it, [[ExecutiveMeddling wanted to]] [[TheOtherDarrin replace the cast]] with well-known American actors, a ''huge'' no-no in the eyes of the cast, crew and fans.

** Alexandra Pigg was [[TheOtherMarty originally cast as Kochanski]] before filming was delayed due to an electrician's strike and she had to drop out, being replaced by Clare Grogan.

* Clare Grogan would have returned to become a regular during Series VII had she not been tied up with other work commitments.

** Creator/SophieAldred wanted to play the new version of Kochanski rather than Chloe Annett. In a column in ''Magazine/DoctorWhoMagazine'' she mentioned being "cheesed off" at not getting the role. Although she did decide she wasn't that bothered after Creator/NormanLovett pointed out to her that she'd have had to snog Creator/CraigCharles, which she thought "would have been like snogging my brother".

** Originally Holly was going to be TheVoice only, but Norman Lovett managed to coax them into making him a head.

** Creator/SophieAldred wanted to play the new version of Kochanski rather than Chloe Annett. In a column in ''Magazine/DoctorWhoMagazine'' she mentioned being "cheesed off" at not getting the role. Although she did decide she wasn't that bothered after Norman Lovett pointed out to her that she'd have had to snog Creator/CraigCharles, which she thought "would have been like snogging my brother".

* Creator/GrahamChapman was originally cast as the newsreader in "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonIIITimeslides Timeslides]]", but died before filming started. He was replaced by Ruby Wax.

** Creator/SophieAldred wanted to play the new version of Kochanski rather than Chloe Annett. In a column in Magazine/DoctorWhoMagazine she mentioned being "cheesed off" at not getting the role. Although she did decide she wasn't that bothered after Norman Lovett pointed out to her that she'd have had to snog Creator/CraigCharles, which she thought "would have been like snogging my brother".

* The originally-planned second episode ''Bodysnatcher'' centred around Rimmer trying to create a new body from pieces of Lister's, such as his hair. When filming of the first series was delayed due to an electricians' strike, Grant and Naylor looked at the scripts again whilst trying to remount the production and decided ''Bodysnatcher'' was the weakest of the lot, leading them to drop it altogether, although jokes and ideas from it were cannibalised into other Series I episodes. A script reading by Chris Barrie, with an acompanying animatic, was released alongside ''Red Dwarf Remastered'' on ''The Bodysnatcher Collection'' with a new ending written by Grant and Naylor for the release.

* "[[Recap/{{Red Dwarf Season VII Epideme}} Epideme]]" was originally intended to be played by Creator/PatrickStewart until they decided to make him LaughablyEvil and gave the part to Gary Martin.
* This article [[https://www.ganymede.tv/2017/01/red-dwarf-vii-the-early-drafts/]] examines drafts of the scripts for series 7 [mostly prior to Doug Naylor's re-writes], noting several differences.

* The episode "[[Recap/{{Red Dwarf Season VIII Cassandra}} Cassandra]]" was almost made as a two-parter. Conversely, the two-parter "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonVIIIPete Pete]]" began as a single episode titled "Captain's Office", but was expanded into a two-parter for similar reasons to "Back in the Red".

* [[https://downthetubes.net/?p=125634 According]] [[https://downthetubes.net/?p=125672 to]] these two articles, a new Red Dwarf comic strip was meant to be included in a new [[=BBC=]] Worldwide Comic magazine around 1997. However, the new magazine did not test well with audiences so it never got off the ground. There was also mention of a new Red Dwarf focused magazine in the same article, but that didn't get off either.

* There was supposed to be a third Grant Naylor penned novel until their partnership split. Naylor used the title for his solo novel, while Grant wrote his own novel. Grant was supposed to write another book following from the SequelHook at the end of ''Backwards'', but hasn't penned anything since ''Literature/{{Fat}}''.

* To address the fact that the programme had never really had [[ADayInTheLimelight an episode that focused on the Cat]], an episode titled "Identity Within" was written for Series VII which would have inflicted the Cat with a disease that [[MateOrDie could only be cured by sex]] and the crew was meant to visit a slave auction at a GELF colony to try and acquire a mate for the Cat. The episode was eventually cut due to budget problems, so in the end there was never really an episode that featured Cat as the main character. A similar idea of the Cat finding a potential mate was eventually used in the XI episode ''Can of Worms.''

* This article [[https://www.ganymede.tv/2017/01/red-dwarf-vii-the-early-drafts/]] examins drafts of the scripts for series 7 [mostly prior to Doug Naylor's re-writes], noting several differences.
* The Series VIII premiere "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonVIIIBackInTheRed Back in the Red]]" was originally intended to be a one-hour special. It was expanded into a three-parter with reshoots.
* The episode "[[Recap/{{Red Dwarf Season VIII Cassandra}} Cassandra]]" was almost made as a two-parter. Conversely, the two-parter "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonVIIIPete Pete]]" began as a single episode titled "Captain's Office".