15 Mind-Blowing Facts You Didn't Know About Red Dwarf

14. Red Dwarf Has Made TV History

Believe it or not, Red Dwarf is Britain's longest running sci-fi series apart from Doctor Who. It's been running for ten series and counting, a feat the likes of Blakes 7, Thunderbirds and even Being Human has been unable to match. Not bad for a show that these days dispenses new episodes as often as the chicken soup dispenser on G deck actually dispenses chicken soup. Strangely, Red Dwarf nearly didn't happen at all. Former Head of BBC Comedy Gareth Gwenlan once said: "You can't have a sitcom in space, there's no settee" while Janet Street Porter, important within the BBC at the time, tried to scale down the budget for Gunmen of the Apocalypse - an episode that would later go on to win an Emmy. At the end of series 6 Red Dwarf also picked up Best BBC Sitcom at the British Comedy Awards in 1994 (pictured). To this day it is BBC2's longest-running, highest-rated sitcom. Look who's laughing now.