Red Dwarf: Every Series Ranked From Worst To Best

14. Back To Earth

The concept of Back To Earth is interesting - a female version of (clue is in the title) Back To Reality's despair squid has captured them and is inducing hallucinations filled with joyous events that keep them occupied while it prepares to feed on them. The execution of the story is another matter entirely.

Dave, a UK channel that mostly airs reruns, had commissioned more Red Dwarf after ten years of the show being off the air. Finding them having to work around the actors' other commitments (notably Craig Charles was filming Coronation Street at the time, and several actors from that appear as themselves in Back To Earth), the story brought the boys from the Dwarf to our Earth. Faced with the idea that they were fictional characters here, they came across their own actors as well as fan club oddities such as the Starbug car.

There's a lot to like about Back To Earth, and some of the clever continuity and science fiction that Red Dwarf is known for. It's just a shame that it never really feels like the show until the third episode.