Red Dwarf: The Promised Land spoilers follow.
Red Dwarf star Craig Charles has revealed the secret to maintaining the sci-fi comedy's legacy in its latest feature-length special The Promised Land – and it's a lot more straightforward than you might think.
The Promised Land, which aired on Dave in April, received rave reviews with fans dubbing it one of the best ever episodes of the show.
Star Charles, who plays Dave Lister, appeared on Sunday Brunch today (May 31) to discuss the special and revealed that the secret to creating such a successful episode was simply "energy".
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"It was one of those things where we didn't want to mess with the legacy of course. We wanted to make sure the scripts were tight," he said. "The secret of comedy isn't timing, it's energy, and we wanted to bring that energy back to the screen. It's done really well... It proves there's a market still out there. And it's funny, that was the important thing."
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The actor also spoke about his love for his Red Dwarf co-stars Chris Barrie (Rimmer), Danny John-Jules (Cat) and Robert Llewellyn (Kryten), saying that he enjoys working with them.
"It's great getting back with the lads to be honest, we've kind of grown up together," he said. "I've known them longer than I've known my wife and kids! They're all kind of old and decrepit. They're great to work with."
The Promised Land saw the team encounter a trio of cat clerics (Tom Bennett, Mandeep Dhillon and Lucy Pearman) who worshipped Lister as some sort of god – something which Charles joked was him "playing against type".
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The cats were on the run from feral cat leader Rodon (Ray Fearon) who wanted to kill any feline humanoid worshipping anyone but himself.
The epic episode ended with Rimmer becoming hyper-charged and using his power of light to destroy Rodon.
Red Dwarf: The Promised Land aired on Dave.
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Reporter & Sub-Editor, Digital Spy Susannah is a freelance writer and sub-editor, specialising in the entertainment industry. She graduated in 2014, with a BA in English and American Literature and Creative Writing, and an MA in Creative Producing. She’s been writing for Digital Spy ever since, after first getting involved through work experience, and has written hundreds of stories for the site on a range of topics, from The Sims to Doctor Who. Susannah has also written for Reveal Magazine. Her special interests are soaps (her Mastermind subject would be 2000s Coronation Street), Marvel and Star Wars. She can also quote far too many lines from Friends and Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
