When Red Dwarf returned to television screens at Easter 2009 for a three-part mini-series, it certanily came as a surprise. Despite a cult following and repeated DVD releases, many had assumed that the BBC’s cancellation of the series after its eighth run was the end for Lister, Rimmer and co.

In the intervening ten years, there were repeated rumours of a film, which apparently even entered pre-production at one point, but it all came to nought.

It is fair to say that Back to Earth was but a slight return, squarely aimed at the fans drawn in by non-terrestrial broadcaster Dave’s repeats rather than a new audience. The episodes were derivative of the show in places and played on some meta-nonsense regarding Craig Charles’ status as a regular on Coronation Street. Yet their success proved there is still an audience for the show.

In the first two series of the show, with a small budget and limited special effects, Red Dwarf often played like an outer space transplantation of The Odd Couple, with the character-based comedy surrounding regarding the balance of power between Lister and Rimmer.

From Series III onwards, the show seemed to gain a larger budget and the cast expanded to include the mechanoid character Kryten as a regular, filling the role of butler, competent technical assistant and comedy stooge. Riding high, the storylines took the crew off ship more with some interesting concepts were still tackled, such as a world where everything ran Backwards and Dimension Jump where we met an alternate and heroic Rimmer.

Later in the run, the losing and regaining of Red Dwarf itself provided a light series story arc and the introduction of Lister’s lost love Kochanski (from a parallel universe) shook up the dynamic again, though arguably not for the better. Arguably this is where scripts began to seem tired and ideas well worn.

With a brand new six-part series now in the can and due to be broadcast this autumn, here are our hopes for the long-awaited Series X…

» Virtual reality was a hot topic in the 90’s and inspired episodes like Better than Life and Back to Reality. The new series should draw on current technological innovations.

» Episodes that challenge the format. The two-hander Marooned from Series III was not just funny but poignant and well observed, while Series II’s Queeg also disrupted the status-quo with hilarious results.

» A focus on the bittersweet rather than gross-out comedy elements. Strong stories that provide conflict between the central characters are always entertaining.

» The proper return of computer character Holly. In the first two series he was a well-written character, but the role was diminished by the introduction of Kryten.

» Dopplegangers, clones and alternate versions of the crew have all been done to death, with concepts such as alter-egos Duane Dibbley and Ace Rimmer creating diminishing returns.

» Avoid repeated encounters with GELFs (Genetically Engineered Life Forms). Again, we’ve been through various permutations of the crew finding romance with a monster.

» As a sitcom, you should be able to watch any episode without strong reference to the previous ones, so a little less self-referencing wouldn’t do any harm.

» Whatever happened to Lister’s dream of Fiji and his desire to get home to Earth?

> Pre-order Series X on DVD on Amazon.

> Pre-order Series X on Blu-ray on Amazon.

Watch a clip…

What are your hopes for Series X? Let us know below…