Yahoo News Red Dwarf's Craig Charles on secret to maintaining show's legacy
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".
Related: Red Dwarf writer solves major plot hole
"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."
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".
Related: 12 things you never knew about Red Dwarf
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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