114-565: Norweb , originally the North Western Electricity Board , was a British electricity supply and distribution company. It supplied electricity to about 4.7 million industrial, commercial and domestic customers in the North West of England , although Merseyside and parts of Cheshire were instead covered by Manweb . The board was originally formed in 1948, as part of the nationalisation of the electricity industry by
228-607: A teaser trailer was released. A rough release date of sometime in April was given and, a day later on 11 March 2020, the official Twitter account for Dave revealed the title of the television film: Red Dwarf: The Promised Land . While speaking to the British Comedy Guide in May 2024, Robert Llewellyn confirmed that a three-episode special was due to be filmed in late 2024 with an air date sometime in 2025. Red Dwarf
342-583: A 30%+ Black British population. In contrast, the town of St. Helens in Merseyside, unusually for a city area, has a very low percentage of ethnic minorities with 98% identifying as White British. The City of Liverpool, over 800 years old, is one of the few places in Britain where ethnic minority populations can be traced back over dozens of generations: being the closest major city in England to Ireland, it
456-444: A 90-minute feature-length special would be produced instead, to be filmed from December 2019 to January 2020, with location filming scheduled for November. Three 60-minute documentaries were also announced to accompany it, intended to act as a retrospective of all previous 12 series. In January 2020, the first publicity photos of the special were released, with Ray Fearon revealed as the first confirmed guest actor portraying Rodon,
570-607: A Cause (1955), Casablanca (1942), Easy Rider (1969), The Terminator (1984), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Isaac Asimov's Robot series (1939–85) and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse . The writers based the whole theme of some episodes on the plots of feature films. The series III episode "Polymorph" references and parodies key moments from Alien (1979); from series IV, " Camille " echoes key scenes from Casablanca (1942), while " Meltdown " borrows
684-613: A Super League title in 1998. Wigan's most successful season of that period was in 1994-95 when Wigan won the Grand Slam of all four trophies/cups. Norweb also sponsored a tram named "The Power" on the Manchester Metrolink network. Norweb's "The Power" advertising hoardings also featured prominently inside Manchester United 's Old Trafford ground in the early 1990s. Norweb was also referenced in Red Dwarf , which
798-544: A commissioned programme on a digital network. Back to Earth was released on DVD on 15 June 2009, and on Blu-ray on 31 August 2009. Back to Earth was subsequently described on the series' official website as "for all intents and purposes, the 'ninth series' of Red Dwarf ". This placement was confirmed when Series X was commissioned and branded as the tenth series, although Back to Earth continues not to be referred to as "Series IX" on home media or digital releases. On 10 April 2011, Dave announced that it had commissioned
912-480: A consistent set of opening titles, replacing music and creating ambient sound effects with a digital master. The remastered series were released in a four-disc DVD box set "The Bodysnatcher Collection" in 2007. Four years elapsed between Series VI and VII, partly due to the dissolving of the Grant and Naylor partnership, but also due to cast and crew working on other projects. When the series eventually returned, it
1026-453: A hologram once again. While it was left unmentioned whether the Rimmer on board ship is the one who originally left, the revived version, or a third incarnation entirely (episodes have alluded to him remembering events from both previous incarnations' lives); with the release of The Promised Land , series-creator Doug Naylor confirmed in 2020 that the Rimmer from Back To Earth onwards is
1140-628: A literary reference to the Samuel Beckett play Waiting for Godot ), as well as the crew meeting a man whom they believe to be Jesus Christ in series X episode " Lemons ". The series VII episode " Ouroboros " derives its name and theme from the ancient mythological snake of the same name . The third episode of series VI, " Gunmen of the Apocalypse ", was based on the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The series explores many science-fiction staples such as time-travel paradoxes (including
1254-479: A professional voice actor and impressionist who had previously worked with both the writers on Spitting Image and with the producers on Happy Families and Jasper Carrott productions. Craig Charles, a Liverpudlian "punk poet", was given the role of Dave Lister. He was approached by the production team for his opinion about the "Cat" character, as they were concerned it may be considered by people as racist. Charles described "Cat" as "pretty cool" and after reading
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#17327937016911368-455: A result of a spare budget being assigned for a second series of Happy Families that would never arise, and producer Paul Jackson 's insistence that Red Dwarf should be filmed instead. The show was fortunate to be remounted after an electricians ' strike partway through rehearsals in early 1987 shut the entire production down (the title sequence was filmed in January 1987). The filming
1482-431: A six-episode series X to be broadcast on Dave in late 2012. Filming dates for the new series Red Dwarf X were announced on 11 November 2011, along with confirmation that the series would be shot at Shepperton Studios in front of an audience. Principal filming began on 16 December 2011 and ended on 27 January 2012, and the cast and crew subsequently returned for six days filming pick-ups . Discounting guest stars, only
1596-755: A top-tier administrative body in the form of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority , which means the 10 Greater Manchester boroughs are once again second-tier authorities. North West England is bounded to the east by the Pennines and to the west by the Irish Sea . The region extends from the Scottish Borders in the north to the West Midlands region in the south. To its southwest is North Wales . Amongst
1710-495: A vocabulary of fictional expletives to avoid using potentially offensive words in the show and to give nuance to futuristic colloquial language; in particular, "smeg" (and variants such as "smegging", "smegger", and "smeg-head") features prominently, alongside the terms "gimboid", "goit" and " Gwenlan ". The changes made to the series' cast, setting, creative teams and even production values from series to series have meant that opinions differ greatly between fans and critics as to
1824-407: Is a British science fiction comedy programme created by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor , consisting of a sitcom that aired on BBC Two between 1988 and 1999, and on Dave since 2009, gaining a cult following . The programme follows low-ranking technician Dave Lister , who awakens after being in suspended animation for three million years to find that he is the last living human , and that he
1938-429: Is alone on the mining spacecraft Red Dwarf —except for a hologram of his deceased bunkmate Arnold Rimmer and " Cat ", a life form which evolved from Lister's pregnant cat . As of 2020, the cast included Chris Barrie as Rimmer, Craig Charles as Lister, Danny John-Jules as Cat , Robert Llewellyn as the sanitation droid Kryten , and Norman Lovett as the ship's computer, Holly . To date, twelve series of
2052-559: Is home to a significant ethnic Irish population, with the city being home to one of the first ever Afro-Caribbean communities in the UK, as well as the oldest Chinatown in Europe. The table below is not how many people belong to each ethnic group (e.g. a BBC News article in 2008 claimed there are over 25,000 ethnic Italians in Manchester alone whilst only 6,000 Italian-born people live in
2166-426: Is in suspended animation at the time, as punishment for smuggling a cat aboard the ship. The cat, Frankenstein, who is revealed to be pregnant, is safe in the cargo hold. Following the accident, the ship's computer Holly keeps Lister in stasis until the radiation levels return to normal—a process that takes three million years. Lister therefore emerges as the last human being in the universe —but not alone on board
2280-600: Is still predominant throughout the county, and stretches as far north as Furness in South Cumbria to parts of north Greater Manchester and Merseyside in the south of the region. The region boasts some of the most distinctive accents in the form of the Scouse accent, which originates from Liverpool and its surrounding areas, and the Manc accent, deriving from the central Manchester district. Both of these descend from
2394-438: Is supposedly dead and Holly is offline due to water damage caused by Lister leaving a tap running. Actress Sophie Winkleman played a character called Katerina, a resurrected hologram of a Red Dwarf science officer intent on replacing Rimmer. To achieve a more cinematic atmosphere, Back to Earth was not filmed in front of a studio audience. Some previous Red Dwarf episodes had been shot in that way (" Bodyswap " and all of
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#17327937016912508-645: Is the third-most-populated region in the United Kingdom, after the South East and Greater London . The largest settlements are Manchester and Liverpool . The official region consists of the following subdivisions : After abolition of the Greater Manchester and Merseyside County Councils in 1986, power was transferred to the metropolitan boroughs , making them equivalent to unitary authorities. In April 2011, Greater Manchester gained
2622-456: Is usually addressed with Rimmer's belief in extraterrestrial life being shot down, as with a vessel he believes to be an alien ship (which turns out to be a garbage pod). However, there are non-human life forms such as evolutions of Earth species (e.g. the cat race), robotic or holo-life forms created by humans, and a "genetically engineered life form" (GELF), an artificially created creature. Simulants and GELFs frequently serve as antagonists during
2736-653: The 2019 United Kingdom general election , the Labour Party won a plurality of seats in the North West. It is one of the two regions (along with Yorkshire and the Humber ) that were expected to hold a referendum on the establishment of an elected regional assembly . However, when the North East region of England rejected having an elected regional assembly in a referendum, further referendums were cancelled and
2850-570: The Electricity Act 1947 . The board was responsible for the purchase of electricity from the electricity generator (the Central Electricity Generating Board from 1958) and its distribution and sale to customers. The key people on the board were: Chairman R. F. Richardson (1964, 1967), Deputy Chairman F. Linley (1964, 1967), full-time member J. W. K. Evans (1967). The total number of customers supplied by
2964-456: The Indices of deprivation 2007 , the region has many more Lower Layer Super Output Areas in the 20% most deprived districts than the 20% least deprived council districts. Only North East England shows more indicators of deprivation than the North West, but the number of affluent areas in the North West is very similar to Yorkshire and the Humber . The most deprived local authority areas in
3078-538: The Industrial Revolution hundreds of thousands of Welsh people migrated to the North West of England to work in the coal mines. Parts with notably high populations with Welsh ancestry as a result of this include Liverpool , Chester , Skelmersdale , Widnes , Halewood , Wallasey , Ashton-in-Makerfield and Birkenhead . The Mixed Race population makes up 1.3% (93,800) of the region's population. There are 323,800 South Asians , making up 4.7% of
3192-669: The Scandinavian influence throughout the North West. Through the Middle Ages the dialects of the North West would have been considerably different from those spoken in the Midlands and south. It was only with the spread of literacy (particularly with the publication of the King James Bible ) that Standard English spread to the region. Even so, local dialects continued to be used and were relatively widespread until
3306-553: The Solway Coast , and almost all of the Forest of Bowland ). Weather in this part of England is typically classified as maritime, moist and temperate, with a moderate annual temperature range. Average annual precipitation in the UK typically ranges from approximately 800 mm to 1,400 mm. Temperatures are generally close to the national average. Cumbria usually experiences the most severe weather, with high precipitation in
3420-590: The UK charts . Goodall himself sang "The Rimmer Song" heard during the Series VII episode "Blue", to which Chris Barrie mimed. In 1998, on the tenth anniversary of the show's first airing (and between the broadcast of Series VII and VIII), the first three series of Red Dwarf were remastered and released on VHS . The remastering included replacing model shots with computer graphics, cutting certain dialogue and scenes, re-filming Norman Lovett's Holly footage, creating
3534-404: The electromagnet in 1825. Sydney Chapman , a mathematician from Eccles , in 1930 explained the ozone–oxygen cycle in the stratosphere , being the first to propose that atmospheric oxygen or ozone molecules absorb (harmful UVB and UVC) ultraviolet wavelengths of light in photolysis , to produce reactive single atoms which accumulate to form the ozone layer . Graphene was discovered at
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3648-431: The grandfather paradox ), the question of determinism and free will (in several episodes), the pursuit of happiness in virtual reality and, crucially to the show's premise of Lister being the last human, the near-certainty of the human species' extinction sometime in the far future. Aliens do not feature in the series, as Grant and Naylor decided very early in the process that they did not want aliens involved. This
3762-514: The " Parallel Universe " episode of the show, was released in 1993 as a single and became a top 20 UK hit for Danny John-Jules (under the name "The Cat"). Stage plays of the show have been produced by Blak Yak, a theatre group in Perth , Western Australia, who were given permission by Grant Naylor Productions to mount stage versions of certain episodes in 2002, 2004 and 2006. In October 2006, an Interactive Quiz DVD entitled Red Dwarf: Beat The Geek
3876-714: The "leader of the feral cats". In February 2020, the day before the 32nd anniversary of when Red Dwarf first aired , a synopsis was given by the official Red Dwarf website: "The special will see the posse meet three cat clerics ( Tom Bennett , Mandeep Dhillon , Lucy Pearman ) who worship Lister as their god. Lister vows to help them as they're being hunted by Rodon, the ruthless feral cat leader (Ray Fearon) who has vowed to wipe out all cats who worship anyone but him." Norman Lovett officially announced to be returning as Holly following his one-off guest spot in Series XII . On 10 March 2020, in an exclusive with Radio Times ,
3990-537: The 19th and 20th centuries. In modern times, English is the most spoken language in the North West, with a large percentage of the population fluent in it, and close to 100% conversational in it. To the north-east of the region, within the historic boundaries of Cumberland , the Cumbrian dialect is dominant. The historical county of Lancashire covered a vast amount of land, and the Lancashire dialect and accent
4104-567: The Apocalypse ", won an International Emmy Award in the Popular Arts category. In the same year, the series was also awarded Best BBC Comedy Series at the British Comedy Awards . The series attracted its highest ratings, of more than eight million viewers, during the eighth series, in 1999. The revived series on Dave has consistently delivered some of the highest ratings for non– Public Service Broadcasting commissions in
4218-652: The Apocalypse ." When the show returned in 1999, it gained the highest audience figures yet; over eight million viewers tuned in for Series VIII's opening episode " Back in the Red: Part I ". The show has won numerous awards including the Royal Television Society Award for special effects, the British Science Fiction award for Best Dramatic Presentation, as well as an International Emmy Award for Series VI episode "Gunmen of
4332-752: The Apocalypse", which tied with an Absolutely Fabulous episode, "Hospital," in the Popular Arts category. The show had also been nominated for the International Emmy Award in 1987, 1989 and 1992. Series VI won a British Comedy Award for 'Best BBC Comedy Series.' The video sales have won eight Gold Awards from the British Video Association, and the show still holds the record for being BBC Two's longest-running, highest-rated sitcom. During 2005 SFX surveyed readers' top 50 British telefantasy shows of all time, and Red Dwarf placed second ahead of The Hitchhiker's Guide to
4446-452: The BBC decided not to renew the series, as they preferred to work on other projects. A short animated Christmas special was, however, made available to mobile phone subscribers the same year. Ultimately, however, fans had to wait a decade before the series finally returned to television. In 2008, a three-episode production was commissioned by the digital channel Dave . Red Dwarf: Back to Earth
4560-483: The Borough of Trafford . Apparently Sievey had experience with his electricity being cut off and this song, perhaps, conveys a real life situation. North West of England North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of Cheshire , Cumbria , Greater Manchester , Lancashire and Merseyside . The North West had a population of 7,417,397 in 2021. It
4674-634: The Conservatives four, whilst Lancashire is competitive between Labour and Conservative (8 seats each); the Labour seats in Lancashire are concentrated in the south of the county along the M65 . For the region, the Labour gained 3 seats; there was a 5.2% swing from Conservative to Labour. In the 2015 general election, Liverpool Walton was the safest seat in the UK, with a 72% majority, and in 2017 this
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4788-475: The Conservatives have 20, and the Liberal Democrats have 1. The Lib Dems' North West seat is in south Cumbria; Labour dominates Greater Manchester, and the Conservatives' vote is concentrated in affluent suburban areas such as Cheadle , Hazel Grove and Altrincham and Sale West . Labour seats also predominate in Merseyside. In Cheshire the 2015 result was reversed, with Labour winning seven seats and
4902-457: The Galaxy (1981), but also had a large element of British-style comedy and satire thrown into the mix, ultimately moulded into the form of a sitcom. Having written the pilot script in 1983, the former Spitting Image writers pitched their unique concept to the BBC, but it was rejected on fears that a science fiction sitcom would not be popular. It was finally accepted by BBC North in 1986,
5016-414: The Galaxy and behind Doctor Who . In 2007, the series was voted 'Best Sci-Fi Show Of All Time' by the readers of Radio Times magazine. Editor Gill Hudson stated that this result surprised them as 'the series had not given any new episodes this century'. Entertainment Weekly listed it in a 2009 roundup of shows they missed in their list of best cult television series. In January 2017, Series XI
5130-691: The Lake District. Manchester, Liverpool, Lancaster, Blackburn and Preston are among the region's many English place names. In the 9th to the 11th centuries, Danes from the east and Norsemen from Ireland and Scotland began settling in the area. The North West is really the only area of England where Norse settlement was significant and their influence remains in the place names and dialect of the region. Elements like fell , thwaite and tarn , which are particularly common in Cumbria, are all Norse. The numerous Kirkbys and place names with "holm" and "dale" show
5244-502: The Lancashire dialect but have some distinctions from it, especially Scouse. The region's accents are among those referred to as ' Northern English '. Large immigrant populations in the North West result in the presence of significant immigrant languages. South Asian languages such as Urdu , Hindi and Punjabi are widespread, with the largest number of speakers residing in Preston , Blackburn and Manchester. The Chinese once made up
5358-467: The North West are as follows: Liverpool and Manchester are sometimes considered parts of a single large polynuclear metropolitan area , or megalopolis but are usually treated as separate metropolitan areas. In some studies, part of Wigan in Greater Manchester is considered part of the Liverpool metropolitan area. The North West of England has historically been held by the Labour Party . In
5472-582: The North West from around the 7th century AD, when the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria first appears to have made inroads west of the Pennines. The language at this time would have been the Northumbrian dialect of Old English . The high percentage of English place names in the region as a whole suggests English became almost ubiquitous over the coming centuries, particularly in the area south of
5586-476: The North West's population resides in Greater Manchester, 21.39% in Lancashire, 20.30% in Merseyside, 14.76% in Cheshire and 7.41% live in the largest county by area, Cumbria. According to 2009 Office for National Statistics estimates, 91.6% (6,323,300) of people in the region describe themselves as 'White': 88.4% (6,101,100) White British , 1.0% (67,200) White Irish and 2.2% (155,000) White Other . During
5700-529: The North West). The proportion of people residing in North West England born outside the UK was 11.7% in 2021, compared with 8.2% in 2011 and 5.1% in 2001. Below are the fifteen largest overseas-born groups in the region according to the 2021 census, alongside the two previous censuses: One in five of the population in the North West is Catholic , a result of large-scale Irish emigration in
5814-695: The UK in 2019, 31.23% voted for the Brexit Party, with Labour polling 21.91%, the Liberal Democrats 17.15% and the Green Party 12.48%. The Conservatives came fifth in the region with 7.55% of votes cast. The earliest known language spoken in the North West was a dialect of the Brythonic language spoken across much of Britain from at least the Iron Age up to the arrival of English in the first millennium AD. Fragments of this early language are seen in
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#17327937016915928-525: The UK. Series XI was voted Best Returning TV Sitcom and Comedy of the Year for 2016 by readers for the British Comedy Guide . In a 2019 ranking by Empire , Red Dwarf came 80th on a list of the 100 best TV shows of all time. The main setting of the series is the eponymous mining spaceship Red Dwarf . In the first episode, set sometime in the late 21st century, an on-board radiation leak kills everyone except lowest-ranking technician Dave Lister, who
6042-597: The University of Manchester in 2004 under Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov . At the Calico Printers' Association in Manchester in 1941, John Rex Whinfield and James Tennant Dickson discovered polyethylene terephthalate , known as PET, a common polyester compound found in plastic bottles and food, and also known as Terylene or Dacron. Cheslene and Crepes of Macclesfield discovered crimplene ,
6156-487: The already-alive Lister and Kochanski), including a pre-accident Rimmer and the original male Holly. The series ends with a metal-eating virus loose on Red Dwarf . The entire crew evacuate save the main cast (Lister, Rimmer, Cat, Kryten, and Kochanski), whose fates are unresolved in a cliffhanger ending . Series IX onwards revert to the same four main characters of Series 3–6 (Lister, Rimmer, Cat and Kryten), on Red Dwarf and without Kochanski or Holly; Rimmer reappears as
6270-417: The best British science fiction shows of the 1980s, as well as among the top ten movies and shows inspired by Star Trek . It was listed at 90 on Empire 's "The 100 Best TV Shows Of All Time" ranking. The show's logo and characters have appeared on a wide range of merchandise. Red Dwarf has also been spun off in a variety of different media formats. For instance, the song "Tongue Tied," featured in
6384-740: The better known of the North West's physiographical features are the Lake District and the Cheshire Plain . The highest point in North West England (and the highest peak in England) is Scafell Pike , Cumbria, at a height of 3,209 ft (978 m). Windermere is the largest natural lake in England, while Broad Crag Tarn on Broad Crag is England's highest lake. Wast Water is England's deepest lake, being 74 metres deep. A mix of rural and urban landscape, two large conurbations , centred on Liverpool and Manchester , occupy much of
6498-579: The board was as follows: The amount of electricity, in GWh, sold by Norweb was: The assets of the board passed to Norweb plc in July 1990, which was privatised in a stock market flotation later in the same year. Norweb was acquired by North West Water in October 1995 for £1.83 billion. The combined water and electricity companies became United Utilities (UU). The customer base for the electricity supply arm
6612-422: The cast invited to a party thrown by the BBC proved futile when they objected to Craig Charles' and Danny John-Jules' inclusion, claiming they were "fire risks". Alan Rickman and Alfred Molina auditioned for roles in the series, with Molina being cast as Rimmer. However, after Molina had difficulties with the concept of the series, and of his role in particular, the role was recast and filled by Chris Barrie,
6726-569: The cast showed strong interest in making another series. During the Dimension Jump fan convention in May 2013, Doug Naylor stated that discussions were ongoing with all involved parties and while arrangements had not been finalised, he hoped shooting could begin in February 2014. In October 2013, Robert Llewellyn posted on his blog, stating that "an eleventh series would happen" and that it would be "sometime in 2014". Llewellyn later removed
6840-602: The closure of the Bolton head office, the CAS distribution centre in Worsley , the flagship Coventry 285, 57 high street stores and half of its out of town superstores. Remaining stores were rebranded under the name Comet . UU retained the remainder of the company, including the distribution network in the northwest of England, as Norweb Distribution . In November 2001, Norweb was renamed United Utilities Electricity. The company
6954-430: The core cast of Charles, Barrie, Llewellyn and John-Jules returned for Series X, with Annett and Lovett absent, though the scripts include references to Kochanski and Holly. On 20 July 2012, a 55-second trailer for series X was released on Facebook , followed by a new "teaser" every Friday. The new series debuted on Thursday 4 October 2012. Following series X, which attracted high viewing figures, Dave, Doug Naylor and
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#17327937016917068-456: The crew pursue it in the smaller Starbug craft, with the side effect that the character Holly disappears. Series VII is also set in Starbug . Early in series VII, Rimmer departs (due to actor Chris Barrie 's commitments) and is replaced by Kristine Kochanski , Lister's long-term love interest, from an alternate universe . Kochanski becomes a regular character for Series VII and VIII. At
7182-589: The dominant party in the region by seat count, with the Conservatives total now standing at 27. The Conservatives made two gains in Cheshire, three gains in Lancashire, five gains in Greater Manchester, notably including Andy Burnham 's former seat of Leigh. In the 2017 general election , the area was dominated by the Labour Party. Fifty-five per cent of the region's electorate voted Labour, 36.3% Conservative, 5.4% Liberal Democrat, 1.9% UKIP and 1.1% Greens; however, by number of parliamentary seats, Labour have 54,
7296-414: The earlier series, however, and the topic is the subject of constant fervent debate among the show's fanbase. Although the pilot episode of the show gathered over four million viewers, viewing figures dipped in successive episodes and the first series had generally poor ratings. Through to Series VI, ratings steadily increased and peaked at over six million viewers, achieved with the episode " Gunmen of
7410-535: The eleventh series would commence in October 2014, with an expected release of Autumn 2015 on Dave. On 2 May 2015, at the Dimension Jump XVIII convention, Naylor announced that an eleventh and a twelfth series had been commissioned. The two series would be shot back-to-back towards the end of 2015 for broadcast on Dave in 2016 and 2017, respectively, and would be co-produced by Baby Cow Productions , with company CEO, Henry Normal , executive-producing
7524-475: The end of Series VII, Kryten's service nanobots , which had abandoned him years earlier, are revealed to be behind the theft of the Red Dwarf at the end of series five. At the beginning of the eighth series, Kryten's nanobots reconstruct the Red Dwarf , which they had broken down into its constituent atoms. As a consequence, Series VIII features the entire original crew of Red Dwarf resurrected (except for
7638-485: The existence of the atomic nucleus . Sir J. J. Thomson of Cheetham Hill discovered the electron (given its name in 1891 by George Johnstone Stoney ) in April 1897 and received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1906; his son George Paget Thomson would win the Nobel Prize for Physics 1937 for discovering electron diffraction (at the University of Aberdeen). John Dalton , from Cumbria and moved to Manchester, developed atomic theory . William Sturgeon of Lancashire invented
7752-454: The fabric that is now referred to as polyester. ICI Dyestuffs at Hexagon House , in Blackley in north Manchester, discovered Procion dyes. At the Winnington Laboratory on 27 March 1933, Eric Fawcett and Reginald Gibson discovered polythene in an ICI laboratory in Northwich, when reacting benzaldehyde with ethene at a pressure of 2,000 atmospheres ; the process was improved in 1935 by Michael Perrin . Red Dwarf Red Dwarf
7866-403: The first six series together (using the pseudonym Grant Naylor on the first two novels and later as the name of their production company, although never on the episodes themselves). Grant left in 1995, to pursue other projects, leaving Naylor to write series VII and VIII with a group of new writers, including Paul Alexander and actor Robert Llewellyn (who portrayed the character Kryten). For
7980-446: The inscriptions and place names of the Roman era. In some parts of the region, the Brythonic dialect developed into the medieval language known today as Cumbric , which continued to be spoken perhaps as late as the 12th century in the north of Cumbria. This early Celtic heritage remains today in place names such as Carlisle , Penrith and Eccles , and many river names such as Cocker , Kent and Eden . English may have been spoken in
8094-426: The largest minority in the region (as Liverpool has one of the oldest Chinese settlements in Europe), and still do to the far north where Chinese is spoken by small but significant communities. Since the enlargement of the EU, over one million Poles have immigrated to the UK, a large number of them settling in the North West. Places such as Crewe as well as larger cities make Polish written information available for
8208-414: The later series of the show. The series developed its own distinct vocabulary. Words and phrases such as hologrammatic [ sic ], dollarpound, bazookoids, Felis sapiens , Simulants, GELF, space weevil , and Zero Gee Football appear throughout the series, highlighting a development in language, political climate, technology, evolution and culture in the future. The creators also employed
8322-538: The local minority populations. In the Eurostat Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS), North West is a level-1 NUTS region, coded "UKD", which (since 2015) is subdivided as follows: Population > 400,000 Population > 100,000 Population > 70,000 Population > 50,000 Population > 30,000 Population > 20,000 Population > 10,000 Population > 5,000 The five largest metropolitan areas in
8436-499: The main plot from Westworld (1973). For series IX, " Back to Earth " was partially inspired by Blade Runner (1982). The series' themes are not limited to films or television, having also incorporated historical events and figures. Religion also plays a part in the series, as a significant factor in the ultimate fate of the Cat race, and the perception of Lister as their 'God', both in the episode " Waiting for God " (whose title makes
8550-408: The most part, Ed Bye produced and directed the series. He left before Series V due to a scheduling clash (he ended up directing a show starring his wife, Ruby Wax ) so Juliet May took over as director. May parted ways with the show halfway through the series for personal and professional reasons and Grant and Naylor took over direction of the series, in addition to writing and producing. Series VI
8664-406: The mountainous regions of the Lake District and Pennines. In winter, the most severe weather occurs in the more exposed and elevated areas of the North West, once again mainly the Lake District and Pennine areas. Source: Office for National Statistics Mid Year Population Estimates in 2008 North West England's population accounts for just over 13% of England's overall population. 37.86% of
8778-428: The new episodes. Series XI and XII were filmed back-to-back at Pinewood Studios between November 2015 and March 2016. The eleventh series premiered on UKTV's video-on-demand service UKTV Play on 15 September 2016, a week ahead of its broadcast transmission on 22 September. On 8 September 2017, it was announced that Red Dwarf XII would begin broadcasting on Dave on 12 October 2017, and on 15 September 2017 it
8892-413: The nineteenth century as well as the high number of English recusants in Lancashire . Of the nine regions of England, the North West has the fourth-highest GVA per capita —the highest outside southern England. Despite this the region has above average multiple deprivation with wealth heavily concentrated on very affluent areas like rural Cheshire, rural Lancashire, and south Cumbria. As measured by
9006-682: The original Rimmer, having returned from his time being Ace Rimmer. The first series aired on BBC2 in 1988. Twelve full series and one miniseries have so far been produced , and a feature length special was released in 2020. The concept for the show was originally developed from the sketch series Dave Hollins: Space Cadet on the BBC Radio 4 show Son of Cliché in the mid-1980s, written by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor. Their influences came from films and television programmes including Star Trek (1966), Silent Running (1972), Dark Star (1974), Alien (1979) and The Hitchhiker's Guide to
9120-482: The planet Earth’s wealth due to £17.50 left in his bank account that was subject to compound interest and hoarded so nobody else had any money except Norweb, as Lister had left a light on in the bathroom. This all results in a final £180 billion demand from Lister before Holly reveals his gag. Norweb is referenced in the Frank Sidebottom (aka Chris Sievey ) song "Electricity" which is on his LP "5:9:88". In
9234-486: The population, and 1.1% Black (80,600). 0.6% of the population (39,900) are Chinese and 0.5% (36,500) of people belong to another ethnic group. North West England is a very diverse region, with Manchester and Liverpool amongst the most diverse cities in Europe. 19.4% of Blackburn with Darwen 's population are Muslim, the third-highest among all local authorities in the United Kingdom and the highest outside London. Areas such as Moss Side in Greater Manchester are home to
9348-408: The post from his blog and Doug Naylor issued a statement on Twitter, saying: "Getting tweets claiming Red Dwarf XI is commissioned. Not true. Not yet." However, in January 2014, Danny John-Jules stated that the eleventh series of Red Dwarf was in the process of being written. At the April 2014 Sci-Fi Scarborough Festival , during the Red Dwarf cast panel, Danny John-Jules stated that filming of
9462-602: The proposals for elected regional assemblies in England put on hold. The regional leaders' forum, 4NW is based on Waterside Drive in Wigan . The former North West England European Parliament constituency had the same boundaries as the Region. Ten English regions were established by the government in 1994. At that time, Merseyside , which already had its own Government Office, formerly the Merseyside Task Force,
9576-638: The public, to much controversy. Other immigrant languages with a presence in the North West are Spanish, mainly amongst the Latin American communities in Liverpool and Manchester , as well as various other Eastern European and Asian languages. The most taught languages in schools across the North West are English, French and Spanish. German and Italian are available at more senior levels and, in cities such as Manchester and Liverpool, even Urdu and Mandarin are being taught to help maintain links between
9690-611: The quality of each series. In the "Great Red Dwarf Debate," published in Volume 2, Issue 3 of the Red Dwarf Smegazine , science fiction writers Steve Lyons and Joe Nazarro argue about the pros and cons of the early series versus the later series. Lyons states that the show "once had was a unique balance of sci-fi comedy, which worked magnificently." Nazarro agrees that "the first two series are very original and very funny," but goes on to say that "it wasn't until series III that
9804-416: The region (based on specific wards within those borough areas) are, in descending order—Liverpool, Manchester, Knowsley, Blackpool, Salford, Blackburn with Darwen, Burnley, Rochdale, Barrow-in-Furness, Halton, Hyndburn, Oldham, Pendle, St Helens, Preston, Bolton, Tameside, Wirral, Wigan, Copeland, Sefton, and Rossendale. In 2007 when Cheshire still had district councils, the least deprived council districts in
9918-399: The region by council district, in descending order, were—Congleton, Ribble Valley, Macclesfield, and South Lakeland. These areas have Conservative MPs, except South Lakeland has a Lib Dem and Labour MPs. At county level, before it was split into two, Cheshire was the least deprived, followed by Trafford, and by Warrington and Stockport. In March 2011, the overall unemployment claimant count
10032-595: The script he decided he wanted to audition for the part of Dave Lister. Laconic stand-up comedian Norman Lovett , who had originally tried out for the role of Rimmer, was kept in the show as Holly, the senile computer of the titular ship. A professional dancer and singer, Danny John-Jules, arriving half an hour late for his appointment, stood out as the Cat immediately. This was partly due to his "cool" exterior, dedicated research (reading Desmond Morris 's book Catwatching ), and his showing up in character, wearing his father's 1950s-style zoot suit . Grant and Naylor wrote
10146-468: The series has no aliens) that had developed in the intervening millions of years. Despite the pastiche of science fiction used as a backdrop, Red Dwarf is primarily a character-driven comedy, with science fiction elements used as complementary plot devices . Especially in the early episodes, a recurring source of comedy was the Odd Couple -style relationship between the two central characters of
10260-422: The seventh series), but Back to Earth represented the first time that a laughter track was not added before broadcast. It was also the first episode of Red Dwarf to be filmed in high definition . The specials were televised over three nights, starting on Friday 10 April 2009. The broadcasts received record ratings for Dave; the first of the three episodes represented the UK's highest-ever viewing figures for
10374-404: The ship. His former bunkmate and immediate superior Arnold Judas Rimmer (a character plagued by failure) is resurrected by Holly as a hologram to keep Lister sane. They are joined by a creature known only as Cat , who was initially thought to be the last member of a race of humanoid felines that evolved in the ship's hold from Lister's pregnant cat during the three million years that Lister
10488-422: The show have aired (including one miniseries ), in addition to a feature-length special The Promised Land . Four novels were published from 1989 to 1996. Two pilot episodes of an American version of the show were produced but never aired. The magazine The Red Dwarf Smegazine was published from 1992 to 1994. One of the series' highest accolades came in 1994 when an episode from the sixth series, " Gunmen of
10602-434: The show hit its stride." Discussions revolve around the quality of Series VI, seen by one reviewer as just as good as the earlier series', but criticised by another reviewer as a descent into formulaic comedy with an unwelcome change of setting. The changes seen in Series VII disappointed some; while much slicker and higher-budget in appearance, the shift away from outright sitcom and into something approaching comedy drama
10716-461: The show, who have an intense dislike for each other yet are trapped together deep in space. In Series III, the computer Holly changes from male ( Norman Lovett ) to female ( Hattie Hayridge ), and the mechanoid Kryten (who had appeared in one episode in Series II) joins the crew and becomes a regular character. In Series VI, a story arc is introduced where Red Dwarf has been stolen, and
10830-1139: The site of the Dickinson Street power station in Manchester . The architects of this steel-framed building were Harry S. Fairhurst & Son. The project required the draining and infilling of an arm of the Rochdale Canal . The staircases, lifts and cloakrooms are in the eastern wing, separate from the offices. English Rugby league team Wigan Warriors had Norweb as their primary shirt sponsor between 1988 and 1999 (as TXU Energi between 1998 and 1999). This period saw Wigan win many trophies: two Charity Shields in 1991 and 1995, seven of their eight record consecutive Challenge Cup Final wins 1989 to 1995, two World Club Challenge wins in 1991 and 1994, five Premiership Final wins between 1992 and 1997 in six consecutive appearances, two Lancashire Cup wins in 1988 and 1992, five John Player Special and Regal Trophy wins between 1989 and 1996 in six final appearances, seven successive league titles between 1990 and 1996 and
10944-546: The song Frank (supposedly) loses his electricity bill down a drain and he sings "I remember thinking I should inform Norweb now..." He heads off the Norweb office to address the matter but window shops and arrives too late. When Frank returns home his electricity is cut off and his mum sends him to his room. The song is rather detailed and specifically mentions the location of a Norweb office in George Street, Altrincham in
11058-629: The south of the region. The north of the region, comprising Cumbria and northern Lancashire, is largely rural, as is the far south which encompasses parts of the Cheshire Plain and Peak District. The region includes parts of three National parks (all of the Lake District , and small parts of the Peak District and the Yorkshire Dales ) and three areas of Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (all of Arnside and Silverdale and
11172-592: The vocals on the closing theme tune by Jenna Russell . The first two series used a relatively sombre instrumental version of the closing theme for the opening titles; from Series III onwards this switched to a more upbeat version, with Goodall singing on vocoder , the line "Red Dwarf" four times in the second half of the song. Goodall also wrote music for the show's various songs, including " Tongue Tied ", with lyrics written by Grant and Naylor. Danny John-Jules (credited as "The Cat") re-orchestrated and released "Tongue Tied" on 11 October 1993; it reached number 17 on
11286-428: Was filmised and no longer shot in front of a live audience, allowing for greater use of four-walled sets, location shooting and single-camera techniques. When the show returned for its eighth series two years later, however, it had dropped use of the filmising process and returned to using a live audience. The show received a setback when the BBC rejected proposals for a Series IX. Doug Naylor confirmed in 2007 that
11400-556: Was 4.2% for the region. Inside the region the highest was Liverpool with 6.8%, followed by Knowsley on 6.3%, Halton with 5.5% and Rochdale with 5.1%. The lowest claimant count is in Eden (Cumbria) and Ribble Valley (Lancashire) each with 1.3%, followed by South Lakeland with 1.4%. In the 2019 general election , the Conservatives gained ten seats, from the Labour Party, with no other seats changing hands. Labour held 42 of their 52 seats, albeit many with slimmed down majorities. They remain
11514-528: Was broadcast over the Easter weekend of 2009, along with a "making of" documentary. The episode was set nine years after the events of " Only the Good... " (with the cliffhanger ending of that episode left unresolved, a situation that would continue with Series X). The storyline involves the characters arriving back on Earth, circa 2009, only to find that they are characters in a TV show called "Red Dwarf". Kochanski
11628-534: Was directed by Andy De Emmony , and Ed Bye returned to direct series VII and VIII. Series I, II and III were made by Paul Jackson Productions, with subsequent series produced by the writers' own company Grant Naylor Productions for BBC North . All eight series were broadcast on BBC Two. At the beginning of series IV, production moved from BBC North's New Broadcasting House in Manchester to Shepperton . The opening theme tune, closing theme tune, and incidental music were written and performed by Howard Goodall , with
11742-479: Was founded on the standard sitcom focus of a disparate and frequently dysfunctional group of individuals living together in a restricted setting. With the main characters routinely displaying their cowardice, incompetence and laziness, while exchanging insulting and sarcastic dialogue, the series provided a humorous antidote to the fearless and morally upright space explorers typically found in science-fiction series, with its main characters acting bravely only when there
11856-553: Was further announced that each episode would preview a week earlier via the UKTV Play video on demand service, effectively meaning that series 12 would be starting on 5 October 2017. In late May 2019, in a radio interview, Robert Llewellyn stated that a thirteenth series was happening and in June of that year, Danny John-Jules stated that it was expected to be wrapped up by the end of 2019. However, in October 2019, UKTV announced that
11970-450: Was in stasis. In season 1 episode 3 ' Waiting for God ', it was revealed that the cat priest had also survived, and was living in the hold of the ship. The series revolves around Lister being the last human alive, after three million years of travel from Earth , with his companions. The crew encounter phenomena such as time distortions , faster-than-light travel, mutant diseases and strange lifeforms (all evolved from Earth, because
12084-504: Was no other possible alternative. The increasing science-fiction elements of the series were treated seriously by creators Rob Grant and Doug Naylor. Satire, parody and drama were alternately woven into the episodes, referencing other television series, films and books. These have included references to the likes of 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Top Gun (1986), RoboCop (1987), Star Wars (1977), Citizen Kane (1942), The Wild One (1953), High Noon (1952), Rebel Without
12198-550: Was originally produced in Manchester. Holly, the on board computer of the mining ship Red Dwarf, played a practical joke on Dave Lister . According to Holly, the Norweb Federation were looking for Lister for his crimes against humanity; leaving two half eaten sausages on his table before leaving, which over three million years had gone mouldy and now covered seven-eighths of the Earth's surface. Lister also owns 98% of all
12312-607: Was regarded as a separate region. In 1998, Merseyside was merged into the North West region. This action was controversial in some quarters. Regional Government Offices were abolished in April 2011 by the Coalition Government. Sir Ernest Marsden (of Blackburn) and Hans Geiger conducted the Geiger–Marsden experiment at the University of Manchester in 1909, where the Geiger counter was invented, which demonstrated
12426-454: Was repeated with a 77% majority for Dan Carden (Labour), when an astonishing 85.7% of the electorate voted for him (the Conservatives came second with 8.6%). In the by-election of 2012 , Manchester Central has the record for the lowest turnout in the UK—18%. Gwyneth Dunwoody , for Crewe and Nantwich, was the longest serving female MP until her death in 2008. In the final European Elections in
12540-516: Was rescheduled for September, and the pilot episode finally made it onto television screens on 15 February 1988. Despite the commission of further series, the cast felt like "outsiders" at the BBC. Co-creator Doug Naylor attributed this to the show being commissioned by BBC Manchester , but its being filmed at Shepperton Studios near where the cast lived in London. When the show won an International Emmy Award in 1994 , Naylor's attempts to have
12654-462: Was seen by one reviewer as a move in the wrong direction. The attempt to shift back into traditional sitcom format for Series VIII was greeted with a response that was similarly lukewarm. There was criticism aimed at the decision to resurrect the entire crew of Red Dwarf , as it was felt this detracted from the series' central premise of Lister being the last human being alive. There are other critics who feel that Series VII and VIII are no weaker than
12768-580: Was subsequently sold off in March 2000 to TXU Corporation , as Norweb Energi . TXU was itself acquired by Powergen in October 2002. Powergen was a subsidiary of E.ON at this point (having been acquired earlier in 2002), and was subsequently rebranded to E.ON UK in 2007. The value electrical retailing arm Norweb Retail was sold to the Kingfisher Group in November 1996 for £51 million; seeing
12882-470: Was the licensed distribution network operator for the North West England, until its sale in December 2007 to North West Electricity Networks, a joint venture between Colonial First State and JPMorgan Chase . Electricity North West became the licensed distribution network operator for the North West of England, as a consequence of the sale. A new headquarters building for the board was built in 1963 on
12996-419: Was voted "Best Returning TV Sitcom" and "Comedy of the Year" for 2016 by readers for the British Comedy Guide . A year later, Red Dwarf was once again voted "Best Returning TV Sitcom" for Series XII, retaining the title from British Comedy Guide. As noted by Collider in 2023, it ranked number four among the top ten British science fiction shows on IMDb . In 2024, it was listed by Den of Geek as among
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