TV Reviews : A Strange ‘Red Dwarf’ Takes KCET Into Space

For fans of quirky British science fiction from the BBC, KCET has dug up “Red Dwarf,” a 12-part bit of strangeness from 1987 that begins tonight at 11:30 on Channel 28.

As it gets under way, the Red Dwarf mining ship is sailing the stars when it suffers a disaster with a drive plate and the crew is killed by radiation--all, that is, except for one fellow, Dave Lister (Craig Charles) whose incarceration into a time-stopping stasis field before the disaster (as punishment for smuggling aboard a pregnant black cat) saves him.

Lister comes out of stasis thinking only 18 months have passed, but, instead, he finds that it’s 3 million years later and that he’s the only human left on the ship. However, he’s not completely alone. The progeny of his cat also survived and are represented by a very hip black cat/man in a natty peach-colored suit (Danny John-Jules). There’s also a hologram of “superior technician” Arnold Rimmer, whose obsessive and pushy personality drives Lister bonkers.

Craig Charles is likable and funny as Dave Lister, as is John-Jules as the cat. However, Chris Barry’s Arnold Rimmer comes off as a character common in lots of British sitcoms: the fussy self-important little twit.

The sets are sound-stage constructs, with the usual flashing lights and numerous colored buttons and back-lit grates to represent a no-nonsense space ship. A couple of free-roaming maintenance robots provide an occasional giggle.

The three episodes previewed didn’t whip up much comedic steam and weren’t especially funny and silly in the “Dr. Who” vein. Cleverness or even a hip sensibility are missing here. The series continues nightly through Thursday this week and resumes next Monday night.