Costumes

A tremendous boon to the sense of continuity achieved by Red Dwarf X was having Howard Burden onboard once more to design costumes. As successful a reinvention as the outfits from Back to Earth had been, however, the decision was taken to revamp them further rather than simply re-use the same ones as before.

Lister was no longer wearing the original Series III-IV leathers - dug out of the cupboard for Back to Earth but in ever-increasing danger of falling apart entirely - but the new jacket was given a suitably battered and weathered look, as well as much of the same detail as the original in terms of badges, patches and so on. Studs were added to the shoulders, and splatterings of red paint matched the new interior sets - as did the red long-johns worn underneath (and, in Dear Dave, rather more openly!)

Ever since Series VI it had been established that blue was the colour for a hard-light hologram's uniform, so it was no surprise to see Rimmer decked out in it once more. Back to Earth's padded tunic was gone, however, replaced by a much darker suit reminiscent of futuristic business wear - with smart black shoes to match, in place of the previous boots. It was also symmetrical, rather than the lop-sided arrangement of the previous jacket. The classic badge, meanwhile, was spruced up with a fresh paint job to match.

Kryten's new costume bore some resemblance to the basic structure established by Back to Earth, but widened the neck opening and greatly emphasised the shoulder "hoops", giving the droid an almost winged look. The whole thing was spray-painted in a much darker black, rather than the silvery look of Back to Earth - echoing a similar change made when going from Series VII to VIII.

And of course, a new series meant a new batch of Cat outfits for Burden to go nuts with, not to mention a dramatic new wig. In fact, due to Lemons taking place over more than one day, there were seven different costumes across the six episodes; although as it happened, the second suit worn in that episode was actually one first seen way back in Series V, and later worn by Danny in his Tongue Tied video. That Danny could still fit into his old suits was no doubt to the chagrin of his fellow cast members!

Trojan required the creation of a "snug, elasticated jump suit" for members of the Space Corps Super Infinity Fleet - the resulting outfit serving as a note-perfect Star Trek pastiche without being so close that it would have needed Patrick Stewart's lawyers to get involved. The series also drew inspiration from its own past, with the BEGG costumes in Entangled being reminiscent of - but not exactly the same as - the classic Kinitawowi GELF look.

The Beginning saw the return of two classic Red Dwarf models of android. For Hogey, the deranged rogue droid, the look was very much inspired by rogue simulants such as those played by Nicholas Ball in Series IV, and Don Henderson in Series VII. A ramshackle, metallic look - suggesting a part-organic humanoid augmented by odds and sods of technology - there was also room for an elaborate moustache (perhaps inspired by the character's cod-Mexican accent?) and a hairpiece that mainly existed to serve a pretty good bit of slapstick.

The evil Simulants that assembled to attack the Dwarfers in the episode, meanwhile, seemed to draw their look more from the Series VI variants: almost entirely humanoid, in black cloaks with sinister dark makeup and smaller bits of silicon chips and motherboards stuck to their faces. Their leader, Dominator Zlurth, also sported an elaborate black boa around the neck - and a chest insignia derived from a police commissioner's badge!