Production

With the fourth season, Grant Naylor Productions really took control of the show. Paul Jackson was nevertheless still very much involved bringing his wealth of experience to the production. Indeed, when Ed Bye was unable to come in on the studio recording day for White Hole, (he was attending the birth of his second child) Paul was asked to step into the breech - albeit with a hangover from a Christmas party the night before!

If it was bad for Paul's head, series IV was even crueller on Robert Llewellyn's testicles - the harness that allowed him to dangle perilously in Camille was somewhat more supportive than he might have liked! His partner, Judy Pascoe, was apparently unsympathetic - despite what permanent damage might have meant to her! (Incidentally, Robert and Judy did attempt a kiss in the rubber masks, although the experience was not entirely pleasurable.)

The most significant change to the Red Dwarf routine was in the production's shift from the studios in Manchester (closed at the time for refurbishment) to the famous Shepperton Studios, where they have filmed ever since - starting in Studio G. (Although a portion of Meltdown was filmed in the original building around which the studios are based - the so-called 'Old House'.)

On the set, warm up was provided by Micky Hutton and - yes, you guessed it - Tony Hawks. But Meltdown's warm up artist may be something of a surprise, coming as it does in the cross-dressing form of the magnificent Eddie Izzard.

Meltdown also featured the unconvincing monsters of Prehistoric World. These were actually taken from footage of monster movie Gappa - also known as Daikyoju Gappa (1967).

The joy of shooting in Shepperton was that it allowed access to the set all week, rather than just on recording days. Rehearsals could be carried out in the studio, rather than in the Acton rehearsal rooms with tape on the floor representing the room. Hattie Hayridge delighted in this, and sat in front of the Holly monitors during rehearsals in order to provide eye-lines and get the actors used to talking directly to her.

For the first time since the show began, Red Dwarf had an episode which grounded the characters on a planet for the majority of the screen time - Meltdown. Without the usual model shots to provide transitions between scenes, a clever technique of stretching the picture out, cutting, then shrinking it back was developed in the editing suite - a radical change of style.

The ending of Dimension Jump also provided a difficulty in the editing suite. Rimmer's plan to dump kippers on Ace at the end of the episode was scripted to go wrong, as was shown. But what followed showed Rimmer himself standing beneath the net of fish as they finally fall. This was filmed, but it was decided that it didn't work. The fish, after all, would fall through the hologram - and while the original intent was to end on a freeze-frame before the kippers hit, it was deemed ineffective. The final text scroll was written instead and added in the edit.

Finally, the original Justice was going to be rather different. Justice World was initially going to be just that - a planet - rather than a space station. In one discarded sequence, Lister was crapped on by a bird in retaliation for him dropping litter in the ornamental gardens. When these scenes were discarded, an additional scene was hurriedly written for the end - Lister leading the others down a corridor, giving a speech about the universe's sense of justice.