Production

Initial hopes of shooting Back to Earth with a studio audience were kiboshed early on. The practical issues were insurmountable: multi-camera shooting with a scanner truck was way out of the budget's reach. And that's before you factor in the expenses created by shooting for an audience rather than on a schedule that's cheapest for the production. When you can't afford to even double-up on costumes, a storyline that involves covering the cast in purple gloop becomes a logistical nightmare! And there wouldn't have been any opportunity to recycle sets in front of the audience, forcing huge sections to be pre-recorded.

Still, the script was already one that leant itself to a more filmic production method - lots of location work, several virtual sets, and an emotional content that warranted a more hushed shooting atmosphere - and there was no denying that filming without an audience would help keep the twists of the story a secret.

Things got off to an interesting start on the Coronation Street set, with Carbug causing all kinds of trouble - seizing up, getting the keys locked inside, all things that held up the brutal schedule. The crew chased the daylight until it had all but vanished then dashed inside to shoot in The Rovers Return and The Kabin.

Two weeks passed between that one-day shoot and the commencement of full production back at the Shepperton Studios. In that time, Back to Earth had grown from two episodes into three, with a mooted 'Unplugged' audience show put on the back-burner in favour of doing the story right. (You'll notice a bit of dialogue dubbed during the Rovers scene, in fact, where Craig originally said 'Back to Earth part two' - now the final ep would be part three.)

One benefit of extending the show was that the two days allocated to the 'Unplugged' session were now available - and the cast and crew were already booked! In fact, an extra day was added to this pair, and the production had to up sticks from their home on D Stage and assemble on L Stage for those final few days. No more ceiling rigs - the final sections had to be lit from the floor - but Director of Photography Andy Martin and his team worked wonders.

With little money for extras, you'll notice a lot of the crew in Back to Earth. Every time the Dwarfers are in a public place, chances are you'll catch a glimpse of a producer, costume designer or assistant director. Plus the entire Fan Club team, among others, can be spotted wandering through Chinatown.

Out on location, the crew visited Richmond comic shop They Walk Among Us - where fans lined the streets to snap pictures of the cast - and a department store in Kingston which we're not allowed to name... but, well, other people are.

Sadly unfilmed was a sequence of Lister wandering through the shopping mall, discovering life on Earth for the first time in years. Happy couples and laughter are everywhere. Originally planned as the opening to episode two, and reworked to be the first scene of part two's second half, there simply wasn't time to get the sequence in the bag, and only one short section - a child spilling coffee beans - was ever shot.

There was also a trip to Qinetiq, a former military facility in Farnborough with roads that would allow the not-remotely-street-legal Carbug to be driven around. To get there, Carbug was taken out on a low-loader for its driving montage, though you might spot that only Danny and Craig are actually in the car for those shots.

Carbug itself was more or less edited out of the final scene with Kochanski - although they're driving along inside it, in the edit it was felt that seeing the car-ship powering along was getting a comedy reaction when the show needed an emotional one. There's no wide shot of the vehicle in the completed scene.

The saddest removal, though, was a sequence of Rimmer and Lister, ensconced in a makeshift department store sleeping quarters awaiting the return of Kryten and Cat, discussing an event onboard ship involving a Jammy Dodger.

The loss of the scene came in the edit when it was realised that it just didn't fit at the mid-point of episode two. When the script was a two-parter, this scene would have followed Lister's shopping mall scene - opening the second episode in a dialogue-based bunkroom style deliberately reminiscent of previous episodes. At the start of an episode, it worked; as a mid-show pause, it slowed everything down. A shame.

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