Backwards (Red Dwarf Episode) - Production

Production

With Rob Grant and Doug Naylor directly involved with the third series, under their Grant Naylor Productions team, they radically changed the look of the show. The opening credits sequence sported a new rock guitar version of the Red Dwarf theme tune playing over clips from the series. The opening sequence ends with the first appearance of the official logo of the show which was designed by DeWinters. Mel Bibby had also come on board the crew and re-designed the sets. His influence of Ridley Scott's Alien film clearly shown in the new sets as murky and run-down feel.

Costumes were overhauled as well as Costume designer Howard Burden brought in a new stylish look to the crew. Lister's jacket outfit, having been designed with his art school background in mind, included a voluptuous woman riding a rocket on the back. This woman had indeed been intended to be Wilma Flintstone but was changed to a generic looking female once the legality of using The Flintstones image arose. Rimmer's tunic uniform served as implying his devotion to duty as well as his hologrammatic status. While the Cat's wardrobe reached new heights in the fashion stakes, Kryten's appearance was based on the Series II look but produced more successfully.

Effects also featured more heavily in the new series. The barroom brawl with plenty of fake glass featured a stunt double hurling through a window on the set. Bluescreen backgrounds were used for the actors to film against which was then merged with the cloaked Starbug location footage. Close-up shots were merely filmed on top of a raised platform with only the sky visible in the background.

Starbug was introduced as the new spaceship in place of Blue Midget. Grant and Naylor felt that Blue Midget didn't work well set-wise because of size constraints so they requested that Peter Wragg, and his visual effects team, come up with a design for another ship. The final design, initially called White Midget, was shown to Grant and Naylor and they liked it, but they thought it looked more like a bug so settled on the name Starbug.

The Series III pre-credits scroll detailing the back story was actually intended to be an episode in its own right. Titled "Dad", the episode would have tied the loose ends from series two's "Parallel Universe" where Lister would have given birth to the twins and given them back to the parallel universe Lister version. Grant and Naylor had partially written the script but they decided to scrap the idea as they felt it to be unfunny and potentially offensive to women.

Many of the location scenes for "Backwards" were filmed in and around Manchester. Series creator and writer Rob Grant can be seen standing on the street with sunglasses smoking a cigarette backwards. The episode's theme gave the writers an opportunity to insert some in-joke dialogue that otherwise wouldn't have been put in. In one scene the bar manager comes into Rimmer and Kryten's dressing room to tell them that they're sacked for un-starting a barroom brawl. In fact he says: "I'm addressing the one prat in the country who has bothered to get a hold of this recording, turn it round and actually work out the rubbish that I'm saying. What a poor sad life he's got!" At the very end (beginning?) of the reverse barroom brawl, an "Action!", said by Ed Bye can be heard.

The character of Kryten was originally intended as a one-off appearance in the series-two episode "Kryten". The character returned mainly to broaden the story potential as Lister was the only person who could really do anything. Rimmer, a hologram, couldn't touch anything, the Cat couldn't be bothered to touch anything, and Holly was incompetent. The show was becoming difficult to write for. At the insistence of Naylor, Kryten returned to complete the team.

Grant and Naylor had approached David Ross with the intention of bringing him back to play the regular role of Kryten. Ross was in a stage play Flea In Her Ear and wasn't available, so they went to see Robert Llewellyn at the advice of Paul Jackson. Llewellyn was in a stage show called Mammon, playing a robot. They saw his performance and were impressed.

The very first scene that Llewellyn filmed was in the episode "Bodyswap" which involved him lighting candles with his fingers. He was wired up for the flame to ignite from his fingertip. The problem was that it was wet on the set and he was sweating so the wiring was backfiring and shocking him. The scene was cut out from the show.

"Backwards" world guest stars includes Maria Friedman as the Waitress, Tony Hawks as a Compere, Anna Palmer as a Customer in Cafe and Arthur Smith as the Pub Manager.