This weekend is Dimension Jump XV, the Red Dwarf convention put on by the show's official fan club. It's a weekend of fandom, geekery, costumes, and heavy drinking, and sadly I'm very much on the wrong bloody continent to go and enjoy it. It's also the place where big announcements are made, and this year's announcement has been a whopper: A brand new series of Red Dwarf has been commissioned. Six brand spanking new episodes of Red Dwarf will be produced and broadcast next year.

Earlier this year UK freeview cable network Dave broadcast a three-part special. It became the highest-rated show to air on a freeview network beating the previous record set by the premier of the Doctor Who spin-off, Torchwood. The new shows will be broadcast on Dave. Back to Earth was shot without a laughter track, but it's been hinted that the new series will probably be filmed in front of a live studio audience.

It doesn't take a Rocket Surgeon to realise that Red Dwarf was a huge influence on the creation of Jump Leads. It's one of my favourite scifi series, and definitely my favourite sitcom. I really enjoyed Back to Earth - it contains no less than three of my favourite Red Dwarf moments of all time - and I'm so pleased that the show will be gracing our tellyboxes once again. Marvellous!

UPDATE: I've jumped the gun a little bit, here - Dave have just commissioned six new scripts from series co-creator Doug Naylor, but so far no actual production work has begun, and indeed no series has been commissioned. That being said, asking for scripts for potential new episodes is a very promising sign, and I remain optimistic that we'll see Red Dwarf make a glorious comeback in 2010. Or, at the very least, it'll make a comeback.