Much-loved cosmic sitcom Red Dwarf will be making a return to British television next year after Channel Dave announced they would be launching a new series.

Filming on the ninth series of the comedy which starred Corrie actor Craig Charles as iconic cosmic slob Dave Lister will begin in the autumn. Chris Barrie was also extremely popular with fans for his portrayal of Arnold Judas Rimmer, for OTB’s money, one of the most underrated sitcom characters.

Danny John-Jules played The Cat and Robert Llewellyn completed the cast as the android Kryten. According to the Press Association bosses at DAVE were impressed in 2009 when a three-part special Red Dwarf: Back to Earth drew over three million viewers.

“It got more viewers than BBC2 and Channel 4 combined on the night, which is really good,” said Craig Charles. “So they’ve just commissioned another series of Red Dwarf.” The BBC2 show ran for eight series over 11 years until it was axed in 1999.

“We’re all quite like our characters – we’re caricatures of ourselves,” added Charles. We’ve got to recapture the highlights, like series five or six. If we can hit that mark, then brilliant. There’s no point doing it if it’s so-so.”

When asked whether the Cat, played by Danny John-Jules, and Rimmer, played by Chris Barrie, would be making a return to our screens, Charles said: “Yep, the Cat’s coming back!

“Chris Barrie was my favourite. He IS Rimmer. We’re all quite like our characters – we’re just caricatures of ourselves!” He told The Daily Mail.

But fans will be left guessing as to the plot of the new series as Craig has yet to reveal what will happen. At the end of series eight, the spaceship was overtaken by a mystery virus and the crew all manage to abandoned ship, except for Rimmer who was left stranded alone to face Death – who he had earlier kicked in the groin.