First pictures released of Red Dwarf's new series

By Verity Wood

Fans of cult sci-fi programme Red Dwarf will be pleased to hear that the first pictures of the new series have been glimpsed by the Sun newspaper.

The show ran for nine years before finally being axed in 1999 and attracted millions of viewers, as well as an International Emmy Award and a top prize from the British Comedy Awards in 1994.

Re-runs have been screened on Freeview channel Dave and it commissioned a special three-part episode of the programme over Easter in 2009.

The success of Red Dwarf: Back To Earth prompted producers to bring the show back and it is thought the brand new series will be screened in September 2012.

Pictures seen by the Sun show Craig Charles, Chris Barrie and Danny John-Jules all reprising their original roles.

During filming last year, Charles joked that with the cast being much older, it may look like "grumpy old men in space".

"Kryten's going to be a much wider robot and Cat wears a wig so you can't see his grey hair," he laughed.