As the countdown towards the return of cult British comedy Red Dwarf gets nearer, there are those wondering if the cast will have the same chemistry 13 years after the last proper episode of the program. Starring Craig Charles, Chris Barrie, Danny John-Jules and Robert Llewllyn, the original Red Dwarf proved a surprise hit with TV audiences, enjoyed for its irreverent and knowingly silly humour. It ran for an impressive 61 episodes and 11 years before winding up in 1999.

Since then the cast have made a slight return in 2009, with the mini-series Back To Earth seeing them away from the space setting we'd gotten used to and living back on the planet earth. Yet, according to The Guardian, they themselves didn't really consider that a full come back, and it's only with Red Dwarf X, back on the network Dave tonight, that they feel fully reunited as Captain Arnold Rimmer, the last living human Dave Lister, their hologram crewmate Kryten and the ship's Cat.

It's understood that the series will reference the cliff hanger that the very last one ended on back in 1999, though not until the end of the first episode, whilst it will address the fact that the actors have aged by absolutely not addressing it. A Q&A at a preview screening of the comeback last night yielded "the money" as the reason that they'd returned. The cast were joking, but hopefully they'll be just as witty in the forthcoming reboot.