Red Dwarf is back on BBC iPlayer – but not without a hitch.
The first aired in 1998, but it hasn’t aired on BBC for 15 years.
However, it was announced earlier this month that the channel had acquired every episode of the first nine seasons of Rob Grant and Doug Naylor’s iconic space comedy.
They also bought the revived four seasons that aired on Dave, plus the feature-length special The Promised Land.
Naturally, fans are thrilled that they can now binge the show at their leisure – but anyone wanting to watch the episode named Krytie TV wasn’t able to do so straight away.
The series 8 episode didn’t appear instantly on iPlayer, which people thought was due to it being ‘politically incorrect’.
What’s more, all three parts of Back To Earth had also been omitted.
Krytie TV first aired in 1999 and follows Kryten (Robert Llewellyn) as he starts his own pirate TV station to entertain the prisoners.
Viewers have called the episode out for ‘sexist’ dialogue in the past as it makes jokes towards Kochanski, the only female character in the cast.
Online discourse previously accused the show of making her the ‘punchline’ with the comedy in series 8, in particular, ‘at her expense’.
One review read: ‘It’s not just not funny. It’s anti-funny. It’s sexist, childish, pathetic, immature and frequently insults the audience’s intelligence.’
Another branded the episode ‘stupid’, also accusing the episode of sexism for depicting ‘women with their clothes off in the shower.’
Fans of the comedy series have continued to slate Kyrtie TV, with many not too fussed about the delay in it appearing on the streamer this week.
One person tweeted: ‘I’ve heard from some people that Krytie TV isn’t on iplayer. Not that I care as it’s probably the worst episode I saw.’
‘I think I know why “Krytie TV” is missing from iPlayer. Perhaps “Women’s Shower Night” is too tasteless and politically incorrect for a modern day audience’, another wrote.
One asked: ‘Is Krytie TV too controversial for iPlayer? I can imagine it doesn’t play well nowadays.’
‘I wonder what the issue is with Krytie TV? I know the plot for that particular episode hasn’t exactly aged well but even so it seems a bit extreme to just drop it completely’, one Twitter user questioned.
When contacted for comment, BBC told Metro.co.uk that Kyrtie TV is now on iPlayer with the rest of Red Dwarf, citing a ‘technical issue’ for the delay.
Red Dwarf’s return to the BBC comes after speculation that it could be making a comeback to our screens following the resolution of an ongoing legal dispute.
In 2021, the future of Red Dwarf was left unclear when its creators were involved in a court case.
However, in March, an agreement was
A statement read at the time: ‘Rob Grant and Doug Naylor are delighted to announce that the ongoing dispute over the Red Dwarf rights has been resolved.
‘Moving onwards and upwards, Rob and Doug hope to launch separate iterations of Red Dwarf across various media, working again with the cast and other valued partners, and wish each other the very best.
‘Smoke a kipper, Red Dwarf will be back for breakfast!!’
Red Dwarf is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
