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Red Dwarf star Chris Barrie is set to return to the beloved comedy series as narrator of new prequel

A Red Dwarf star has expressed his delight after being confirmed to return to the cherished comedy series.

Chris Barrie is making his way back to the Red Dwarf universe, having been announced as the narrator for the audiobook of the new spin-off novel, Red Dwarf: Titan.

The actor, who famously portrayed Arnold Rimmer in the cult sci-fi comedy, will voice the latest book, written by Red Dwarf co-creator Rob Grant and Andrew Marshall, reports Radio Times.

Discussing his latest project, Chris said: “I am finding Red Dwarf: Titan to be a very entertaining read. Recording any audiobook is always a challenge with so many characters to cover.

“But Red Dwarf: Titan, loaded as it is with laugh-out-loud lines and situations, is simply a joy!”, reports the Liverpool Echo.

The star added: “I’m delighted that the portrayer of Arnold J Rimmer himself, the fabulous multi-voiced Chris Barrie will be reading the audiobook of Red Dwarf Titan.

“And I’m certain that Rob would be too. In fact we would be noisily competing as to whom was the most delighted. Currently that’s me.”

Besides his iconic portrayal of Rimmer throughout Red Dwarf’s 13 series, Chris previously narrated the first two Red Dwarf novels: Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers (1992) and Better Than Life (1995).

Red Dwarf: Titan will serve as a prequel to the BBC sci-fi comedy, which followed Craig Charles’s Dave Lister who wakes after three million years to find he’s the last remaining human.

His sole companions are a hologram of his deceased bunkmate, Arnold Rimmer (Chris Barrie), and a humanoid creature descended from his pet cat (Danny John-Jules).

In conversation with Radio Times just weeks before his death, co-writer Grant revealed of the novel: “It’s Lister and Rimmer before the accident on shore leave on Titan.

“It’s set one universe to the side, so we can have familiar characters but we can do different things with them, because the difficulty was writing something that was going to be original and fresh and using the same characters without breaking the canon. “.

He further disclosed that the tale would see Lister and Rimmer “get a message from the far future warning them that all realities are going to collapse unless they do something about it.

“Grant also assured us that Red Dwarf’s signature silliness is back in full force, with the writer promising that fans will “laugh their little chippers off”.”

Red Dwarf is available to stream on BBC iPlayer and Red Dwarf: Titan will publish in hardback, ebook and audio on July 16