Warning: contains spoilers for The Last Kingdom series one to three

Together, books one to six in Bernard Cornwell’s The Saxon Stories series number almost 2000 pages. That’s roughly War And Peace plus Jane Eyre, if you’re a fan of useless equivalents.

Stephen Butchard’s screen version has compressed all that intrigue, passing time and descriptions of longship sails into three (and soon to be four) snappy, action-packed TV series. Inevitably—and rightly—changes have been made along the way. Characters and plot threads have been snipped out, or woven in with others. Executions have been stayed. Plotlines have been reassigned. It’s the way of any good adaptation.

That said, those changes do mean that we’ve been denied the sight of Father Pyrlig lobbing beehives over a fort wall mid-battle, so it’s not all progress. Here’s that and ten other The Last Kingdom book events that didn’t make it onto the screen…

Uhtred is kidnapped by Father Beocca

“ ‘You are rescued, lord,’ he said to me, ‘praise Almighty God, you are rescued!’ “

In book one, when Uhtred’s captor (and now adopted father) Ragnar treats with King Alfred, the young Uhtred encounters the priest who baptised him at Bebbanburg, Father Beocca. He arranges for young Uhtred and Brida to be knocked unconscious and taken from their Danish ‘captors’ in what he supposes is a rescue mission. Uhtred and Brida however, not wanting to remain with the Saxons, escape from Alfred’s wife Aelswith and return to their people.

Finan and Thyra kill Sven the One-Eyed

“Finan crouched, still grinning, ready to drive his long sword into Sven’s exposed belly.”

In the TV series, Thyra gets a triumphant revenge on her kidnapper and serial abuser Sven the One-Eyed when, at her command, her pack of hounds maul him to death during Ragnar and Uhtred’s attack on Dunholm. In the third book of the series, The Lords Of The North, it’s Uhtred’s swordsman Finan the Agile who first fights off Sven’s defenders and knocks him over a rampart where Thyra then instructs the dogs to savage him to death.

Osferth maims and kills Sigefrid

“All were behind Sigefrid, and he turned, astonished, and just then Osferth, Alfred’s bastard son, jumped from the gate’s top.”

Baby Monk Osferth, the illegitimate son of King Alfred, is no great shakes in battle. Yet in book four, it’s him who kills Dane warrior Sigefrid at Uhtred’s command, after first paralysing him in an earlier battler when he jumped on him from a height and stabbed him in the spine with a sword.

In season two of the TV series, Aethelflaed is given the task of killing Sigefrid in revenge for him having killed his brother (and her lover) Erik.

Uhtred’s son dies in childbirth along with Gisela

“ ‘Mother and child’, Aethelflaed said very softly.”

Gisela’s death in book five, The Burning Land, happened in the first episode of The Last Kingdom season three. Uhtred’s wife died in childbirth, leaving our hero with a son he hated for being the cause of his beloved’s death. In the book, that son perished at the same time as his mother, but in the TV series, Uhtred’s second son remained alive after his mother’s passing.

Uhtred and Aethelflaed become lovers

“Fate is strange. I had rejected Christianity, preferring the gods of the Danes, but I loved Aethelflaed, Alfred’s daughter.”

Like the identity of Osferth’s true father, Uhtred and Alfred’s daughter Aethelflaed being lovers is an open secret in Wessex and Mercia. In the TV adaptation, season three saw the pair kiss and Aethelflaed declare her attraction to Uhtred. He refused to become her lover then as it might expose her to Skade’s curse, but with the curse broken, there’s always the possibility in future…

Aethelflaed is given custody of Uhtred’s children

“The king has decreed that your children will be cared for in the Lady Aethelflaed’s household’.”

After Uhtred accidentally kills Brother Godwin after he is provoked into attacking him by his cruel words about the deceased Lady Gisela, Alfred seizes his children as hostages. In the TV series, it’s Hild who takes care of them, baptises them and raises them as Christians, but in The Saxon Stories, it’s the Lady of Mercia, Aethelflaed.

Uhtred kills Aldhelm

“There was no pleasure in killing such a man and so I made it quick.”

In season three, cowardly villain Aethelred of Mercia discovers his advisor Aldhelm has acted against his orders and so stabs him in the gut. Bleeding and on death’s door, Aldhelm uses what may be his last breaths to warn Lady of Mercia Aethelflaed of her husband’s continuing plot against her life. Whether Aldhelm will survive to season four is in the laps of the gods.

In book five, The Burning Land, Uhtred comes to the rescue of Aethelflaed, who’s being held more or less captive by her husband, and kills Aethelred’s servant Aldhelm in the process.

Uhtred and Skade become lovers

“I took off her cloak and I lay her down, and when we were done we were both in tears.”

Skade is introduced in The Last Kingdom season three as a bloodthirsty seer and the consort to warrior Bloodhair. She curses Uhtred and attempts to convince him to join as her sexual partner to allow her power to work through him. In a ploy, Uhtred lies to Skade to gain her trust, then murders her by drowning (believing his curse can only be removed if she dies without spilling a drop of her blood).

In The Burning Land, however, Skade and Uhtred become lovers aboard the ship Seolferwulf after she convinces him that it wasn’t her curse that killed Gisela.

Bloodhair kills Skade

“Harald kissed her open mouth as he ripped the blade upwards, ever upwards.”

When Bloodhair murders Skade in the books, he certainly spills more than a drop of her blood. Hating her for giving herself to Haesten (yes), a withered Bloodhair embraces his former consort, places a golden crown on her head, strokes her hair and stabs her through her chainmail as Uhtred and Aethelflaed watch.

Uhtred kills Bloodhair

“Finish what you began.”

After murdering Skade, Bloodhair tells Uhtred to kill him. Instead of allowing Bloodhair to die with a sword in his hand, and thus go to Valhalla in death, Uhtred kicks away the sword and puts him to death, in revenge for Bloodhair’s many acts of cruelty.

In the TV series, Bloodhair and Haesten face each other in combat, but Skade stabs Bloodhair in the neck, killing him. Brida, watching from the sidelines, rushes to put Bloodhair’s axe in his hand to ensure that he will reach Valhalla.

Father Pyrlig and the bees of war

“ ‘Have some honey!’ he roared at the Danes and tossed the hive upwards.”

In book five, The Burning Land, Uhtred and Edward Atheling’s army marches on Haesten’s forts at Beamfleot. They’re surrounded by Danes, but win the battle thanks to the arrival of Steapa with reinforcements. They seize the first fort and attempt to assault the second, but struggle to scale the walls. Enter: Father Pyrlig, with a bunch of live beehives that they throw onto the walls, thus distracting Haesten’s men and allowing Uhtred’s fighters to capture the fort. Buzz.

We’ll bring you news on The Last Kingdom season four as it arrives.

As Disney’s acquisition of 20th Century Fox surges on, rumours of the old planned expansion of the X-Men franchise being dead in the water might be a little premature.

A random new report from Deadline about Channing Tatum changing talent agencies has mentioned that not only is the very, very, very, very long-in-gestation Gambit solo film still alive, but that the actor – who has been attached to star as the card-flicking mutant for years – may be entirely done with waiting for it to get off the ground.

Channing Tatum – actor, dancer, noted CAPSLOCK user … and big budget comic book movie director? Why not!

The Gambit film has been wallowing in development hell for aeons. January 2018 brought news that Pirates Of The Caribbean director Gore Verbinski had dropped out of the running to take over the reins. Before that, Edge Of Tomorrow man Doug Liman ditched the idea of helming it. And before that, Rupert Wyatt (Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes) bailed on Fox’s X-Men project.

So really, what has Tatum got to lose by taking it on himself at this point? We shall see, but until anything is officially announced and cameras are rolling, we won’t hold our breath for Gambit.

After bingeing season 2 of Marvel’s The Punisher on Netflix over the weekend, fans are waiting for the other shoe to drop. With Iron Fist, Luke Cage and Daredevil now having been cancelled by the streaming service, there is every possibility that The Punisher will meet the same fate in the coming weeks.

Star Jon Bernthal has been chatting with Collider in a new interview, where he’s addressed the notion that this might be the last hurrah for Frank Castle on Netflix:

“Yeah, it’s gonna be what it’s gonna be. I get it. You know what I know. Part of the deal with this profession is that you can make a choice and worry about the shit that you can’t control, or you can worry about the shit that you can. For me, all I’ve ever cared about with this project is that I want it to be as good as it can, and I’ll fight to make it as good as I can. It’s not whether we get the chance [to do another season] or not. For me, to put energy into saying that I want it to be this or I want it to be that, that makes no sense. But if we’re doing it, you better believe that I’m gonna put all of my energy into making it good. I like to focus on things I can control, and I certainly cannot control that.”

If this is indeed the end for Bernthal’s Frank, though, he seems to genuinely regard his performance as just another in a long line of Punishers, and is happy to have been a part of the character’s history:

“I feel like he’s a bit in my bones, in that sense, but as far as the gravitas of what it means to play the character, I’m just super humbled. And look, I’m one of many who’s gotten to play him, in one of many iterations of the character, and there will be many more, after I’m done.”

We’re still waiting to hear if The Punisher will join the majority of its sibling series in the ‘done’ pile at Netflix, and will bring you an update when it’s officially been decided.

Warner Bros. has decided to delay filming on Fantastic Beasts 3, according to a new report at Deadline. Production was due to get underway in July on the third film in the latest Wizarding World franchise, but the crew aren’t ready to get started on it after only just finishing up on the last one, which was released merely a couple of months ago.

Apparently, the actors coming back for number three have been informed of the situation in a bit of a scramble to re-jig schedules. Whether this move will affect who will be involved in the next film is currently hard to predict. Since there’s barely any info so far on which characters will be included in Fantastic Beasts 3, it’ll be open to speculation for a while.

At this time, all we know is that David Yates is coming back to direct, with David Heyman, Steve Kloves, Lionel Wigram and writer J.K. Rowling on producer duties.

We certainly doubt there’s any deeper reason for the delay in filming, as the first two films have made over $1.4 billion worldwide at the box office so far.

More on this as it becomes available.

For a show that’s three million and 31 years into deep space, Red Dwarf is in pretty rude health. It’s been just over a year since the programme came to the end of its 12th series, the second of a two-series production block shot in early 2016, on UK TV channel Dave, and it looks as if there’s still plenty more to come from Lister, Rimmer, Kryten and the Cat.

Having originally gone away after its eighth series aired on BBC Two in 1999, the long-running sci-fi sitcom was brought out of stasis ten years later by UK TV. While few fans would claim that the three-part special Back To Earth is Red Dwarf‘s best outing, these episodes were the most-watched original programmes in digital broadcasting history at that point, paving the way for a proper revival in 2012.

Red Dwarf X, XI, and XII represent a gradual return to form over the course of 18 back-to-basics multi-camera episodes, which largely go back to the characters for laughs. It’s a welcome approach following the continuity-heavy sci-fi escapades that characterised the last two runs of the BBC era. Co-creator Rob Grant departed the series with Red Dwarf VI, with Doug Naylor continuing on and becoming the chief creative force behind the series.

As of XII, Naylor has run just about as many series of the programme solo as he did with Grant. Over the course of the last five-and-a-bit series, the show was cancelled by the BBC, a potential movie spin-off became stranded in development hell, and the cast were all working on various other projects.

Even with all of these broadcasting and scheduling issues taken into account, Red Dwarf has found a second lease on life in the multi-channel age of television. With a 13th series and other possible projects still somewhere on the horizon for now, it’s impressive to look at what this sci-fi sitcom has achieved in the Dave era so far and what’s still to come…

Dear Dave

The Series VIII finale Only The Good ends with a cliffhanger and the simple caption “The End? The Smeg It Is”. However, having accrued a syndication-friendly package of 52 produced episodes, the BBC would then turn down Naylor’s proposals for a ninth series. Instead of another series, Naylor began to write Red Dwarf: The Movie.

Originally announced for a 2002 release, the film was set to feature the original cast, in an adventure where they’d run up against a race of ruthless cyborgs bent on wiping out the last of humanity. But as planned, the film required at least a £13 million budget and over a five-year period, the financing kept falling apart.

In the quest to get the film funded, at least one financier asked Naylor if he would consider recasting the characters with high-profile movie stars. Although there have been episodes without some of them, some of the time, a new Red Dwarf without Craig Charles, Chris Barrie, Robert Llewellyn, and Danny John-Jules would be unfathomable, and Naylor rightly “ran from the building”.

Another incident involved a would-be financier claiming to be “the Duke of Manchester”, in a not-especially elaborate hoax that would apparently have landed the production £60 million to play with, if only they’d stump up for their benefactor’s airfare to Australia. After writing 35 different drafts of the script for different potential budgets, Naylor and his team were unable to get the film funded and green-lit.

While Naylor had big ideas for the film in comparison to other British movies released at the time, this was still the era where the UK film industry was turning out anaemic, over-extended TV-to-film adaptations like Kevin & Perry Go Large and Ali G Indahouse. Red Dwarf: The Movie wouldn’t have had to do much in order to better those films, but even with the best intentions, it doesn’t feel like it would have survived contact with the film industry at that time.

All in all, Dave commissioning Back To Earth was a blessing. With a new high-definition look, improved production value, and an ambitious creative homage to Blade Runner, the specials might give us some idea of what a Red Dwarf movie might have looked like. Keeping this in mind, the de-facto “Series IX” isn’t all that great.

Aside from financial considerations, Red Dwarf is quintessentially a sitcom, so Dave commissioning further series, which once again corrected from the single-camera sci-fi format to the time-honoured multi-camera format, was the making of the revival.

In fact, in an interview for Red Dwarf X in 2012, Naylor told us: “Craig [Charles] said something interesting to me which was if we were to do the film, he wouldn’t want to leave the TV series. Because that’s where Red Dwarf really works best. Originally we were advised to do something with a really big budget whereas if we kept to a smaller budget we could have got something made.”

Additionally, having worked on so many drafts of the script, Naylor had plenty of ideas to go on. Red Dwarf X features a number of gags, scenes, and concepts that were originally conceived for one version of the movie or another, but more importantly, it’s a run that zeroes in on the original concept of the last human alive, lost in space with his misfit mates.

To cap off this victory lap, The Beginning shows a learning curve from Only The Good. Adapting much of the basic plan for the movie, it’s the standout of the run. As well as being jam-packed with great gags and character moments, it serves as a properly satisfying series finale, just in case they don’t get to do this again.

However, Dave commissioned the series for a further 12 episodes, comprising Series XI and XII. With the exception of Timewave (an uncharacteristically topical episode that definitely would have had more to grab onto if it had been written and shot at the end of 2016 rather than the beginning), they’re all pretty good ones too. By the time we get to the back-end of XII, with a blinding run of Mechocracy, M-Corp, and Skipper, the series is arguably back its very best form.

In the best way, any one of those three scripts could have been made 20 years ago, (with the possible exception of M-Corp and its Black Mirror-esque pisstake of in-app purchases) but the episodes still benefit from Naylor’s experience (plus the input of the programme’s webmaster-turned-script-editor Andrew Ellard) and the general uptick in production value afforded by TV-level visual effects.

As good as it looks, Red Dwarf still doesn’t have the budget of a Doctor Who, but the way in which the series has offset this by reviving the formula of sci-fi chamber pieces based around four spacefaring smegheads means that the show has yet more potential to be fulfilled.

Lucky XIII

We’ve been hearing for a while that Series XIII will start shooting at the beginning of 2019, but aside from the release of the new Blu-ray boxset of the first eight series, there’s been no more Red Dwarf news this year so far.

The cast have all variously confirmed that they’re raring to go on another series, but at the time of writing, the most recent word on what’s happening is Naylor’s. As far back as when Red Dwarf XII was going out on Dave, he told the Express that another series was in development.

“It would have to fit in with everyone’s schedule. Craig’s very busy and Danny’s very busy as is Chris and Rob. Danny is in Guadeloupe for half a year, so we need to get something that works for him and also we’re quite keen to do a tour.”

In keeping the original cast intact, scheduling has been an issue. However, John-Jules’ commitment in Guadeloupe, playing Officer Dwayne Myers in BBC One’s Death In Paradise, came to an end when he left the show after seven series. Moreover, Dave confirmed in April 2018 that the new series would be filming early this year, meaning that the rest of the cast must also be booked.

Going back to shooting one series, as opposed to the back-to-back production of XI and XII should mean that we get some new Red Dwarf within the next 12 months. However, post-production on the episodes shot in 2016 reportedly lasted eight-nine months, so even if doing one series halves that time, then we’re looking at the end of 2019 at the very earliest, or possibly early next year.

Wait though, what was that about a tour? In the same interview, Naylor clarified: “When I say a tour, I mean do a live show at the O2, so we need to get a schedule that works for the O2 and certainly for Red Dwarf XIII. Probably if we did a Red Dwarf XIII and XIV, it would make the O2 live show more difficult.”

He added: “So we’ll probably do Red Dwarf XIII, live show and come back and probably do XIV after that.”

It’s hard to even imagine what Red Dwarf Live At The O2 (absolutely not an official working title) would look like, but it’s the sort of mad new idea that feels on brand for the show’s digital renaissance. The mentions of two further series afterwards don’t go unnoticed either, because the Dave era has left us in absolutely no doubt that they could do it.

The End is The Beginning is The End

What’s most impressive about the post-Back To Earth series is that they haven’t relied on warm nostalgia for the show. Granted, we’ve had running jokes and callbacks galore, but they’ve largely been framed within new stories, in episodes which are markedly more characterful than conceptual. Somehow, somewhere along the line, Red Dwarf turned back into a really solid sitcom.

The audience figures for the series show that it’s still popular, and although we’ll leave the consideration of whether you could fill the O2 with the Dwarf faithful to those who have to sell the tickets, a progression to the stage feels like a more natural extension of what we’ve got at the moment than a big-budget movie could have. But moreover, it’s got a cast and crew who are raring to make the time to make more.

As we said at the start, that’s not bad going for a 31-year-old sitcom that has kept the same core cast throughout most of its run. Mathematically, we must be closer to the end of Red Dwarf than we are to the beginning. But in Red Dwarf, The End was the beginning, and having breezed past the just-in-case finale The Beginning with flying colours, it feels like there’s still lots more to come.

For a show that’s three million and 31 years into deep space, Red Dwarf is in pretty rude health. It’s been just over a year since the programme came to the end of its 12th series, the second of a two-series production block shot in early 2016, on UK TV channel Dave, and it looks as if there’s still plenty more to come from Lister, Rimmer, Kryten and the Cat.

Having originally gone away after its eighth series aired on BBC Two in 1999, the long-running sci-fi sitcom was brought out of stasis ten years later by UK TV. While few fans would claim that the three-part special Back To Earth is Red Dwarf‘s best outing, these episodes were the most-watched original programmes in digital broadcasting history at that point, paving the way for a proper revival in 2012.

Red Dwarf X, XI, and XII represent a gradual return to form over the course of 18 back-to-basics multi-camera episodes, which largely go back to the characters for laughs. It’s a welcome approach following the continuity-heavy sci-fi escapades that characterised the last two runs of the BBC era. Co-creator Rob Grant departed the series with Red Dwarf VI, with Doug Naylor continuing on and becoming the chief creative force behind the series.

As of XII, Naylor has run just about as many series of the programme solo as he did with Grant. Over the course of the last five-and-a-bit series, the show was cancelled by the BBC, a potential movie spin-off became stranded in development hell, and the cast were all working on various other projects.

Even with all of these broadcasting and scheduling issues taken into account, Red Dwarf has found a second lease on life in the multi-channel age of television. With a 13th series and other possible projects still somewhere on the horizon for now, it’s impressive to look at what this sci-fi sitcom has achieved in the Dave era so far and what’s still to come…

Dear Dave

The Series VIII finale Only The Good ends with a cliffhanger and the simple caption “The End? The Smeg It Is”. However, having accrued a syndication-friendly package of 52 produced episodes, the BBC would then turn down Naylor’s proposals for a ninth series. Instead of another series, Naylor began to write Red Dwarf: The Movie.

Originally announced for a 2002 release, the film was set to feature the original cast, in an adventure where they’d run up against a race of ruthless cyborgs bent on wiping out the last of humanity. But as planned, the film required at least a £13 million budget and over a five-year period, the financing kept falling apart.

In the quest to get the film funded, at least one financier asked Naylor if he would consider recasting the characters with high-profile movie stars. Although there have been episodes without some of them, some of the time, a new Red Dwarf without Craig Charles, Chris Barrie, Robert Llewellyn, and Danny John-Jules would be unfathomable, and Naylor rightly “ran from the building”.

Another incident involved a would-be financier claiming to be “the Duke of Manchester”, in a not-especially elaborate hoax that would apparently have landed the production £60 million to play with, if only they’d stump up for their benefactor’s airfare to Australia. After writing 35 different drafts of the script for different potential budgets, Naylor and his team were unable to get the film funded and green-lit.

While Naylor had big ideas for the film in comparison to other British movies released at the time, this was still the era where the UK film industry was turning out anaemic, over-extended TV-to-film adaptations like Kevin & Perry Go Large and Ali G Indahouse. Red Dwarf: The Movie wouldn’t have had to do much in order to better those films, but even with the best intentions, it doesn’t feel like it would have survived contact with the film industry at that time.

All in all, Dave commissioning Back To Earth was a blessing. With a new high-definition look, improved production value, and an ambitious creative homage to Blade Runner, the specials might give us some idea of what a Red Dwarf movie might have looked like. Keeping this in mind, the de-facto “Series IX” isn’t all that great.

Aside from financial considerations, Red Dwarf is quintessentially a sitcom, so Dave commissioning further series, which once again corrected from the single-camera sci-fi format to the time-honoured multi-camera format, was the making of the revival.

In fact, in an interview for Red Dwarf X in 2012, Naylor told us: “Craig [Charles] said something interesting to me which was if we were to do the film, he wouldn’t want to leave the TV series. Because that’s where Red Dwarf really works best. Originally we were advised to do something with a really big budget whereas if we kept to a smaller budget we could have got something made.”

Additionally, having worked on so many drafts of the script, Naylor had plenty of ideas to go on. Red Dwarf X features a number of gags, scenes, and concepts that were originally conceived for one version of the movie or another, but more importantly, it’s a run that zeroes in on the original concept of the last human alive, lost in space with his misfit mates.

To cap off this victory lap, The Beginning shows a learning curve from Only The Good. Adapting much of the basic plan for the movie, it’s the standout of the run. As well as being jam-packed with great gags and character moments, it serves as a properly satisfying series finale, just in case they don’t get to do this again.

However, Dave commissioned the series for a further 12 episodes, comprising Series XI and XII. With the exception of Timewave (an uncharacteristically topical episode that definitely would have had more to grab onto if it had been written and shot at the end of 2016 rather than the beginning), they’re all pretty good ones too. By the time we get to the back-end of XII, with a blinding run of Mechocracy, M-Corp, and Skipper, the series is arguably back its very best form.

In the best way, any one of those three scripts could have been made 20 years ago, (with the possible exception of M-Corp and its Black Mirror-esque pisstake of in-app purchases) but the episodes still benefit from Naylor’s experience (plus the input of the programme’s webmaster-turned-script-editor Andrew Ellard) and the general uptick in production value afforded by TV-level visual effects.

As good as it looks, Red Dwarf still doesn’t have the budget of a Doctor Who, but the way in which the series has offset this by reviving the formula of sci-fi chamber pieces based around four spacefaring smegheads means that the show has yet more potential to be fulfilled.

Lucky XIII

We’ve been hearing for a while that Series XIII will start shooting at the beginning of 2019, but aside from the release of the new Blu-ray boxset of the first eight series, there’s been no more Red Dwarf news this year so far.

The cast have all variously confirmed that they’re raring to go on another series, but at the time of writing, the most recent word on what’s happening is Naylor’s. As far back as when Red Dwarf XII was going out on Dave, he told the Express that another series was in development.

“It would have to fit in with everyone’s schedule. Craig’s very busy and Danny’s very busy as is Chris and Rob. Danny is in Guadeloupe for half a year, so we need to get something that works for him and also we’re quite keen to do a tour.”

In keeping the original cast intact, scheduling has been an issue. However, John-Jules’ commitment in Guadeloupe, playing Officer Dwayne Myers in BBC One’s Death In Paradise, came to an end when he left the show after seven series. Moreover, Dave confirmed in April 2018 that the new series would be filming early this year, meaning that the rest of the cast must also be booked.

Going back to shooting one series, as opposed to the back-to-back production of XI and XII should mean that we get some new Red Dwarf within the next 12 months. However, post-production on the episodes shot in 2016 reportedly lasted eight-nine months, so even if doing one series halves that time, then we’re looking at the end of 2019 at the very earliest, or possibly early next year.

Wait though, what was that about a tour? In the same interview, Naylor clarified: “When I say a tour, I mean do a live show at the O2, so we need to get a schedule that works for the O2 and certainly for Red Dwarf XIII. Probably if we did a Red Dwarf XIII and XIV, it would make the O2 live show more difficult.”

He added: “So we’ll probably do Red Dwarf XIII, live show and come back and probably do XIV after that.”

It’s hard to even imagine what Red Dwarf Live At The O2 (absolutely not an official working title) would look like, but it’s the sort of mad new idea that feels on brand for the show’s digital renaissance. The mentions of two further series afterwards don’t go unnoticed either, because the Dave era has left us in absolutely no doubt that they could do it.

The End is The Beginning is The End

What’s most impressive about the post-Back To Earth series is that they haven’t relied on warm nostalgia for the show. Granted, we’ve had running jokes and callbacks galore, but they’ve largely been framed within new stories, in episodes which are markedly more characterful than conceptual. Somehow, somewhere along the line, Red Dwarf turned back into a really solid sitcom.

The audience figures for the series show that it’s still popular, and although we’ll leave the consideration of whether you could fill the O2 with the Dwarf faithful to those who have to sell the tickets, a progression to the stage feels like a more natural extension of what we’ve got at the moment than a big-budget movie could have. But moreover, it’s got a cast and crew who are raring to make the time to make more.

As we said at the start, that’s not bad going for a 31-year-old sitcom that has kept the same core cast throughout most of its run. Mathematically, we must be closer to the end of Red Dwarf than we are to the beginning. But in Red Dwarf, The End was the beginning, and having breezed past the just-in-case finale The Beginning with flying colours, it feels like there’s still lots more to come.

This article consists of nothing but The Punisher season two spoilers.

While the Netflix arm of the Marvel Cinematic Universe has always been happy to take some liberties with their respective area of the shared continuity, The Punisher season two really seems to take that idea and run with it. Not only does it refrain from making any direct references to any major shared moments in either the main MCU or the Netflix corner of the universe (no Infinity War aftermath to be found here folks, as if that were a surprise) it also keeps a healthy distance from a good deal of its comics history.

Naturally, that doesn’t mean there are no comic book Easter Eggs and nods to be found, but this season takes its inspiration and really runs with it, plucking a handful of Punisher story deep cuts and character names and adapting them into something completely new for the live action universe. Here’s everything we managed to find on a first viewing. If you spotted anything else, let us know down in the comments, and if it checks out, we’ll update this until it’s the most comprehensive The Punisher season two resource around!

The Punisher Season 2 Episode 1: Roadhouse Blues

“While driving through Michigan, Frank stops for a beer at a roadside bar. But staying out of trouble has never been his strong suit.”

– The band at the bar is playing The Outsider by Shooter Jennings, which is a little on-the-nose for Frank’s mental state. Look, no one ever claimed The Punisher was subtle.

– Frank still goes by “Pete,” as in Peter Castiglione, a pseudonym he’s used several times over in the show that stems from his comic book history. It stems from Frank’s original Italian family name, which was later Americanised to Castle.

Our US chums have more info on the old Castiglione name right here.

– Unlike many of the other new characters in this season, Amy Bendix is actually rooted in the comics. First appearing in Punisher: War Zone #24 back in 1994, Amy’s been overhauled to fit her new role for the small screen.

Aged up and transformed into a “street-wise grifter,” Amy’s comic book counterpart was a little girl who spotted Frank escaping from one of his murder scenes, only to swear to him she’d keep his secret. Later, he even helped her recover her dollhouse. Aw.

– This episode introduces John Pilgrim, season two’s main antagonist who was developed specifically for the show. He is a Christian fundamentalist turned murderer with a strict code of ethics he is willing to kill for – but his desire to track down Amy is a major mystery.

While he’s not specifically based on any one Marvel villain, he clearly draws inspiration from Mennonite, a villain who first appeared in Punisher MAX #3 in 2010.

– Agent Madani, who you’ll hopefully remember from season one, has recovered fully from her brutal gunshot to the head, care of Billy Russo – who she obviously has not forgiven. Despite being physically in perfect health, it would seem Madani’s mental state is slipping, and badly, as she’s fixated herself like a laser on Billy and turned to alcohol to numb the pain.

– Speaking of, Billy Russo is still very much hospitalised after his final encounter with Frank last season. The weird plastic mask is thanks to Frank smashing his face through glass a few times over – and for theatricality, I guess. Art therapy, maybe.

The Punisher Season 2 Episode 2: Fight or Flight

“Frank and a reluctant Rachel go on the run as a menacing adversary gives chase. Meanwhile, Madani pays Russo an unwelcome visit.”

– Wondering what’s going on with Billy? Apparently so is Billy. He has no memory of his last encounter with Frank or anything that happened in his life after his stint in the military. If that sounds a little too convenient to you, Agent Madani thinks so, too.

– Billy’s doctor, Dr. Dumont, however, is very much on the side of her patient. Dumont isn’t based on anyone from the comics, specifically, but is definitely someone to keep an eye on as the season plays out, especially given her affinity and sympathy for Billy.

– Dumont’s advice and treatment for Billy’s memory recovery is for him to “put together the jigsaw,” an obvious nod to Billy’s comics based codename: Jigsaw. Though over in the comics Billy’s nickname was a lot more on-the-nose – he got thanks to his “jigsaw-like” facial scarring. Though the MCU’s Billy also has a pretty disgifured face, you can only make someone like Ben Barnes so ugly before you just have to give up, I guess.

Our US chums have more info on what Jigsaw was like in the Punisher comics right here.

Frank is still driving around in his, uh, “signature” van which not only featured in the first season of the show but is actually a bizarre sort of tradition for his comic book counterpart.

Dating all the way back to the debut of Frank’s “War Journal,” in Giant-Sized Spider-Man #4, Frank’s had an affinity for tooling around in clunky looking vans, sometimes they’re even known as “Battle Vans” just to make them extra on brand.

The Punisher Season 2 Episode 3: Trouble the Water

“As Pilgrim’s past comes into focus, Frank and Rachel find themselves in police custody, where they’re anywhere but safe.”

– While we still don’t have much info about John Pilgrim’s history, we get our first clue here in the form of some very old, mostly removed tattoos of Nazi and white supremacist iconography. In case you couldn’t already tell, this dude isn’t a great person.

– Netflix MCU mainstay Sergeant Brett Mahoney is back for this season! He’s been around for a while in just about every Marvel streaming show, and has a comic book history all his own, since he was introduced in Marvel Comics Presents #1 back in 2007.

– Hopefully you don’t need me reminding you of Frank’s past but he gets called a “jarhead” in this episode as a reference to his time as a Marine.

– One of the officers calls Frank out as a western hero who rides into town but is secretly the devil, which isn’t a reference to a specific western movie, but a trope used throughout the genre. Frank as the black hat, lone gunman archetype is a pretty foundational element of the Punisher character across all mediums.

The Punisher Season 2 Episode 4: Scar Tissue

“Rachel recalls the night everything changed and lets Frank in on the truth about her name. Russo sits down with a face from his childhood.”

– If you’re totally in the dark vis-a-vis Frank and Russo’s bad blood, you might want to refresh yourself on the totality of season one. This version of their story was invented for the MCU specifically, but it involves Russo being the man behind the gun that killed Frank’s family. Yikes.

– Remember Curtis Hoyle? Another major player from season one is back in this episode, and he’s Frank’s old military buddy who runs a support group for vets. It’s difficult to tell since he’s usually wearing long pants but Curtis lost his leg while he was serving and was discharged. That’s why he rarely helps Frank in actual combat.

– What is it with MCU bad guys and baseball? Billy’s history is linked to a love of baseball just like Daredevil season three antagonist Ben “Dex” Poindexter, aka Bullseye. This probably just a coincidence rather than an intentional thematic link, but still, you have to admit it’s pretty funny.

– Speaking of Billy’s tragic past, this episode is loaded with quick little refreshers and call backs to season one, like the Ray Of Hope Group Home where Billy grew up.

We start to see the first inklings of Frank actually taking Amy under his wing here, which might not be a callback to any specific comic book plot, but it’s actually not the first time Frank’s taken on a sort of ‘sidekick’ with a similar backstory.

This trajectory for Amy’s story seems to have been at least partially inspired by Rachel Cole who first appeared in The Punisher #1 back in 2011, who was motivated by the loss of her own family to join Frank’s crusade temporarily.

– You can spot MCU network powerhouse WHIH at one point in the episode, too.

The Punisher Season 2 Episode 5: One-Eyed Jacks

“It’s not a trap if you know it’s coming: That’s Frank’s philosophy. Madani opens up and Pilgrim plans to visit an unholy land.”

– Welcome back to Netflix MCU veteran Turk Barrett, who is long suffering as always. You’ll recognise him from just about every streaming Marvel show, where he’s usually getting beaten up by the good (and bad) guys for one reason or another, even after he mostly gave up his life up crime. In the comics, Turk occasionally goes by Stilt-Man (no really) and has even temporarily held an Infinity Stone, so his life is pretty wild no matter what universe he’s in.

– More season one call backs, this time to Curt’s support group for veterans, which played a pretty major role in the events of last season. It’s basically exactly what it says on the tin: a group therapy session for vets who are having trouble fitting back into daily life.

– Is it possible that Frank Castle is such a rube he doesn’t understand that three card monte is a sucker’s game? Seriously?

– Frank getting brutalised by (and in turn brutalising) a whole gym full of Russians is faintly reminiscent of the classic Garth Ennis/Steve Dillon Punisher fight with “The Russian” in their first arc on the book, “Welcome Back, Frank.” That was adapted into the very best scene in the Thomas Jane Punisher movie, with Kevin Nash as “The Russian.”

Episodes 6-9

Unless we missed something, these episodes are all Marvel reference-free!

The Punisher Season 2 Episode 10: The Dark Hearts of Men

“As Madani and Krista debate who’s worth saving, Frank prepares to storm Russo’s territory. A brutal encounter pushes Pilgrim back into old habits.”

– This episode uses a cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Fortunate Son, a favorite anthem of the Vietnam era. This particular incarnation of Frank has obviously been modernised, but in his original debut back in 1974, the Punisher was a veteran of Vietnam.

The Punisher Season 2 Episode 11: The Abyss

“Amy rushes to protect Frank, who lies defenseless in a hospital. Pilgrim gets some crushing news, and Karen Page calls in a favour.”

– Hey, it’s Karen Page! Fans will recognise her from all over the Netflix MCU (not to mention Marvel comics) but specifically as one of Frank’s earliest and most trusted, er, associates, from his debut in Daredevil season two. Karen is representing Nelson and Murdock, which was newly reformed at the end of Daredevil season two with Karen as an official partner.

Episodes 12 and 13

Like six through nine, we didn’t catch any overt references to other Marvel moments in these episodes, but if you did, let us know in the comments. We have an explanation of all of the various implications of that ending right here, though.