Series 2

Of course, it wasn't all perfect; it's hard for a first series to get into a comfortable groove with the characters, and it acts as a testing ground for ideas and suggestions, some of which may not work out as well as hoped. And so, series 2 takes the great elements and takes them even further, and what didn't work was quietly pushed out of sight. And it works so, so well.

My first experience of Red Dwarf was this series. Fans rave up and down about this particular series, often claiming it to be Red Dwarf showing its true potential in a fantastic manner, and I can hardly disagree. I loved series 1, and was kinda disappointed that it didn't continue in that basic direction for much longer, but series 2 just takes the elements of series 1 and shapes it into something more whole, more full, more universally appealing (I think I'm in the minority for loving the drama of series 1). The snappy banter is much stronger, the stories are still great, and of course, the acting is still perfect. It doesn't have the vibe of continuity as much as the first series, wherein several topics shown in the first episode were then explored over the remaining episodes, and so to not have the strong personal stories of Waiting For God is a bit of a bummer, but that doesn't deny the fact that I think series 2 is just brilliant.