...indeed: a strong first six series capped by two extremely uneven series. So Red Dwarf was somehow put on the map by series VII and VIII. Nobody would have been interested in those first six series? You really believe this do you? ...and spectacular lows. If you think the mirror universe and dinosaur plots of series 8 are great sci-fi then you need to reappraise your useage of the term. There was an absolute ton of emotion and character development in series 1 and 2. Mature Lister sure was great in series eight though, especially when cutting of his pubes and putting them on some soap or getting Kryten to throw a period party for Kochanski...then there was the time he paid to watch the object of his affections and his own mother showering. Oh right, there was that time he stopped eating curries for five minutes at the start of 'Blue': a mere handful of episodes after being prepared to endanger the entire human race to get one...I suppose that was character development.
I actually agree with you, it's just that like every other gag in series 8 it went on and on instead of quitting while it was ahead. By the time Kryten produced the tampon it had just become overkill for me.
Nothing will ever match the sheer quality of series 2. It always remains my favourite as it is the first series I saw. I discovered it on its first run when I still at school. To this day. Stasis leek and thanks for the memory are the greatest 2 episodes ever written. If series 10 goes bak to this basic formula, I think everyone will be happy.
The problem with this is that if the series is popular then they probably won't be able to schedule the production of series XI until the next autumn and we'll be stuck in a stupid two year production loop per series, however if they screen series X before spring then they should be able to film a new one once a year in the following autumn/winter.