Red Dwarf comeback "isn't dead" - creator reveals his plan after new episode's cancellation

However, Naylor has now confirmed there's "absolutely" a possibility of the episode being shopped to other channels.

Speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com to celebrate the publication of his children's book, Sin Bin Island, Naylor said: "Absolutely, yeah, there's always that possibility.

"It's public knowledge now this week, because I've announced it, and so now we will go out. The [cast] are really keen to do more.

"I've also done two thirds of a movie called Out of the Red where the guys play fictitious versions of themselves, and there's real interest in that as well, both from a distributor and from a production company.

"In fact, I had a meeting about that this morning, so there's that possibility as well. So it's not dead, Dave – yet!"

A spokesperson for UKTV told RadioTimes.com in a statement: "UKTV has no current plans to commission further episodes of Red Dwarf.

"It's been a privilege to work with Doug Naylor and the cast in a relationship that began with the Back to Earth specials, which premiered to 4 million viewers, and has subsequently produced three full series, a retrospective and Red Dwarf's first ever feature length, The Promised Land."

The new episode was set to see Craig Charles's Lister encounter a younger version of himself, with Naylor explaining: "I thought it was a fascinating idea of the present day Lister going back in time and busting his younger self out of stasis, and the two of them going on the run together, because the older Lister didn't want the younger Lister to lead the life he had led.

"They were kind of like two fugitives, but the younger Lister being slightly reluctant and needing convincing that this old guy knew anything better than he did. So it was a great chemistry.

"And then, of course, we had a posse of older Rimmer [played by Chris Barrie] and a younger Rimmer, who were promised promotion if they managed to get them. So it was an interesting dynamic, and I was having a lot of fun writing, actually.

"And we even did some vis effects work, where we created a younger Lister from CG who looked identical to the 23-year-old Craig Charles, so fingers crossed. In the worst case scenario, it will be a novel, I think."

Speaking of novels, Naylor has just published his debut children's book Sin Bin Island, which follows an orphanage for wayward boys and girls which, at the end of the school year, banishes the four worst behaved children to the terrifying Sin Bin Island.

Some say the island was once used to smuggle magic onto the mainland but, in 300 years, the magic has never been found. Until now!

"There are real similarities between Sin Bin Island and Red Dwarf," Naylor explained.

"There are two gangs of four. I hope there are a lot of laughs along the way. The science fiction has been replaced by hard magic, and it's an adventure story with lots of twists and turns.

"I didn't write down at all - I didn't pander, and I didn't find I was restricted, like 'Oh, I couldn't do this.' I never felt like that. I just kind of told the story as well as I could, with the heroes all being 13."

Sin Bin Island is available to buy now. Red Dwarf is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.

Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to see what's on tonight. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.