Hello Everyone,

It has been a long old time since I updated this site and I am going to point the finger of blame directly at the extended period of very hot weather we have enjoyed…. Enjoyed?? Actually I enjoyed it for about ten days and then it started to irritate. Because I am simply someone who struggles to function in very hot weather (some say I struggle to function in any kind of weather!). Anything over about 25C and I start to suffer, and as for sleeping, well forget it. So, although I am not itching to light the wood burner just yet, I am yearning for those days of 20/21C, a gentle breeze and the odd shower. We shall see….

Consequently, workwise, or indeed, anythingwise, I have had an entirely unproductive summer. However, September heralds a change to that pattern and it will kick off on….

2nd September St Albans Comic Con Westminster Lodge Leisure Centre

As usual more events will be added as and when.

At the risk of repeating something I seem to have said many times over the last umpteen years, I simply do not know if/when we will be doing more Red Dwarf. Over the winter of 2015/16 when we made series 11 and 12, some common sense momentum seemed to be building, but, since then, the project seems to have juddered to a halt. In the desert of silence I do encounter the occasional droplet of positivity but that’s it. If the droplet ever becomes a trickle, I shall of course leap to the keyboard and let you know.

The Brittas position is not dissimilar. Since the promising newspaper articles of a couple of years ago and the enthusiasm of the Reunion last year, it all seems to have gone all quiet on the Whitbury front. All I can do is continue to express my desire to recreate the chainsaw voiced ogre and that is something I shall certainly keep doing.

During the summer of ’17, I was asked by Major General Peter Gilchrist CB, Chairman of Trustees at the Tank Museum to be an Ambassador for the Museum. Of course I accepted without hesitation. I spent some excellent days filming there for the ‘Massive’ and ‘Britain’s Greatest Machines’ series, unbelievably, some 10 years ago now and I very much look forward to promoting the Museum hence forward. In Tankfest 2018 I was honoured to be given the opportunity to drive a Daimler Dingo armoured scout car in one of the vehicle parades and the mock battle – great fun!

As usual I must apologise for not responding to emails. Thank you so much to all of you who have taken the time to write to me with such positive sentiments. Suffice to say I am most grateful for your kind comments about all the shows.

I have also received emails requesting my involvement in podcasts but frankly, I am not overly keen to participate. I need to clarify that I do not have Twitter or Facebook accounts, so if you do see or hear of a Chris Barrie on either of the two, it definitely isn’t me. As I have said above, I struggle to keep up with the webmail, without wanting to further disappoint anyone on social media.

SSAFA (The Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association) has been serving the armed forces community for more than 130 years, making it the oldest national tri service charity. Every year SSAFA staff and a team of volunteers help over 60,000 people whether they be WWII veterans or young men and women who have returned from Afghanistan. I recall my father being involved with SSAFA in the 70′s and early 80′s, so when it came to finding a charity to support, the choice was straightforward. In 2017, thanks to your generosity at conventions, the total raised for the charity was £4521.95. Although we are unlikely to match that figure in 2018, I will continue to collect for SSAFA for the rest of the year and beyond.

Best Wishes
Chris Barrie