Real Life Writes the Plot

"Fundamentally, a Red Dwarf script is a battle plan for making a TV show, and as Napoleon Bonaparte once remarked "No battle plan ever survived contact with the enemy". In Red Dwarf's case the enemy is what's possible, given a tight budget, a short production period, and the physical laws of the natural universe.

The enemy is a prop that doesn't work. A guest star who can't say the word "soup". Another who can't say the word "phenomenon". Writing the stage direction "Beach in Paradise", and finding yourself on a wet winter day in Rhyll. The enemy is reality, and reality is, unfortunately, everywhere."

- Grant Naylor, Red Dwarf: The Least Worst Scripts

This covers a number of areas where real life circumstances alter the plot of an episode, e.g. the lack of suitable locations, timing when filming, the pregnancy of a lead actress (which happens a lot). Occurs often in Professional Wrestling.

Specific instances:


 * Absentee Actor
 * Author Appeal
 * Author Catchphrase
 * Author Existence Failure
 * Author Phobia
 * The Cast Showoff
 * Character Aged With the Actor
 * The Character Died With Him
 * Christmas Rushed
 * Chuck Cunningham Syndrome
 * Creator Breakdown
 * Demoted to Extra
 * Disabled Character, Disabled Actor
 * Enforced Method Acting
 * Executive Meddling
 * Fake Shemp
 * Fatal Method Acting
 * Final Season Casting
 * Hide Your Pregnancy
 * Killed Off for Real
 * McLeaned
 * The Nth Doctor
 * The Other Darrin
 * Flashback With the Other Darrin
 * Out of Focus
 * Posthumous Collaboration
 * Present Day
 * Reality Subtext
 * Real Life Relative
 * Cast Incest
 * Role Ending Misdemeanor
 * Screwed By the Lawyers
 * Screwed By the Network
 * Serendipity Writes the Plot
 * Temporary Substitute
 * Too Soon
 * Troubled Production
 * Written in Absence
 * Written in Infirmity