Red Dwarf

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X:5 Dear Dave

Another one that recycles old ideas, but it's not bad. Red Dwarf receives a mail pod from Earth (containing a large amount of paper envelopes. I love the way that Red Dwarf mixes incongruous old-fashioned ways with the future). See also: Better Than Life.

One of said envelopes contains a letter to Lister from an old girlfriend, which makes him a bit wistful, and raises the possibility that he might have become a father, three million years earlier.

Lots of laughs and good jokes in this one but it's a bit of a low-key idea, a million miles from all those series IV or V episodes where they have to escape some crisis.

However - there's a really funny subplot about Lister's relations with two of the food dispensers. One of them, with a very sultry and feminine French accent gets defensive when she thinks he's hitting on her. The other one is jealous about it. I just love the sentient food dispensers. There's another subplot about Rimmer possibly being demoted by the ship's computer and Kryten trying to bribe the medi-computer to get him an excuse. But it's not very interesting.

It's one of those episodes where nothing much happens but I quite liked it.

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X:6 The Beginning

The Dwarfers are threatened by a Simulant Death Ship, after a rogue droid brings a map stolen from them aboard Red Dwarf. This is actually a really, really good one - it has a proper plot focus, it has some inspired, hilarious ideas and it has a general vibe and feel close to classic Red Dwarf.

It also makes excellent use of Rimmer's back story.

The plot hints at the unexplained question about what happened to the ship and the rest of the crew following the conclusion of Red Dwarf VIIII, but it doesn't actually answer it.

There's a scene in which we see young Rimmer attending a lecture at Io Polytechnic - a very 20th century looking lecture theatre setting, despite being set on one of Jupiter's moons. Back in the late '80s around the time of the first series Chris Barrie could have played young Rimmer himself, but since he was 52 when this was made, someone else portrays the juvenile Arnold.

Normally I'm not a fan of other actors playing a younger version of a character when we know what they would have looked like. There's a scene in Space Cowboys where a younger actor portrays the Clint Eastwood character in a flashback scene, and since everyone knows what Clint looked like in his 20s, it doesn't work. However the lad who plays Rimmer in this episode gets Rimmer's manner and personality spot on.

I wonder if this episode was titled The Beginning with the thought in mind that it might be the Very Last Red Dwarf Episode of All? The very first one was called The End. I honestly think this one stands comparison to some of the better classic period episodes so it would have been a fitting way to bow out.

In any case, it wasn't the last one. Red Dwarf would return four years later. Or from my point of view, tomorrow.

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XI:1 Twentica

It's September 2016 already and here comes Red Dwarf XI on Dave. Lister looks a bit podgier. Rimmer looks a bit older. The cat looks pretty much the same. I think Kryten might have put on a few pounds.

This one is set initially on Starbug, reminiscent of Red Dwarf VI. But we do end up on Red Dwarf at the episode's conclusion.

The Dwarfers encounter a race of simulants called Expanoids. Or Exponoids. They are an unapologetic homage to the Borg and actually the basic plot idea is stolen from Star Trek: First Contact. The four Dwarfers travel to Earth's past, to a timeline which has been altered by the Expanoids (or Exponoids) so that any and all technology is banned.

It's a solid episode really. It does have some good jokes. It does also have some weak jokes, and some obvious jokes with punchlines you can see coming half a light year off.

But it's an imaginative and coherent idea. Not bad at all.

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XI:2 Samsara

Similar to the first one in that it's a coherent, decent idea. Quite clever. But the jokes are a bit weak.

Lots of old Red Dwarf tropes in this one. The Dwarfers find an escape pod. They have a look round an old spaceship with a dead crew. And in one respect this episode reruns Marooned, with Lister and the cat being stuck with each other in one of the chambers on the ship. But I found the dialogue unfunny to the point of being painful.

On the other hand there's a nice scene that recalls the halcyon days of the first couple of series, with Rimmer and Lister arguing in their bunks. Why Lister and Rimmer choose to bunk together in the same cabin on an empty ship designed for 100+ crew when they get on each other's nerves so much is beyond me, but it does make for excellent comedy.

On the whole - nice ideas. A concept worthy of a Red Dwarf IV episode. Lister and Rimmer in advanced middle age take a bit of getting used to. By this time Craig Charles has a slightly gruff, phlegmy voice reminiscent of a northern stand-up comic from the '70s although to be fair he sounds fine on 6 Music. Maybe he was drinking a lot at the time. But I'm glad they kept Red Dwarf going well into the 21st century.

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XI:3 Give and Take

Probably the best half-hour episode since the sixth series, possibly the fifth.

The boys find an abandoned space station. The crew are all dead. I don't know how many times Red Dwarf has used this premise now but in this case I don't really care, because a rich vein of comedy and ideas is mined here. To be fair since it's three million years in the future, you sort of expect people to be dead.

Anyway they hope to find some technology and supplies as usual but instead they find a robot whom they believe to be a highly advanced medicomputer, but is really a snack dispenser. And a deranged, psychotic droid who removes Lister's kidneys. A hint of proper sci-fi horror.

Lister attempts to persuade the cat, the most selfish creature he knows, to give him one of his.

The plot is clever, involving a time loop. Yes, yet again, but it's all tied together beautifully. It's very funny. I especially loved Rimmer's interaction with a talking lift (I love the way the vending machines, lifts and other mundane appliances have personalities in the later episodes). And it's nice to see the cat being woven into the plot instead of just being around for dumb one-liners.

There's a joke about FIFA which would have been topical in 2016 but hasn't aged brilliantly, seven years later. Why it might work three million years from now I'm not sure.

The space station scenes seemed to have been filmed in an old industrial setting, maybe a power station including a huge control room. Really effective. I checked, It was a power station, and the control room where some of the scenes were shot is only just being demolished now:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-64718777

.. it was also used for scenes in Rollerball in 1975.

Very, very good.

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XI:4 Officer Rimmer

Another really, really good one! I thought the Dave episodes were going to be a chore; instead they've been a delight.

The Starbug navicomp detects an unmanned exploration vessel, called Nautilus. It's drifting into an asteroid storm, so its ship's computer begins creating crew members to take charge using a "bio printer". This is absolutely hilarious; a huge appliance that looks like an ink-jet printer, out of which humans appear, legs-first. The printer spits out a slightly deformed Space Corps officer called Captain Herring.

After a massive stroke of fortune, the captain decides to promote Rimmer to an officer. Rimmer's behaviour as an officer is as self-aggrandising, self-centered and pompous as you might imagine. And he uses the bio printer to create a few dozen other Rimmers, from his own DNA.

This is right up there with peak Red Dwarf. Some really original, hilarious ideas in this one and Rimmer especially is a joy.

Of course there are a few ideas being recycled here - multiple Rimmers especially (see Rimmerworld and Me²).

I will say though that it's not clear why a bio-printed Space Corps captain might have the authority to promote someone to an officer, and in any case Rimmer is supposed to be a second technician in the Jupiter Mining Corps, not the Space Corps. More importantly it's three million years in the future, and why would any rank apply in those circumstances anyway?

Nitpicks aside: very clever, very sharp, very funny.

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XI:5 Krysis

Kryten's having a mid-life crisis. Mechanoids are designed to last about six million years, and he's about half-way through.

In an attempt to help him feel better, Lister comes up with the idea of searching for another ship similar to the Nova 5 (where Kryten was originally found, see Kryten from Red Dwarf III).

When they find one (the Nova 3), with an older model mechanoid (a Series 3000) that's survived its crew, the hope is that meeting an inferior equivalent will help Kryten feel a bit better about himself. Unfortunately the Series 3000 turns out to be considerably more sophisticated and accomplished than Kryten.

Later, the boys get to speak to Consciousness of The Universe itself.

In the Red Dwarf VI episode Out of Time, Series 3000 droids are said to look like humans (this one looks like a lot like Kryten). So there's yet another inconsistency in the canon.

Again it's clever. It's imaginative. It's funny. It's coherent (although the plot isn't brilliantly thought out. It would have been better if they'd come across the Nova 3 by chance). I don't think it's the best Red Dwarf XI episode but it's a good one.

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XI:6 Can of Worms

The Dwarfers acquire a personality altering device. Rimmer, initially keen to have his personality enhanced, declines once it transpires that it uses lasers and needles. I had a real problem with this - how could that possibly work on a hologram?

Later, we find that the cat is a virgin. This does have a bearing on the rest of the plot.

The boys attempt to rescue a prisoner from a ship captained by a droid about to enter a black hole. She's a cat! Felis Sapiens, the same super-evolved humanoid species as the cat. Or is she?

No, she's a polymorph (see various earlier Red Dwarf episodes, notably Polymorph and Emohawk:Polymorph II). So Lister has his emotions removed temporarily by the personality altering machine, so he can go after it. His subsequent persona is very reminiscent of his behaviour after his fear is removed by a polymorph in, er Polymorph.

This one isn't bad at all. There are some clever ideas and some real funny moments. The woman who plays the female cat is adorable - she gets all the mannerisms and behaviour spot on.

But - the plot is a bit cluttered. It does have some flaws. The cat's behaviour when he overcomes the infant polymorphs he's given birth to (yep). It's not really in his character, and it's a weak solution to the main problem of the plot. Similarly, Lister manages to overcome the droid very cleverly. But he's supposed to be a second-class technician, not Space Corps special forces.

That was the last instalment of Red Dwarf XI. It's not at all bad, but it's not one of the best of this series.

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XII:1 Cured

The fans didn't have to wait long for Red Dwarf XII, which was filmed shortly after XI.

This first one was originally shown in October 2017. The boys find a research centre where a cure for evil has been tested on clones of Hitler, Vlad the Impaler and others - created from DNA generated from their descendents. Then they get drugged, and placed in elaborate, tortuous traps.

They guy who plays a young Hitler is brilliant - effete and slightly creepy with a cod-German accent. Really a very funny performance.

The conclusion is a bit abrupt, and easy.

It's a typical sort of Red Dwarf idea. It's not bad really but I didn't find it particularly funny, apart from Adolf.

A bit of a disappointing start to the new series.

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XII:2 Siliconia

Wow. One of the best Red Dwarf episodes ever!

The boys venture out in Starbug to retrieve Lister's Les Paul, which - having been flushed into space a year earlier - has been picked up on the ship's tracking system. But just as they're about to retrieve it, they're captured by MILF - the Mechanoid Intergalactic Liberation Front.

So Kryten is "liberated" and the other three are transformed into mechanoids. I must say, Chris Barrie's impersonation of Kryten (in effect) once Rimmer has been mechanoidised is spot on. Very funny. Danny John Jules gets it right as well. Craig Charles - not so much.

I wonder if the grabber emerging from the lower section of Starbug to grab LIster's Les Paul is an homage to Gerry Anderson? I'm sure there are similar scenes involving Thunderbird 2 in Thunderbirds.

It's a coherent, clever plot idea. The dialogue is sharp. It's very, very funny. There are some nostalgic nods to classic Red Dwarf. I'd say it's up there with the top quarter of the old BBC episodes.

Whatever it was that Red Dwarf lost when Rob Grant bailed out, it had definitely got back by the last couple of series.

Wonderful.

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XII:3 Timewave

I approached this one carefully - perhaps even with a degree of trepidation - because it has a poor reputation in the fan community.

But I didn't think it was that bad. Certainly it's not a particularly good one, but it's not a stinker.

The boys visit a moon rich in Helium-7, so that it can be claimed for the JMC (this seems to be Rimmer's idea mainly, as he hopes it'll make him rich one day). But they have to leave abruptly due to an incoming solar storm.

Shortly afterwards, they experience a "timewave" - the consequence of a nearby imploding black hole - and detect another ship that's been washed up by it, from the 24th century. The other ship (the Enconimum) is on a collision course with the moon so they board it. It turns out that criticism has been made illegal there.

The consequence of this appears to be that the crew are massively camp - the anti-crit police, led by Johnny Vegas no less - wear ridiculous pink uniforms and the ship's captain is in some sort of weird panto dress. The guy who plays him does put in a very energetic, flamboyant performance I must admit but it's just bizarre more than anything else.

Well - it's not particularly funny. Some of the plot ideas seem a bit pointless or throwaway. It's not massively incoherent. I don't hate it as much as some folks seem to. But I'm very lukewarm about it.

One thing that annoyed me was that early on, Rimmer refers to an "unknown galaxy in the outer reaches of the solar system", which makes as much sense as "an unknown continent in the corner of my bathroom". I suspect he mangled his lines and they didn't bother to fix it.

That notion of Lister being the Last Human certainly takes a few hits in the later episodes, doesn't it? And why does everyone / everything they encounter three million years from now seem to be from the 23rd or 24th centuries?

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XII:4 Mechocracy

The various vending machines, lifts and other equipment aboard Red Dwarf go on strike, because - as becomes obvious when the Dwarfers have to evacuate the ship in a hurry, and they intend to leave them behind - no-one is looking out for their interests.

The solution to this is to hold an election for one of the crew to represent them. A sort of "president" to promote their interests. Rimmer and Kryten compete for the role.

So - the episode turns into a full on parody / satire of election campaigns, complete with attack ads, election posters and a smear campaign. There are even gags about abortion and immigration policy, using thinly veiled metaphors of course.

While I've really enjoyed the vending machines / lifts / etc with personalities in these later episodes, this one just goes a bit too far for me. It's almost like kids' telly. It's too whimsical. However - it is actually very funny. And there's a wonderful nod to the past when Talkie Toaster (see Camille) gets involved, with Craig Charles performing an homage to a Red Dwarf scene from the early '90s. I do believe they used the very same voice actor, as well (David Ross).

There's also a subplot about the cat needing specs that's a bit meh.

A bit too daft. But enjoyable.

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XII:5 M-Corp

This gets off to a superb start with some wonderfully funny moments and pin-sharp dialogue, but - it collapses into a plot that doesn't seem to make much sense.

The boys perform a software update on the ship's systems and suddenly find that the Jupiter Mining Corporation is owned by a massive corporate entity called M-Corp. It further transpires that M-Corp purchased Earth in the 26th century.

The M-Corp systems start to take over the ship. New stuff arrives, beamed aboard automatically Star-Trek-style. Then Lister becomes unable to see objects that aren't owned by M-Corp, and trapped in some sort of virtual world.

How all this is happening three million years into the future is not explained. And later, we're expected to believe that Lister's brain has been compromised by malicious software, which I just found stupid.

The solution to all this is facile and makes no sense but by then I'd stopped caring. And finally, due to a highly unfortunate plot device we're supposed to accept that from this point on, Lister's memories after the age of 23 are based on CCTV footage.

There is a beautiful, heartwarming homage to the very first Red Dwarf episode at the end but it's not enough to rescue what is possibly the worst Dave era episode. I only qualify that because I haven't seen the last two yet.

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XII:6 Skipper

And so we come to the finale of the last, or at least the most recent, series of Red Dwarf. Just the 2020 90 minute special left now.

The cat and Lister find Captain Hollister's old personnel files, in which he derides Rimmer as never being likely to amount to anything. Later, a disruption in the spacetime continuum causes consequences from alternate universes, connected to decisions not taken in the present universe to occur. So when they decide not to do something, it happens. It sounds bizarre but it's a useful vehicle for some classic Red Dwarf comedy in the time-honoured manner.

However this plot element fizzles out to be replaced by a tenuously related idea, in which Rimmer decides to dimension-jump into alternate universes, in search of a world where he isn't a complete loser and failure. Again some absolutely brilliant comedy ensues from this, and delightfully, in one of them, Rimmer finds himself back on Red Dwarf before the drive plate accident - in his old uniform, and with the crew still alive. Why exactly he's a hologram in this universe is not explained, because he isn't in one of the others. Even more nostalgically, Norman Lovett returns to play Holly. But while I can accept Rimmer looking nearly 30 years older, Holly doesn't quite look right. Maybe they should have used a heavily pixellated Holly like they did in the first series. Maybe they could even have reused the old footage and made the words fit using AI. Or something.

The various different Listers in the other universe, very different in character from the familiar Lister, are brilliantly done.

One thing that bothered me, though. It's implied that Rimmer is necessarily a failure in every possible universe, but we know that's not true. There's at least one in which he's modest, highly accomplished, dashing, charismatic, selfless and brave. What a guy. But it seems that Ace Rimmer has been discreetly airbrushed from the Dave canon.

It's not perfect, but overall it's a joy.

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The Promised Land

In April 2020, two years and five months after the last episode of XII was first shown, Red Dwarf returned for a 90 minute feature-length piece - the most recent instalment to date, and possibly the last ever.

I did have a suspicion that stretching an idea to 90 minutes might be a bit ambitious, but the story Doug Naylor came up with here completely justifies the feature length treatment.

The crew find a Holly backup disk in the hold (this is a brilliant visual gag - it's a 6 foot floppy disk). But of course, having been restarted from his original startup file, Holly doesn't recognise Kryten or the cat, he's aware that Lister is supposed to be in stasis. Rimmer is a hologram of course.

So, on the basis that the ship has essentially been abandoned, Holly decides to follow his programming and decommission it. So the Dwarfers flee in Starbug.

Not long afterwards, they meet a three members of Felis Sapiens (the same species as the cat) aboard a derelict. As established long ago in the first series, they worship Lister as their god.

I think my only real problem with this one is that the cat barely reacts to this. It's the first time he's seen other members of his own species for decades, and two of them are women! But it doesn't seem to register.

Overall - it's a joy, and a fitting end to the whole shebang. It's clever, imaginative, engaging and very funny. And there's even a bit of pathos, and some sentimental, touching dialogue between Lister and Rimmer when the hologram has a bit of an existential crisis.

It strikes a nice balance between a sitcom, with audience reaction present - and a feature film, with an appropriate cinematic soundtrack. It's the best of both worlds.

And here endeth my one episode per-day Dwarfathon that I embarked upon on January 1st. It's been a blast.