Red Dwarf is a very British sci-fi show, and not just in its sense of humour! The series follows the misadventures of the last human alive, space slob David Lister, who is aboard the eponymous mining ship after the rest of the crew was wiped out from a radiation leak. Created by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, whose writing credits include BBC radio sketch series ‘Son of Cliché’ and the cult satirical puppet show ‘Spitting Image’. The series was created at a time when British television did not look upon science fiction very favourably, and certainly not when it was also combined with situation comedy. The pilot script spent three years being rejected by various BBC commissioning editors and bigwigs, but eventually, sheer British bloody mindedness prevailed and it was picked up by BBC Manchester. However, a technician’s strike almost killed it before it could get off the ground, but thankfully, more people had seen it being rehearsed and slowly started to understand it. The series was granted a second chance and finally, in February 1988, the first series began broadcasting.
The series brought together an unconventional cast: performance poet Craig Charles as David Lister; impressionist Chris Barrie as Arnord Rimmer, the hologram ghost of Lister’s uptight dead bunkmate; dancer Danny John-Jules as the lifeform evolved from Lister’s cat; and stand-up comedian Norman Lovett as Holly, the ships senile computer. The first series was not exactly a critic or ratings hit, but everyone loves an underdog, particularly us Brits. A second series had already been picked up, and Grant and Naylor decided to dispense with the sword of Damocles that had been hanging over their heads during the first series—”don’t make it too science fiction-y”—and the result was a ratings success.
Series 3 said goodbye to Norman Lovett, but hello to a cool new look and two new cast members: Robert Llewellyn as neurotic mechnoid Kryten and Hattie Hayride as the new Holly. Red Dwarf continued on for eight series at the BBC before the attempt to get financial backing for a film left the show in limbo.
But you can never keep a good cult hit down for long because in 2009, UKTV channel Dave, where the show had found a home for repeats, commissioned a brand new three-part special: Back To Earth. Some may have had a few problems with its rather meta storyline and less than subtle references to Blade Runner, but the fact that it achieved record-breaking figures for a show commissioned by a digital channel prpved that there was still an appetite for more Red Dwarf—even though the fans had known this for ages, it was proved to the TV execs. Three more series on Dave followed with series 12 finishing last year, and a 13th looking likely with the possibility of a Red Dwarf stage show.
Now, with a show consisting of 73 episodes, some will obviously be better than others, and everyone will have their own favourites, so let’s bring this particular fan’s personal favourite episodes to you!
SERIES I: Episode 2 ‘Future Echoes’
February 22nd 1988 (BBC 2)
With all the setting up it has to do, the first series of any show is never its strongest, but ‘Future Echoes’ is definitely the best of Series I, and the fact that it’s also one of the episodes with the most overt science fiction themes may or may not be a coincidence. After the ship breaks the speed of light, and time begins to dilate, the crew experience visions of their future. Unfortunately for Lister, this its being blown to bits in a huge explosion. Stand out moments include a bizarre conversation between Lister and Rimmer that’s reminiscent of the Two Ronnies ‘Crossed Lines’ sketch, which is hilarious, but also showcasing how clever the writing can be.
SERIES II: Episode 5 ‘Queeg’
October 4th 1988 (BBC 2)
Holly has been replaced and the ship’s backup computer is now in charge. Meet Queeg 500 (played by American actor, dancer and choreographer Charles Augins). At first, the crew are delighted to have a computer that isn’t senile running the show, but delight turns to dismay when Queeg turns out to be a bit of a drill-sergeant-nasty. Maybe things weren’t so bad with Holly in charge after all? ‘Queeg’ narrowly beats series finale ‘Parallel Universe’ to the post for two reasons. Firstly, Augins’s performance as Queeg, which is both genuinely funny and intimidating. Secondly, the ending: it is the perfect punchline to a beautifully told joke, and works so organically, you won’t believe that Grant & Naylor came up with it at the last-minute because they couldn’t think how to end how to end the episode. Oh, and any day Chris Barrie gets to show off his impressionist’s chops is a good one.
SERIES III: Episode 3 ‘Polymorph’
November 28th 1989 (BBC 2)
‘Polymorph’ is a huge fan favourite and with good reason. Things get freaky aboard the Red Dwarf when a psychotic, genetically engineered shape-changing mutant infiltrates the ship, draining the crew of their most important emotions. Containing some of the best and most often quoted lines of the entire show, it’s also a clever and hilarious character deconstruction. Plus: the shrinking boxers scene. That laugh had to be edited down.
SERIES IV: Episode 2 ‘DNA’
February 21st 1991 (BBC 2)
The crew come across an abandoned ship containing a transmogrifier, a machine that can turn a living thing into any other living thing by rewriting its DNA. Hijinks ensue as the boys mess with something they don’t understand, turning Kryten into a human (meaning we get to see Robert Llewellyn’s brilliant rubber-faced expressions beneath the Kryten mask for the first time) and Lister’s curry into a very angry monster. Yes, you heard that right. Like the Spanish Inquisition, nobody expects to be chased around a spaceship by a “psychopathic curry-man.”
SERIES V: Episode 4 ‘Quarantine’
March 12th 1992 (BBC 2)
Series V could definitely be said to be Rimmer’s series—well it’s true: “everybody loves a b*****d”, particularly if he’s played by Chris Barrie. Not only does he get some great moments, but he also gets some great episodes where he’s the focus so picking my favourite episode of this series was a really tough one, but, in the end, I’ve gone for ‘Quarantine.’ After the Lister, Kryten and the Cat investigate an abandoned viral research centre and encounter Dr Langstrom, a researcher infected by the holo-virus. On their return, Rimmer puts them in quarantine, but who’s keeping an eye on Rimmer? Only Chris Barrie could make a pantomime dame get-up of red gingham dress and pigtails genuinely creepy as well as hilarious. And, of course, we can’t overlook the introduction of fan favourite Mr Flibble, the penguin puppet who’s as evil as he is cute. And Mr Flibble’s very cute. Don’t make him cross!
SERIES VI: Episode 3 ‘Gunmen of the Apocalypse’
October 21st 1993 (BBC 2)
The episode that won an Emmy! After Kryten contracts a deadly computer virus, Lister and co. are forced to use the virtual reality game machine to enter his electronic mindscape to help him fight it. Cue a trip to the wild, Wild West, where the boys must help Sheriff Kryten face off against the gang of bandits known as the Apocalypse Boys. Yee Ha!
SERIES VII: Episode 1 ‘Tikka To Ride’
January 17th 1997 (BBC 2)
Returning after a long hiatus, series VII doesn’t always get quite as much love as it should and it certainly didn’t at the time. This may be due to the fact it was a little too much change all at once: a new and slick film style courtesy of different filming techniques and the loss of a studio audience. From the perspective of the viewers watching it at home, it’s a loss that could be debatable as the show had got increasingly ambitious with more scenes that were filmed on location or included special effects that necessitated the removal of audience seating. More and more of it had to be screened for the studio audience so their reactions could be recorded so you could argue that series VII just took this to its logical conclusion. The temporary bowing-out of a beloved character, Chris Barrie’s Rimmer, and the introduction of Chloe Annett’s alternate universe version of Lister’s long-lost love interest Kristine Kochanski, which brought an entirely new dynamic, plus the surprise return of Norman Lovett as the original Holly. There was the move away from models and miniatures to CG and the change-up in the writing staff after Rob Grant left the show. But despite all that, series opener ‘Tikka to Ride’ is classic Red Dwarf. Lister’s worst nightmare has come to fruition: the curry supplies have been destroyed. Unable to face life without his beloved Indian cuisine, he takes the crew back in time to rectify it. Only to end up in Dallas 1963, where they interrupt a certain assassination attempt. A JFK conspiracy you’d never entertained the thought of before. And all for a vindaloo.
SERIES VIII: Episode 6 ‘Pete’ Part 1
March 25th 1999
Series VIII changed things up yet again, bringing back not only the studio audience, but the Original Red Dwarf crew and a new look for the ship itself. The first part of ‘Pete’ has some great gags, including a prison basketball game Lister & Rimmer skew in their favour by spiking the guards team’s refreshments with a ‘virility drug’ aptly named ‘Boing’. But it’s the cliff-hanger ending that earns it the place on this list, where poor Pete the sparrow is accidentally turned into Pete the Tyrannosaurus Rex.
BACK TO EARTH: Episode 3 ‘Part 3’
April 12th 2009 (Dave)
A three-part story that is technically series IX, or at least, the closest to a series IX we’re going to get. Set nine years after series VIII that, in true Red Dwarf fashion, does nothing to resolve the cliffhanger from the previous series ended on, Lister is stuck in a rut and mourning the loss of Kochanski. After an encounter with a leviathan in the water tank, the hologram of former science officer Katerina Bartokovsky (played with wonderful smugness by Sophie Winkleman) claims to be able to use its dimension-hopping capabilities to send Lister back home to Earth. Sure enough, she manages to send the gang back to Earth in 2009…where Red Dwarf is a TV show?! Part 3 includes the TV crossover you never knew you wanted, when the gang arrive on the set of Coronation Street and meet a certain actor by the name of Craig Charles. And ‘Carbug’ will make you want a smart car.
SERIES X: Episode 3 ‘Lemons’
October 18th 2012 (Dave)
The crew go back in time and meet Jesus. Enough said.
SERIES XI: Episode 1 ‘Twentica’
September 22nd 2016 (Dave)
After an encounter with the malicious race of cyborg simulants known as Exponoids, the gang are thrust back in time to an alternate America, where it was technology that was the victim of Prohibition rather than booze. A great twist on the 1920s aesthetics and tropes, including speakeasies for scientists, some clever science-based jokes and an affectionate send-up of the Borg from Star Trek: The Next Generation.
SERIES XII: Episode 3 ‘Timewave’
October 26th 2017 (Dave)
When a timewave maroons a ship from the 23rd century, the gang go aboard to warn the crew of the ship’s impending collision with a gas planet and discover Rimmer’s worst nightmare: a place where criticism is illegal. I seem to be in the minority of those who love this episode, which is a sharp look at our current obsession with criticism: giving it and being unable to take it. Many moments are like the arguments you see in an internet comment section come to life (only funny). Plus, if you don’t find Johnny Vegas in a pink policeman’s uniform or Rimmer almost giving himself an aneurysm trying not to criticise anything, at least worth a chuckle, then, I’m sorry, I think your sense of humour needs resuscitating.
And so there you have it, my personal favourite episodes of each series of Red Dwarf. Agree? Disagree? Which episodes are your favourites? If you’ve never seen the show before, then why not take this as the opportunity to dive into a cult sci-fi classic.
