My Top Ten "Red Dwarf" Episodes

There's a good chance that I'm writing a pretty bad "Red Dwarf" Top Ten List, since it's been about a decade since I last saw any of the series, my memories of what events happened in which episode aren't the best, and I don't think I ever got past Series VII. However, Series VII seems to be the point where everything went downhill, so maybe I'm better off. And I want to do something to acknowledge that "Red Dwarf" recently finished its tenth series, its first real proper series since 1999. (Alas, it won't be available in the US until January.) I found the show airing on my local PBS station in the late 90s with the other British imports, and was briefly obsessed with it. "Red Dwarf" is a spaceship show that is as geeky as "Star Trek," but the science fiction concepts like time travel and genetic engineering and holograms are used for ridiculous comedic purposes, and our hero, Dave Lister (Craig Charles), is a common slob just trying to get by.

So here we go. Episodes are listed by airdate, and unranked.

The End - The first episode of the first series presents the show's premise. Dave Lister, the lowest-ranked crewmember of the mining ship Red Dwarf, is put in stasis during a radiation leak, and awakens millions of years later, possibly the last human being in the universe. The ship, still running thanks to the ship's computer, Holly (Norman Lovett), revives Lister's annoying bunkmate Arnold Rimmer (Chris Barrie) in the form of a hologram to keep Lister company. Also, a life form evolved from Lister's cat, named Cat (Danny John-Jules), rounds out the cast.

Balance of Power - I always liked the earlier episodes, where Lister and Rimmer's clashing personalities are the main event, better than a lot of the sillier and crazier adventures that came later. "Balance of Power" hardly has anything to do with science-fiction at all, but it really gets across the extent of the Odd Couple relationship that the guys have. Rimmer keeps trying to order Lister around, since he's technically higher ranked in the crew, so Lister decides to take the exam for a position that would outrank Rimmer - the chef's exam.

Parallel Universe - The finale of the second series sees the guys testing out a new engine that is supposed to get them back to Earth quicker, but instead transports the Red Dwarf to a parallel universe where they meet the female versions of the crew. Everyone ends up pairing off for a date night with the opposite-gender version of themselves, with surprising results. "Parallel Universe" is also the episode that featured the "Tongue Tied" music video, where Danny John-Jules gets to perform, with Barrie and Charles as his backup singers.

Backwards - Has my favorite opening sequence, where Cat and Lister discuss the relative merits of Wilma Flinstone and Betty Rubble. Then the gang discover a time hole that takes them to Earth, but a version of Earth where time is running backwards, so everything else is running backwards too. The beefed up special effects in this episode reflected a big upgrade in the show's production values. This was also the introduction of the android Kryten (Robert Llewellyn) as a regular member of the crew, after an earlier appearance in the second series.

Marooned - Lots of male bonding going on here, as Lister and Rimmer have to abandon ship together, and end up marooned on a freezing planet. As they argue over burning each other's most valued possessions to keep warm, they trade stories about their lives. "Marooned" was the last episode I remember where Lister and Rimmer just sit around and spend most of the episode talking to each other. Going forward, the show would get increasingly effects-heavy and the science-fiction concepts would get weirder and more elaborate.

The Last Day - Kryten's mandatory retirement date approaches, which means he's about to be shut down and replaced by a new model. But first, the guys decide to throw him a monster goodbye party, complete with boozing and presents. This is my favorite Kryten episode, with the drunken escapades, the introduction of the concept of Silicon Heaven ("where all the calculators go"), and the Marilyn Monroe-bot. And in the end Kryten gets some backbone and learns to stand up for himself, a nice step forward for the character.

Quarantine - I admit I like this one for its sheer silliness. Rimmer takes over the ship and sticks the rest of the crew in quarantine when they return from an expedition. It turns out that Rimmer is the one who's sick, having been infected by a virus that is slowly driving him insane. Eventually, he's running around the ship in a pink gingham dress, having conversations with a penguin hand puppet named Mr. Flibble, and intent on killing everyone. Actually, most of my favorite episodes from the later series involve some brand of Rimmer madness.

Back to Reality - It was all a dream! Well, to be more specific, this episode posits that "Red Dwarf" is a virtual reality game that our four primary cast members were playing, and they wake up in the real world as very different versions of themselves. Cat, for instance, is a nerd with big teeth named Duane Dibbley, and Rimmer's a homeless itinerant. Since the producers thought this would be the end of "Red Dwarf," they pulled out all the stops, and went big, creating what is probably the best episode of the whole series.

Rimmerworld - Imagine a world populated entirely by Arnold Rimmers, who not only all look like Rimmer, but have built up an entire society exalting the negative qualities that Rimmer stands for - chiefly cowardice, selfishness, and pomposity. Terraforming, cloning technology, and a little time-dilation are all roundly abused to create this little scenario, and the rest of the crew has to go and rescue the original Rimmer from the nightmare world of his own making. And if you think this must be the height of Rimmer's egomania, next we come to...

Blue - Rimmer was written out of the show in Series VII, but not before this final farewell to the character, which happened a couple of episodes after Rimmer actually left the ship. Lister, despite having hated Rimmer for so long, finds he misses him. So Kryten helpfully creates "The Rimmer Experience," a virtual reality theme park ride which takes guests into the terrifying depths of Rimmer's psyche. You could describe it as "It's a Small World" with Rimmers, and it proves a very effective cure for any lingering feelings Lister has towards the departed hologram.
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