Adequate Room For Toilet Facilities

[Renegade Rob]

As I casually rewatch Red Dwarf, as I often do, a question has arisen in my subconscious which has now bubbled up. And given there’s a non-zero chance this issue has already been discussed and analyzed to death in these very forums, I thought you lot might be the ones to ask. It’s a bit of a taboo subject, not the sort of thing we like to sit around and chat about in polite conversations. I’d like to talk to you about… Rimmer and Lister’s toilet situation. This is what’s been bugging me: it’s all good and well for them to have a toilet in their Series VIII bunkroom with the privacy mask… because it’s a prison cell. But does the appearance of Talkie Toilet in Series I indicate that he’s their actual toilet they use all the time (as opposed to an auxiliary toilet it might be useful to have in a lockdown situation)? I don’t know much about submarines, which were the model for the early Montague bunkroom, but is that a thing among submarine occupants and closely-berthed marine workers, notably ones not imprisoned, to just have the toilet open in plain view in the same shared bunkroom where both residents often work, sleep, and eat? It would go some way to explaining how Lister knew Rimmer only ever used three pieces of toilet paper (one up, one down, one to polish), and when they used a bog roll in one day, which Rimmer attributed to aliens, perhaps it wasn’t some communal bathroom in the hall like they have in workplaces and dormitories but their own personal bog roll to go with Talkie Toilet in that very bunkroom. I realize there’s probably zero intention here from the writers, as the dots I’m connecting are unrelated jokes and gags across multiple series, but based on the evidence, is there not a strong case to be made that the JMC made their workers use an open toilet like Talkie Toilet in normal bunkrooms? Discuss. I wouldn’t put it past JMC what with all their cutbacks, but still, what the hell. No wonder they upgraded to the Officers’ Quarters which had its own separate en-suite shower and presumably loo. (Apologies for the run-on paragraph, I still have no idea how to make a new paragraph and have it keep the civilized double spacing of the first paragraph.)

Topic

[Dave]

I do remember this coming up once or twice in the past, but mainly just for the amusing implication that they have to take a shit in front of each other, prison-style.

To be honest though I presume they’d prefer to use the communal bathrooms, like the shower room we see in Stasis Leak. Maybe the in-room toilet is just for an emergency midnight piss or something. 

[Warbodog]

I presume they’d prefer to use the communal bathrooms, like the shower room we see in Stasis Leak. Maybe the in-room toilet is just for an emergency midnight piss or something. 

That’s what I was going to say, though the toilet does tell Lister “see you later,” suggesting he does make use of it, at least that early on when he’s still (more) antagonistic with Rimmer. Cat mentions “the shower room” in Kryten, so they probably go there.

[Flap Jack]

[Ridley]

I like the idea of Rimmer insisting on using the bunk toilet when they have a choice of presumably hundreds because that’s the one he was assigned.

[Technopeasant]

[Rushy]

I think the bunkroom toilet is a remnant of the original concept for the ship being like a cramped submarine, favouring efficiency over comfort. 

Either that, or it was just a cheap gag and they didn’t think about it too hard. 

[RunawayTrain]

I’m intrigued how the plumbing would work and be durable.

[Author]

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