Refresh For The Memory: Series 2 Byte 1

[Ian Symes]

You asked for it. Ahead of the forthcoming 35th anniversary poll, the G&T community is embarking on a big old rewatch, tackling half a series (or one feature length special) per week. This is your designated thread to make notes, share observations and start pondering your rankings.

This week, we’re watching KRYTEN, BETTER THAN LIFE and THANKS FOR THE MEMORY. Have at it!

Previous threads:

Series 1 Byte 1
Series 1 Byte 2

[Warbodog]

Kryten

This was my favourite from this series when I watched the DVD (first time I’d owned the series, second time I’d seen it). Mainly down to the excellent banter and gags through much of it, which are basically peak Dwarf (there are so many, I was even surprised that aliens using the bogroll was from this one). I may end up deciding that Queeg or Thanks for the Memory are more masterful, but this one’s loads of fun and still makes me laugh plenty.

– This was recorded fourth (see TOS) and shunted before the next three consecutively filmed episodes. It works as a strong start, opening on a nice model shot and with great character introductions and exaggerations, but I wonder if this messes up any intended or accidental continuity or character/performance growth across the run (I guess not, especially as there’s no longer any sense of serialisation).

– Holly’s intro describes the universe as uninhabited right before the first actual, external guest character opens that gate.

– Is the actual lighting warmer in series 2 as well, or is it something else putting a bit more colour in their skin?

– They noticeably feel much more like mates than in series 1, even as they constantly rip into each other. Rimmer reverts to his bastard ways by the end, as will be common.

– Lister guessing ‘Bonehead’ is so immediate and specific, I reckon he read it in Rimmer’s diary or somewhere.

– Things I don’t like: Cat in the landing bay, [Mc]Nugget, Lister actually reading a Spot the dog book. The abrupt ending shot is an obvious weird edit, but fine really.

– David Ross was only briefly “bad / weird / stop, I don’t like it” Kryten on my first viewing (remastered, 1999). I’d known about the original Kryten for years, but never seen him in the books or Smegazines I had, thanks to this series’ unhelpfully selective photoshoots. The next time I saw him (DVD, 2003), I’d been immersed in Krytenless series 1 for the past few months, so it was no issue at all and he’s great. ‘I’m rebelling’ might even be one of the best Kryten performances?

[cwickham]

My scintillating theory about the recording order of Series 2 (“Better Than Life”, “Thanks for the Memory”, “Stasis Leak”, “Kryten”, “Parallel Universe”, “Queeg”) is that, as with Series 1, that was the originally intended transmission order, except “Parallel Universe” had to be done fifth instead of last for some reason. When “Kryten” turned out so well they decided to bump it up to first and left everything else as originally intended.

Also, “Kryten Remastered” is the most genuinely improved Remastered episode, discuss.

[Flap Jack]

Kryten – Already? But what about Kryone through Krynine??? Great episode. I definitely echo the sentiment that it does a great job of reintroducing the characters for a new audience. Though probably other Series 2 episodes would have worked fine in this regard, having the opener be focused on a guest character allows all the regulars to showcase themselves in their reactions to them, rather than the plot being more about one of the regulars than the others, like how Better Than Life is very Rimmer focused. And as guest characters go, I think it’s fair to say Kryten made an impression! Though the plot does feel a bit rushed to me, like there’s one scene where we establish that Kryten would prefer not to follow orders, and then the next scene he’s rebelling. It does make the painting reveal more of a surprise though (if you don’t have your eyes on the clock), so it definitely serves a purpose, but it still feels like there needed to be more back and forth between Lister and Rimmer, and Rimmer and Kryten.

– Slightly weird to hear Holly refer to Frankenstein as “the ship’s cat”. Sure, it’s not technically a lie assuming she was the only one on board, but it makes her sound a lot less like a smuggled animal.

– I like the detail that Androids is made for Groovy Channel 27, revealing here that “groovy” is literally in its name, that wasn’t just Rimmer taking the piss.

– The opening (non intro, non-Nova 5) scene does a very good job on its own of establishing Lister and Rimmer. Lister is naturally intelligent and no-nonsense but unambitious and lazy (side note: I like that him being stupid is more Rimmer calling him stupid than him behaving stupidly now), and Rimmer is ambitious but also credulous and in way over his head… and also it’s ambition purely for the sake of ambition, because learning Esperanto would be completely pointless, both practically and arguably as an exercise in historical and cultural enlightenment too, given its status as a purely invented language. And the whole interaction establishing these things feels totally natural as well as funny – and then it pivots neatly to the main plot.

– Holly’s new not-pixelized screen looks a lot better than his Series 1 style, not that I really need to point that out.

– The new drive room’s pretty good, but it never felt 100% right to me. The shape of it just feels a bit more overtly stagey. Don’t ask me why I don’t have this issue with the equivalent sets in Series 3 and onwards because I can’t tell you.

– Even though they don’t look especially spaceship-esque, the effort to use some larger looking transitional spaces is appreciated, and they still work.

– So did Cat actually see a mouse, or is this something that he just assumes would be around, like when he was calling out for lady cats last series? Or like when he started to look over his shoulder for dogs, only moments after learning what a dog was.

– There are meant to be commas in the Name fields when Kryten sends over the Nova 5 crew data, right? I assume that “Ann” and “Tracy” aren’t meant to be surnames, given he calls Lister and Rimmer “Mr David” and “Mr Arnold” later. (Also, “Jane Air”, what a great name.)

– Rimmer says it’s been “3 million and 2 years without a woman”, so although I assume the 3 million years passed wasn’t exact in the first place, this is his way of saying it’s been 2 years since The End. I’m sure that will never be contradicted.

– Hey, so it turns out that Rimmer can leave Red Dwarf and travel down to the surface of a planet it’s orbiting, and still be generated without needing anything extra to help. I’m sure that will never be contradicted.

– Rimmer needed to ask for a literal sock down his trousers, so I guess he can’t just say “Holly, give me a massive dong” like it’s the character creator in Saints Row. Good to know.

– Dear whoever it was who asked the Smeg Ups question about Rimmer being able to smell camphor wood in Marooned “since holograms can’t smell”, why didn’t you complain the scene in this episode where he smells Lister’s boots, which established that Rimmer could smell a whole series earlier?

– It’s not as good as Bobby’s classic clomp, but I do enjoy Kryten’s pengiun waddle down the corridor in this.

– Like many, I always wonder if the reveal of the skeletons would have been even stronger had they not already shown them earlier, but Kryten fussing about them is a good scene that couldn’t be placed later, and it does create some nice dramatic irony.

– Those are some incredibly well preserved skellingtons for 3 million years, even if they weren’t killed by nuclear radiation. Any theories? I’m going to say that Kryten was unthinkingly applying special preservatives to their bodies the whole time.

– “What about this one?” is quite a detached way to refer to someone who you are currently insisting is a living, conscious person and a close compatriot. Funny though.

– The fact that Kryten has this dream of growing and tending a garden makes it kind of sad that he never gets to do this in Series 3 and onwards, even just as a part time hobby.

– Lister calls Kryten “a total Gwenlyn”. From a search, this is apparently meant to be a dig at the then-Head of BBC Comedy, Gareth Gwenlan? But it matches a bit oddly to the producer/director of Androids being Kylie Gwenlyn. If anything Kryten should consider that a compliment!

– It seems overly chummy that Cat is just hanging around the bunkroom to eat, compared to Series 1 where if he wasn’t being directly fed by Lister he would go off and eat by himself. Is it just that he’d got Kryten to make that food for him at around the time he was doing Rimmer’s painting, or has he undergone some character development and actively enjoys spending time with the others now?

– Don’t know why Rimmer was so offended by Kryten’s portrait of him. It’s clearly a loving tribute to his beloved chimp painting from Me^2.

– I’m always so impressed at how soon this series started after the end of Series 1. We had 2 series in the 2010s that were filmed back to back and we still had to wait a full year between them, but here it was less than 6 months! I’m also glad that straight off they knew the importance of getting as many new Red Dwarf episodes as possible on screen in Smegtember.

[Warbodog]

The new drive room’s pretty good, but it never felt 100% right to me.

I came to series II late, so it’s always felt like an unsatisfying visual transition between the acceptably basic series I and the perfection that came after. This extends to Blue Midget, which is clearly the least interesting and iconic of the three craft.

I assume the 3 million years passed wasn’t exact in the first place

I think Krysis reveals it was less than three million and rounded up, which annoyed me, at least do it the other way round.

Rimmer can leave Red Dwarf and travel down to the surface of a planet it’s orbiting, and still be generated without needing anything extra to help.

They walk between Blue Midget and the Nova 5, don’t they? They could have transferred Rimmer between the ships when they landed. But he had to come all the way down from Red Dwarf first because… that’s too far.

has [Cat] undergone some character development and actively enjoys spending time with the others now?

Lister and Cat go the cinema in Me2 (in unnecessarily adjacent seats) when Lister’s no longer hanging out with Rimmer (in unnecessarily adjacent beds), just as Lister takes Kryten to the cinema here.

[Loathsome American]

New question that only occurred to me on this rewatch: Is Rimmer learning to cook as a hedge just in case Lister ever decides to take the chef’s exam again?

[cwickham]

> Lister calls Kryten “a total Gwenlyn”. From a search, this is apparently meant to be a dig at the then-Head of BBC Comedy, Gareth Gwenlan? But it matches a bit oddly to the producer/director of Androids being Kylie Gwenlyn. If anything Kryten should consider that a compliment!

Isn’t there something – possibly from the website and hence written by Andrew Ellard back in the day – about the insult “Gwenlyn” being derived from the name of the Androids producer in-universe?

[Flap Jack]

They walk between Blue Midget and the Nova 5, don’t they? They could have transferred Rimmer between the ships when they landed. But he had to come all the way down from Red Dwarf first because… that’s too far.

From a character point of view at least, it makes sense that Rimmer would choose continuity of existence wherever possible, so he doesn’t have to blip out of existence on one ship and blip back into existence on another. (After all, presumably Rimmer could be teleporting around the ship all the time, but he doesn’t.)

But yeah, in terms of hologram logic, this first Blue Midget trip is opening a bit of a can of worms. Knowing what’s coming in terms of Rimmer roaming, I’m just going to skip any speculation about whether it was Red Dwarf or Blue Midget or Nova 5 that was powering Rimmer here, and assume that he’s already getting his power and data from his light bee when he’s off Red Dwarf. If nothing else, the lack of a light bee would mean the crashed Nova 5 would have to have holographic projectors dotted all about the place.

Sure, that raises questions about why Red Dwarf can still only sustain one hologram if Rimmer’s light bee can power him fully independently (and I do have some half-baked theories), but those questions are going to happen eventually. May as well be now.

Lister and Cat go the cinema in Me2 (in unnecessarily adjacent seats) when Lister’s no longer hanging out with Rimmer (in unnecessarily adjacent beds), just as Lister takes Kryten to the cinema here.

Ah, good point. It does feel right that it would happen first in Me^2, because that was the first episode written post hiatus, and they likely made a decision however consciously to soften The Cat a little.

I guess it’s still a small development to go from seeing a film and figuring you may as well sit next to Lister while you’re there, to actively visiting Lister for its own sake.

Isn’t there something – possibly from the website and hence written by Andrew Ellard back in the day – about the insult “Gwenlyn” being derived from the name of the Androids producer in-universe?

Intriguing… presumably it wouldn’t be a direct reference by Lister, which means that the name of a TV producer who was working after Lister’s time turned into an insult which then found its way into Lister’s vocabulary somehow.

[Stilianides]

Kryten – I didn’t watch this episode when it was originally broadcast (I started with
series 3) and when I did see it a couple of years later, I was really excited
to learn about how Kryten first appeared. I can still remember my crippling
disappointment at how bad the costume looked, how different his performance was
and how the story didn’t explain at all how he would later go on to become a
regular crew member.

I was young and, with repeated viewings, I came to appreciate the quality of the script and
of David Ross’s performance. There are a lot more laughs per scene than in the
first series and it helps that the audience are now giving the material a
decent response.

I was the cheeky scrote who, for the Lockdown commentary, emailed Rob the deleted scene featuring the Cat duetting with
Talkie Toaster and it was clear that (understandably) he had forgotten all
about its existence. A funny idea, with an interesting set, and it’s a shame
that they didn’t find a place for it at some point.

The Remastered version contains one of the rare legitimate changes with the fixing
of McNugget. Interesting that they considered changing Lister’s “mum” to “foster mum” which would have been rather unnecessary imo. Many people still refer to their foster mother as, “mum” after all.

I think that during the Lockdown commentary Rob looked rather shamefaced when someone posted that Gareth Gwenlan’s Wikipedia page contains a reference to the insult. He may have been wrong about Dwarf, but Reginald Perrin, To The Manor Born, Fools and Horses etc. weren’t half bad.

[Unrumble]

As others have said, I was also familiar with Robert’s Kryten the first time I saw this via the Remastered VHS (this might actually be the first Red Dwarf video I ever owned, I’m about 90% sure. This being late 90’s, I had seen series VII on TV, but mostly anything older was from borrowing friends/their dads videos).

I would’ve been around 10/11 years old, and I remember finding the first, wordless close-up of Kryten watching Androids very creepy. Again, echoing others, I quickly grew to appreciate the quality of the performance, seeing past it and the mask/costume differences.

[Dave]

I would’ve been around 10/11 years old, and I remember finding the first, wordless close-up of Kryten watching Androids very creepy.

Yeah I think there’s a slightly sinister quality to that opening, despite the silliness of Androids.

[Unrumble]

Additional: there’s a line in one of the novels (think it might be early on in BTL) where it says something like “Kryten twisted his mouth into a plastic, lip-less grin.” 

Reading that, I’ve always pictured this Kryten, with some of his slyness in the rebelling scene particularly in mind “I…. think that’s what I’m doing”.

[Dave]

For almost the whole of Infinity and BTL, I picture Kryten as the David Ross version, the odd Llewellyn line aside.

[Future Producer of Series IX – aaaaany day now]

Isn’t there something – possibly from the website and hence written by Andrew Ellard back in the day – about the insult “Gwenlyn” being derived from the name of the Androids producer in-universe?

I’ve always thought so too.

[Warbodog]

Better Than Life

I’ve always felt awkward about this one. It was impossible for me not to compare it to the richer novel treatment for the longest time, and the gap between concept and execution used to put me off more superficially, but even now I’m over that it feels like a failed classic. Some great character stuff for Rimmer and classic lines, but the game stuff itself veers from frivolous to miserable, it’s not one I ever really feel like putting on.

– It seems that Kryten (episode) was unusually hilarious after all, rather than series 2 suddenly being funnier than the first. This would have been a bit heavy for a series opener, which wasn’t the way they liked to go from now on.

– One thing it does introduce for newcomers much better than Kryten (episode) did is Rimmer’s status, which wasn’t explained there until “drop dead” right near the end.

– “That’s your excuse for everything, isn’t it? Being dead” is a funny line in itself, but I can’t blame the studio audience for being too aware of the context to not react.

– The Observation Dome scene is likely everyone’s favourite. Rimmer suddenly gains a load of sympathy and Cat gets possibly the best punchline ever at the end. I’m less fond of Lister’s stand-up comedy bit, which will continue to be a series 2 thing.

– Rimmer’s inability to conjure anything decent in his fantasy world is like me when I become lucid in a dream.

– Why are there weird alien diners? Is that standard Better Than Life frills or are they for Rimmer? I don’t know the creative thinking behind it either.

– Cat attempts to console Rimmer and later even asks where he is (by name!) Who are you and what have you done with series 1 Cat?

– Even if it might not technically count against his virginity in a future episode, shouldn’t Cat know the ins and outs of sex from his BTL gfs? Unless he didn’t really know what he’s doing.

– Intriguingly, Cat is shown to be getting bored by BTL too when he rejects Marilyn, but they don’t explore this further. They could have had a whole Lister plot too, but it doesn’t happen for the sake of time or focus. No surprise they felt there was unfinished business when writing the novels.

– Rimmer’s H suddenly returns as he deteriorates, though he’s still tangible in that world. It must be making some kind of point.

– We have to accept Rimmer’s self-psychoanalysis that the problem is him, without exploring any inherent problems of the game itself. They’re never seen playing it again though, so maybe it was just like the early version of BTL meta-described in the novel that became dull after a while.

–

[Future Producer of Series IX – aaaaany day now]

   

[clem]

Isn’t there something – possibly from the website and hence written by Andrew Ellard back in the day – about the insult “Gwenlyn” being derived from the name of the Androids producer in-universe?

I don’t remember ever reading that but it sounds like something from those Talkie Toaster interviews with guest characters. Unfortunately most of the links are currently broken. 

[Unrumble]

– I’m guessing they’re genuine Craig Charles line flubs during the observation dome monologue about his dad dying, but I think they play nicely as Lister naturalistically tripping over his words as he makes himself awkwardly vulnerable; sharing this personal moment with Rimmer. 

– Love the oblivious sincerity of Cat’s “there’s just no consoling him”. People have been commenting about him being much more chummy already compared to series 1, but is that not what cats are like when they get familiar and comfortable with people? 

– When they meet up in the restaurant, Lister exclaims “Rimmer, you can touch things!” like he’s shocked and seeing it happen for the first time. However, we got these two moments earlier, both acknowledged by and even involving contact with Lister & Cat: 

– Is it just me that is surprised by how immediately Lister is repulsed and put off his food by the arrival of Cat’s moving ‘meal’? 

– As mentioned in my ‘Kryten’ post, I first experienced Series II Byte One in Remastered form. The Marilyn on the bed scene was cut for some reason, so it always feels, ironically, like a deleted scene that’s been shoved back in whenever I watch the original version. 

Ditto when it transitions from Rimmer’s agonised face to him being ‘jammed’ in the sand. In my head I’m expecting to hear the remastered sound effect, which I think is also used at the end of the time hole trip in the remastered Backwards. 

[Warbodog]

Just noticed the tax man’s hammer has an ‘H’ on (unless I’m seeing things). Unnecessary in the context of the game, as he can still grab Rimmer anyway, but if this was included by the game as a realistic detail for the deception, it’s an early version of the holowhip idea.

[Flap Jack]

Better Than Life – Pretty good episode, though it maybe would have been a bit too continuity heavy for an episode 1? The BTL concept is obviously very surface level, but it works well just as a series of set pieces. A thing that’s enjoyable about this episode is how it shows that Lister, Rimmer and Cat have become a genuine ensemble of sorts. They’re getting together to indulge Rimmer’s delusions of being a chef, they’re going on video game adventures, they’re consoling Rimmer (to the best of their ability) about his dad’s death, Lister and Cat both try to help Rimmer out when things start going pear shaped in the game (before it’s clear it will also affect them). It’s… nice. Plus the post pod and Rimmer’s family history is some good backstory/world building.

– The Observation Dome scene: obviously great. I don’t even care that Lister’s monologue is like a stand up routine, it all works for me. The music alone is perfect, of course (imagine removing it…). And “Rimmer’s dad’s died” / “I’d prefer chicken” is a great end to it.

– I’m quite confused about how the skutters could receive post addressed to “deep space” when the post pod was sent pre-accident…

– I’m not feeling especially good about either the skutter’s Native American costume or Rimmer’s parody chanting. Feels awkward at best to include that even in 1988.

– Why does Rimmer need to put on a helmet to go into the game?

– I like how the reveal of the beach (the Rhyveall?) gets a big laugh. That probably wasn’t the reaction they were aiming for. I wonder if we can rationalise it as Rimmer’s mind immediately starting to rebel.

– Interesting that the entrance door to the game appears to have a green field type area on its other side after they step through. Is that how they get to the golf course later? It’s simultaneously an impressive detail and a slightly confusing one.

– Is Rimmer’s number plate, “882FOP”, a reference to anything, beyond maybe just the word “fop”?

– Funny how Napoleon and Marilyn are just chilling there on the beach. No attempt by the game to make their presence credible or give it context, just plop them down there.

– Pretty cool to get a rearrangement of Tongue Tied in the restaurant. OG viewers would have had no idea what was being foreshadowed there.

– The Cat rejecting and acting bored of Marilyn Monroe is brilliant. It’s not that the fantasy is failing him, it’s that his fantasy is to be so handsome, adored and self-obsessed that he can casually push away attention from one of the most beautiful women in history and not even care. The Cat’s just incredibly messed up like that.

– Is this the first time we learn that Rimmer’s middle name is Judas? If so, it’s great how it’s said without any attention drawn to it. It’ll eventually kind of pay off in Lemons, as written by “Many Ampersand Symbols”.

– Cat saying “Where’s Rimmer?” (and actually caring about the answer) is indeed extremely bizarre, but perhaps the game is putting him in such a state of bliss that he’s instinctively dropped some of his usual animosity.

– You’d think that in a fantasy, the officers Rimmer is dining with would be 100% sincerely loving his failure to deliver an anecdote, but they’re clearly humouring him. Another sign of Rimmer’s brain rejecting the fantasy?

– So Cat goes from a meal of fish to meeting up with his half-fish girlfriend. Bit insensitive, mate.

– Got to love it whenever Holly takes physical presence as a CRT TV on wheels, but did Holly enter the game to check up on them, or was he trying to live out some fantasies of his own? The answer has potential implications for the novel version of this story.

– It’s undeniable that the novel version of the game has so much more going for it than this much simpler version on TV, but I think the TV version did the fake-out ending better. Because it all happens so fast, and we actually see the moment where they supposedly quit. In Better Than Life the book, the exit being told in flashback means it isn’t really a surprise.

– I definitely never noticed the hammer “H” before, and I’m not sure I see it even now. Kind of? What’s more noticeable is the mug with an “H” on it in the same shot. What’s that about?

– One thing it does introduce for newcomers much better than Kryten (episode) did is Rimmer’s status, which wasn’t explained there until “drop dead” right near the end.

This is a good point, though there is the Holly intro – “Rimmer, a hologram of his dead bunkmate” – at least.

[International Debris]

“And a creature that evolved from the ship’s cat.” I always disliked the way this completely contradicts the entire setup of the show. Going back on their own ideas already. And then “I’ve read books”. What happened to “I’ve never read… a book.” I know it COULD have been in the intervening time, but it’s clearly not written or acted like that. 

What do we prefer, the series 1 or 2 Holly sequence? 

“The Esperantinos” is a great gag that (maybe unsurprisingly) goes over the audience’s heads. I love the idea that Rimmer thinks they’re actually a race. 

I love how Chris Barrie is trying so hard not to corpse when Kryten says he’s rebelling. 

I honestly think the change between the first two series is pretty big. The style of storytelling, the relationship between the characters, the overall atmosphere being a lot warmer. It’s a definite halfway house between the two series surrounding it, and if it weren’t for the cosmetic differences in III I’d say they might even have more similarities than the first two.

My girlfriend’s key comment: “I preferred him when he was pixelated. He’s not got the nicest face, has he?”

[Warbodog]

I saw series I earlier, and had some on video, so the series II Holly intro always felt like an overly abridged simplification, especially the cat bit. I don’t even properly know it by heart, so must have generally skipped the openings on the DVD (heresy, I know).

Series II is more ambitious (though sometimes struggling to pull it off) and has more immediately memorable episodes and scenes (RIP “that was better than I remembered” series I episodes), but I somehow find the first series’ cold, hostile and lonely atmosphere more comforting and I miss the flimsy connective tissue holding it together like a miniseries, which won’t return until series VI and its classic successors.

[Jenuall]

Yeah the “creature that evolved from the ship’s cat” is just an unfortunate casualty of the attempt to shorten the opening explanation from Holly. It’s clumsy and doesn’t scan well with the reality of what happened in The End but I also appreciate that they needed to up the tempo so can give it a pass.

I always think that “”Dear Rimmer…” Is this from your mum?” should get a bigger laugh as the idea that someone’s mum would genuinely refer to them by their surname in a letter is funny, but I think the fact that everyone on the show is referred to in this way routinely makes the audience not even realise that it’s meant to be a joke.

[cwickham]

> What’s more noticeable is the mug with an “H” on it in the same shot. What’s that about?

The mug’s presumably meant to be a hologram so he can pick it up.

Here’s the clearest shot the Smega Drive provides of the H on the hammer:

[Flap Jack]

The mug’s presumably meant to be a hologram so he can pick it up.

For sure, I’m just questioning why a hologramic mug would need to persistently exist.

I guess it’s so Rimmer’s post-life can have more naturalism to it, and there are certain things he can just interact with, without him needing to ask Holly to generate them for him, but in the case of the mug, he would need to ask Holly to fill it up anyway.

[Jenuall]

Not 100% convinced that’s a H on the mallet rather than just how the head is attached to the shaft (ooh err etc.)

[Unrumble]

You’d think that in a fantasy, the officers Rimmer is dining with would be 100% sincerely loving his failure to deliver an anecdote, but they’re clearly humouring him. Another sign of Rimmer’s brain rejecting the fantasy? 

Yes! This also occurred to me watching it last night. It then presumably segues into being the Cat’s fantasy… but is it from the moment his father appears, or is calling him a smeghead the moment it’s hijacked? 

[Flap Jack]

Yes! This also occurred to me watching it last night. It then presumably segues into being the Cat’s fantasy… but is it from the moment his father appears, or is calling him a smeghead the moment it’s hijacked?

My interpretation is that none of the misfortune Rimmer goes through is actually because it’s the Cat’s fantasy, he just thinks it might be at first. After all, that seems like an incredibly basic anti-griefing measure to miss. If one player’s fantasy is that another player has a bad time, then the game surely just doesn’t let that happen. Maybe it would show Rimmer being tortured to Cat, but it’s just an illusion and Rimmer doesn’t actually experience it.

So I see it all as Rimmer’s psyche.

In terms of the exact timing of the turn, I’d say it’s when his dad calls him a smeghead. Rimmer Sr. appearing initially is Rimmer trying to fulfil his fantasy by getting his dad to say he’s proud of him, but Rimmer’s brain won’t let him actually say it, and that’s when things start to collapse.

If we’re going with the idea that the fantasy was 100% fine until dad shows up, perhaps the deal with the officers forcing laughs is that Rimmer wants his fantasy to be vaguely realistic. So “I fail to deliver an anecdote but the other officers sincerely react as if I succeeded” would be too immersion breaking, but “I fail to deliver an anecdote, but the other officers pretend to laugh anyway, because they respect and fear me too much” isn’t, while still being a power fantasy.

[International Debris]

It’s clumsy and doesn’t scan well with the reality of what happened in The End but I also appreciate that they needed to up the tempo so can give it a pass.

“A creature that evolved from his cat” would be better though, surely?

[Warbodog]

It shows their total lack of interest in continuing the Cat race plotline, to the point of soft retconning it.

My interpretation is that none of the misfortune Rimmer goes through is actually because it’s the Cat’s fantasy, he just thinks it might be at first.

Yeah, I don’t take Cat’s interpretation as the explanation, they were just on a roll of dragging him in to lighten up serious scenes.

And that’s not an H, is it? I noticed the mug first, then started seeing Hs everywhere.

[Unrumble]

perhaps the deal with the officers forcing laughs is that Rimmer wants his fantasy to be vaguely realistic. So “I fail to deliver an anecdote but the other officers sincerely react as if I succeeded” would be too immersion breaking, but “I fail to deliver an anecdote, but the other officers pretend to laugh anyway, because they respect and fear me too much” isn’t, while still being a power fantasy.

This works for me 

[Unrumble]

Dear Rob & Doug, thanks for all the memories 
– This has long held the distinction of being my fave ep of the entire show. The acting, the story, the dialogue, the comedy, the pathos… it’d be too easy for this post to just be a copy and paste of the script verbatim. So I’ll try to avoid quoting half the thing.

– Skutters playing keyboard never fails to make me smile 

– Rimmer in the cage? Even keeping this to series II and filming order notwithstanding, we see him board the Nova 5, and both Stasis Leak & Parallel Universe see him leaving ‘our’ Red Dwarf… though you could make an argument that past/alternate dimension versions of the same ship still count. 

– The trip back to Red Dwarf is so much better without the shimmying CGI Blue Midget, which again was my formative experience of this episode 

– “I’m jiggered, man!” 

– Having watched the smeg ups so often down the years, it almost feels wrong when Chris Barrie only says “that’s right, I told her I wanted to play the field…” once.

– A double continuity gaffe I’ve always noticed (can’t remember if I’ve mentioned it on here), when they’re watching the black box footage back:
Lister is wearing his hat (and gets out of his chair differently) which he wasn’t during the original drunk scene: 

When reminiscing about Lise Yates, Rimmer is dressed in his normal, smart fashion, rather than being dishevelled as he is in media res:

– I can’t believe I’m going to suggest this, but in light of all the consternation about the abrupt endings for eps like Samsara and Officer Rimmer, does the wrap up here feel a tad rushed? Lister reels off the memory-wiping solution, a quick detour to drop the gravestone, then “let’s go erase our memories”. 
I don’t personally have any issue with how it’s handled, though I’ve got decades of nostalgia and bias on my side, and obviously it doesn’t feel like there’s anything missing like with those later episodes. Just thought I’d throw it out there… 

[Flap Jack]

– Interesting that the entrance door to the game appears to have a green field type area on its other side after they step through. Is that how they get to the golf course later? It’s simultaneously an impressive detail and a slightly confusing one.

OK, the Quarantine commentary answered this question for me. The area through the door was meant to be the place between the two sets of doors they just came through (aside: why were there 2 sets of doors to begin with??? Just go straight there!) but they messed up the lighting so it ended up looking like a different place. Fair enough.

Another highlight of the commentary was getting to hear Paul Jackson giving like an anti-lockdown/covid truther rant at the end… *rubs forehead*… I can’t believe I denied myself this joy for over 2 years.

[Future Producer of Series IX – aaaaany day now]

Well, they did shoot this episode in a bit of a rush.

[Moonlight]

Thanks for the Memory is still one of my favorite episodes.

[Loathsome American]

It would be difficult to overstate what a big impression the Observation Dome scenes made on me when I was first getting into the show. I was pretty young and hadn’t really seen a sitcom that could pull off quiet and introspective moments to this extent. Also as a set or location it’s pretty wonderful; there’s nothing either scene does that couldn’t have been set in the bunk room or a corridor and still sort of work, but removing the characters from the everyday sets and using that music cue really made them stand out as something special. 

[clem]

> The new drive room’s pretty good, but it never felt 100% right to me.                                                                           I came to series II late, so it’s always felt like an unsatisfying visual transition between the acceptably basic series I and the perfection that came after.

It’s like they overcompensated for the starkness of Series 1, and consequently a few of the Series 2 sets are a bit too cluttered and gaudy. It works to make those areas of the ship feel more homely and lived-in though I think, to match the way the characters are less antagonistic and have settled into their situation.

I’d forgotten quite how many great classic moments are in Kryten, so many bits that get a really big reaction from the audience. They sound like an audience of fans even though this was recorded so soon after the first series.

The montage of Kryten doing chores is pony – it always really bugs me that there’s no water in that bowl – but worth it for Holly’s reaction to the screen getting cleaned.

[Warbodog]

Thank for Your Memories

I can’t disagree with any of the praise. It’s got to be a top 10 (I conventionally place it in the high teens, but maybe it’s even my favourite so far, and Me2 used to be #2). One of those episodes that feels like a special treat, it’s always exciting and satisfying to see it play out and there are no lulls. It’s pure Red Dwarf too – them + some rocks, passing the time.

– It’s nice to get down on one of those rocks, thankfully for night shoots. I love that smegorama panorama of the moon with planets and Red Dwarf in the background, even if it’s more artistic than convincing.

– It’s a great Rimmer episode, but Lister’s well served too, after being too ignored in BTL. He causes the situation with his well-meaning gift and gets to reconsider his own past.

– The projection cage is clumsy, but it reinforces Rimmer’s hologram status ready for the plot.

– The brain-scanning helmet is much better realised than the crap cycle helmets from the previous episode.

– Not sure whether the McGruder ‘revelation’ squares with Lister’s series I knowledge, and whether Rob and Doug are trying to soften or erase the extremely dodgy concussion detail, which isn’t mentioned here, but gets context from her being a boxer (also making her less vulnerable). Not sure whether her being a boxer squares with her physical appearance in the previous episode either, but what do I know.

– Holly gets some of the funniest lines this time: “it’s the state of the floor I’m worried about,” “then they did a jigsaw.”

– Cat feels like he’s fully arrived now: “have we come to blow this room up?”

– No audience reaction to Lise Yates affectionately calling Rimmer “Rimmer” because Lister didn’t even think to use another name, but it’s a bit subtle. This has the makings of a running gag after his mum’s letter.

– Interesting that they don’t feel the need to end on a laugh here. There’s nothing really jokey after Lister’s dig at bank managers, we just watch the resolution play out. And literally ending on the final jigsaw piece – perfection!

– This wasn’t a contender for the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation 1989. That went to Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

[Dave]

Yeah, I’ve always loved Thanks For Them Memories for so many reasons – its Moffat-esque (Moffat-inspiring?) tight time-jumping mystery structure, the gags (Cat’s line about not wanting to be around when one of these suckers is making a speech always kills me), and the interesting implications of the central idea, but most of all the genuine deepening of the characterisation and relationship between Lister and Rimmer.

The triple fried egg chili chutney sandwich scene is a highpoint of the show as a whole, not only because it helps the audience to understand these characters at a new level, but also because you get a sense of them understanding each other in more depth than they ever did before. Along with ME² it’s one of the first signs of that thawing between Lister and Rimmer, and it makes their relationship feel a lot more three-dimensional and real going forward. 

[Quinn: Clochebusters World Champion]

I’m always really surprised by the admiration Thanks for the Memory gets.  If I was to think about top episodes Thanks for the Memory probably wouldn’t rank top 20.  I always think of it as a bit of a nothing else.  Though admittedly there are lots of funny bits to it.

[Ridley]

For the romance innit.

[Stilianides]

Better Than Life –

I grew up a few minutes away from Rhyl, so the ridiculousness of choosing such a grim location to represent paradise is particularly enjoyable for me. It’s a shame in a way, though, that the look of the episode overshadows the writing, to some extent.

I haven’t done a side-by-side comparison, but I think the Remastered version did a reasonable job of making the weather look a little better than it really was.

I agree with the earlier poster who praised Howard Goodall’s music for this ep. The alternate arrangement of Tongue Tied at the restaurant is one of my favourite music cues on the DVD.

Another fine script and there are plenty of laughs for all four characters.

[Unrumble]

Another fine script and there are plenty of laughs for all four characters.

The number of great lines the Cat gets in that one scene alone:

“Ok, which one of you chimpanzees did this?”

“And my foot says ‘get the person who did this to my foot!'”

“What are you talking about, grease stain?”

“Did you look behind the fridge? If you lose something, it’s nearly always there.”

“I wouldn’t like to be around when one of these suckers is making a speech!”

[Flap Jack]

I mean those are good lines, Unrumble, but Stilianides was talking about Better Than Life.

[International Debris]

My head canon for the drive room is still that it’s the other side of the room, the one we never see in the first series due to it being where the fourth wall is. There’s absolutely nothing to contradict this in the show so I’m sticking with it.

Better Than Life – not too much to add to the already discussed points, except for the obvious: how does Rimmer get a headset attached to him? It even moves as his head slumps.

[Quinn: Clochebusters World Champion]

<blockquote> My head canon for the drive room is still that it’s the other side of the room, the one we never see in the first series due to it being where the fourth wall is. There’s absolutely nothing to contradict this in the show so I’m sticking with it.  </blockquote> 

I’ve often thought this too.  There are doorways in roughly the right place etc.  Only thing that spoils it is the computer bank in the middle on the room which would be roughly where the big round table is in series 1 drive room.  Oh and there’s a vending machine.

But wil a little imagination you can still make it work.

Though it would then mean all the times they’re talking to Holly on monitors on the drive room computers in Series 1 they’re completely ignoring his huge, Big Brother-esque face right in front of them

[Unrumble]

I mean those are good lines, Unrumble, but Stilianides was talking about Better Than Life.

[Warbodog]

Those “continuity gaffes” in the black box recording were a deliberate and clever choice to show we can’t trust our memories. There are no mistakes in Red Dwarf.

[Quinn: Clochebusters World Champion]

Maybe it’s a subtle hint to the audience that we can’t trust the Blackbox.

Holly has been shown to be able to rather faithfully recreate real life events on video.  Perhaps what really happened was far to heinous to ever reveal, so before burying the blackbox, Holly created false footage showing an entirely different, but plausible, and ultimately forgivable course of events.  So if they ever did dig it up, they still wouldn’t learn the dark truth.

[Formica]

“Better Than Life” is a really shit name for a video game, isn’t it?

[Author]

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