Refresh For The Memory: Series V 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 HOLOSHIP, THE INQUISITOR and TERRORFORM. Have at it!

Previous threads:

Series 1 Byte 1
Series 1 Byte 2
Series 2 Byte 1
Series 2 Byte 2
Series III Byte 1
Series III Byte 2
Series IV Byte 1
Series IV Byte 2

[Warbodog]

Filming order: Demons & Angels, The Inquisitor, Holoship, Terrorform, Quarantine, Back to Reality.

Video order: Back to Reality, Demons & Angels, Holoship, Quarantine, The Inquisitor, Terrorform.

[International Debris]

V was the last series I had tapes of, several years after the rest, so it always has a certain freshness the rest of the classic series lacks. At the same time, it was the first series I saw, and I also caught some repeats soon after, so in some ways it’s the purest version in my mind.

Ah, the Times New Roman logo.

I do like serif fonts, but it’s totally out of place here. Rimmer’s H has changed with it. 

This is the start of V’s Starbug centric plots. No reference to where they were going or had been, a la the fishing part of Dimension Jump. I suppose the shift to losing Red Dwarf in VI isn’t all that surprising.

Two minor drawbacks, let’s get out of here before they bring him back. I think V is probably the peak of the show’s individual gags. The dialogue is never tighter. VI is probably higher in gag rate, but the formulaic nature makes it less impressive.

Starbug was withdrawn from service. The start of the ‘we’re crap’ line of gags taken up in VI. 

I like the suggestion that the Enlightenment has encountered one of the cat arks.

The episode clearly doesn’t need a massively extended version, but the sex scene would be much more convincing towards their romance if it played in full. It’s awkwardly truncated here.

“Reduced?” V is peak Cat.

The fish tank screen being replaced by numbers makes the sleeping quarters feel more claustrophobic.

Intelligent Rimmer is top tier Dwarf.

The start of the Lister curry obsession gags. Hattie does some great reactions in the background, though. Not surprising given how little else she was given to do in the episode. What is it, two lines?

Why haven’t they started with Petersen, Chen, Selby, Kochanski, even Hollister?? Harrison feels like a prototype VII Kochanski.

This is definitely the most sympathetic Rimmer has been written to date. There are also quite a few scenes without many gags. In some ways, VII feels like a natural successor. 

I wonder how long Rimmer would have been on board before they realised he was useless and turned him off again.

No ship flyover for the closing credits. And back to the 1 / 2 theme. I didn’t notice which it was for IV, actually.

Excellent episode.

[Warbodog]

Holoship didn’t stand out at 14 when I was marathoning Tom’s dad’s Red Dwarf bytes on a sleepover to complete the series rather than sleeping. It’s still probably not even in my top half of this exceptional year, but my appreciation’s grown over time, mainly for how dense with classic lines it is (no contest for “people I met” though).

Watching in order like this, I appreciated its character study even more. I dismissed the idea that Rimmer could really grow as recently as the last byte, but Nirvanah’s assessment of the nice person inside rings true.

This could be the best balance they ever achieve between sci-fi, comedy and drama. Not everything’s done for laughs, but there are plenty of those.

– I criticised Meltdown’s conventional plotting, but this one gets away with it through the old tongue-in-cheek defence and Rimmer’s excellent reaction when he realises what type of story he’s been in.

– Kryten’s changed this series (as will be pointed out). The gibbering servant is gone (for now), he’s more a mechanoid of the world with attitude.

– Binks to Enlightenment might possibly be my favourite scene in Red Dwarf, based on my reaction to it. Right from his opening slam of Starbug as “the derelict.”

– Rimmer characterising Lister as a “hippie peacenik” over a slob or anything else is nice continuity from Meltdown. Remember his reaction when he was just in Lister’s mouth for a couple of seconds and it’s understandable he’d be scarred.

– The smaller Red Dwarf model doesn’t look great.

– I was impressed that Lister and Cat seemed to be having dinner just for the sake of realistic colour, but of course it’s for their freeze. Farewell, sleeping quarters?

– Nice to get some more Red Dwarf crew details with the hologram interviews and Rimmer’s mind patch, before series VIII stamps all over it.

– Updated mission statement for the series: salvaging derelict spaceships, playing poker and eating curries.

– Star Trek crap: If the holoship uniforms are a reference to the movie uniforms of the time, they could have aimed at their pompous TNG channelmates instead for a more accurate diss.

– More Star Trek crap: Rimmer doing two tests at once is similar to a Star Trek IV scene (again). Those disappointing new end titles are generically similar to TNG’s and 80s Doctor Who, what were they thinking?

– A spoiler for the Smegazine Rack, but it’s interesting just how unpopular this episode was with some fans at the time. Though the letter pages give us some insight into the kinds of people responsible for that ranking (twats).

Why haven’t they started with Petersen, Chen, Selby, Kochanski, even Hollister??

We don’t know how long they’ve been going. The deleted bit about Lister’s hologram might even suggest they’re nearing the end.

Harrison feels like a prototype VII Kochanski.
There are also quite a few scenes without many gags. In some ways, VII feels like a natural successor.

Yeah, from these first two episodes I saw more of a throughline to VII (quality aside) than even back to III maybe. The idea of a cut-off after series IV isn’t too far-fetched, if you have quite specific taste.

[Unrumble]

The episode clearly doesn’t need a massively extended version, but the sex scene would be much more convincing towards their romance if it played in full. It’s awkwardly truncated here.

Yes! The cut to ‘after’ feels like a visual hiccup.

“Reduced?” V is peak Cat.

Agreed, was going to comment on this, also his mocking grin after “it’s a small price to pay”.

The start of the Lister curry obsession gags.

I had been thinking about whether Lister & curry had been mentioned that much up to this point (Rimmer’s stained shirt, “you sweat madras sauce” and ‘DNA’ off the top of my head) but this scene really beats us over the head with it. Later to come to a head in ‘Tikka’.

[Unrumble]

Holowhip

– never really liked Rimmer’s “as if!”. A rare mis-step in delivery from Chris Barrie. 

– this episode occupies the same place for V in my mind as ‘Camille’ does for IV. In that I think of it as being a bit of a weak link, despite there being plenty of mirth to be had when I actually watch it.

However, after this most recent viewing, I feel maybe it does qualify for that dubious distinction more than ‘Camille’ does. There are a few scenes that feel a bit lacking or laboured. 

– it feels like there’s something… different about Craig’s performance, compared to what’s gone before. At least in the first half of the episode. Its hard to put my finger on. 

– “but I will still have control?” Another scene forever superseded by its smeg-up.

– mind-patched Rimmer. Watching him now, I feel like the OTT grotesquery of the performance shouldn’t work. But it… kind of does, it is funny. Even though there’s a slight foreshadowing of the rubbery-faced gurning that I’m not so keen on from the Dave era. 

– the interview with Ms Harrison is probably the funniest scene of the episode for me, just pipping Don Warrington. 

[Stilianides]

Holoship

Rewatching this episode again last week, it struck me just how staggeringly high the overall quality of Dwarf was at this point.

Firstly, the quality of the guest cast is hugely impressive. Jane Horrocks, Don Warrington and Lucy Briers. Enough said.

It’s also hugely impressive that Rob and Doug could include so many alternate versions of the characters, and make them not seem out of place. I’ve always loved the intelligent version of Rimmer, and Chris’s performance is perfect.

The cut in the bedroom scene is indeed very noticeable and means that the dialog feels very awkward.

Rimmer’s revulsion at the end is a neat way to acknowledge any possible criticism that the plot might potentially have received.

[International Debris]

The Inquisitor

Not one of my favourites. Great concept, excellent plot, top character stuff, but so lacking in jokes compared to the show’s normal rate that it just feels a bit… off. The last seven or eight minutes only feature two or three laughs.

Why does Thomas Allman seemingly not get a trial?

How on Earth did they accidentally put Rimmer in a costume he hadn’t worn in over a year?! It’s not even the same colour as the H.

More Starbug trips with no given reason. 

Bloody hell, Holly actually gets a gag! 

Is that Kryten’s first Best Guess? 

The cut after “we don’t exist here anymore” is so awkward, knowing the smeg up. That said, there are a few odd edits in this episode.

The replacement Lister and Kryten are so much better than they’ve ended up in exactly the same situation as the originals. 

The ship feels HUGE in this episode, for the first time in ages. 

“Considering the circumstances, do you really think that’s wise?” is another classic V line. 

Series III closing theme this time.

Yeah, definitely my least favourite from V.

[clem]

Is that Kryten’s first Best Guess?

I think it’s his second after “Best guess? Some kind of DNA modifier”. 

[International Debris]

We don’t know how long they’ve been going. The deleted bit about Lister’s hologram might even suggest they’re nearing the end.

True, although it still feels a bit odd to me.

Yeah, from these first two episodes I saw more of a throughline to VII (quality aside) than even back to III maybe. The idea of a cut-off after series IV isn’t too far-fetched, if you have quite specific taste.

Yeah, it feels like a very different show here. There are aspects of IV they were clearly happy with at the time – Dimension Jump having a lot of Starbug, the closing action sequences of DNA and Justice, inspecting a derelict ship in Camille, the larger guest cast and off-ship action of Meltdown – and these seem to have formed the template for V. Other than opening cockpit scenes (and they almost all are, aren’t they?), there are pretty much no ‘crew sat around chatting’ scenes in the entire series. Action is very much the focus here. I think that’s probably got as much to do with the downscaling of Holly’s role as Kryten: she’s physically not even in a lot of the scenes.

– it feels like there’s something… different about Craig’s performance, compared to what’s gone before. At least in the first half of the episode. Its hard to put my finger on. 

I think all the characters have changed a tad here. Lister is definitely a bit larger than life, there’s a touch less of the moral heart and a slight bit more laddishness to how he’s written, and it comes across in the performance. Chris definitely has the occasional slip – the aforementioned “as if!”, as well as the repeated “oh God” in The Inquisitor feel more like Doug Dwarf writing and performances. Cat is sidelined from plot and exposition a lot more in V, mostly just acting as a one-liner-machine, although he does it so well that it’s not a complaint. Kryten is definitely more confident and independent, this is where he properly takes the Science Officer role in the show and loses the servant stuff (this makes his Inquisitor confrontation and Rimmer’s criticism of him in Quarantine feel a teensy bit out of place).

It definitely feels like VI, VII, XI and XII use V as a kind of year zero of the shows formula.

[Dave]

never really liked Rimmer’s “as if!”. A rare mis-step in delivery from Chris Barrie. 

I’ve always felt like that was a bit of Brittas creeping in.

[Dave]

Of all the regular-length episodes of Red Dwarf, it’s the Inquisitor that I feel could stand to be blown up to a full movie, maybe even could have been something entirely separate to Red Dwarf altogether. The concept is so rich and the various twists and turns in the story so enjoyable that I’m constantly amazed that it only runs for half an hour. And that’s not to mention the fantastic villain design.

And, like the best Dwarf episodes, it’s all deeply rooted in character, has a lot to say about each of the four, and even offers some surprising insights that we might not have expected. 

Yes, I love The Inquisitor. A definite top ten episode for me, maybe even top five.

[Jenuall]

Ah, peak Dwarf. 

Possibly. It’s hard to be certain but my “head” answer is always that Series V is the best, even if my heart wants to say VI or II. For me it’s the most consistently high quality period of the show, there’s not a single episode of V that I come close to having a muted impression on – they’re all bangers as the kids would say. Another thing that I think stands out from V is just how damned good the show looks by this point. III was obviously a big switch, and the studio/camera move for IV another step up, but something about V really kicks it on to another level for me – the atmosphere and lighting on display and some of the sets/decoration really do stand out, model work has gone from strength to strength as well with some properly elaborate work on display.

In another example of “minor things that annoy me and colour my whole impression of something despite it being trivial AF” (for other examples see Matt Smith’s Doctor’s tweed jacket being wrong after series 5 and therefore ruining everything!) – something that always annoyed me about series IV was that Rimmer’s hair was too short and never looked right, V corrects this and to me this is the definitive BBC era Rimmer look!

HORROCKSSHIP 

A fabulous opener full of great moments from start to finish – “quick before they bring him back”, “don’t you ever feel tense?” “Well it’s got worse this last ten years or so I can’t deny it”, “twice a day, that’s more than some people manage in a lifetime!” “An adroit suggestion sir…” “You make love like a Japanese meal, small portions but so many courses!” “Second Technician Arnold Rimmer, IQ unknown” … there are just so many good lines/scenes here!

The Commander Binks scene is quite possibly the best guest moment in the history of the show, just 3/4 minutes of perfection. Superb lines and expert performances all round. Still, why did he eat that cigarette!? (⊙_⊙)

How long does that lift ride take when Rimmer and Nirvanah first meet on the ship? How big is that thing?! Shouldn’t holograms just be able to move instantly around the ship anyway?

[Dave]

The Commander Binks scene is quite possibly the best guest moment in the history of the show, just 3/4 minutes of perfection. Superb lines and expert performances all round.

Righr after Holoship aired, that was the scene we were all “doing” in the school playground the next day.

[Flap Jack]

The thread has been going just since this morning, and The Inquisitor is already both the worst episode of the series and one of the best episodes ever. That’s what I’m talking about.

How long does that lift ride take when Rimmer and Nirvanah first meet on
the ship? How big is that thing?! Shouldn’t holograms just be able to
move instantly around the ship anyway?

Enlightenment has a crew of 2,000, which is almost twice as much as Red Dwarf originally did (post retcon). Accounting for the fact that all of the Enlightenment crew are officer toffs who probably wouldn’t accept being crammed in, the ship has got to be incredibly massive. Red Dwarf is already established as being big enough for very long lift journeys, so it makes sense that Enlightenment would have them too.

As for why they don’t just teleport about the place, well, you could say that about Rimmer on Red Dwarf too (at least before he explicitly had a light bee, anyway). Probably a combination of wanting to still feel human, and constant teleports being computationally expensive.

[Jenuall]

Enlightenment has a crew of 2,000, which is almost twice as much as Red Dwarf originally did (post retcon). Accounting for the fact that all of the Enlightenment crew are officer toffs who probably wouldn’t accept being crammed in, the ship has got to be incredibly massive. Red Dwarf is already established as being big enough for very long lift journeys, so it makes sense that Enlightenment would have them too.
As for why they don’t just teleport about the place, well, you could say that about Rimmer on Red Dwarf too (at least before he explicitly had a light bee, anyway). Probably a combination of wanting to still feel human, and constant teleports being computationally expensive.

Well given that the ship doesn’t actually exist at all when first encountered I’d have thought that these new toff level hole-a-grams would have less concerns about maintaining a link to their physical existence than what those on Red Dwarf would have done who need to fit in with their living crew mates. Meh, I can hand wave it away as not being a problem (plus the lift scenes give us some top material between this and the “sorry I’m killing myself” line later so it’s worth it overall!

[Warbodog]

More love for The Inquisi-tor here. Seeing the Bill & Ted films at a very young age, its similar time-tripping tomfoolery as described by the Programme Guide made it the most enticing unseen episode when I still had most of them to go.

– Is the opening the first scene in the series not to feature any of the main cast? (Dimension Jump was maybe the first without the regular characters, but they were playing alts).

– It’s also the setting of that presumably just-for-fun Starbug shot.

– Lister’s wooden horse of Troy routine is a bit incongruous, it’s more like a Rimmer bit.

– With his self-aggrandising supervillain dialogue and title, The Inquisitor is a camp comedy baddie cloaked in a menacing performance, costume and actions.

– Lots of thoughtful stuff to ruminate on. The Inquisitor arguably took his philosophy too far, but he had some good points. Atheist Rimmer needing there to have been a quiz for him to have made his life worthwhile, etc.

– More literal voyages into Rimmer’s psyche make it debatable whether he’d really let himself off the hook, but having low standards for his capabilities makes sense. Meeting Ace was already an insight into his better nature, but it also reinforced his nurture argument.

– It’s lower on laughs, but they’re still there. Funniest has got to be “you’ve got it in your jacket,” but the reveal that Rimmer and Cat aren’t the ones being deleted is great too.

– The morbid humour’s been there since the start, but it’s getting sicker.

– “Additional 001” is Kryten’s “CPU ident.” He doesn’t have a unique palm print for ID like Cat does. I feel this is probably my best contribution to these threads.

– The only bit that bugs me is Kryten’s needlessly cryptic “enig” clue, which I wish they’d found a better way to express (or that someone can headcanon satisfyingly), but that’s not enough to keep it from being a top 10.

[Flap Jack]

Well given that the ship doesn’t actually exist at all when first
encountered I’d have thought that these new toff level hole-a-grams
would have less concerns about maintaining a link to their physical
existence than what those on Red Dwarf would have done who need to fit
in with their living crew mates.

I’ve tended to see the enforced realism in holograms as being just as much about preserving the person’s sanity and sense of self as it is about them fitting in with living crewmates. That being necessary does mean that the Enlightenment crew aren’t being honest with themselves about still having human emotional needs and vulnerabilities, but that was basically already the subtext anyway.

Because if you took the argument to its extreme conclusion, there’s no logical reason why they even need to move around or simulate an actual ship at all. They could just be floating orbs in space, or they could exist wholly as programs running on the ship’s computer with no physical presence whatsoever. Everything we see is 100% for their mental enrichment, and that extends to little details like needing to walk or use lifts.

[Flap Jack]

Admittedly though, all that is still a bit of a fudge, because if the hologram crew can physically touch everything on the ship, being able to teleport would not be so reality breaking.

[Quinn: Clochebusters World Champion]

Demons & Angels, The Inquisitor, Holoship, Terrorform, Quarantine, Back to Reality.

Demons & Angels filmed first, followed by a series set largely on Starbug make a lot of sense.

[Warbodog]

The replacement Lister and Kryten are so much better that they’ve ended up in exactly the same situation as the originals.

This Kryten might be less stubborn and argumentative, like a series III Kryten. The Lister might be dumber, like a series 1 Lister.

How on Earth did they accidentally put Rimmer in a costume he hadn’t worn in over a year?! It’s not even the same colour as the H.

To differentiate the timelines, like Cat’s change. Starting out in red would make more sense, but doesn’t really matter which way round they are. It would’ve been nice if they’d been reset to the originals at the end, but since dead Lister’s hand is still around, I don’t know what the hell’s going on.

[Warbodog]

Is the opening the first scene in the series not to feature any of the main cast?

[Flap Jack]

Holoship – Fantastic episode. Great premise. Solid character work. Great set design, music, lighting, performances, effects, and of course there’s a great density of classic gags. The holoship is one of those concepts that’s just begging to be revisited in some way. The only major weaknesses in the episode I can see are the unlikely speed of Rimmer and Crane falling in love (as others have already remarked upon) and the general dearth of Holly (which I suspect will be a recurring issue in this series). Neither are dealbreakers of course.

– OK, I lied. There is one other major weakness in the episode, but it’s a general Series V problem: the rubbish squashed image in the opening! Who thought that was a good idea???

– One thought ran through my head as Rimmer was being dismissive of the romantic film for being too unrealistic: “Rimmer should become a guest writer for CinemaSins”.

– I forgot how quickly it was that Kryten’s “An excellent suggestion, sir, with just two minor drawbacks” gag got a sequel. It’s definitely different enough to not just feel derivative (take note, Holly’s lazy “PE teachers”/”car park attendants” swaps).

– Enlightenment has some incredibly disturbing sexual politics. Considering sex a casual pursuit and not valuing romance or committed one to one relationships is fine, but it being considered bad manners to say no to sex??? YIKES. Kryten was right to raise moral objection, although even he was going easy on them just calling it “tacky”.

– Continuity Watch: Binks says that Lister is chronologically mid twenties (strictly speaking he should be over 3 million, right?), but Rimmer says it’s been “nearly four years” since The End. So Lister really should be pushing 30 at this point.

– No disagreement from me, the Lister/Binks scene is perfection, but I want to highlight how convincingly intimidating Lister is in it. He’s got such confidence that Binks seems to genuinely be scared of him, even though he didn’t even pretend to actually go and fetch a holo-whip. He just gave off legitimate “oh shit, this guy means business” vibes. It even made the cigarette eating seem natural.

– There are lot of potentially worrying implications to Red Dwarf/Starbug having a holo-whip, but Lister could have just been bluffing. Or McIntyre just had some kinks. Let’s not judge.

– I vaguely remembered Rimmer’s farewell as being kind of a precursor to his one in Skipper, in that he’s being very aloof about it, but on this rewatch it’s definitely much better. It’s clear that Rimmer does have serious feelings about leaving Lister, Cat, Kryten and Holly, but he doesn’t have the ability to express it. Obviously a far cry from Skipper’s “whelp, bye!”.

– Bit weird that the 2 real examples Kryten gives of successful people who weren’t defined by their jobs are both called Albert. It’s the kind of thing you’d instinctively rewrite.

– It shows how little regard the Enlightenment crew have for any other space crews, that they’re facing the prospect of one of their number being essentially killed so a stranger can take their place, and they don’t even think to suggest “hey, if your hologram wants to join our crew, could the hologram he replaces join your crew in kind instead of being dead?”

– Love the cartoon logic that Rimmer suddenly gains glasses when he’s super smart. You can’t gain intelligence if you don’t give up eyesight quality. It’s like alchemy.

– 200,000 questions seems like slightly too many questions for a test if you ask me. It was clearly made from the same creative impulse that gave the matter paddle a 500,000 light year range.

– Holoship is full of good jokes, but I may have to admit that “we don’t speak satsuma” is a groaner.

– It is strange that Kochanski or Petersen weren’t considered for replacement Red Dwarf hologram, and if the theory is that they were already asked but said no, Lister seems way too upbeat for that to be the explanation. Maybe Rimmer is keeping their discs hidden? But surely Rimmer would give that up if he was leaving, and Lister would hold out for that. Maybe Rimmer outright destroyed the discs? But that seems too monstrous. I’m going to take a third option and just say that Lister has matured to the point where he realises that bringing back Kochanski or Petersen as a hologram would not be a good idea.

– So how is Red Dwarf generating Rimmer and Murray at the same time? The simple explanation is that they’re just doing the “turn off all inessential systems” Me² method again, but as that brings back the “why don’t they just do that all the time then” conundrum, I choose to subscribe to the more convoluted theory that Red Dwarf and Enlightenment were jointly generating Rimmer at that time, thus freeing up power for the interviews.

– Lister saying “Ah, Sam. Now, as Holly will have told you… ” seems to corroborate the “virtual waiting room” theory that people were suggesting about how Rimmer2 in Me² could be a ‘factory reset’ version but still know what was going on as soon as he was activated. So, vindication for that idea. (Although I suppose it’s possible that Holly just properly switched every crew member hologram on in sequence to give them the 411 before the entire interview process had even started).

– I bet Captain Platini was pretty peeved that Rimmer made them stick around Red Dwarf and do all that extra admin to stage Rimmer’s interview challenge and to officially make him part of the crew when he won, only to have him immediately change his mind. He may not have actually said “oh for fuck’s sake” in that final scene, but I could see it in his eyes.

[Warbodog]

Terrorform

A very attractive filler episode (not specifically referring to greased-up Chris Barrie there). Like Meltdown, it’s a fun one at the end of the video, but not one I’d fast-forward to specially.

– Though if I did, it’d be for the first part (Kryten rescue), which is a bit like Bodyswap’s self-destruct bit in being a more classic prologue than the main plot.

– The second part (Rimmer rescue) is fun, but its character study is very basic after the deeper Inquisitor.

– The third part (Starbug escape) takes up much more of the episode than I expected and gets pretty tedious when you know what’s going on. It’s the first time since Backwards that I’ve been a bit bored and fidgety.

– The typing scene feels like it’s 95% of the way to perfection and they could have obsessed over honing the pacing or edit a little more. I appreciate that the dialogue doesn’t return until the next scene, and the Amiga Topaz font is nostalgic.

– Kryten’s POV with the time skips and all the swamp model work are really cool.

– They get away with the whole psy-moon concept, it was the bonus detail of Rimmer inexplicably gaining a body for the sake of peril that strained credulity for me.

– Robbie Rocketpants isn’t quite as hilarious as when I was 13, but “so we remove his head…” has stood the test of time.

– Watching these in order, the metaphorical battle scene struck me as being pretty far out for Red Dwarf.

– After Dimension Jump and Holoship (and maybe Justice and Meltdown too), making every other episode a Rimmer episode has started to feel like overkill now, but I think it calms down after this. Most of my favourite V scenes so far haven’t even had Rimmer in them.

[Jenuall]

Nah, good old Captain “Air Cooled” Platini would never get that upset! 

[International Debris]

– Continuity Watch: Binks says that Lister is chronologically mid twenties (strictly speaking he should be over 3 million, right?)

While he was in stasis, for him time did not exist. So he himself is the ‘correct’ age.

I’d never considered that Rimmer’s green costume was to show the change in timelines. I could have sworn there was a reference to it being a mistake at some point.

[clem]

I’d never considered that Rimmer’s green costume was to show the change in timelines. I could have sworn there was a reference to it being a mistake at some point.

Are you thinking of the beginning of Gunmen with Rimmer in his old red outfit? I think it’s the programme guide that says that was a mistake, and to explain it they added Lister’s line about switching to hard light so that Rimmer can use the AR machine. 

[Stabbim]

All in all, today’s been a bit of a bummer, hasn’t it sir?

[Loathsome American]

Holoship is the second-best episode of Red Dwarf—just making a note of it now for when ranking time comes—and the hardest I have laughed so far on this rewatch is delivery of “…Geronimo.”

[International Debris]

Are you thinking of the beginning of Gunmen with Rimmer in his old red outfit? I think it’s the programme guide that says that was a mistake, and to explain it they added Lister’s line about switching to hard light so that Rimmer can use the AR machine. 

Ah, maybe.

It’s still weird and jarring to have him in his III/IV outfit only an episode after he’s started wearing the red. Maybe it would have made more sense the other way around. It’s hard to even think of a satisfying fan theory for it, given his lack of random colour swapping in the past.

[Stilianides]

The Inquisitor – 

Another very, very strong episode from one of the show’s peak periods.

The scene with the crew members judging themselves is expertly done (again, very smart to include the self-aware ‘metaphysical’ line), and part of the genius is in the varied approaches of the characters. Rimmer is sympathetic, Kryten is thought-provoking, Lister is antagonistic and the Cat is purely funny. A supreme section of the show and something that very few other sitcoms could attempt.

There are numerous memorable lines: “A simple yes would have sufficed”, “We’re in big trouble”, “No plan, sir. No sleeves” and many more.

There are a couple of faults, for me…

Enig feels a little lame, and easy to deduce. 

Also, the dialog when Rimmer doesn’t recognize Lister and Kryten as being remarkable similar to his crewmates doesn’t convince. Plus, the science of this section is all a bit ropey.

[Flap Jack]

While he was in stasis, for him time did not exist. So he himself is the ‘correct’ age.

Well, if you’re citing chronological age in contrast to physical age, I’m likely to think you mean “how many years since you were born”.

Obviously Binks was saying “chronological” to mean “physical (actual)” and “physical” to mean “physical (estimated)”, but where’s the fun in seeing a hair and not splitting it.

[Dave]

The scene with the crew members judging themselves is expertly done (again, very smart to include the self-aware ‘metaphysical’ line), and part of the genius is in the varied approaches of the characters. Rimmer is sympathetic, Kryten is thought-provoking, Lister is antagonistic and the Cat is purely funny. A supreme section of the show and something that very few other sitcoms could attempt.

I love that in this scene they don’t go for the easy gag every time too. Lister and Kryten in particular are played relatively straight. 

[Quinn: Clochebusters World Champion]

I love that in this scene they don’t go for the easy gag every time too. Lister and Kryten in particular are played relatively straight. 

Quite a lot of Inquisitor is played quite straight isn’t it.  There’s the odd gag and some funny lines here and there, but it is perhaps the most serious episode in the first 36 run.

Also, the dialog when Rimmer doesn’t recognize Lister and Kryten as being remarkable similar to his crewmates doesn’t convince. Plus, the science of this section is all a bit ropey.

Yeah that’s always bothered me.  Surely you’d be question why they look different, not who they are.

The cut around the Krypton’s smeg up monologue is really jarring.  And it’s a crying shame they don’t manage to include that speech in anyway as it’s a really good line.

[Unrumble]

The scene with Kryten’s disgust at the severed hand has got to be Top 5 bits of Bobby-business for me.

However, watching it again with my critical ‘re-watch eye’, Lister’s smirking after opening the door, and “i’ll beat you to dead with the wet-end” seem almost character-breaking.

But, it works for the comedy, in a hilarious scene that brings levity after a very serious one, in what many have already pointed out is a particularly serious/dark episode.

I could also happily chalk it up to ‘gallows humour’ on Lister’s part. Why not lean into the absurd, existence-threatening situation we’re in by having some morbid fun, to distract ourselves from our imminent doom?

[International Debris]

Quite a lot of Inquisitor is played quite straight isn’t it.  There’s the odd gag and some funny lines here and there, but it is perhaps the most serious episode in the first 36 run.

This probably sums up my (relative) dislike of it. It’s still great, but I just want more laughs from a sitcom.

(I’m also filling in for the much missed John Hoare)

[Quinn: Clochebusters World Champion]

This probably sums up my (relative) dislike of it. It’s still great, but I just want more laughs from a sitcom.

(I’m also filling in for the much missed John Hoare)

Oh I totally agree.  Inquisitor is quite far down on my list of favourite episodes I think (though I’ve never ranked them for any poll – can’t be arsed).  It’s a cracking idea, with great performances.  But it’s not that funny compared peak RD episodes.  I actually find this true of lots of series V.  It’s all a bit darker, serious, very character driven, not too many laughs.  Take Terrorform.  That’s quite a series episode that has 3 friends rescue another from certain death.  It’s book ended with gags – the tarantula bit and the sword fight and hug scene – but otherwise it’s quite light on the comedy.

Other than the car chase scene, Back to Reality is equally as serious a story to tell, with odd gags dotted around here and there but largely lacking in big laughs.  When you have scenes about political tyrants, and suicide its quite hard to lighten the mood.

[International Debris]

Terrorform 

The first episode I ever saw!

The taranshula scene is Holly’s meatiest, and best, scene of V. 

The typing stuff is obviously nonsense, but absolute comic brilliance. 

Starbug has caterpillar tracks. How convenient. 

The psy-moon is one of the daftest sci-fi concepts in the whole show. What and why. Also Rimmer conveniently becoming solid. 

Why would an Ionian be asking for the British Embassy? 

Such an incredible looking episode. The moon looks so good.

When I was a kid, I had this image of the show having more stuff like this and Emohawk. 

Robbie Rocketpants is definitely a top 10 gag for me. 

There are some incredible insults in this episode. 

Definitely another very dark episode, but doesn’t have the long gag-free sections of The Inquisitor. 

Theme-watch: III version again.

[Dave]

The cut around the Krypton’s smeg up monologue is really jarring.  And it’s a crying shame they don’t manage to include that speech in anyway as it’s a really good line.

Yeah, of all the various deleted and unused bits over the years, it’s maybe that one that feels most like it should have been left in.

Either way, it’s worth it just for Bobby’s hilarious hand gesture in the smeg up.

[Dave]

 I actually find this true of lots of series V.  It’s all a bit darker, serious, very character driven, not too many laughs.

Yeah, obviously the change in director alters the tone quite a bit (I always think of V as the dark, red series – as opposed to X which is the dark red series) but also the scripts are happier to keep things straighter than before.

I think there’s a certain confidence to it, like they know the show is going to be compelling without needing a laugh every 30 seconds.

I wonder if there was a conscious consideration of a movie version around this point. It all feels like it’s geared towards making the show a slightly more dramatic and cinematic version of Red Dwarf.

[Ian Symes]

Why would an Ionian be asking for the British Embassy? 

My headcanon is that Io is a British colony. Rimmer considers himself British in the same way someone from Gibraltar or the Falklands might.

[Quinn: Clochebusters World Champion]

Why would an Ionian be asking for the British Embassy? 

I’d say its even grander than that.  Given the Dollarpound exists, is it possible that a fair chunk of the solar system has been colonised by a combined US/UK effort, or there was at least at one point a merged US/UK – possible a result of a post Brexit alliance. 
JMC (or at least the Red Dwarf ship within the JMC) is clearly largely run by a contingent of British personal (with the odd European thrown in).  Maybe the UK has a great deal of dominance in the future, in partnership with the US.

[International Debris]

I think there’s a certain confidence to it, like they know the show is going to be compelling without needing a laugh every 30 seconds.

I wonder if there was a conscious consideration of a movie version around this point. It all feels like it’s geared towards making the show a slightly more dramatic and cinematic version of Red Dwarf.

Thats an interesting idea, although it doesn’t quite fit with VI’s almost overcompensation with one liners.

[Warbodog]

Thats an interesting idea, although it doesn’t quite fit with VI’s almost overcompensation with one liners.

They could also rely on their sci-fi audience, with TNG being a respectable show by this point, getting a spin-off and leading to a whole 90s TV sci-fi wave. They were trying to secure an American version and audience around the time of V, so were probably trying to look competitive in that field, before bringing back more US sitcom influence for VI.

Yes, I’m basically saying “VI does the comedy, V does the sci-fi.”

[International Debris]

V and VI do feel like two sides of the same coin, the era of the show where darker, more action-led plots featuring a lot of Starbug were the go-to idea. They both lack the coziness of the earlier series. They are also, interestingly, my favourite and least favourite series of the bubble, largely because V has more interesting character stuff and VI is all about the gags. Which contrasts nicely with my not rating The Inquisitor so highly because of the emphasis of character stuff over gags. Hmmm.

[Dave]

Yes, I’m basically saying “VI does the comedy, V does the sci-fi.”

But will we ever know the real reason that V separated from VI?

[Flap Jack]

The Inquisitor – Objectively I appreciate that this episode is a bit thin on gags (the Trojan horse bit at the beginning is undeniably pretty weak too) and the episode is weaker for it, but subjectively I love the episode so much I don’t much care. The concept, design and performance of The Inquisitor are just so good. For my money he’s the best Red Dwarf villain of all of them. They don’t make head knockers for any old villain, you know. On top of that, the way the drama unfolds with the time travel shenanigans and the action scenes and the way they tricked The Inquisitor is just excellently paced.

– You can tell that new Thomas Allman has lead a worthwhile life, because he has a moustache.

– Rimmer thinks that Greek myths literally happened, the idiot.

– The Inquisitor actually has a similar ethos to Jigsaw, now that I think about it. Jigsaw meets Wowbagger the Infinitely Prolonged.

– An unexplored implication of The Inquisitor’s M.O. is the whole nature vs. nurture thing. He replaces his victims with people who have different genes, but he doesn’t change the circumstances that ultimately shape who they are – and it’s clear that new Kryten and Lister aren’t much different. It’s certainly not a problem that he has a flawed ideology, because obviously he’s the villain and he’s meant to be wrong, but someone could have called him out on it. Do you think if he managed to judge everyone in the history of the universe, he’d go around again to judge the replacements?

– The Inquisitor is in it just as much for his own ego as for the selfless betterment of the universe. He would have spared Kryten if not.

– I wonder what Lister would have said if he had actually tried to defend himself. (Assuming that isn’t just a deleted scene I’ve forgotten about it, which it easily could be.)

– The sparsity of Holly material is a bit disappointing again, but she was utilised very effectively as an emotionless security system. Quite eerie.

– I guess The Inquisitor doesn’t count Holly as a person, or she would have been judged. Bit harsh.

– I forgot that Lister got tear gassed. He braved that pretty well.

– Cat and Rimmer are weirdly pally in the new timeline. Maybe that’s the influence of new Lister and Kryten.

– It arguably undermines him a little, but I do enjoy the dopey way Inquisitor reacts to Kryten’s distraction. “Huh?”.

– Why do Cat and Rimmer have their new timeline outfits when they get brought back at the end? Is the space time continuum only halfway reordered at that point, and that’s also why Lister still has new Lister’s severed hand?

[Dave]

Do you think if he managed to judge everyone in the history of the universe, he’d go around again to judge the replacements?

I’ve always thought that it was probably an infinite task, as each replacement presumably has knock-on effects on the timeline that could alter other people’s lives in future, and so change people who he’s already judged, to the extent that he now has to judge them again.

He’s made a rod for his own back really.

[Quinn: Clochebusters World Champion]

The Inquisitor – Objectively I appreciate that this episode is a bit thin on gags (the Trojan horse bit at the beginning is undeniably pretty weak too) and the episode is weaker for it, but subjectively I love the episode so much I don’t much care. The concept, design and performance of The Inquisitor are just so good. For my money he’s the best Red Dwarf villain of all of them. They don’t make head knockers for any old villain, you know. On top of that, the way the drama unfolds with the time travel shenanigans and the action scenes and the way they tricked The Inquisitor is just excellently paced.
– You can tell that new Thomas Allman has lead a worthwhile life, because he has a moustache.
– Rimmer thinks that Greek myths literally happened, the idiot.
– The Inquisitor actually has a similar ethos to Jigsaw, now that I think about it. Jigsaw meets Wowbagger the Infinitely Prolonged.
– An unexplored implication of The Inquisitor’s M.O. is the whole nature vs. nurture thing. He replaces his victims with people who have different genes, but he doesn’t change the circumstances that ultimately shape who they are – and it’s clear that new Kryten and Lister aren’t much different. It’s certainly not a problem that he has a flawed ideology, because obviously he’s the villain and he’s meant to be wrong, but someone could have called him out on it. Do you think if he managed to judge everyone in the history of the universe, he’d go around again to judge the replacements?
– The Inquisitor is in it just as much for his own ego as for the selfless betterment of the universe. He would have spared Kryten if not.
– I wonder what Lister would have said if he had actually tried to defend himself. (Assuming that isn’t just a deleted scene I’ve forgotten about it, which it easily could be.)
– The sparsity of Holly material is a bit disappointing again, but she was utilised very effectively as an emotionless security system. Quite eerie.
– I guess The Inquisitor doesn’t count Holly as a person, or she would have been judged. Bit harsh.
– I forgot that Lister got tear gassed. He braved that pretty well.
– Cat and Rimmer are weirdly pally in the new timeline. Maybe that’s the influence of new Lister and Kryten.
– It arguably undermines him a little, but I do enjoy the dopey way Inquisitor reacts to Kryten’s distraction. “Huh?”.
– Why do Cat and Rimmer have their new timeline outfits when they get brought back at the end? Is the space time continuum only halfway reordered at that point, and that’s also why Lister still has new Lister’s severed hand?

There’s plenty of discussion to be had around this episode thats for certain.

The fact the circumstances don’t change should mean your life isn’t much different. Although ultimately they would because presumably around 50% of the universes inhabitants get replaced, meaning half your friends, family, colleagues etc would all be different people thus changing the course of history. In fact, presumably those unable to justify their existence would have parents who would view themselves as failures and be replaced too. The whole concept is very complicated. 

Presumably, given Lister is replaced by someone who still ends up stuck on Red Dwarf, the only major difference with his life is that he makes a convincing argument to The Inquisitor when it becomes his turn. Because his life surely doesn’t have that much more meaning than our Lister’s, he just argued his case better. 

How is it Kryten is replaced with a different model? Is part of his deletion also linked to Mammet who, if replaced herself created a different version of android capable of a certain about of self determination, but that also still winds up crashed on Nova 5 and joining Red Dwarf?

[Unrumble]

Terra forma

– I can never read the title of this without hearing DJJ on the dvd commentary, singing it to the tune of the old ‘Bodyform’ jingle. 

– they sure took time to hose Kryten down (no hat) before trying to fix him. He’s so clean once back on Starbug.

– they shouldn’t have shown the face of the minion with his ‘unconvincing red eyes’ reading from that scroll.

–  watching-for-Cat-saying-Rimmer-watch: “out into Rimmer’s subconscious?!”

– assuming Kryten’s armbands are just a comedy touch, but there’s an amusing extra layer to it knowing that Robert couldn’t swim

– “dank tuft of rectal pubic hair”. A Rob Grant line I’ll wager 

– Kryten’s comedy run after his “stand around jabbering” android saying.

– always enjoyed the Cat’s assertive gravitas, the way he steps forward with “don’t you know what this place is?” Alongside his revulsion at the plan of course. Especially “it’s true, they really do care about you”.

– in fact the whole ep once they’ve rescued Rimmer has an incredible gag rate.

– I’ve used “cancerous polyp on the anus of humanity” on many an occasion

– Chris Barrie’s pronunciation of ‘trans-parent’, is that we ird to anyone else? 

[Author]

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