Red Dwarf has always been one of my
favourite TV shows. To those who don’t know it’s a show about some goofballs on
a mining ship in space 3 million years after a radiation leak on the ship lead
to everyone on the ship dying.
That
is to say, it killed everyone except slobbish scouser Dave Lister (Craig
Charles) as he was in stasis at the time for smuggling a cat on board. But he
is not alone on the ship. There’s also a hologram of his dead bunkmate, the
extremely up tight and anal Arnold J. Rimmer, BSc, SSc (Chris Barrie) and an
evolved descendant of his cat, um, Cat (Danny John-Jules). These members of the
ship are constant, but others include Holly, the ship’s AI (Norman Lovett for
series I, II and VIII, and Hattie Hayridge for series III-V), Kryten, an
android (one episode in series II by David Ross, then by Robert Llewellyn)
and Kristine Kochanski, Lister’s crush (permanent member of the crew for series
VII and VIII, played by Chloë Annett).
The
show follows these characters as they try to get back to Earth, if only to find
out what has become of it. It’s a brilliant premise and there was an amazing
amount done with it. The science fiction aspect is great, but isn’t so complex
as to alienate the non-scientifically minded of us. It’s funny, dramatic,
intense, but mostly funny. The characters work so well together and their
relationships feel real.
And
there’s another series coming. The special Back
to Earth I found to be rather disappointing, but it got enough buzz around
it that another series was commissioned. I am so excited. So, with the new
series coming soon it’s time to celebrate Red
Dwarf with a top 10 list of my favourite episodes.
