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his cult BBC series racked up eight episodes in its penultimate season to date. Briefly, the backstory: A smallish spaceship named Starbug has become separated from its mothership, Red Dwarf, and is now surviving catch as catch can, missionless, with its crew of four: Cat (Danny John-Jules), Lister (Craig Charles), Rimmer (Chris Barrie) and Kryten (Robert Llewellyn). When Rimmer departs in Episode 2, he's soon replaced by Kochanski (Chloë Annett).
In "Tikka to Ride," Lister figures that a good way to get supplies—including some fresh take-out Indian curry—is to time-travel back to Earth. Mistaken coordinates land the foursome in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963. They change history a couple of times before managing to return to their own era. The "hardlight hologram" entity known as Rimmer meets his Han-Solo-like counterpart Ace Rimmer in "Stoke Me a Clipper" and becomes reluctantly convinced that their destinies are interchangeable. Lister, we know, was once an abandoned infant. Thanks to more time travel, we finally learn the mystery of his parentage in "Ouroboros."
With a woman now onboard—Lister's old girlfriend, Kochanski—the fussy droid named Kryten becomes incurably jealous. Kryten's first bid for attention involves shutting down the ship's environmental controls, leading to a sweaty crawl through endless ductwork in "Duct Tape." "Blue" involves some nostalgic appreciation of the vanished Rimmer, while "Beyond a Joke" finds the crew attempting to replace Kryten's exploded head by dealing with Gelfs and Sims.
Finally, the last two episodes form one arc. In "Epideme," Lister becomes host to an alien lifeform. The cure involves amputation of his arm. In "Nanarchy," the search for a sample of medical nanobots that can restore Lister's limb leads surprisingly to the return to the long-lost mothership, Red Dwarf.
Stellar slapstick wanderings
After the sixth season of this show ran in 1993, nearly three and a half years passed before new episodes aired. Fans must have despaired of ever seeing new adventures of these charming, eccentric, lost-in-space losers. The reasons for the gap are illuminated in the original documentary, which is one of the many generous extras in this package. (The third disc in fact consists entirely of extras, but more abound on discs one and two, including ingenious easter eggs, such as Chloë Annett's audition.) "Back From the Dead" finds creator Doug Naylor, plus the actors and the techies and directors and producers, all being interviewed on the many barriers to (and pleasures of) the creation of a seventh season. Chief of these roadblocks were the departure of co-creator Rob Grant from the show and the desire of Chris Barrie (Rimmer) to take a break.
But regardless of these major shifts, the cast and writers (among whom are Naylor, Kim Fuller, Paul Alexander and Robert Llewellyn) have created stories that still contain more than their share of humor and camaraderie.
The premises of all the shows are never less than genuinely speculative, albeit twisted along absurdist lines in the manner of Robert Sheckley or Douglas Adams. True, the Starbug seems to have more levels on it than physically possible, but that's just in line with the general parody of such stalwarts as the original Star Trek. In fact, the omnipresent subtext of the show is that this is how space exploration would actually be if the protagonists were not all plaster saints and villains. In their lowbrow motivations, the characters muddle through as honestly and virtuously and heroically as possible.
The acting remains strong, but the stories this season don't really draw much on the talents of Cat or Kochanski after Rimmer departs. The foci of every plot are Lister and Kryten, so much so that sometimes the show seems in danger of becoming Bertie Wooster and Jeeves in space. But both men are fine comedians and carry the stories admirably. (Is Kryten implanted with a Frasier Crane chip, by the way?) The language of the scripts remains vibrant, such as when Lister excoriates Rimmer in "Stoke Me a Clipper" with a long list of insults. And there's always the over-the-top similes, such as when the ship shakes like "a silicone implant ward during an earthquake." And although the romance between Lister and Kochanski never really goes anywhere, having a female presence on the ship brightens up the dynamics considerably.
Series VIII, I understand, explains how the mothership rematerialized in "Nanarchy" but ends on its own cliffhanger. That aired in 1999. But if the show came back from the dead once, perhaps it can do so again!
Work on the feature-film version of the show continues apace, and storyboards can be viewed at the show's official site. And movie success might mean more TV episodes as well! —Paul
Also in this issue: Underworld: Evolution and Doctor Who: City of Death DVD
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