The 61st episode of the science fiction comedy Red Dwarf airs on UK cable/satellite comedy channel Dave. This is the sixth and final episode of Red Dwarf X, the first full season of the series since 1999.
Red Dwarf and its crew are ill-equipped to survive an attack by rogue simulants, especially simulants hell-bent on recovering a map of wormholes and other safe passages through space recently acquired by Lister. Leaving Red Dwarf unmanned and escaping aboard Blue Midget, Rimmer, Lister, Cat and Kryten hide out in a nearby asteroid belt, hoping to plan their next move. Ultimately, they decide it’s time for Rimmer to utilize the expertise that (they hope) he has after a lifetime of absorbing stories about military strategy. Rimmer also brings along a holographic message left for him by his late father, in the event that Rimmer ever becomes an officer. Despite the fact that he’s still a second technician aboard a derelict mining ship, Rimmer plays the message, hoping for some invaluable advice or a rousing pep talk. Instead of the benediction he hopes for, however, Rimmer instead learns something that sets him free from a lifetime (and a three-million-year living death) of disappointments. But can it save his crewmates?
written by Doug Naylor
directed by Doug Naylor
music by Howard Goodall
Cast: Chris Barrie (Rimmer), Craig Charles (Lister), Danny John-Jules (Cat), Robert Llewellyn (Kryten), Richard O’Callaghan (Hogey the Roguey), Gary Cady (Dominator Ziurth), Alex Hardy (Chancellor Wednesday), Colin Hoult (Chancellor Thuusday), Simon Treves (Lecturer Rimmer), Taylor James (Big Simulant Advisor), Philip Labey (young Rimmer), Joanne Gale (Wendy)
Notes: Rimmer’s father was played in the 1988 episode Better Than Life by the late John Abineri; obviously the role had to be recast. The episode is dedicated to the memory of Red Dwarf’s original visual FX designer, Peter Wragg (1947-2012). Actor Gary Cady is a genre veteran with a much more peaceful role behind him, that of the ill-fated Luke Ward in 1985’s Doctor Who story The Mark Of The Rani (very, very early in Cady’s TV career). Richard O’Callaghan appeared in Red Dwarf: Back To Earth as the Creator.
LogBook entry by Earl Green