Red Dwarf X Episode 6: "The Beginning"

The Dwarfers get menaced by some rather camp simulants and Rimmer discovers the truth about his parentage. Another episode written in haste after the scrapping of the location budget, this model-heavy finale is apparently adapted from the abandoned "Red Dwarf Movie" project. The plot of that supposedly involved the Dwarfers returning to Earth only to find it populated by human-hating "sapienoids", highly-evolved cyborgs intent on wiping out the last vestiges of their precursor species using "death ships". Here we have the logical replacement, simulants, and a tighter narrative about the Dwarfers figuring out how they're going to survive this latest threat from these recurring villains. It's worth noting that a deleted scene from this episode implies that the reason the human race is extinct three million years in the future is because they were wiped out in a war against the simulants.

While I think the film project was almost certainly misguided, and that in my opinion Doug Naylor was probably somewhat naïve to think that funding it was ever a realistic possibility, it's nice to know that, through this episode, it still made it to the screen in some fashion. In this regard it's a pleasant thought to realise that the character of Hogey the Roguey, originally read for by Richard O'Callaghan in the early 2000s film script read-through, was finally brought to life in this episode, played by O'Callaghan, who also portrayed the Creator in "Back to Earth". Hogey is a pretty silly character but I still like the idea that a role that was practically cast for the unmade film was ultimately realised, albeit not quite in the same way.

The big thing in this episode is Rimmer's character development, particularly his discovery that his horrible emotionally-abusive father is not really his biological parent. I think some people objected to this, but I didn't have a problem with it, particularly because it fits well with Rimmer's mother's reputation for having many liaisons; a common belief is that John, Frank and Howard were fathered by "Uncle Frank", so this doesn't matter. That being said, Rimmer's background is a bit inconsistent anyway. In episodes like "Dimension Jump" he appears to come from an affluent family with a large complex on Io, their own botanical gardens and the like; we know he attended a boarding school in what appears to be a parody of the typical upper-middle-class childhood, and in this episode his father claims descent from "Austrian princes and French royalty." By contrast, in "The End", the very first episode of the show, Rimmer complains about the disadvantages he's faced by not coming from "the right nobby background". It doesn't affect the character's previous behaviour in any way that matters. It also provides a mildly clever twist on the classic Star Wars revelation which has been parodied countless times.

There's plenty to enjoy in "The Beginning", from Cat's sleeping arrangements and Lister saying "Smeg off, Rimmer, I'm trying to sleep," to Hogey, to Hogey describing himself as "clever as a hedgehog." I like the idea of a character who shows up from time to time to annoy the Dwarfers and how exasperated he becomes that they won't get involved in his desire for a dramatic conflict. Gary Cady and Alex Hardy are both very amusing as Dominator Zlurth and Chancellor Wednesday of the simulants, particularly the former's camp villainy and the latter's pained noises after he mistakenly disembowels himself. The council of sycophantic Chancellors reminds me a lot of the film producer sketch from Monty Python's Flying Circus. Philip Labey is quite convincing as Young Rimmer, and I like that they made sure that Rimmer's father, as portrayed by Simon Treeves, looked similar to Rimmer's father as he appears in "Better Than Life". Rimmer's "battle plan timetable" is a nice parody of the old revision timetables, and Rimmer's "fear" speech, while again quite Pythonesque (it's reminiscent of the Spanish Inquisition) is a nice mockery of those kinds of pronouncements.

Possibly my favourite line in the whole thing is the way Chris Barrie delivers Rimmer's incredulous "Two forks and a pencil sharpener?!?" after Kryten completes the weapons inventory, reinforced later when Lister says "Kryten, bring them forks; we might need them." Kryten's speech about the "berserker generals" of the simulant death ships seems to be deliberately invoking his over-the-top description of the Inquisitor in Series V, which is amusing, and Cat's playing with string is similar to a scene from "Waiting For God". The thing about Rimmer's last words will obviously sit uneasily with anyone who knows that his last words were "Gazpacho soup", although Lister is obviously just joking. Rimmer's pretending to write a letter to the Geneva Convention while they were under attack also seemed to play well on Series VI gags, particularly from "Legion" and "Gunmen of the Apocalypse", about surrendering and claiming prisoners' rights.

There are definitely some purely exciting moments as well, like Rimmer's line about how "sometimes you live, you die, and then you live again" and "the slime's coming home." I like the solution to their dilemma; unlike, say, the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary, which used a similar solution, this is set up and foreshadowed effectively throughout the episode. Furthermore, the model work in the episode is terrific. It's worth watching the 'Making Of' documentary for Series X to see how fortunate they were to get the Death Ship and Annihilator models, as well as the other work done. It's all put together very well, with the end resulting being a space sequence that can sit easily alongside some of the classic model shots, including those of "Bodyswap", "Dimension Jump", "Terrorform" and pretty much everything from Series VI.

This episode also played up to the idea of resolving what happened at the end of Series VIII, and unsurprisingly it doesn't beyond suggesting, as could be expected, that Rimmer did something by fluke or accident to save the ship. It's nice to see the acknowledgement of this situation as well, despite the fact that any resolution would be pointless and probably be something ridiculous and extremely complicated. It's just another pleasant addition to an episode that seems to weave together a number of eras of the show, including one that never actually happened (the film). In fact probably the only thing I would really criticise about the episode is that I think the sets on board the simulant ship are just a little too sparse, although obviously this was a limitation of time and the budget. Ultimately, however, "The Beginning" is a strong finale for what I think was a strong tenth series; if they hadn't made any more of the show, it would have been perfectly acceptable as the last instalment of Red Dwarf. As it is, it's another funny and generally enjoyable instalment to round off a series which largely, to my mind, recaptured a fair bit of the magic of the show's best years.

Red Dwarf X Episode 5: "Dear Dave"

Lister looks for a letter and Rimmer does two very similar things that are actually different. This was one of the episodes written late in the day after the location budget was scrapped and it shows in how low-key it all is and due to the fact that, if you look carefully, you can see that some of the scenes are being performed in front of green screen with the sets added in post. Furthermore, aspects of the plot are highly reminiscent of aspects of "Better Than Life" from Series II, particularly with the mail pod arriving and the impact of long-overdue correspondence from Earth on the characters' emotional states. It's odd to note that this episode, beginning as it does with Lister moping about the extinction of the human race, doesn't seem to follow on from previous stuff about his robotics course and so on. I notice a lot of people say that this is because that plot sort of fell by the wayside due to the rewrites, but contrary to common belief Lister does actually mention Kochanski in this episode, when the Cat's doing charades.

Another odd thing to note is that Rimmer's "special report" that he says he's writing about Lister in this episode has really nothing to do with his efforts to document Lister's behaviour for the purpose of getting a medical exemption for his "gross dereliction of duty"; it seems that at the end of the episode, when the Cat grabs Rimmer's "special report" to use as toilet paper, it doesn't matter because it appears that he's already managed to retain his position. He talks about the special report before the whole demotion problem comes up, and seems to be more or less writing it for fun. Thus when he uses the term "special report" at the end of the episode to refer to the paper the Cat grabs, it would seem the Cat's just nicking the thing he was writing for fun, not the document that he needed to get his medical exemption. Thus Rimmer's interest in writing a "special report" seems to have nothing to do with anything, and appears to only coincide with his need to catch Lister doing something insane by coincidence.

Nonetheless, while "Dear Dave" is often criticised among the self-appointed arbiters of Red Dwarf "fandom", I actually think it's fine, and I enjoy how low-key it is. The whole charades section is good, especially Lister's exasperation at Rimmer's constant talk about a "giant death worm", Kryten worrying that people don't like the shape of his head and, ultimately, the Cat saying that the reason it was a "two words" situation is because when the mail pod crashed into his clothes he said "Oh man!" The Cat's conversation about Hayley Summers and "Roy" later in the episode is amusing too, especially his line about her being "covered in money, while his finger-wetting machine was working overtime."

Lister and Rimmer's conversation about "moves" is a bit weird. Why does Rimmer care about Lister's situation? Furthermore, his "Jacobean move" is a bit daft, although I do like his little "strumming a mandolin under a balcony" action. That being said, none of it seems much like something Rimmer would say. It's more fitting when he tells Lister to "man up", the funniest bit being the way he says Lister should "listen to some brass band music." The idea of dipping biscuits in the fish tank is kind of funny too. All the stuff about toilet paper and the medical fund is a bit pointless and doesn't seem to have much real payoff; as I've already established, it doesn't seem to matter at the end that Cat nicks Rimmer's special report to use as paper. It's also confusing because the idea of the "JMC Onboard Computer" and so forth is never really explained; no one ever seems to observe the computer doesn't understand that the bureaucracy it was seemingly programmed to serve hasn't existed for millions of years.

Another standout joke in the episode is the way Rimmer says "Oh yes I've got one!" shortly after trying to persuade Lister that it doesn't matter who finds a letter addressed to them first. It's also worth noting for the nerds out there that this parking fine shows Rimmer to be wrong about his spotless record in "Justice". The "bet she was a man" stuff is a little peculiar. I'm also not sure what I think about the vending machine material. I guess the way it ties in to Rimmer's story is kind of pleasing, although Lister's line about spicy Mexican crisps just makes me want some. The final line, "What an absolute slag", is a decent closing gag even if it does come across as mean-spirited. In general I think "Dear Dave" is fine; not the strongest episode of Series X by any stretch, but a pretty decently entertaining piece which makes the best of the extremely difficult circumstances foisted upon it by the budget.

Red Dwarf X Episode 4: "Entangled"

Cat and Kryten get quantum entangled and Lister has a bomb strapped to his groin. Despite its hastily-rewritten ending, I really like "Entangled" by and large, reminding me as it does of a more light-hearted Series V or VI episode. Rimmer's health and safety forms are very suitable for his character, and the idea of Lister betting Rimmer in a poker game seems like something that would have happened in the old days. This all sets up one of the best lines in the episode (but not the best), Lister's "I haven't got time to be twatting about with that," as he dumps the huge sheaf of documents onto the console.

The best part of the "monster kebab" prop gag is probably Kryten's offscreen "good luck, sir", which doesn't get the reaction it deserves, although in general I like how it presents the impossibility of eating those kinds of meals without ingredients exploding everywhere. Rimmer and Lister's discussion of the accident that wiped out the crew feels a little bit like the retread of the trial scene from "Justice", and I think in this section it's a little easy to overlook Lister spotting the life signs on the scanner which explains why he's visiting the BEGGs later in the episode.

Kryten's miming to Lister as he returns in a space suit is funny, as is Kryten's quick realisation of what's happened to Starbug. The scenes with Cat and Kryten speaking in synchronicity are well done, and are perfectly capped off later in the episode when Rimmer says "That's getting really annoying." The joke "You lost me in a poker game like I'm a thing to be lost in a poker game?" is a bit weak; he could have made a different comparison. Cat gets some good jokes in that scene, however, including "A guy about your height and your colouring who goes by the name of 'you'," and "We're all really sorry, bud, apart from me and him and him."

The effects work with the journey to the BEGGs' planet and the tent of the BEGGS is well realised, as is the ERRA institute, despite a very small number of sets; the model is very nice, and if you watch the Series X documentary you can see how lucky they were to acquire those good quality models, fairly late in the day as I understand it. I like Kryten's simple "No," when Cat asks him if the ERRA project worked, and the idea of the "fabled Spoon of Destiny" is funny: "He who hath the Spoon controls all things. No object hath such power." Cutting off Cat's hair to get him emotional is a funny moment, and I really like the way Danny John-Jules delivers the line "Have you ever heard the expression 'as cool as a cat'?"

The final sequence with Professor Edgington leaves something to be desired. Besides the fact that the code for deactivating the groinal exploder is a little too elaborate to be funny, the hasty introduction of what seems like a "dumb blonde" character is a bit of a crap addition. The "she's naked" bit reminds me unpleasantly of Series VIII adolescent humour (although at least Lister chivalrously moves to hand her his jacket while Rimmer and Cat just stand there perving) and the way she's abruptly killed off is pretty nasty. Of course, the way Craig Charles says "Have you got a pen?" at the end largely redeems this, being a perfectly-uttered line to wrap up the episode and the health and safety gags from earlier. It's also a bit odd that she's a human woman, yet no one seems to find this noteworthy given that Lister's meant to be the last human being alive. She could have been a hologram (although this might have been too similar to Dr Lanstrom from "Quarantine") or an android (although simulants are already used twice in the series). It seems like Doug Naylor was in a pretty difficult position when it turned out that the ape actor could only perform within extremely limiting restrictions. Nonetheless, this slightly cobbled-together finale aside, "Entangled" is in my opinion another very entertaining episode of Series X.

Red Dwarf X Episode 3: "Lemons"

While it has plenty of good laughs, "Lemons" is by far my least favourite episode of Series X for a few reasons. My primary issue with it is with the premise. As with "Tikka to Ride", I don't like storylines that feature the Dwarfers returning to Earth, albeit in the wrong time period. It feels too much like Doctor Who to me, despite the comedy element. On a very pedantic level, the way the setting is handled rankles too, although obviously only because I take it too seriously. But why are there Roman soldiers in India? Why does Erin, the lemon merchant, who is Indian, know about the Ten Commandments and speak about them as if she's Jewish? How can the Dwarfers understand what they're saying? If there was some "universal translator" explanation it would make more sense than "they speak the tongue of Albion"; in 23AD that would just be a Celtic language (I believe) almost completely unrelated to modern English.

The episode also sits uneasily with Rimmer's backstory and characterisation. If he doesn't believe in Jesus, thinks Jesus was "a hippy" ("Demons and Angels") and can't believe he "didn't go into showbusiness" ("Holoship"), why is he so excited to meet him? Similarly, why is he so dismissive of Shakespeare at the start of the episode when in "Marooned" he was so respectful of the Bard? You can of course argue that Rimmer is such a contrarian that his opinions are contextual, and that he tends to think whatever contrasts with the opinions of the others such that he feels different and therefore superior, but as a bit of a Red Dwarf anorak it bothers me. Furthermore, how does his mother's membership of the "Church of Judas" fit with his family's membership of the "Seventh Day Advent Hoppists"? ("The Last Day") Obviously I'm completely overthinking this; it comes with the territory. It's just easier to enjoy the show as a long-term enthusiast if things feel consistent. At least Rimmer asks Jesus to call him "big man", which is a nice call back.

To whinge on a bit more, I'm not terribly fond of how Jesus has a comedy Geordie accent, which I don't find especially funny, and I don't like the references to eBay or Wallace and Gromit; they feel out of place in Red Dwarf to me (as much as I like Wallace and Gromit, don't get me wrong about that). I think Lister's book on famous people is a bit repetitious of the book of weird facts used in "Trojan". The whole plot is a bit contrived as well, isn't it? If the remote control just needs an 8-volt battery, why can't they just use Kryten's or Rimmer's power supplies to do it? Given that both of them remain completely active for six months straight, they must have pretty good reserves of energy, or the ability to generate it themselves. It'd be easier to ignore this if it wasn't for the fact that Kryten constructs part of the battery by yanking a bunch of wires out of his finger later in the episode, which makes me wonder why he didn't just wire himself up to the remote and power it that way.

Moving on from that, I do find things to enjoy. Rimmer's complaining about Shakespeare's "skullet" feels appropriate and reminiscent of "Future Echoes" and "Emohawk", and his description of their "non-pickly lives in deep space today" and lack of knowledge of the contents of sixteenth-century pickle jars is very evocative of his sarcastic remarks about "the heady medieval atmosphere of pre-Renaissance deep space" in "Out of Time". The montage of the Dwarfers assembling the Rejuvenation Shower is funny too, especially the Cat playing with the wires and Kryten mucking around with the bendy tube. I do, however, find the Ikea joke to be a bit naff; the joke about the pack's instructions and unrealistic claims of simplicity and brevity is also very similar to the joke about the impossibility of assembling the Marilyn Monroe robot in "The Last Day". Furthermore, a second joke about Sweden in the space of three episodes feels a touch repetitive.

Some other funny visual gags include Lister's beard and Cat's much more elaborate costume in India, and I like that Lister says that fighting Jesus would be "like punching Gandhi." While I don't find Jesus himself that funny, something does amuse me about his expression of a bag having "strange cloth walls." My favourite joke in the whole thing, however, is probably when Kryten finds Jesus missing from bed, says "Oh. He hath risen," and then laughs to himself. Some of the criticism of Christianity is a bit heavy-handed, even for someone non-religious, but I do like the joke about the commandments being written "in a rush." I don't know why Lister and Rimmer object to the kidney stone operation so much, and I'm not sure if the joke about Cat accidentally eating Lister's organs, another similarity to "Tikka to Ride", is that funny. I do, however, like the defensive way Kryten says the operations he performed secretly on Lister were "all above board." Rimmer's joke that Jesus said "I'm back, baby, I'm back" is sort of funny, and I like the little anxious movement he does in his chair at the end when he sees what appears to be the real Jesus and Judas. "You're him off the Bible, aren't you?" is okay too. I like the revelation that he's actually "Jesus of Caesarea", although the comedy names of his parents and the "thingeth never taketh offethetheth" joke are pretty weak in my opinion. I do like the way Rimmer says "eight" when Erin asks how many lemons they need after their long journey. Another highlight which I think doesn't get the reaction it deserves is when Jesus says he has walked across the River Mersey, and Lister replies "All those old prams; it's not hard, is it."

Overall, because I'm such a hopeless case, I find too many silly, contrived or inconsistent moments in "Lemons" to really enjoy it completely, and to me it feels very much like an "off" part of Series X, although I realise that it's basically my problem for being too much of a big nerd to see past the plot and focus on the humour. There are funny bits, to be sure, but in terms of some core concepts I find it a bit too daft to fully enjoy it. At least this episode clearly shows some character development for Lister by following on with the "robotics course" thing from "Fathers and Suns", and establishes a decent reason for them not staying on Earth any time they accidentally get back there (he's looking for Kochanski, who's presumably still in deep space). Ultimately, I think this could have worked better if it had been written more as a mockery of modern Doctor Who's obsession with "celebrity historicals". I feel like the episode approaches this towards the end, but I feel a little more of this would have given the episode more bite than taking justifiable but easy shots at religion.

Red Dwarf X Episode 2: "Fathers and Suns"

The "Lister Episode" to the "Rimmer Episode" of "Trojan", "Fathers and Suns" is a strong piece of writing and performance reflecting on one of the show's more contentious previous developments in a much funnier and more successful way, delicately interwoven with a staple science fiction plot about a dangerous computer. This material is only weakened by a third running element about Chinese Whispers that isn't particularly funny and at times comes across as very unclear in regards to what it's trying to say.

The main premise, Lister dealing with being his own father and his own son, is handled well and functions as a worthy comedic payoff for the otherwise nonsensical finale of "Ouroboros" from Series VII. The "conversation" Lister has with the recording of himself is an excellent centrepiece for the episode, the obvious highlights to me being the bit when he says "You drink too much" as he's getting wasted, the part when he falls of his chair, and especially the line "I will not be having any of your nonsense." The visual joke with the floppy guitar is handled really well also. This plot delivers some other entertaining moments too, including Rimmer's incredulous "That's your day?" when Lister says he's busy getting drunk, and Lister's declaration "let the drilling commence" when in the dentist's chair. Cat's "never ask a cat to share, 'cause a scratch to the face often offends" is good too. I like that Lister (in the recording) tells himself to "find Krissie"; while I'm not sure Kochanski really needs to come back in a regular sense, I would like to see this followed up on eventually.

The other main plot is Rimmer and Kryten installing Pree, a new predictive computer to replace the seemingly permanently-deactivated Holly, who goes on to cause havoc by pre-empting Rimmer's poor maintenance decisions and ruthlessly enforcing JMC protocols. In some respects, this aspect might seem a little too reminiscent of the plots of "Queeg" and "Cassandra", but Rebecca Blackstone's strong performance and the implementation of the concept in an original way overcomes this, in my opinion. Some amusing moments are derived from Pree rendering their conversations irrelevant and "cocking up" Rimmer's work for him. Probably the funniest aspect is the way the script mocks Rimmer's chauvinistic approach to the computer's appearance. A subtle highlight is that when Kryten asks Rimmer what frame size they should use he doesn't care, such that when Pree appears in close up he's disappointed. Robert Llewellyn does some great reaction work in this episode, particularly Kryten's satisfied nods and smiles as Pree agrees with him and, at the end of the episode, when Lister tells him to open the champagne.

The third aspect of the episode is the "Chinese whispers" thing, the least effective part. The setup is funny; I like the enthusiastic way Kryten says "We had so much fun," in regards to playing the game with the vending machines, and Rimmer's response that "I'm not remotely interested in some stupid parlour game you were playing with a talking condom machine and two Lil-let dispensers." This, however, would have been enough. I get that Rimmer's limited and increasingly stereotyped examples of Chinese inventions are meant to show his own ignorance, and I think Taiwan Tony is meant to be a ridiculous and obnoxious caricature, but I'm not quite sure that comes across as clearly as it should, and I don't quite see the point of all of it. I feel as if this sequence, as well as the Medi-Bot and Denti-Bot, rely too much on silly voices and puns that even the studio audience doesn't seem to care for. I do like the way Kryten says "Hi Garby!" when he walks past the garbage machine.

Nonetheless, I like the resolution, I like the episode following up on "Back to Earth" with Lister motivating himself to improve his lot, and I like the ending gag despite how predictable it is; note that in the following episode Lister is studying his course, and in the one after he is looking for Kochanski (despite getting appropriately sidetracked). One thing I notice about the climax is that Pree's deploying of the laughing gas suggests that she's responsible for the medical bay running out of anaesthetic, because she took it in anticipation of them turning against her, but in the next episode Rimmer says they've still run out. So did they not recover it? I also greatly enjoy the line "Dave Lister saves the day, being brave in a hostile universe," and the different little dances they all do. The "Chinese whispers" element is definitely a bit crap, and this episode might even be nearly perfect without it, but "Fathers and Suns" is still a strong instalment to show that Red Dwarf was, by and large, back on track in Series X.

Red Dwarf X Episode 1: "Trojan"

Rimmer is reunited with his brother Howard and Lister buys a Stirmaster™. I personally thought that this was a very strong series opener. A Rimmer-centric narrative is always a reliable proposition for Red Dwarf, and this is no exception. It's an amusing concept at its core; Rimmer gets the others to help him pretend he's the captain of a high-tech "quantum twister" so that when they rescue his brother Howard he believes Rimmer is his equal. The "Lister wants a Stirmaster" aspect is less funny but has its moments, although I listened to a podcast from major Red Dwarf fansite "Ganymede and Titan" recently that pointed out that Doug Naylor seems to be confusing phone shopping, which would want to get the customer's money as quickly as possible, with tech support and other phone help lines, which have a reputation for being bureaucratic and inefficient. It'd probably make more sense if Lister had received a faulty product from All-Droid and then was trying to get help with it.

If I had any quibbles with "Trojan" they'd be plot and setting related ones, which are a bit vague. Where did Howard's ship come from? I think the implication of Kryten's question "Did the rod do this?!?" is meant to suggest that it was pulled through time and space somehow, but it's not very clear. Furthermore, why is Howard also a hologram, especially if, as the episode ultimately reveals, he's just a repair technician? It makes sense for Rimmer because there's no other crew and he's meant to keep Lister sane, but if Howard's from the past and is so low-ranked, why would he be brought back? Perhaps he was the only person who died and therefore could be resurrected? I'm overthinking this obviously but that's the pitfall of being a huge nerd. In that regard, it's actually possible to slot this neatly into series continuity. Howard says he thought Rimmer "went down" with Red Dwarf; Crawford is part of the crew of Columbus 3; Kryten has known about simulants and their history since Series IV and VI, and Kryten was created a fair while after the Red Dwarf accident. Thus we can imagine that Howard and Crawford come from the time after Red Dwarf was lost but before the Simulant program was discontinued. It's presumably also from after Legion invented hard-light hologram projection. Getting past the nerdy elements, the Trojan set is also pretty pleasing; I like the side teleporters and the elevated Captain's chair, an obvious dig at Star Trek.

What about the Stirmaster thing? This is used as a vehicle for a lot of jokes in which characters say one thing but then immediately do the opposite, such as when Lister and Cat instantly change their minds about wanting a Stirmaster and when Kryten, offering a voice of reason, immediately loses his temper at the droid operator. The "would you like to make a complaint about being put on hold all the time? Please hold," bit is funny, as is the inevitable bit when they hang up the phone. Ultimately, however, the main plot is a greater source of humour. Something I think deserves more of a response from the audience is when they're showing Howard and Crawford around the ship and Rimmer says "This is a corridor; windows of course..." It reminds me of another show in which someone delays showing someone else around a house by obsessing over a light switch (not to be confused with Rimmer's attempt to praise Legion's light switch). I also like all of Rimmer's different nicknames for Howard: Howie, Howster and Howdy-doody.

It's a big laugh when Cat walks past with the Trojan map while Crawford is holding the rest of them at gunpoint, although I think the episode could perhaps have better established why Cat is wandering around the ship at that time (he got lost looking for a felt tip pen). I also like the gag at the end when the onboard computer recommends that Red Dwarf be renamed the "SS Howard Rimmer". The "Touch T" joke works well too, especially Howard's plummy "That's amazing," response to it. I'm not sure how effective the moose jokes are across the board, although I notice references to mooses occur surprisingly often in Red Dwarf; Holly refers to Rimmer as "moose brain" in "White Hole", for instance, and in "Ouroboros" Rimmer says that Lister's ideal woman would have a laugh like "a freshly wounded moose strapped to a cement mixer." I feel like Lister's line about "antlers out the sunroof" deserves a bigger laugh, and Cat's pre-empting of Rimmer's moose question is funny. I just think its insertion into the episode is a bit forced. Speaking of which, how many times does Lister go barging into Petersen's quarters? I also think the pig racing thing at the start is a bit daft, and the line "sometimes you have to learn how to lose before you're ready to win" is repeated a few too many times. Nonetheless, Rimmer's sinking down when he presses the wrong button (which was actually just Chris Barrie crouching without a chair) and Kryten erasing his own memory and then looking around in bewilderment are smashing physical gags that make up for anything like this by far.

I think Rimmer's "No, we just hosed him down and gave him a hat" line could have been a little funnier if it had been "Well, we hosed him down and gave him a hat" or something like that instead. The bit when they all lean over to pretend the ship is turning is amusing, as is Rimmer's exclamation "Just do it!" setting up this joke. Obviously, Howard's "you were an utter twat" is a big laugh too. Mark Dexter's guest performance as Howard is very well-realised and memorable. In general, it's a funny episode that re-establishes a lot of the show's premises, like holograms, simulants and Rimmer's family history quickly and smoothly. The shot of the four Dwarfers walking down the corridor in Star Trek style uniforms is funny, as is the model shot of the Trojan being towed through space by Red Dwarf. I greatly enjoy the way Rimmer says of his resentment-drained mind "Before I was living in a tiny one-bed; now I'm in a barn conversion" and I like the way he taunts Howard about cars at the end. I watched "Trojan" three or four times the night it was first released; I feel like it pretty much hit exactly the right spot for a first episode of the revived series.

Red Dwarf Series X Overview

Red Dwarf made a welcome return in 2012, and by and large I was happy with the ultimate product. Budgetary limitations obviously worked in the show's favour, with the episodes achieving an "early Dwarf" feel by focusing on the characters. It's a nice-looking series as well, with good costumes for the main cast, nice sets and the high-quality filming making the entire production easy on the eye. Overall, this "back to basics" approach makes Series X evocative, in my opinion, of the show's notionally "classic" era. There's both camaraderie and conflict between the main characters as well as background character arcs for Lister and Rimmer, the latter dealing with his family history and the former trying to make something of himself and looking for Kochanski (who is mentioned in five of the episodes).

Series X has a very "red" look, appropriately enough I suppose for a show called Red Dwarf, and I think the sets and props are utilised well. Cat has some great costumes in this one, and I like Rimmer's uniform; it's a nice "hard light" take on the "classic" Series III to V Rimmer look. I know many people don't like the Series X Kryten costume, but I personally do, and I like the mask as well; it seems to enable a lot of funny expressions. That being said, the bands on his shoulders seem to be out of place and I wonder if they derive from the designers forgetting or not realising what the bands between the shoulders and neck were for on the old costume. Lister's costume overall is fine too, although much like Series VI's undergarment thing I'm not entirely fond of those red long johns he wears in a few episodes. The visual effects in Series X are a welcome return to model work too, with the ships and stations that appear in several episodes looking very believable and reminiscent of the old days. The cut-down version of the Series VIII ship model used to make a new model of the vessel is quite striking too, and I think it's appropriate. One thing I miss a tad is some of the effects work done in "Back to Earth" to give a sense of the vastness of the ship, although these probably weren't within the scope of the series' budget.

There are a few ongoing points in Series X that are a bit confusing. One of these is the concept of the "JMC Onboard Computer", which interacts with the crew in "Trojan" and "Dear Dave". The implication is that it's some kind of backup system which, in the absence of Holly or a similar AI, enforces the strictures of the corporation and facilitates the operation of the ship in accordance with the owners' policy, but this isn't made terribly clear, and at times it really feels as if one of the characters ought to point out, as I assume is meant to be the case, that the computer is enforcing rules and regulations that have presumably been obsolete for millions of years. Another is that, while talking vending machines have been in the show since the first series, this introduces some odd things like garbage robots and medical computers with personalities that never appear elsewhere in the show. I suppose you can just argue that it's a big ship. On the other hand, I like that they still give Starbug a look-in through some model work despite the fact that a Starbug set wasn't available; the Series reminds us that just because they primarily use Blue Midget in this Series, Starbug is still definitely present.

It's worth noting that Series X is a very "back to basics" version of the show, the ship itself only featuring the four main Dwarfers and a few automated services. There are no Skutters and there's no Holly or Kochanski, although the former is mentioned once and the latter mentioned in every episode but the last, as Lister is meant to be looking for her. This is worth discussing slightly further as an alternative to the "Speculation" sections I've done for Series VII and VIII. Supposedly the original plan was that Kochanski was going to be reintroduced in the fifth and sixth episodes of Series X, but the scrapping of the location budget made it impossible to produce the stories that would have done this. It's not clear to me whether scripts existed for this or not, and I wonder in what capacity Doug Naylor intended to reintroduce her: as a regular or just in a guest role? Personally I like Kochanski, mostly because I like the idea of a fifth Dwarfer, and I think there are things that could be done with the character that haven't been done yet, but I feel like the writing would have to be good enough to justify this, and not simply use her as "the woman". I've read that at Dimension Jump (the main Red Dwarf convention) a few years ago Doug Naylor said he wouldn't necessarily bring the character back, so who knows. In any event, given what happened in "Back to Earth", I'm inclined to think that Series X would have been too soon for the character to reappear, an anticlimactic conclusion to a new character arc for Lister. Personally I think a recurring guest role would suit the character more so that, as seemed to be the problem in Series VIII, the script didn't have to find stuff for her to do in episodes in which she didn't feature heavily in the plot. Supposedly they intend to make a couple more series after XII, and if she's not in either of the upcoming ones I think she ought at least to make an appearance in one of those last two hypothetical series.

Focusing on the show as produced, however, while I definitely think some episodes of Series X are stronger than others, and I think some jokes, plots and characters aren't entirely successful, overall I think Series X was a solid follow-up to "Back to Earth" and more or less established that the show could be revived and still be funny, exciting, and feature much-loved characters in familiar and unfamiliar situations. It's probably just a shame it took so long for this to be all figured out.