Thursday, October 19, 2017

Red Dwarf X

Red Dwarf is a British sci-fi comedy that premiered in 1988.  The Red Dwarf is a mining ship that suffered a catastrophic radiation leak that killed the entire crew with the exception of Dave Lister (Craig Charles), vending machine technician, 3rd class, who was in stasis as a punishment for brining a cat onboard.  As the ship was irradiated, it took 3 million years before it was safe to let Dave out of stasis.  In order that he wouldn't be lonely, his bunkmate, Arnold Judas Rimmer (Chris Barrie), was 'revived' as a hologram.  It should be noted that Rimmer was responsible for the radiation leak.  Dave's cat, cleverly named Frankenstien, survived the radiation and spawned a race of cat people who had lived on Red Dwarf but now only Cat (great name, that) remains.  Lastly, there is Kryten, an android recovered from a wreck in the premier of series 2.  No greater band of misfits has ever been assembled to explore space.
 
The 6 episodes of series X are comic gold.  Lister explores his father-son relationship, which is unusual since he is his own father.  The crew find themselves on Earth in 23 AD and meet Jesus!  Oh, the antics!  In a grand finale, the team must face a bloodthirsty band of humanity-hating simulants while armed with 2 forks and a pencil sharpener.
 
Despite a near 30 year run, there are only 73 episodes.  Every sci-fi trope is explored to its peak of hilarity.  Highly recommended.
 

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