Red Dwarf’s Greatest Series

Red Dwarf has been going strong now for a whopping 28 years. Over the course of three decades it has amassed a total of 11 series and 67 episodes. Everyone will have their favourite episode, be it the virtual reality escapades of Gunmen of the Apocalypse or the escalating desperation of Marooned. However, little discussion has been given over to the show’s strongest overall season. This is after all a show that reinvents itself regularly. Was the show at its peak back on the Dwarf in the pre-Kryten days? Did it hit its stride aboard the ‘Bug? Or was the golden period actually during their time spent in the Red Dwarf jail? Little spoiler for you, it’s not the latter.

5/ Series 4

Much like series 3 before it, the fourth series of Red Dwarf saw the show moving into slightly more elaborate adventure episodes rather than simply just life aboard the Dwarf. While there are some great episodes in it, it doesn’t quite have the consistency of other series. Camille is a strong opener with Kryten’s Casablanca-esque love story working well and the scene where he finally learns to lie, “I’m a short, off-duty Czechoslovakian traffic warden”, is a particular highlight.

The series’ strongest outings come in its final two episodes however. Firstly there is the classic Dimension Jump that introduces us to the joys of Ace Rimmer, and then secondly there is the terrific Meltdown, in which Rimmer plays a telling role in great the wax-droid war. Lister’s shell-shocked reaction as he spots who’s being led to the gallows, “oh my god….it’s Winnie the Pooh”, never fails to make me laugh.

4/ Series 5

The series that marked a noticeable increase in budget for the show and which therefore saw the scale of space adventuring increased once again. Season 5 balances these larger ideas with the character development of the earlier seasons and benefits hugely from some particularly strong Chris Barrie performances. Rimmer is thrust front and centre in the series opener Holoship, then goes absolutely crazy in Quarantine before being almost destroyed by his own twisted psyche in the bizarre Terrorform.

Once again the final two episodes are the strongest though with the wonderfully unsettling Demons and Angels giving us a glimpse at the very best and worst of the crew, and Back To Reality giving us a superb concept episode that ranks among the show’s best. It’s always a joy to see both Rimmer being brought back down to earth and Duane Dibley in all his glory.

3/ Series 6

This was the series where the crew were taken out of the vast expanse of Red Dwarf and instead placed in the confines of Starbug. This return to cramped living arrangements marked a shift back to the set-up of the opening few series in some regard. However this time it was also blended with a focus on monster-of-the-week based adventures which frequently saw the gang experiencing strange new worlds. Emohawk: Polymorph II is a great sequel to the original and Rimmerworld gave us a frightening glimpse into a world populated solely by Arnold Rimmer clones.

Gunmen of the Apocalypse meanwhile is rightly regarded as a masterpiece and unsurprisingly won the show an Emmy. Clever, creative and relentlessly funny, it was a landmark moment for the show that remains a fan favourite. For me though the series highpoint is actually the closer, Out of Time. The unreality pockets are mined for great comedy and the crew’s interactions with their future selves are ingenious. The final gripping cliffhanger is also a genuinely tense ending, one which the showrunners were never truly able to capitalise on.

2/ Series 2

After the first season set the scene and gave us the show’s general premise, it was the second season that really ran with the ball and developed the show into the sitcom we know and love. In these early series there wasn’t much adventuring going on but the interplay between crew members was given far greater prominence, especially the love/hate dynamic between Lister and Rimmer.

Stasis Leak, Better Than Life and especially Thanks for the Memory all gave us a startling insight into the mindset of Arnold Rimmer and his many neuroses. However the pinnacle of the series for me is Queeg, in which we get Norma Lovett’s finest moment as Holly. The episode builds to that unforgettable climax that taught the rest of the Dwarf crew a valuable lesson: “We are talking jape of the decade. We are talking April, May, June, July and August fool….”

1/ Series 3

This was the season where the show first left the drab confines of the Dwarf and began to venture out into the world beyond. Costumes were overhauled, the theme tune was updated and Mel Bibby came aboard as production designer and revamped the whole look of the show. The reason it appears at the top of this list though is down to the sheer quality of episodes on offer and it’s perfect balance of elaborate premises and strong character development.

Timeslides allowed Lister to plead with his younger self to not make the same mistakes he made, and Marooned gave us an in-depth look at the pivotal relationship between Lister and Rimmer. Robert Llewelyn’s addition to cast as Kryten marked a landmark moment for the show and it led to a noticeably rejuvenated dynamic. The concept episodes were especially strong in series 3, with Backwards, Bodyswap and Timeslides all delivering big laughs. Marooned remains the highlight of the series however with Craig Charles and Chris Barrie bouncing off each other perfectly. My favourite moment being their discussion of Lister losing his virginity, “Twelve?…..You can’t have been a full member of the golf club then?” Series 3 delivers brilliant comedy from start to finish and is the most balanced and entertaining series of the show to date.

(Photo Credit : Red Dwarf Official Site, Red Dwarf Wiki [lead image])