Red Dwarf

[Neon Ignition]

I know plot necessitates it but it's interesting that Kryten fails the judgment as he's the closest mirror to the Inquisitor itself. Both are machines that learnt to break their programming but like Kryten says his earlier actions in life have been predetermined by his programming. While Kryten might be breaking his coding and becoming independent he's early in that journey so still confined by limits and also unique amongst his model so in effect has accomplished more than any other. He might not have reached the point of living a worthwhile life but the potential is still early and there just the same as it would be with the Inquisitor if we viewed him early in his millennia long lifespan. Lister makes sense though because he has underachieved and his rebellious against fate mindset means it's in character for him to outright reject being judged to begin with.

[QualityChimp]

This is what I love about Red Dwarf - it takes high brow sci-fi concepts, but plays it for laughs.
Love how Rimmer is all smug at the start and Lister's classic line "scrumping for cars". I still steal that to this day!

[Neon Ignition]

Quarantine
"So let me get this straight. You want to fly on a magic carpet, to see the king of the potato people... and plead with him for your freedom, and you're telling me you're completely sane?"
It's yet another Rimmer episode effectively and once again one much liked and I'm not going against that. Rimmer completely makes this episode from his nose out joint complaints at the start through to his descent into Mr Flibble led insanity later on.

[eastyy]

I keep thinking.....how many Cat centric episodes are there I think there was one or two in the more recent series but in the earlier ones I cannot think of any though apart from one in the first series

[Neon Ignition]

Demons and Angels
"I'm going to whip you within an inch of your life... and then... I'm going to have you"
Another one where it seems to quietly trundle along when it comes to episode discussions but I do enjoy this one. Mostly for the initial memory of the first time I saw it and for one moment thought Red Dwarf being destroyed might be something that stuck, second for the demon versions of the characters and the jokes it causes given the angel versions are much more one note.

Back to Reality
"... Dwayne Dibley..."
You know that feeling when a film or programme is super popular and you either don't get it or feel that better efforts get overlooked leaving more worthy work unrecognised? Back to Reality is considered one of the very best and I wasn't uber enthused when it came round to it as it felt over familiar but watching it again it absolutely deserves the praise. It's just well paced and well thought out with a good read of the characters and the personas they become in their shared experience.

Psirens
"You want to squeeze my buttocks together to make one juicy giant peach"
The sixth run falls into that bracket I mention above. The sixth series is the most success and well regarded and awarded but as good as it is it's also the first run where I always feel a slight drop in quality. The shows very slickly made by its own standards at this point but there a little things that let it down and they quickly show from this first episode, things like running jokes or phrases that are quickly over relied on and overplayed whilst not being worthy of such use to begin with.

Legion
"Are you sure sir? It does mean changing the bulb"
This second episode is a good one, stronger than Psirens and has some choice moments in it even if it's at times a bit slapstick.

RDV > RDIV > RDIII > RDII > RDI

[Neon Ignition]

Gunmen of the Apocalypse
"Is that not right Bindy-Badgey?"
The most accoladed episode the show has ever made, this is a fun one and might have accurately predicted the future development of VR Pornhub but I wouldn't rank it as high in the shows history as it is. There are some good moments but it's broadly a pretty straight forward episode of the show.

Emohawk: Polymorph II
"And one triple thick condom... you never know!"
The best stuff in this ep is the Kinatawowi stuff in the village and with Lister's bride. The crammed in Polymorph stuff later with the reprisal of Dwayne and Ace are fine but kind of feel tied in to that idea that Series 6 relies more heavily on repetition of material.

Rimmerworld
"All in all a one hundred percent successful trip" "Sir, we lost Mr Rimmer" "All in all one hundred percent successful trip"
It wouldn't be right if there wasn't a Rimmer focused episode, so here we are again. Again some decent moments but watching the show back in this running way it means I've now seen the idea of multiple Rimmers being played out several times and I don't think this one adds much more to it outside him getting the news of how long he'd be alone.

Out of Time
"Wha-what Kryten? A way out of this? How can we stop what's happening..."
I still remember strongly the frustration at the time of seeing this episode, its cliffhanger and then the epic wait for anything else to follow it up. It always felt like the show underplayed Rimmers attempt to save them, his efforts might not be needed but get swept away anyway. Still, there's some good fun with the future versions of the crew and it's one of the few dramatic moment episodes they've ever attempted.

RDV > RDIV > RDVI > RDIII > RDII > RDI

[Neon Ignition]

Tikka to Ride
"One minute you're down, the next you're right back up again"
The filming shift is always a hard on the senses when the seventh run hits. It's always been a series that's quality bar is all over the place but has generally been more enjoyable than it gets credit for. This first ep is symptomatic of that wobbly bar, the opening scenes feel really awkward like they're struggling to find the right beat for it but once they get into the past it settles down and whilst not peak Dwarf the JFK retelling is nicely done.

Stoke Me A Clipper
"A night and a day... in the bed of my good lady?" "We accept the challenge!"
The opening to this with Ace's Bond style battle against the Nazi's remains nothing but pure gold, added bonus points here as well for Brian Cox putting in an appearance in the VR module too. This is a really good one weighed down only by it seeing Rimmer step out of the show for most of the rest of the run. I think one other notable aspect of Series 7 is how sometimes it attempts to inject just a small dose of drama to the proceedings like the melancholy of JFK after he shoots himself and here with the Ace grave site which I like.

Ouroboros
"It's an obscene phone call, sir"
Clunky, partly due to trying to come up with a suitable vehicle to introduce Kochanski, partly because they rewrite her entire character and I can't imagine joining the core cast of a show this long running is easy either. This is where Series 7 begins its wobble, it's not that having Kochanski in it is bad just that it's immediately obvious the writers have no idea what to really do with her to make her fit or how to write for her. When Naylor took more control back in the eighth run I remember her fitting in much better but here it's clunky and whilst Kryten being jealous makes sense it's also heavy handed and overplayed quickly.

Duct Soup
"I tell ya, if I was dead you most certainly could not swing me around in here!"
Given this episode allows for some good character moments it's a solid one. It's probably one of the better ones for Kochanski too. There's not too much to say about it really as it's so straight forward.

[Neon Ignition]

Blue
"I almost wet my kecks!"
I think this episode always lands so well because it's a couple after Rimmer's departure and so whilst moments in it aren't the best they've done it's a huge elevation on the episodes around it because of his presence. Not to mention that the Rimmer Song practically makes any Series 7 compromise worth it.

Beyond a Joke
"He ain't heavy, he's my brother"
Honestly, it's amazing this one was written by Naylor and Llewellyn as its one of the least Dwarf feeling episodes that exists. The Pride and Prejudice sequences don't work, Kochanski's jokes don't work, they overdo the Kryten jealousy and even the later resolution isn't the best due to how underexplored Able is. It's typical of series seven that the quality rises and dips so harshly which also I think contributes to why Series 7 is held so lowly when really it has a lot of good stuff in it, it's just so much more wonky than I-VI.

[QualityChimp]

I'm miles behind you on Bodyswap.
Really jarring that shift from the sets of S1 and 2 when they move to the officers' quarters.
Plus I always preferred the melancholy opening sequence, but understand why they shifted away from it.
They seemed to ditch the elements of isolation that I found interesting and went all comedy.
What a budget jump though!

Looking forward to more eps with all 5 cast members.

[Neon Ignition]

Yep, I've been chipping at it all sorts of time like when making the kids teas etc. I can sense how close RDX onward are and I'm keen to go into them again

[Neon Ignition]

Epideme
"No offense, but when you're a virus there's not much call for knowing how to open a lager bottle with your anus"
I wish the virus had more screen time but this is really old school, it's always a fun watch because it's such a similar play as talkie toaster but with the sinister edge. It's another good episode that gets lost in peoples passiveness to series seven and just as fun as always.

Nanarchy
"Have you ever heard of anything called tough love?" "Does it involve dressing up?"
A pretty middling finale, the whole thing of Lister learning about coping without one arm carries most of the episode and whilst it provides Cat with some good lines the episode used to always be mostly notable for the return of Red Dwarf which when watching the series now isn't as big a moment as it once was.

It's still hard at this point not to class this run as the weakest given its choppiness but it is a fun run and despite its ranking its still better than most shows and well worthy overall.

RDV > RDIV > RDVI > RDIII > RDII > RDI > RDVII

Back in the Red: Part One
"I hope we don't get stopped by the cops. They don't like it when you're rat arsed"
From the opening scene in the prison to the linking events to Series VII and beyond this immediately feels like the pacing and writing has improved. It's a little like the shake up has jolted new ideas for lines and scenes out of the show and it's a really solid opening ep.

Back in the Red: Part Two
"I don't know what got into me" "Nothing, sadly"
Though fine this one feels like Dwarf always does when a plot goes past the normal single ep runtime, flabby and running out of material.

[Neon Ignition]

*Deep Breath*

Back in the Red: Part Three
"This is Ground Control, please state your ident" "Err... Major Tom"
Apparently the intention was to have an hour long episode which the BBC rejected so they split the episode then expanded it even further to make it a three part run which this episode ably displays why that was a mistake. Given Dwarf often struggles with multi-parters the flab is heavy by this point and there isn't much to take from this one.

Cassandra
"All the Canaries will be dead in one hour except for Rimmer…" "Yes!" "Who will be dead in twenty minutes"
In a way this episode is a bit of a shame because it showcases how the majority of the season should have been, The Canaries are a great way to marry the new style with the old one and having the cast deal with Cassandra and her future telling ways gives the episode an abundance of fun moments. Easily the strongest episode of the season and quite close to the older stuff too.

Krytie TV
"You're not getting any younger, sir, and neither are your sperms. I'm getting worried about those guys. Any older and they'll need a stanner chair lift to get up the fallopian tubes"
Passable, there's something about this one that makes it feel like one of those that has had outside input or something. A bit like the tone and humour isn't the right fit for the show.

Pete: Part I
"There's an old Cat saying that I feel has particular relevance here, it goes 'We are all - gonna die"
The initial time wand stuff is alright but the episode really should have focused on the possibilities the device creates, instead it quickly veers off for an all too repetitive set of jokes with the Captain and the drawn out T-Rex sequences so it's easy to see why the eighth run isn't highly held up as it's not so much that it can't work so much as it is how much it sags with this reliance on dragging the pacing down.

Pete: Part II
"Quick? The only time he's quick is when he's passing a salad bar"
It's mostly slump this one, the continued drawn out jokes from the first episode.

Only the Good...
"What's it called?" "Cesiumfrancolithicmyxialobidiumrixidixidoxidexidr oxhide"
I remember hearing about the plans for this episode and how it would have seen them get to Earth and set up the film to end the whole franchise and I'm forever glad it didn't pan out not just because it's kept the show running but also the story always sounded awful. This episode is pretty middling which I think in the end pretty much sums up the season overall.

RDV > RDIV > RDVI > RDIII > RD II > RDI > RDVII > RDVIII

[Neon Ignition]

Back to Earth
"Suddenly, there's a disturbance on the surface of the tank and this massive testicle shoots out of the water and grabs me by the throat!" "He means tentacle" "I hope so..."
It says a lot that this three parter is still so hard to think of a notable quote from when it's usually pretty easy. Despite how long the gap between this and VIII are it's still interesting that this ninth run not only repeats every disliked execution error that VII and VIII where ever accused of but actually makes them even worse. The tone is off, the timing and direction feels wrong too and very little of the humour lands. The Coronation Street detour barely works whilst every element of the Blade Runner riff falls flat. Perhaps the most notable elements are the sci-fi shop owner and that this contains perhaps the only attempt during the entirety of the shows run where moments of emotional drama are attempted and because the show has been running so long at this point I still quite like them, they're not overplayed and it's genuinely a little moving both when Lister tries to read by Kochanski's grave and later when he can't bring himself to stay with the fake version of her (a personal revelation that disappears for X onward).

RDV > RDIV > RDVI > RDIII > RDII > RDI > RDVII > RDVIII > RDIX

Trojan
"Are you saying I'm a resentful person? I really resent that"
Starting RDX is almost like a slap to the senses even on second viewing which really backs up why these later runs are why I wanted to revisit the show. There's still some performance rust on the actors but the material and execution is leagues stronger than the show has had in years. The third new model of Red Dwarf is better (though still weaker than the OG one) and the jokes work well in this one, the set up for the stir-master feels pretty long coming but pays off solidly enough along with Rimmer getting the cathartic moment with Howard. Immediate side note which applies to all these episodes, I assume it was for budget and comfort but this is quite literally the worst Kryten has looked so far. He looks way off and cheap with the shoulder rings looking naff, the nose on the face mask is weird, you can see the rubbers looseness around the neck where it's presumably now pulled over the head and the hands literally look like customised cheap rubber gloves.

Fathers and Suns
"You knew I was going to cock this up, so you cocked it up for me?!"
I think this episode, as decent as Trojan is, is the first time since Cassandra that the show is firing on full cylinder again. It's a return to using a smart idea grown naturally from the Ouroboros episode in VII and coupled with the side plot of Pree its fast moving, on point and holds up as well as any of the older episodes.

Lemons
"Jesus..." "Yes?"
One of those where it runs a little flat until that moment that is so simple yet works so well. After that it's pretty good throughout, quite old school and simple an episode really but good fun.

Entangled
"Read my CV - Does not help, does not clean, will have sex with anything"
This one is a bit more over the place jumping from the drive room scenes, to the BERF's, to the ERRA station but it's still decent enough even if probably a little too close to the Polymorph II episode in VI overall.

[Asura]

Passable, there's something about this one that makes it feel like one of those that has had outside input or something. A bit like the tone and humour isn't the right fit for the show.

This is definitely the case. Red Dwarf had taken off in the USA, to some degree, and it's really clear that this was affecting the production.

There's a painful scene where the characters refer to "reneging on a deal" several times, I think Lister is in a jail cell or something? And the lines just hit the ear totally wrong, like they were written by an American writer. There are other areas but this is the example which sticks in my mind.

[Neon Ignition]

Being on Dave has definitely helped the show, like it's in a sweet spot of having success but in a way that means it has to stick to the fans definition of how the show should be instead of evolving away from it as VII-VIII tried to