Thirty years of Red Dwarf: 10 of the space-based sitcom’s funniest moments

It’s the show that brought together the unlikely dream team of a vindaloo-obsessed Liverpudlian, painfully obnoxious hologram, narcissistic cat-man and angular-headed mechanoid.

The 11 best episodes of Red Dwarf ever

It also boasts one of the all-time catchiest theme tunes – ‘I’m all alone, there’s no kind of atmosphere’ – and introduced the swear word ‘smeg’ into the English lexicon.

Thirty years to the day that it first aired on BBC Two (Feb 15), here’s a look back at ten of the funniest moments from the much-loved sci-fi comedy that is Red Dwarf.

Lister gets attacked by a polymorph (Polymorph)

Season three’s Polymorph was the only Red Dwarf episode ever to feature a pre-credits advisory message about graphic content.

And judging by this scene, you can understand why the BBC felt to act all Auntie.

Here, Lister is attacked by a shape-shifting polymorph which disguises itself as a kebab, boa constrictor and, most comically, a pair of underpants, before turning into a revolting slimy monster.

It’s all pretty disgusting, yes, but it’s also smeggin’ hilarious too.

Rimmer’s trial (Justice)

Convicted of 1,167 second-degree murders due to his apparent involvement in the death of the original Red Dwarf crew, Rimmer is forced to call upon Kryten to help clear his name in a Justice Zone trial.

What follows is a hilariously brutal, yet not unreasonable, character assassination in which the robot proves his defendant is way too insignificant and incompetent to be responsible for such a disaster.

Kryten learns how to lie (Camille)

Programmed to be nothing but unequivocally obedient, Kryten begins taking lying lessons from Lister, an individual who embodies all the qualities – ‘deceitful, unpleasant, offensive’ – that the mechanoid admires the most.

Inevitably, Kryten initially struggles to claim that a banana is an orange, which makes his sudden breakthrough all the more unexpected and hilarious.

The delayed fight (Pete Part I)

There’s also some great physical comedy in this scene from season eight.

Here, Lister and Rimmer are physically attacked by two prisoners but, thanks to a magic time wand, only feel the effects during a meeting with Captain Hollister several minutes later.

Cat turns into Dwayne Dibley (Back To Reality)

One of Cat’s many alter-egos, Duane Dibley makes several appearances throughout Red Dwarf’s initial BBC run.

But, of course, it’s the first time we see the super-stylish Cat transformed into the buck-toothed, pudding basin-haired geek that provides the biggest laughs.

The unrumble (Backwards)

One of the funniest Red Dwarf episodes, Backwards sees the crew travel to an alternate Earth where people steal money from buskers, job adverts offer great demotion opportunities and cafe-goers spit tea back into their cups.

The culmination is an inspired reverse bar-room brawl in which Lister leaps back into a broken window, restores a guy’s tooth and inspires a good old general tidy-up.

Tongue Tied (Parallel Universe)

Replacing the usual opening credits in the Parallel Universe episode, this showstopping musical dream sequence proved to be so popular that it spawned a Top 20 single.

Danny John Jules appears to be in his element here as the frontman of a 1950-styled vocal trio, less so a clearly uncomfortable Craig Charles and Chris Barrie valiantly attempting to mime and dance at the same time.

The Rimmer experience (Blue)

Of course, Barrie would also have to use his limited vocal and dancing talents in series 7 episode Blue for a scene which can only be described as the stuff of nightmares.

After learning that Lister misses Rimmer, Kryten develops a VR rollercoaster ride that concludes with an It’s A Small World-esque sequence.

t’s also one that has Lister declaring he never wants to hear from that ‘scum-sucking, lying, weasel-minded smegger’ ever again.

Cat turns cowboy (Gunmen Of The Apocalypse)

A virtual reality program is also responsible for this standout moment from the International Emmy Award-winning series six episode, Gunmen Of The Apocalypse.

Here, Rimmer, Lister and Cat enter a western shoot-’em-up to save Kryten, where the latter of the three is transformed into a sharp-shooting Spanish cowboy named The Riviera Kid.

Rimmer’s crew impersonation (Queeg)

Barrie’s skills were put to much better use for this hilarious sequence from second-series episode Queeg.

With his hologram damaged, Rimmer ends up taking on the personalities of the rest of his crew – cue an array of brilliant impressions of Lister, Cat and Kryten.

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