Rimmerworld

Template:Infobox Red Dwarf episode "Rimmerworld" is the fifth episode of science fiction sit-com Red Dwarf Series VI and the 35th in the series run. It was first broadcast on the British television channel BBC2 on 4 November 1993. Written by Rob Grant & Doug Naylor and directed by Andy de Emmony.

Plot

Rimmer undergoes a medical and discovers he has a stress-related condition. Kryten prescribes several measures for him to prevent an electronic aneurysm. Meanwhile, the crew decides to replenish supplies by looting the simulant ship they shot down a few weeks prior. However, one of the Simulants has survived and confronts Lister, Kryten and the Cat. Rimmer, however, sneaks into an escape pod and runs away which causes the destruction of the ship. The others escape using a hand-held time and matter transporter which Kryten has found.

Rimmer's pod heads straight for the closest S3 planet, on the other side of a wormhole, and when it arrives Rimmer decides to use the terraforming equipment to create a paradise. He manages to clone himself, hoping for female company, but instead begins an entire new race of Rimmer-clones who eventually turn against him and imprison him in a dungeon.

When his shipmates arrive with Starbug a time dilation effect means that for Rimmer 600 years have passed. They arrive on Rimmerworld only to be promptly captured and thrown into Rimmer's dungeon by power-hungry Rimmer-clones, who consider anything un-Rimmer like—charm, bravery, intelligence, and the like—to be a crime. There they discover Rimmer, who has been locked in the dungeon for 557 years. Lister comes up with a complicated and elaborate plan to escape before Kryten suggests using the time and matter transporter. Instead of arriving in Starbug, though, they end up a few weeks in the future, where it is implied something terrible will happen to Lister.

Production

"Rimmerworld" was filmed back to back with "Gunmen of the Apocalypse" to avoid having to rebuild the sets and models for the Simulant ship, and having to hire actress Liz Hickling twice. It was planned as a sequel to "Gunmen" but was effectively cut down from its original idea. Rimmerworld was referenced by The Cat in "Back to Earth", saying "This is worse than Rimmerworld."

Cultural references

The process of terraforming the planet from desolation to verdant paradise over the course of six days mimics the Genesis creation narrative. The Biblical allusion continues with Rimmer comparing himself to Adam in the Garden of Eden, however he seemingly confuses that story with the adventures of Tarzan in which Jane is the love interest of the jungle-dwelling hero. The Thirty Years War and The Hundred Years War are both referenced when Kryten explains how long Rimmer will spend on the other side of the wormhole before help can arrive.

Broadcast

This episode was due to be broadcast as part of a repeat season on 13 March 1996. It was suspended due to the Dunblane massacre when Thomas Hamilton killed sixteen children and a teacher before committing suicide, an event similar to the scene early in this episode in which a crazy female android attempts to kill herself and the Red Dwarf crew.

External links

• "Rimmerworld" at BBC Online
• "Rimmerworld" at IMDb
• Template:Tv.com episode
• Episode Guide - Series 6 at RedDwarf.co.uk