Nostalgia Filter: Red Dwarf

Hello, and welcome to my Red Dwarf project. Back when I really started to write on this blog on the summer of 2010, my first move was to review all of the 1990s Sci-Fi Comedy show Red Dwarf, about bumbling everyman Dave Lister who finds himself the last survivor of the Human Race on a mining ship three million years in his future. His spirits are kept up only by the ship's computer Holly, the hologram of his hated colleague Arnold Rimmer, a creature known only as The Cat and later, a cleaning-obsessed mechanoid named Kryten. This is a list of my reviews of all 60-odd episodes.
A lot of the reviews for the earlier series may be short, badly written or may be more focussed on recapping than actually talking about the episode. At the beginning, I am open hearted and interested, and as I go on I become more sarcastic, bitter and, finally, angry. The post-Series VIII stuff varies, of course.

Last Updated: 22/5/13

Series I - February 1988
Ah, the quiet. Highly conceptualised, character-driven, ocean grey or marine grey. It isn't as fun as later seasons, but it's certainly very interesting and I've a real soft spot for it.

Series II - Autumn 1988
Blue Midget turns up. More concepts; first sign of Kryten. Lots of big ideas, only one of which is well executed (and is subsequently forgotten because of it). The end of an era, and the beginning of another.

Series III - 1990
Revamp! Kryten shows up for good, Holly has a sex change. Starbug, big ideas that actually work, six classic episodes in. a. row. If you wanna introduce someone to Dwarf, pick Series III.

Series IV - 1991
Arnold Rimmer's season, which brought us Ace Rimmer, Justice, an adaptation from the Books and plenty of other goodies.

Series V - 1992
It doesn't get better than this, really. Has in it my favourite episode of Red Dwarf, as well as that other one that everyone else likes. Takes "high concept" to a brand new level.

Series VI - 1993
Last continuous season. More confined; we've lost the titular ship. Holly's not even here any more. Some very good episode and probably my favourite series of the first eight. Feels more like sci-fi than ever before, and the cliffhanger promises so much.

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Series VII and VIII Prologue

Series VII - 1997
Sudden break, bigger budget and... Rimmer leaves? As does Rob Grant, leaving Doug Naylor with a bit of a flounder. Kochanski turns up, without the Scots. Kryten becomes whiney. Relationship, ironing a bra on your head. Lots of intimate moments that equal nothing. The beginning of the end.

Tikka To Ride, Stoke Me A Clipper and Ouroboros

Tikka To Ride (Revisited)

Series VIII - 1999
Return to the Dwarf, and suddenly it becomes Porridge with more knob gags. And shit gags. And reasons why I refuse to ever watch one stinking second of this absolutely pathetic excuse for television ever, ever, ever again. How glad I was that this was the last. I begin really ranting.

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Back To Earth - 2009
Everyone's aged a bit. Trying to copy Blade Runner. Lots and lots of CGI. Not as bad as before, by a long shot. Promise for the future?