Emohawk: Polymorph II
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Red Dwarf episode | |
| "Emohawk: Polymorph II" | |
| Episode № | 4 |
|---|---|
| Airdate | October 28, 1993 |
| Writer(s) | Rob Grant & Doug Naylor |
| Director | Andy de Emmony |
| Guest star(s) | Ainsley Harriott as GELF Chief |
| Series VI October 7 – November 11, 1993 |
|
|
|
| List of all Red Dwarf episodes... | |
Emohawk: Polymorph II was the fourth episode to air in the sixth series of Red Dwarf.
[edit] Synopsis
An orb-shaped, computer-controlled, class A Space Corp External Enforcement Vessel warps near Starbug and decloaks to scan the transport ship. After doing this the probe accuses the Dwarfers of looting derelict spaceships (a crime of which they are completely and totally guilty) and sentences them to death under frontier law.
Starbug is pounded with pulse missiles and is nearly destroyed, but manages to flee into a GELF zone where the probe will not follow. With Starbug on fire, the crew deliberately crash-land on a moon with a shallow ocean to extinguish the flames. However the moon is not uninhabited - a primitive humanoid tribe of GELFs, the Kinitawowi tribe, reside on the moon. Lister is forced to marry the chief's daughter in return for an oxygen generation unit (or O/G unit) so that Lister and the Cat can breathe on take-off. Lister escapes from his new bride as the others are leaving with the O/G unit and they make their escape in Starbug but they are trailed by the chief's pet emohawk, a domesticated polymorph, which begins stealing the crew's emotions. The Cat loses his cool and morphs into Duane Dibbley, while Rimmer loses his cowardice and becomes Ace Rimmer. After Ace makes a failed attempt to snap Duane Dibbley's neck and vent Starbug to get rid of the polymorph (thereby sacrificing himself), Lister and the crew manage to capture the polymorph and freeze it. This allows them to extract the DNA of Cat and Rimmer to return them to normal.
[edit] Trivia
- The working title of this episode was Polymorph II - Emohawk. The cast jokes in the DVD commentary of this episode that the scrubbed title sounds like a football score.
- This episode marked the first appearance of humanoid GELFs in the form of the Kinitawowi tribe.
- The full name of Lister's GELF bride, as it appears in the subtitles on the series VI DVD, is "Hackhackhackackachhachhachach"
- Ainsley Harriot played the role of the GELF chief, a role he asked for due to being a fan of the show. Harriot later became a celebrity chef and hosted the television shows Can't Cook, Won't Cook and Ready, Steady, Cook for the BBC. Later, in 1998, Harriott presented a special edition of Can't Cook, Won't Cook called Can't Smeg, Won't Smeg for the 10th anniversary of Red Dwarf with the cast of Red Dwarf cooking a meal while remaining in character.
- Two much loved "alter egos" make an appearance in this episode: Cat becomes Duane Dibbley and Arnold Rimmer becomes Ace Rimmer.
