The End (Red Dwarf episode)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Red Dwarf episode | |
| "The End" | |
 |
|
| Episode № | 1 |
|---|---|
| Airdate | February 15, 1988 |
| Writer(s) | Rob Grant & Doug Naylor |
| Director | Ed Bye |
| Guest star(s) | Mac McDonald as Captain Hollister, Clare Grogan as Kochanski, Robert Bathurst as Frank Todhunter and Mark Williams as Olaf Petersen |
| Series I February 15 – March 21, 1988 |
|
| List of all Red Dwarf episodes... | |
The End is the first episode of Red Dwarf. It aired on February 15, 1988.
[edit] Plot
Dave Lister and Arnold Rimmer have been assigned to fix the chicken soup machine as it has been on the fritz again. After a successful mission, they meet up with Todhunter, a superior officer, who checks up on Rimmer's constant reports on Lister, then leaves.
Soon, Todhunter arrives at a funeral commemorating the death of MacIntire, whose remains are fired off into space. Everyone is brought to the hall for the "Welcome Back, George MacIntire" service.
Everyone is sitting at tables, Lister with his group of friends, Peterson, Selby and Chen, while Rimmer sits alone. George, Todhunter and Captain Frank Hollister are sat at the desk at the front of the hall, celebrating the return of George as a hologram. The cake is cut and everyone cheers.
Rimmer starts to worry about his upcoming astro-navigation exam and schemes to cheat on it by writing all over his body. He leaves, and it is then that Lister climbs out of his bunk bed and his caring side is shown. He has a cat which is given milk and cared for, and is seemingly pregnant.
At the examination hall, Rimmer prepares to cheat, but the ink on his arm has stained and been smudged. He ends up with ink on his hand, which he then proceeds to put onto the exam paper, sign it, salute, and then faint.
Lister is about to be seen by the Captain, but beforehand he talks to Kristine Kochanski, a navigation officer and love-interest of Dave. Unfortunately the conversation is cut short as the Captain has an urgent discussion. It turns out that Lister's cat, named Frankenstein, has been discovered by accident when he sent the photographs of himself with the cat to be processed in the ship's laboratory. Therefore, he is given an ultimatum; go to stasis for eighteen months and lose his wages, or give up Frankenstein to be cut up and have tests done on it. He chooses the former.
Going to stasis and being guided by Todhunter, he meets with Rimmer, who is on a stretcher after failing his examination. Rimmer is taken away as Todhunter explains the rules of stasis. Then, Lister enters the chamber, and is left, seemingly for the time set.
However, when he comes out, he discovers that no-one is around, and after being constantly told by Holly, the ship's computer, everyone is dead. He reaches the navigation area where Rimmer, as a hologram, enters the room. The former crewmember blames Lister for his death, although it was his own fault for failing to fix the drive plate. As the two explore Red Dwarf, a being known as the Cat appears, making himself "look big."
In the quarters, Lister mentions Frankenstein, which sparks a religious statement from Cat, labelling Frankenstein as the "holy mother" and the "virgin birth", who was saved by "Cloister the Stupid", and that he will return and lead them to "Fuchal." Lister instinctively figures out that Cloister is himself, and promises to bring the Cat race to Fiji.
[edit] Quote
Holly: They're dead, Dave.
Lister: Who is?
Holly: Everybody, Dave.
[edit] Trivia
- This all-important pilot episode almost never happened due to an electricians strike at the BBC in 1987 which prevented filming and the project was shelved. Filming eventually went ahead in early 1988 after the industrial action was resolved but only after Doug Naylor and Rob Grant had lobbied intensely for it.
- This pilot episode was written in 1983 during a stay in a Welsh cottage belonging to Doug Naylor's father.
- At one point, Sean Connery was attached to star as Captain Frank Hollister before the part was given to Mac McDonald. This is stated on the bonus DVD commentary for this episode.
- Alan Rickman auditioned for the role of Arnold Rimmer.
- Alfred Molina auditoned for the role Dave Lister.
- MTV presenter and BBC Radio 1 DJ Trevor Nelson was an uncredited extra in this episode, long before he was famous. He played a miscellaneous crewman aboard Red Dwarf but his scenes were ultimately cut as the episode was overunning and had to be trimmed to under half an hour. Nelson is still credited as an extra for this episode on the internet movie database.
- The filming of the pilot was problematic and various versions of almost all the show's key scenes exist.
- A scene was cut in which Lister performs a funeral service for his dead shipmates, mostly because of the 'swing-top' bin effect doubling for the pod eject system. It can be seen on the Series I DVD. This deleted scene also saw Cat's introduction done differently.
- During the scene in which Lister feeds his cat Frankenstein, it was discovered that Craig Charles had a testicle showing. An earlier, slightly inferior take was substituted, hence the spilled milk.
- In the original script Lister was 42 years old, but due to a young Craig Charles being hired, Lister was turned into a sprightly 25. Also, he was originally based on Christopher Lloyd's character Reverend Jim on the American sitcom Taxi.
- The time Lister spent in stasis was originally to be seven billion years, but it was thought to be *too* ridiculous and was instead changed to three million years.
- The character of George McIntyre was originally supposed to have an Australian accent to give the show an international flavour, not the used Welsh one. However, an Australian accent proved too difficult for actor Robert McCulley.
- The song played at McIntyre's funeral was to be Heaven is Ten Zillion Light Years Away by Stevie Wonder. Due to copyright issues, this was changed to See Ya Later Alligator.
- During the "welcome back reception" party for McIntyre's hologram after McIntyre's death, the set builders were unable to find futuristic looking seating for the assembled crewmen. Therefore the costume designers made sure the cast were all suited in bulky jackets to hide the cheap plastic chairs they were sitting on.
- The opening effects shot features a dissolve from Lister painting the ship to a full model shot of the city-sized vessel travelling through space. Originally it was supposed to be one long take but it proved too difficult to mesh together with the special effects of the day, and under a miniscule effects budget. Viewers might just catch the attempted original transition, which remains in the existing edit, by running the sequence in slow motion on DVD.
- Peter Wragg was the Visual Effects Designer of Red Dwarf; Wragg also had a large part in set building and was the chief model maker. Wragg had previously filled a similar role in a number of British television series; such as Thunderbirds Are GO, Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, Doctor Who and Bottom. Wragg stayed with Red Dwarf show as Visual Effects Designer for all eight series and 52 episodes.
