Gunmen of the Apocalypse

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Red Dwarf episode
"Gunmen of the Apocalypse"

Episode №	3
Airdate	October 21, 1993
Writer(s)	Rob Grant & Doug Naylor
Director	Andy de Emmony
Guest star(s)	Denis Lill Liz Hickling Jennifer Calvert Imogen Bain Steve Devereaux Robert Inch Jeremy Peters Dinny Powell Stephen Marcus
Series VI October 7 – November 11, 1993
Psirens Legion Gunmen of the Apocalypse Emohawk: Polymorph II Rimmerworld Out of Time
List of all Red Dwarf episodes...

Gunmen of the Apocalypse is an Emmy Award-winning episode ^[1] and the third episode of science fiction sit-com Red Dwarf Series VI.^[2] The 33rd episode in the series run^[3] and was first broadcast on the British television channel on 21 October 1993.^[4] Written by Rob Grant & Doug Naylor and directed by Andy de Emmony,^[5] the Red Dwarf crew find themselves in a wild west town, facing a gunfight against the Apocalypse boys.

1 Plot
2 Production
3 Cultural references
4 Reception
5 References
6 See also
7 External links

[edit] Plot

Starbug has strayed into a Rogue simulant hunting zone and is detected by a battle-cruiser whose xenophobic mechanoid occupants despise humanity. The Starbug crew are captured, but instead of killing them the Simulants upgrade the engines and driver interface of Starbug, as well as fitting armour and laser cannons on the spaceship. They do this so that they can have a battle for the purposes of sport.

By a fluke they cripple the Simulant ship, but before it is destroyed it transmits an "Armageddon Virus" into Starbug's navigation computer, leaving the ship locked on a suicide course straight towards a large volcanic moon. Kryten deliberately infects himself with the virus in order to try and formulate a software antidote.

Kryten's battle with the virus manifests itself as a Wild West–flavoured dream; he is the cowardly, drunken and burnt-out Sheriff of a town called Existence, standing against the four Apocalypse Boys: Famine, Pestilence, War, and Death. To try and help Kryten to buy some time, they use an artificial reality machine to enter Kryten's Wild West hallucination. They take up the roles of characters from an old video game- giving Lister incredible knife throwing abilities, Cat amazing marksmanship with dual-wielded six shooters, and turning Rimmer into an incredible unarmed brawler. They quickly show off their prowess in a barfight, but the Apocalypse Boys virus renders Lister, Cat, and Rimmer powerless just in time for the final showdown. It just barely buys Kryten enough time to develop an anti-virus and release it against the Apocalypse Boys and the virus infecting the ship.

[edit] Production

Written by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor,^[5] the script was originally titled "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse",^[6] and then had the working title of "High Midnight",^[7] it was later changed to "Gunmen of the Apocalypse".

During filming of the episode Janet Street Porter was Head of Art & Culture and when she received the ambitious script for "Gunmen..." she sent out a memo that all production for this episode must be stopped immediately due to the fact she believed it too difficult to film, too costly and too time-consuming. By the time the Red Dwarf crew received her memo, filming had already wrapped and even post-production already started.^[8]

Denis Lill appears as the Simulant Captain and Death. The other 'Apocalypse Boys' were played by Dinny Powell, Robert Inch and Jeremy Peters playing Famine, War and Pestilence respectively. Jennfier Calvert plays the 'Artificial Reality' character in Lister's detective scenario. Steve Devereaux plays Jimmy. Liz Hickling appears as Simulant Lieutenant, Imogen Bain plays Lola and Stephen Marcus plays Bear Strangler McGee.^[5]

[edit] Cultural references

The plot of a drunken sheriff defending his town against an incoming gang of cowboys parodies Rio Bravo. The artificial reality plot also shows similarities to Star Trek: The Next Generation's episode "A Fistful of Datas". In fact, as mentioned in the A to Z of Red Dwarf, Patrick Stewart, saw this episode before he had ever heard of Red Dwarf. Viewing it as a serious Sci-Fi, he considered the plot so similar he was going to call his lawyers until he watched it further and started laughing.

The episode also has references to the 1971 film Gumshoe which the AR game is based on and "Butch Accountant and the Yuppie Kid" references the 1969 film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.^[9]

[edit] Reception

The episode was first broadcast on the British television channel BBC2 on 21 October 1993 in the 9:00pm time slot.^[4] With over 6 million viewers^[10] and an International Emmy award in 1994,^[7] the episode is considered to be one of the better efforts from the sixth series,^[11]