Emohawk: Polymorph II

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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 Steven Wickham
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...

"Emohawk: Polymorph II" is the fourth episode^[1] of the British science fiction sitcom TV show Red Dwarf VI and the 34th in the series run.^[2] It was first broadcast on BBC2 on 28 October 1993.^[1] Written by Rob Grant & Doug Naylor and directed by Andy de Emmony, the episode features the crew again being hunted by a polymorph. The first appearance of these creatures was in the popular series III episode "Polymorph".^[3]

1 Plot
2 Production
3 Reception
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Plot

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 Starbug crew of looting derelict spaceships 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 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 bitterness and becomes Ace Rimmer. Ace decides to save the day and locks Kryten and Lister in the hold so they will be safe while he and Duane go after the Emohawk. They eventually track the creature down and freeze it. This allows them to extract the DNA of Cat and Rimmer to return them to normal.

[edit] Production

Both the characters Ace Rimmer and Duane Dibbley were huge fan favourites, as was the Red Dwarf III episode "Polymorph", and the writers crammed in a sequel to all these aspects with "Emohawk: Polymorph II". The title was originally the other way around "Polymorph II: Emohawk" until someone pointed out that it sounded like a football score.^[4]

Ainsley Harriot played the role of the GELF chief.^[5] 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 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.^[6] The Tribal chief's daughter is played by Steven Wickham.^[5] Hugh Quarshie also played a Computer and Martin Sims also played a GELF.^[5]

[edit] Reception

Originally broadcast on the British television channel BBC2 on the 28 October 1993 in the 9:00 pm evening slot.^[7] The episode received mixed reactions, as had Series VI as a whole.^[8] Some felt the re-introduction of Ace, Duane Dibbley and the polymorph was a wasted opportunity^[9] while others stated that the quality is on par with previous efforts.^[10]