Psirens
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Red Dwarf episode | |
| "Psirens" | |
| Episode № | 1 |
|---|---|
| Airdate | October 7, 1993 |
| Writer(s) | Rob Grant & Doug Naylor |
| Director | Andy de Emmony |
| Guest star(s) | Jenny Agutter Samantha Robson Anita Dobson Clare Grogan Phil Manzanera |
| Series VI October 7 – November 11, 1993 |
|
| List of all Red Dwarf episodes... | |
"Psirens" is the first episode of science fiction sit-com Red Dwarf Series VI[1] and the 31st in the series run.[2] It was first broadcast on the British television channel on 7 October 1993.[3] Written by Rob Grant & Doug Naylor and directed by Andy de Emmony. The episode - which involves Psirens who try and lure the crew to them to feast on their brains - had its script published before the episode was broadcast.[4]
Contents |
[edit] Plot
Lister awakens with amnesia and Kryten explains that he's been in Deep Sleep aboard Starbug for the past 200 years. When Rimmer and Cat both recover from their hibernation, Kryten updates them on the situation. Red Dwarf has been lost and they have been chasing the ship's vapour trail ever since. Now there is a good chance of recovering Red Dwarf at last by heading through an asteroid belt that the large mining ship is forced to circumnavigate. However, the belt turns out to be a spaceship graveyard inhabited by Psirens, shape-changing GELFs who lure unwary travellers to them and suck out their brains.
Cat is almost lured by two attractive women and Lister sees Kristine Kochanski, who tells him that she has two children, Jim and Bexley, that are his. Following another illusion Starbug crashes onto an asteroid and Lister has to blast the front landing gear out, but is tricked twice while on the surface: once by an attractive woman, then by a Psiren masquerading as Kryten. Lister manages to get back on board Starbug safely. However, the airlock monitor fizzes on again and a second Lister appears on the screen. To determine who the wrong Lister is, the crew ask them to play guitar, which Lister does poorly but the Psiren does extremely well. They have found their imposter and blast it away. However, as Lister gets suitably upset by their accusations that he is a poor guitar player, the Psiren has disappeared.
A trail of yellow Psiren blood leads to the engine room. Lister and Cat stay behind to deal with a meteor shower, while Rimmer declines the offer to help, leaving Kryten to follow the psiren blood trail alone. When Kryten finds the Psiren it changes into Professor Mamet, his creator. With no choice but to obey her commands, he climbs into the waste compactor and starts it up. Lister, Cat and Rimmer quickly appear to find Kryten's psi-scan and bazookoid, abandoned on the floor. Rimmer suddenly fades out as his hologramatic light bee battery runs flat. Now just the two of them, Lister and Cat walk up to the Psiren disguised as a vending machine. As they are attacked by the Psiren, Kryten, now cube shaped, waddles over to the edge of the walkway from the deck above and crashes down on top of it.
[edit] Production
This episode features the first appearance of Kochanski since series 2's "Stasis Leak", albeit as a Psiren illusion used to fool Lister. Clare Grogan returned to play Kochanski. Samantha Robson plays a Psiren that lures him with an illusion of one of his teenage fantasies -Pete Tranter's sister. Jenny Agutter plays another Psiren, this time an illusion of Kryten's creator Professor Mamet. Anita Dobson also appears as Captain Tau, part of the psiren illusion to fool Lister. Zoe Hilson and Elizabeth Anson both appear as Temptress' in a Psiren illusion to tempt the Cat.[5]
"Red Dwarf - Primordial Soup: The Least Worst Scripts" contained, among others, the script for the "Psirens" episode. Edited by Grant Naylor and published by Penguin books, it was released just a few months before the episode was broadcast.[4]
[edit] Cultural references
The scene where Lister has to convince his crewmates that he is the true Lister and the other Lister is in fact a psiren seems somewhat inspired by a similar scene in in the Star Trek episode "Whom Gods Destroy", where there are two James T. Kirks and the real one has to convince Spock that the other is a fake. Among the derelicts in the asteroid field are models of the Narcissus escape shuttle from Alien (1986) and the Eagle from Space: 1999 (1975).[6]
[edit] Reception
The episode was first broadcast on the British television channel BBC2 on 7 October 1993 in the 9:00pm time slot.[3] The ratings had yet again increased on the previous series,[7] although the series' new direction received a mixed response from critics, Sci-Fi.com stating that it was "no less funny",[8] while others felt that the character-driven comedy replaced by exploration of SF concepts and situation-based humour did not work as well.[9]
[edit] References
- ^ British Sitcom Guide - Red Dwarf - Series 6. www.sitcom.co.uk. Retrieved on 2008-02-01.
- ^ TV.com - Psirens summary. www.tv.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-01.
- ^ a b BBC - Programme Catalogue - RED DWARF VI - PSIRENS. BBC. Retrieved on 2007-12-12.
- ^ a b Red Dwarf series VI Writing. Red Dwarf.co.uk. Retrieved on 2007-12-17.
- ^ Psirens cast and crew. www.imdb.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-01.
- ^ Psirens movie connections. www.imdb.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-01.
- ^ Red Dwarf Series VI Aftermath. www.reddwarf.co.uk. Retrieved on 2008-02-01.
- ^ Red Dwarf VI review at Sci-Fi.com. www.scifi.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-01.
- ^ Red Dwarf VI review by Gavrielle. www.reviewsbygavrielle.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-01.
