Thanks for the Memory (Red Dwarf episode)

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Red Dwarf episode
"Thanks for the Memory"
Lister and the Cat retrieve the missing black box so they can solve the puzzle of the four missing days
Episode № 3
Airdate September 20, 1988
Writer(s) Rob Grant & Doug Naylor
Director Ed Bye
Guest star(s) Sabra Williams
Series II
September 6 – October 11, 1988
  1. Kryten
  2. Better Than Life
  3. Thanks for the Memory
  4. Stasis Leak
  5. Queeg
  6. Parallel Universe
List of all Red Dwarf episodes...

"Thanks for the Memory" is the third episode of Red Dwarf series two[1] and the ninth in the series run.[2] It premiered on BBC2 on 20 September 1988. Written by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, and directed by Ed Bye, the episode has the Red Dwarf crew investigating how, and why, they lost four days from their memory. There was some controversy for sharing similar plot to a Star Trek: The Next Generation episode that aired a couple of years later. The episode was re-mastered, along with the rest of the first three series, in 1998.

Contents

[edit] Plot

It is Saturday night and Rimmer's (Chris Barrie) death-day, and a party is arranged for him on a planetoid they encountered with a breathable atmosphere. Back on Red Dwarf, Rimmer drunkenly confides to Lister (Craig Charles) about his one single solitary sexual encounter with Yvonne McGruder, the ship's female boxing champion, and tells Lister that, although it's entirely his own fault for deciding to put his career over his personal life: "I would trade it all in. All of it - my pips, my long-service medals, my swimming certificates, my telescope, my shoe-trees. I would trade everything in to be loved, and to have been loved."[3]

The following morning, Lister and Cat (Danny John-Jules) both wake up with a broken leg each. Lister's jigsaw puzzle has been magically solved, the star charts Holly has been mapping have been messed with, the clocks all show the day as Thursday rather than Sunday, four pages have been torn out of Lister's diary, and the ship's black box is missing. Rimmer suspects aliens, which is regarded with skepticism by Lister and Cat. They trace the black box's signal to a barren airless moon, where they first find what appears to be a giant footprint and then come across a gravestone reading "To the memory of the memory of Lise Yates" - Lister reveals that Lise Yates was one of his ex-girlfriends back on Earth. The black box is buried in the shallow grave marked by the headstone - the rest of the episode consists of them watching the videos of what happened over the missing days.[4]

The black box shows that after Rimmer confided in Lister, Lister felt sorry for Rimmer and decided to do something about it. Lister and Cat went to the hologram simulation suite - where Rimmer's hologram is generated - and Lister uploaded his own memory of the eight months he was going out with Lise Yates into Rimmer's memory. Rimmer woke in a jubilant mood from what he thought was a magical eight months of his life, but he found a number of things confusing. For instance, why did he suddenly move to Liverpool and become a total slob? Why did he need his appendix removed - twice?! And most of all, why did he leave Lise to "play the field" and resist her urgings for him to get a career and settle down, when that is what Rimmer wanted all his life? Altogether, Rimmer seemed to appreciate his apparent relationship with Lise much more than Lister ever did, and Lister came to realise how foolish he actually was in breaking up with her. [4]

Rimmer's happiness was short-lived as he discovered the letters that Lise wrote to Lister during those eight months.[4] Opting to tell the truth, Lister told him that he didn't go out with Lise and that it was just an implanted memory. Rimmer was distraught and didn't want to feel his pain any more, despite Lister's urging that he shouldn't go through life without experiencing love. Eventually Lister agreed to erase all their memories of the past four days, which would eliminate Rimmer's memory of Lise. They buried the black box on the barren moon underneath the gravestone (which Rimmer wanted so "she didn't just disappear"), and in the process Cat and Lister drop the gravestone on the ground - leaving a large footprint-like indent - and then drop it again onto their feet. Back on Red Dwarf with their broken legs in plaster casts, Lister ripped the pages out of his diary for the last 4 days, and as they left the sleeping quarters to erase their memories he put in the final piece of the jigsaw puzzle.[5]

[edit] Production

A quarry in Wales was used for the location of Rimmer's death-day opening scene for the episode.[6] The live action footage of the scene was merged with model footage of Blue Midget and Red Dwarf, which was seen in the distant background. During the pre-record filming of the episode, Craig Charles's then-wife was giving birth to their son Jackie; Craig filmed the scenes where Lister's face was visible as quickly as possible and then rushed away to be at the birth of his son (arriving twenty minutes late). The remainder of location shooting, in which Lister was wearing a space-suit, had production manager Mike Agnew as the double for Lister.[7] But in fact the plaster cast couldn't fit Agnew's foot as he had bigger feet than Craig Charles - a close look at the episode would reveal that there are several frames in the episode where neither the Cat nor Lister (stood in by Agnew) had casts.[8] To film Lister's drunken pilot skills on the flight back to Red Dwarf, wires were used by the model team to give the jerking motion.[9] The one guest star was Sabra Williams who plays Lise Yates.[10]

[edit] Cultural references

Holly referenced Jimmy Osmond as the one exception to the universal rule that there must be a logical explanation for everything. When Holly loaded the black box recorder, Lister said "Well play it, Sam." referencing the 1942 film Casablanca.[11]

[edit] Reception

Originally broadcast on the British television channel BBC2 on the 20 September 1988 in the 9:00 pm evening slot,[12] and was considered the least favourite amongst the Series 2 episodes in a Red Dwarf Smegazine poll, gaining 1.9% of the overall votes.[13] Despite the general poor reception the episode had among viewers, it has been described as "one of the best RD episodes EVER!"[14] and "another full-on pathos episode..." with "brilliant writing".[15] The episode was at the centre of some controversy as the plot of Star Trek: The Next Generation's "Clues" (1991) turned out to be very similar. Both episodes are based on the crew waking to find that they are missing time and investigate what happened only to discover that they were better off not knowing.[16] Director Ed Bye stated in the Series II documentary, "It's Cold Outside", that the episode was a standout of the series.[17]

[edit] Remastering

See also: Red Dwarf remastered

The remastering of Series I to III was carried out during the late 1990s.[18] Changes throughout the series included replacement of the opening credits,[19] giving the picture a colour grade and filmizing,[20] computer generated special effects of Red Dwarf[21] and many more visual and audio enhancements.[21]

Changes made specific to "Thanks for the Memory" include a new opening shot with the new Blue Midget CGI design has been added, along with the CGI Red Dwarf, to original live-action footage. Scenes of Blue Midget staggering back to Red Dwarf have been replaced with new CGI footage. All flashback shots have been given a faded tint and blurred edge. Rimmer's Spanish television joke referring to the quality of the viewscreen monitor has been removed. A Felicity Kendall reference, felt as dated, has been replaced with Marilyn Monroe. Strangely, it was intended for the Jimmy Osmond joke to be removed for similar reasons but this was not done. [22]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ British Sitcom Guide - Red Dwarf - Series 2. www.sitcom.co.uk. Retrieved on 2008-01-24.
  2. ^ TV.com - Thanks For The Memory summary. www.tv.com. Retrieved on 2008-01-23.
  3. ^ Howarth & Lyons (1993) p. 54.
  4. ^ a b c Howarth & Lyons (1993) p. 55.
  5. ^ Howarth & Lyons (1993) p. 56.
  6. ^ Red Dwarf Series II Sets. www.reddwarf.co.uk. Retrieved on 2008-01-07.
  7. ^ Howarth & Lyons (1993) p. 9-10.
  8. ^ Agnew, Mike. It's Cold Outside documentary [DVD]. Bodysnatcher DVD Boxset disc 1: BBC.
  9. ^ Red Dwarf Series II Effects. www.reddwarf.co.uk. Retrieved on 2008-01-07.
  10. ^ Thanks For the Memory cast and crew. www.imdb.com. Retrieved on 2008-01-24.
  11. ^ Thanks For The Memory movie connections. www.imdb.com. Retrieved on 2008-01-08.
  12. ^ BBC Programme Catalogue - RED DWARF - THANKS FOR THE MEMORY. BBC. Retrieved on 2007-12-10.
  13. ^ Red Dwarf Smegazine: Survey Results, Red Dwarf Smegazine, issue 10, December 1992, Fleetway Editions Ltd, issn=0965-5603
  14. ^ Red Dwarf - Series 2 Review. www.reviewcentre.com. Retrieved on 2008-01-24.
  15. ^ Red Dwarf Episode Guide: Series II. www.reviewsbygavrielle.com. Retrieved on 2008-01-24.
  16. ^ Red Dwarf II on Video, Red Dwarf Smegazine, issue 3, May 1992, Fleetway Editions Ltd, ISSN 0965-5603
  17. ^ Bye, Ed. It's Cold Outside documentary [DVD]. Bodysnatcher DVD Boxset disc 1: BBC.
  18. ^ Remasters of the Universe. www.reddwarf.co.uk. Retrieved on 2008-01-28.
  19. ^ Red Dwarf Series I Remastering. www.reddwarf.co.uk. Retrieved on 2008-01-30.
  20. ^ Remastering Crew. The End Re-Mastered DVD Commentary [DVD]. Bodysnatcher DVD Boxset Red disc: BBC.
  21. ^ a b Remastering Crew. 'Re-Dwarf' Documentary [DVD]. Bodysnatcher DVD Boxset Red disc: BBC.
  22. ^ Remastering Crew. Thanks for the Memory text commentary [DVD]. Bodysnatcher DVD Boxset, Blue disc: BBC.

[edit] References

Howarth, Chris; Steve Lyons (1993). Red Dwarf Programme Guide. Virgin Books. ISBN 0-86369-682-1. 

[edit] External links

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