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Back to Reality (Red Dwarf episode)
Encyclopedia
"Back to Reality" is the sixth, and final, episode of science fiction
sitcom Red Dwarf
Series V and the 30th in the series run. It was first broadcast on the British
television channel BBC2 on 26 March 1992, written by Rob Grant
& Doug Naylor
and directed by Juliet May
& Grant Naylor
. The episode often tops polls or surveys as the best in the series runs. The plot features the crew waking up from a crash to discover that the last four years of their lives has been spent in a 'Red Dwarf Total Immersion Video Game'.
which closed its gills and suffocated itself. They discover the deaths are due to severe depression caused by a hallucinogenic nerve toxin
. Attempting to evade a gigantic squid, Starbug crashes and explodes.
Instead of finding themselves in little pieces, they wake to discover that for four years they have been playing 'Red Dwarf - The Total Immersion Video Game'. It transpires that the four years they have spent playing the "game" turn out to have been completely wasted, since they failed to even slightly advance beyond the starting scenario - for example, early on Rimmer was meant to work out an "obvious" puzzle which would lead to the discovery of a microdot hidden on his swimming certificate, the possession of which would have unlocked his secret identity and a number of special skills. Lister briefly gets to watch the action as another group plays the game as it was intended to be played - the scenario observed involves the team having fabulous space opera adventures in outer space and interacting in a far less dysfunctional manner, and a resurrected Kochanski in a passionate relationship with Lister.
The crew set to work learning about their "real" identities based on their possessions, since they have no memories of their "real" lives - supposedly a side effect of the Total Immersion Video Game. Kryten
is half-human Cybernautics Division Detective (traffic officer) Jake Bullet. Cat
is dorky Duane Dibbley. Lister
is Voter Colonel Sebastian Doyle, the head of the secret police in a fascist state, and Rimmer
is Billy Doyle, Lister's half-brother and a tramp.
Only Kryten is pleased with his 'real' existence; however, when he is forced to take a human life in order to save a young girl, the mechanoid too begins to despair. As a result of the shooting, the crew then becomes involved in a high-speed car chase with the police. Devastated by the implications of their "true" selves, they are about to commit group suicide when Holly
finally manages to awaken them, revealing that Starbugs crash and 'reality' were just a group hallucination brought on by the toxic ink of the "despair squid", which had the intention of causing the crew to commit suicide, just as it had done with the crew of the Esperanto. With this revelation, Kryten realises that all their identities were designed to make the crew destroy themselves; Kryten violated his programming by killing a human, the shallow Cat lost all of his cool and style, Rimmer could no longer blame his failings on others as he and his 'brother' had the same upbringing and Lister did much better than him, and Lister's moral courage was violated with the discovery that he had killed thousands of innocent people. With nothing worth staying for, Starbug begins to head to the surface, as Lister remarks that the crew of the Esperanto truly screwed up by creating a creature that caused despair and destruction wherever it roamed. Kryten jokes that the same could be said of humans, but it isn't well received. Rimmer tells Kryten not to be a smart-alec, and the weary crew head home.
that the Cat managed to smuggle a female Despair Squid from the moon on board Red Dwarf with the intention of eating it later, which subsequently escaped into the water tank and led to the hallucinatory events of the miniseries. The female Squid's toxin causes joy instead of despair, with the intention that the victim chooses to remain trapped in their delusions.
This was the final appearance of Holly on Red Dwarf until Nanarchy
in 1997, five years later. According to the events of Psirens
, Red Dwarf was "stolen by an unknown party", but it was revealed in Nanarchy
that it was actually Kryten's nanobots which stole the ship. The nanobots ended up dumping whatever they didn't need on a planetoid. It was seen in the 2005 web comic Prelude to Nanarchy
which was released six years after Red Dwarf ended.
Holly didn't appear again until Nanarchy, played by Norman Lovett in that episode and Series VIII on until Only the Good...
. Holly was not featured in Back to Earth. Hattie Hayridge
made her final appearance as Holly in that episode, but from 2004 to 2006, she did some commentaries for Red Dwarf DVD releases with Craig Charles
, Chris Barrie
, Robert Llewellyn
, and Danny John-Jules
.
was starring in the increasingly popular sit-com Brittas Empire, Robert Llewellyn
went to do Red Dwarf USA and if that were to be taken up he would be over there for the next few years.
Although the budget for the series had increased, certain sets were still able to double for different scenes. The corridors of the holoship, from the episode of the same name, were grunged down and made up for the Artificial Reality suite.
Several model shots of the Despair Squid were filmed but it was decided that they didn't work well. Instead a superimposed shadow was used to illustrate the squid closing in on Starbug.
The episode features Hattie Hayridge
's last appearance in the series. The other cast got to play their despair-induced alter egos: Danny John-Jules
played Duane Dibbley, Craig Charles
played Sebastian Doyle, Robert Llewellyn played Jake Bullet, while Chris Barrie played William Doyle, Sebastian's half-brother.
Lenny Von Dohlen
, known for appearing in Twin Peaks
, agreed to appear as the cop after speaking with former guest star Frances Barber
(series III's Jenny Mutant). The episode also featured a new Red Dwarf crew for the new Artificial Reality game. Anastasia Hille played Kochanski, David Lemkin played The Cat, Julian Lyon played Rimmer, John Sharian
played Lister and Scott Charles Bennett played Kryten. 'Red Dwarf Total Immersion Video Game' staff workers were Timothy Spall
who played Andy and Marie McCarthy who played the Nurse.
At the end of 1992 the episode helped Series V gain a nomination for an International Emmy Award, and in 1995, following a BBC viewers vote, it was repeated on the 22 December 1995 as 'The Best Ever Red Dwarf'.
The episode had proved popular enough for the BBC to ignore the original running order and use the popular episodes from Series V to maximise sales of the video releases. The episode that featured on the other Series V video release being "Quarantine
".
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
sitcom Red Dwarf
Red Dwarf
Red Dwarf is a British comedy franchise which primarily comprises eight series of a television science fiction sitcom that aired on BBC Two between 1988 and 1999 and Dave from 2009–present. It gained cult following. It was created by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, who also wrote the first six series...
Series V and the 30th in the series run. It was first broadcast on the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
television channel BBC2 on 26 March 1992, written by Rob Grant
Rob Grant
Robert Grant is a British comedy writer and television producer, who was born in Salford and studied Psychology at Liverpool University for two years....
& Doug Naylor
Doug Naylor
Douglas R. Naylor is a British comedy writer, science fiction writer, director and television producer.Naylor was born in Manchester, England and studied at the University of Liverpool. In the mid-1980s, Naylor wrote two regular comedy sketch shows for BBC Radio 4 entitled Cliché and Son of Cliché...
and directed by Juliet May
Juliet May
Juliet May is a British television director. She has directed a variety of television shows, including Challenge Anneka, Dalziel and Pascoe, Hope and Glory New Tricks and the award-winning Miranda....
& Grant Naylor
Grant Naylor
Grant Naylor was the collective name used by writers Rob Grant and Doug Naylor for their collaborative work, particularly the television series Red Dwarf. Grant and Naylor themselves called this pseudonym a "gestalt entity" Grant Naylor was the collective name used by writers Rob Grant and Doug...
. The episode often tops polls or surveys as the best in the series runs. The plot features the crew waking up from a crash to discover that the last four years of their lives has been spent in a 'Red Dwarf Total Immersion Video Game'.
Plot
The Red Dwarf crew takes Starbug to investigate the wreckage of the SSS Esperanto, a ship conducting marine seeding experiments at the bottom of an ocean-covered moon. The ship had great success on its mission to accelerate the planet's evolution, surpassing even their best projections. However it appears that all life on board the Esperanto committed suicide, right down to a haddockHaddock
The haddock , also known as the offshore hake, is a marine fish distributed on both sides of the North Atlantic. Haddock is a popular food fish and is widely fished commercially....
which closed its gills and suffocated itself. They discover the deaths are due to severe depression caused by a hallucinogenic nerve toxin
Toxin
A toxin is a poisonous substance produced within living cells or organisms; man-made substances created by artificial processes are thus excluded...
. Attempting to evade a gigantic squid, Starbug crashes and explodes.
Instead of finding themselves in little pieces, they wake to discover that for four years they have been playing 'Red Dwarf - The Total Immersion Video Game'. It transpires that the four years they have spent playing the "game" turn out to have been completely wasted, since they failed to even slightly advance beyond the starting scenario - for example, early on Rimmer was meant to work out an "obvious" puzzle which would lead to the discovery of a microdot hidden on his swimming certificate, the possession of which would have unlocked his secret identity and a number of special skills. Lister briefly gets to watch the action as another group plays the game as it was intended to be played - the scenario observed involves the team having fabulous space opera adventures in outer space and interacting in a far less dysfunctional manner, and a resurrected Kochanski in a passionate relationship with Lister.
The crew set to work learning about their "real" identities based on their possessions, since they have no memories of their "real" lives - supposedly a side effect of the Total Immersion Video Game. Kryten
Kryten
Kryten is a fictional character in the British science fiction situation comedy Red Dwarf. Kryten's registration code on Red Dwarf is "Kryten additional 001". The name Kryten is a reference to the head butler in the J.M...
is half-human Cybernautics Division Detective (traffic officer) Jake Bullet. Cat
Cat (Red Dwarf)
The Cat is a character in the British science fiction sitcom Red Dwarf. He is played by Danny John-Jules.-Character development:According to Danny John-Jules, the character of Cat is based on a combination of Little Richard's look, James Brown's moves and Richard Pryor's facial...
is dorky Duane Dibbley. Lister
Dave Lister
David "Dave" Lister, commonly referred to simply as Lister, is a fictional character from the British science fiction situation comedy Red Dwarf, portrayed by Craig Charles...
is Voter Colonel Sebastian Doyle, the head of the secret police in a fascist state, and Rimmer
Arnold Rimmer
Arnold Judas Rimmer is a fictional character in the science fiction situation comedy Red Dwarf, played by Chris Barrie. He is unpopular with his crew mates, and is often the target of insults or pranks...
is Billy Doyle, Lister's half-brother and a tramp.
Only Kryten is pleased with his 'real' existence; however, when he is forced to take a human life in order to save a young girl, the mechanoid too begins to despair. As a result of the shooting, the crew then becomes involved in a high-speed car chase with the police. Devastated by the implications of their "true" selves, they are about to commit group suicide when Holly
Holly (Red Dwarf)
Holly is the ship's computer on the science fiction situation comedy Red Dwarf.The character is played by Norman Lovett in Series I and II and, following a "head sex change" to look like his parallel universe alter ego "Hilly", played by Hattie Hayridge in the series 3 episode Backwards, is female...
finally manages to awaken them, revealing that Starbugs crash and 'reality' were just a group hallucination brought on by the toxic ink of the "despair squid", which had the intention of causing the crew to commit suicide, just as it had done with the crew of the Esperanto. With this revelation, Kryten realises that all their identities were designed to make the crew destroy themselves; Kryten violated his programming by killing a human, the shallow Cat lost all of his cool and style, Rimmer could no longer blame his failings on others as he and his 'brother' had the same upbringing and Lister did much better than him, and Lister's moral courage was violated with the discovery that he had killed thousands of innocent people. With nothing worth staying for, Starbug begins to head to the surface, as Lister remarks that the crew of the Esperanto truly screwed up by creating a creature that caused despair and destruction wherever it roamed. Kryten jokes that the same could be said of humans, but it isn't well received. Rimmer tells Kryten not to be a smart-alec, and the weary crew head home.
Aftermath
It is revealed in the much later Red Dwarf: Back to EarthRed Dwarf: Back to Earth
Red Dwarf: Back to Earth is a three part TV miniseries continuation of the science fiction sitcom Red Dwarf, broadcast on the British television channel Dave between 10 April and 12 April 2009 and subsequently released on DVD on 15 June 2009 & on Blu-ray on 31 August 2009. It was the first...
that the Cat managed to smuggle a female Despair Squid from the moon on board Red Dwarf with the intention of eating it later, which subsequently escaped into the water tank and led to the hallucinatory events of the miniseries. The female Squid's toxin causes joy instead of despair, with the intention that the victim chooses to remain trapped in their delusions.
This was the final appearance of Holly on Red Dwarf until Nanarchy
Nanarchy
"Nanarchy" is the eighth, and final, episode of science fiction sitcom Red Dwarf Series VII and the 44th in the series run. It was first broadcast on the British television channel BBC2 on 7 March 1997. Written by Paul Alexander, James Hendrie & Doug Naylor and directed by Ed Bye...
in 1997, five years later. According to the events of Psirens
Psirens
"Psirens" is the first episode of science fiction sit-com Red Dwarf Series VI and the 31st in the series run. It was first broadcast on the British television channel BBC2 on 7 October 1993. Written by Rob Grant & Doug Naylor and directed by Andy de Emmony...
, Red Dwarf was "stolen by an unknown party", but it was revealed in Nanarchy
Nanarchy
"Nanarchy" is the eighth, and final, episode of science fiction sitcom Red Dwarf Series VII and the 44th in the series run. It was first broadcast on the British television channel BBC2 on 7 March 1997. Written by Paul Alexander, James Hendrie & Doug Naylor and directed by Ed Bye...
that it was actually Kryten's nanobots which stole the ship. The nanobots ended up dumping whatever they didn't need on a planetoid. It was seen in the 2005 web comic Prelude to Nanarchy
Prelude to Nanarchy
Prelude to Nanarchy is a webcomic produced in 2005 by Grant Naylor Productions and Across the Pond Comics, based on artwork and story concept created by Damion Waldbrunn and Adam Jewell of Studio Hubris....
which was released six years after Red Dwarf ended.
Holly didn't appear again until Nanarchy, played by Norman Lovett in that episode and Series VIII on until Only the Good...
Only The Good...
Only the Good... is the final episode in the eighth series and the original run of the British science fiction series Red Dwarf. It was first shown in the UK on 5 April 1999 in the 9:00pm BBC2 time slot, and was written by Doug Naylor and directed by Ed Bye...
. Holly was not featured in Back to Earth. Hattie Hayridge
Hattie Hayridge
Hattie Hayridge is a British stand-up comedienne and actress, best known for the role of the female version of Holly in Red Dwarf during the third, fourth and fifth series, along with the role of Hilly in Parallel Universe, the final episode of the second series.After graduating from the...
made her final appearance as Holly in that episode, but from 2004 to 2006, she did some commentaries for Red Dwarf DVD releases with Craig Charles
Craig Charles
Craig Joseph Charles is an English actor, stand-up comedian, author, poet, radio and television presenter, best known for playing Dave Lister in the British cult-favourite science fiction sitcom Red Dwarf...
, Chris Barrie
Chris Barrie
Chris Barrie is a British actor. He first achieved success as a vocal impressionist, notably in the ITV sketch show Spitting Image...
, Robert Llewellyn
Robert Llewellyn
Robert Llewellyn is an English actor, presenter, and writer. He is best known as the mechanoid Kryten in the hit sitcom Red Dwarf, and for his role as presenter of Scrapheap Challenge.-Early career:...
, and Danny John-Jules
Danny John-Jules
Daniel "Danny" John-Jules is a British actor, singer and dancer. John-Jules attended Rutherford Comprehensive School, Penfold Street, Marylebone, from 1972 to 1977. He is best known for portraying Cat in the television programme Red Dwarf.-Dance and song:John-Jules is a baritone...
.
Production
"Back to Reality" was the first script written and it was thought of at the time that this would be the final series as there looked like there would be a cast availability problem. Other projects and roles looked like taking over their time. Chris BarrieChris Barrie
Chris Barrie is a British actor. He first achieved success as a vocal impressionist, notably in the ITV sketch show Spitting Image...
was starring in the increasingly popular sit-com Brittas Empire, Robert Llewellyn
Robert Llewellyn
Robert Llewellyn is an English actor, presenter, and writer. He is best known as the mechanoid Kryten in the hit sitcom Red Dwarf, and for his role as presenter of Scrapheap Challenge.-Early career:...
went to do Red Dwarf USA and if that were to be taken up he would be over there for the next few years.
Although the budget for the series had increased, certain sets were still able to double for different scenes. The corridors of the holoship, from the episode of the same name, were grunged down and made up for the Artificial Reality suite.
Several model shots of the Despair Squid were filmed but it was decided that they didn't work well. Instead a superimposed shadow was used to illustrate the squid closing in on Starbug.
The episode features Hattie Hayridge
Hattie Hayridge
Hattie Hayridge is a British stand-up comedienne and actress, best known for the role of the female version of Holly in Red Dwarf during the third, fourth and fifth series, along with the role of Hilly in Parallel Universe, the final episode of the second series.After graduating from the...
's last appearance in the series. The other cast got to play their despair-induced alter egos: Danny John-Jules
Danny John-Jules
Daniel "Danny" John-Jules is a British actor, singer and dancer. John-Jules attended Rutherford Comprehensive School, Penfold Street, Marylebone, from 1972 to 1977. He is best known for portraying Cat in the television programme Red Dwarf.-Dance and song:John-Jules is a baritone...
played Duane Dibbley, Craig Charles
Craig Charles
Craig Joseph Charles is an English actor, stand-up comedian, author, poet, radio and television presenter, best known for playing Dave Lister in the British cult-favourite science fiction sitcom Red Dwarf...
played Sebastian Doyle, Robert Llewellyn played Jake Bullet, while Chris Barrie played William Doyle, Sebastian's half-brother.
Lenny Von Dohlen
Lenny Von Dohlen
Lenny Von Dohlen is an American film and stage actor, best known for his performance as the agoraphobic Harold Smith in Twin Peaks and the architect Miles Harding in the film Electric Dreams. Von Dohlen currently resides in New York and Los Angeles.-Early years:Lenny Von Dohlen was born in...
, known for appearing in Twin Peaks
Twin Peaks
Twin Peaks is an American television serial drama created by David Lynch and Mark Frost. The series follows the investigation headed by FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper , of the murder of a popular teenager and homecoming queen, Laura Palmer...
, agreed to appear as the cop after speaking with former guest star Frances Barber
Frances Barber
Frances Barber is an Olivier Award-nominated English actress with a long and distinguished stage career. She has also appeared in numerous television productions...
(series III's Jenny Mutant). The episode also featured a new Red Dwarf crew for the new Artificial Reality game. Anastasia Hille played Kochanski, David Lemkin played The Cat, Julian Lyon played Rimmer, John Sharian
John Sharian
John Sharian is an American actor whose film credits include The Machinist and Saving Private Ryan and whose television credits include CSI: Miami and Spooks.-Education:...
played Lister and Scott Charles Bennett played Kryten. 'Red Dwarf Total Immersion Video Game' staff workers were Timothy Spall
Timothy Spall
Timothy Leonard Spall, OBE is an English character actor and occasional presenter.-Early life:Spall, the third of four sons, was born in Battersea, London. His mother, Sylvia R. , was a hairdresser, and his father, Joseph L. Spall, was a postal worker...
who played Andy and Marie McCarthy who played the Nurse.
Reception
The episode was originally broadcast on the British television channel BBC2 on 26 March 1992 in the 9:00pm evening time slot, and is generally considered to be one of the best of the entire series' run. One review stated that "it’s no less than perfect, with an inspired mix of ingenious plotting, brilliant writing and stunning performances."At the end of 1992 the episode helped Series V gain a nomination for an International Emmy Award, and in 1995, following a BBC viewers vote, it was repeated on the 22 December 1995 as 'The Best Ever Red Dwarf'.
The episode had proved popular enough for the BBC to ignore the original running order and use the popular episodes from Series V to maximise sales of the video releases. The episode that featured on the other Series V video release being "Quarantine
Quarantine (Red Dwarf episode)
"Quarantine" is the fourth episode of science fiction sitcom Red Dwarf Series V and the twenty eighth in the series run. It was first broadcast on the British television channel BBC2 on 12 March 1992. The episode, fifth to be filmed, was the first one to be solely directed by Rob Grant & Doug Naylor...
".