Beyond a Joke
Encyclopedia
"Beyond a Joke" is the sixth episode of science fiction
sitcom Red Dwarf
Series VII and the 42nd in the series run. It was first broadcast on the British
television channel BBC2
on 21 February 1997. The script was written by Robert Llewellyn
(who plays series regular Kryten
) and Doug Naylor
, and was directed by Ed Bye
.
and brings them aboard to cook a fine supper. This is convenient, since it is exactly five years to the day since Kryten was rescued
from the wreck of the Nova 5 and he was looking for a way to celebrate the anniversary. Meanwhile, Kochanski
(Chloë Annett
) decides to educate Lister
(Craig Charles
) and Cat
(Danny John-Jules
) on the finer points of etiquette by introducing them to a virtual reality
rendition of "Pride and Prejudice
Land" in "Jane Austen
World". Kryten's plans for a lobster supper, which he had been preparing all day, are scuppered by this. Kryten's jealousy gets out of hand and he enters the virtual reality simulation in a tank to spoil their fun and compel them to return for supper.
Back on Starbug the crew begins eating the lobster and Lister requests brown sauce
to go with it. This is too much for Kryten and he goes berserk, literally blowing his top — his head explodes. Lister suggests that they board the SS Centauri again and look for some spare mechanoid heads there. However they discover a Rogue Simulant captain who has since commandeered the Centauri. Meanwhile a GELF
Kinitawowi tribesman, a partner of the Simulant, ransacks Starbug and steals the remains of Kryten. When the crew goes back aboard Starbug, the Simulant and the GELF then escape with Kryten aboard the Centauri. Starbug cannot catch up as the Centauri is much faster, travelling at warp speed.
On board the Centauri, the defect which caused Kryten to blow up his head is fixed. There Kryten meets another mechanoid named Able who is a servant to the Simulant and who, it turns out, is from the same batch as Kryten (a 4000 series) and carries the same serial number. This means that Kryten and Able are, in effect, brothers. However Able is a "zoney" — he is addicted to a narcotic
known as "otrazone" that is specially designed for mechanoids. Abuse of this has corrupted Able's circuit boards.
Able began using the drug after the simulant revealed to him that the entire 4000 series of mechanoids was a spiteful joke by their creator, Professor Mamet. They were designed to be a parody of a fiance who jilted her, and as such were made pompous, ridiculous looking, and overbearing. Further, all their negative emotions are stored on a "nega-drive" and when it becomes full they literally blow up. After Kryten is also made aware of the secret by the simulant, he spirals into a similar depression as Able, although Lister comforts him by claiming that he has evolved beyond his original personality.
The pair of mechanoid brothers escape to Starbug, but the Centauri attacks them. The crew are saved by Able, who sacrifices his life for them by attacking the Centauri with the pent-up emotions stored in Kryten's nega-drive, enticing the simulant to destroy himself and his ship in a fit of depression. At the end, the Starbug crew visits the "Curryworld" AR program; unfortunately the curry is too hot even for Lister due to a "bug in the program"...
due to his increasing dislike for the application of the Kryten makeup. However after numerous revisions of the script by Naylor, Kryten became an integral part of the episode. Plus Llewellyn also had to play the part of another droid, Kryten's brother, Able. This meant he had to wear the Kryten makeup twice as much, as Able appeared in the same costume coloured green instead of black.
Production had to be halted whilst the cast and crew searched for one of Danny John-Jules' Cat's teeth. Whilst filming the "Pride and Prejudice World" scenes in the lakeside gazebo, Danny John-Jules lost one of his "cat teeth" as he ate grapes.
The Rogue Simulant captain was played by veteran British actor Don Henderson
, known for his role in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
in which he portrayed High General Tagge. This episode proved to be Henderson's last work in the world of acting, and he died soon after the episode was broadcast. Henderson was in the latter stages of terminal throat cancer during filming, and his husky voice was not a special effect as many viewers believed but due to his condition.
Other guest stars included Vicky Ogden as Mrs. Bennet, Alina Proctor as Jane Bennet, Catherine Harvey as Kitty Bennet, Sophia Thierens as Lydia Bennet, Rebecca Katz as Mary Bennet, Julia Lloyd as Elizabeth Bennet.
uploads the T-72
Tank
into the Virtual Reality machine, he says it's from an old World War II
game. But the T-72 didn't enter service until 1973. The tank in question featured in the James Bond movie Goldeneye
.
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 VII and the 42nd 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
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
on 21 February 1997. The script was written by 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:...
(who plays series regular 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...
) and 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 was directed by Ed Bye
Ed Bye
Edward Richard Morrison Bye is a British film and TV producer and director. He is best known for his work with Grant Naylor, Harry Enfield and Jasper Carrott, and has worked with many of British TV's best known comedians and comedy actors...
.
Plot
Starbug passes an old derelict spaceship, the SS Centauri, which Kryten scavenges for supplies. He finds some live lobsters in stasisStasis
The term stasis may refer to* A state of stability, in which all forces are equal and opposing, therefore they cancel out each other....
and brings them aboard to cook a fine supper. This is convenient, since it is exactly five years to the day since Kryten was rescued
Kryten (Red Dwarf episode)
"Kryten" is the seventh episode from science fiction sit-com Red Dwarf, the first from series two, and was first broadcast on BBC2 on 6 September 1988. Written by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, and directed by Ed Bye, this episode introduced the mechanoid character Kryten...
from the wreck of the Nova 5 and he was looking for a way to celebrate the anniversary. Meanwhile, Kochanski
Kristine Kochanski
Kristine Z. Kochanski is a fictional character from the British science fiction situation comedy Red Dwarf. Kochanski was the first console officer in the navigation chamber on board the spaceship Red Dwarf...
(Chloë Annett
Chloë Annett
Chloë Victoria Annett is an English actress, best known for her role in series 7 and 8 of the British sitcom Red Dwarf.-Early life and family:...
) decides to educate 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...
(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...
) and 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...
(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...
) on the finer points of etiquette by introducing them to a virtual reality
Virtual reality
Virtual reality , also known as virtuality, is a term that applies to computer-simulated environments that can simulate physical presence in places in the real world, as well as in imaginary worlds...
rendition of "Pride and Prejudice
Pride and Prejudice
Pride and Prejudice is a novel by Jane Austen, first published in 1813. The story follows the main character Elizabeth Bennet as she deals with issues of manners, upbringing, morality, education and marriage in the society of the landed gentry of early 19th-century England...
Land" in "Jane Austen
Jane Austen
Jane Austen was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature, her realism and biting social commentary cementing her historical importance among scholars and critics.Austen lived...
World". Kryten's plans for a lobster supper, which he had been preparing all day, are scuppered by this. Kryten's jealousy gets out of hand and he enters the virtual reality simulation in a tank to spoil their fun and compel them to return for supper.
Back on Starbug the crew begins eating the lobster and Lister requests brown sauce
Sauce
In cooking, a sauce is liquid, creaming or semi-solid food served on or used in preparing other foods. Sauces are not normally consumed by themselves; they add flavor, moisture, and visual appeal to another dish. Sauce is a French word taken from the Latin salsus, meaning salted...
to go with it. This is too much for Kryten and he goes berserk, literally blowing his top — his head explodes. Lister suggests that they board the SS Centauri again and look for some spare mechanoid heads there. However they discover a Rogue Simulant captain who has since commandeered the Centauri. Meanwhile a GELF
GELF
G.E.L.F. or simply GELF is an acronym for Genetically Engineered LifeForm. It was used in two science fiction television programs, originally appearing in the BBC's cult sitcom Red Dwarf, and later on in the U.S...
Kinitawowi tribesman, a partner of the Simulant, ransacks Starbug and steals the remains of Kryten. When the crew goes back aboard Starbug, the Simulant and the GELF then escape with Kryten aboard the Centauri. Starbug cannot catch up as the Centauri is much faster, travelling at warp speed.
On board the Centauri, the defect which caused Kryten to blow up his head is fixed. There Kryten meets another mechanoid named Able who is a servant to the Simulant and who, it turns out, is from the same batch as Kryten (a 4000 series) and carries the same serial number. This means that Kryten and Able are, in effect, brothers. However Able is a "zoney" — he is addicted to a narcotic
Narcotic
The term narcotic originally referred medically to any psychoactive compound with any sleep-inducing properties. In the United States of America it has since become associated with opioids, commonly morphine and heroin and their derivatives, such as hydrocodone. The term is, today, imprecisely...
known as "otrazone" that is specially designed for mechanoids. Abuse of this has corrupted Able's circuit boards.
Able began using the drug after the simulant revealed to him that the entire 4000 series of mechanoids was a spiteful joke by their creator, Professor Mamet. They were designed to be a parody of a fiance who jilted her, and as such were made pompous, ridiculous looking, and overbearing. Further, all their negative emotions are stored on a "nega-drive" and when it becomes full they literally blow up. After Kryten is also made aware of the secret by the simulant, he spirals into a similar depression as Able, although Lister comforts him by claiming that he has evolved beyond his original personality.
The pair of mechanoid brothers escape to Starbug, but the Centauri attacks them. The crew are saved by Able, who sacrifices his life for them by attacking the Centauri with the pent-up emotions stored in Kryten's nega-drive, enticing the simulant to destroy himself and his ship in a fit of depression. At the end, the Starbug crew visits the "Curryworld" AR program; unfortunately the curry is too hot even for Lister due to a "bug in the program"...
Production
Robert Llewellyn wrote this episode with the intent to feature very little of KrytenKryten
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...
due to his increasing dislike for the application of the Kryten makeup. However after numerous revisions of the script by Naylor, Kryten became an integral part of the episode. Plus Llewellyn also had to play the part of another droid, Kryten's brother, Able. This meant he had to wear the Kryten makeup twice as much, as Able appeared in the same costume coloured green instead of black.
Production had to be halted whilst the cast and crew searched for one of Danny John-Jules' Cat's teeth. Whilst filming the "Pride and Prejudice World" scenes in the lakeside gazebo, Danny John-Jules lost one of his "cat teeth" as he ate grapes.
The Rogue Simulant captain was played by veteran British actor Don Henderson
Don Henderson
Don Henderson was an English actor whose film and TV work covered many years but is best remembered for his role as the fictional detective George Bulman...
, known for his role in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, originally released as Star Wars, is a 1977 American epic space opera film, written and directed by George Lucas. It is the first of six films released in the Star Wars saga: two subsequent films complete the original trilogy, while a prequel trilogy completes the...
in which he portrayed High General Tagge. This episode proved to be Henderson's last work in the world of acting, and he died soon after the episode was broadcast. Henderson was in the latter stages of terminal throat cancer during filming, and his husky voice was not a special effect as many viewers believed but due to his condition.
Other guest stars included Vicky Ogden as Mrs. Bennet, Alina Proctor as Jane Bennet, Catherine Harvey as Kitty Bennet, Sophia Thierens as Lydia Bennet, Rebecca Katz as Mary Bennet, Julia Lloyd as Elizabeth Bennet.
Trivia
When KrytenKryten
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...
uploads the T-72
T-72
The T-72 is a Soviet-designed main battle tank that entered production in 1970. It is developed directly from Obyekt-172, and shares parallel features with the T-64A...
Tank
Tank
A tank is a tracked, armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat which combines operational mobility, tactical offensive, and defensive capabilities...
into the Virtual Reality machine, he says it's from an old World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
game. But the T-72 didn't enter service until 1973. The tank in question featured in the James Bond movie Goldeneye
GoldenEye
GoldenEye is the seventeenth spy film in the James Bond series, and the first to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The film was directed by Martin Campbell and is the first film in the series not to take story elements from the works of novelist Ian Fleming...
.