Bodyswap
Encyclopedia
"Bodyswap" is the fourth episode of science fiction
sitcom
Red Dwarf
Series III, and the sixteenth overall. It premiered on the British
television channel BBC2 on 5 December 1989. Written by Rob Grant
and Doug Naylor
, and directed by Ed Bye
. This was the first episode to be recorded without a live studio audience. The plot has Rimmer suggesting that the perfect way to help Lister get "healthy" is swapping bodies. The episode was re-mastered, along with the rest of the first three series, in 1998.
orders a milk shake and a Toffee Crisp
from one of the snack machines, he inadvertently triggers the ship's self-destruct
countdown. As the auto-destruct can only be over-ridden by a senior officer, all of whom are dead, Kryten
performs a mind-swap: the mind of Executive Officer Carol Brown is temporarily placed into Lister's body so she can voice-activate the shut-down procedure; but the plan fails and the auto-destruct sequence continues. Everyone braces for death as the countdown reaches zero – whereupon the food machine dispenses Lister's milk shake and candy bar. It turns out the countdown was wired only to the vending machine, not to the ship's bomb — besides which Holly
got rid of the bomb ages ago and never bothered to tell anyone.
Although the excitement is over, Kryten's solution gives Arnold Rimmer
an idea. He convinces Lister to swap bodies
with him. He will be able to enjoy the benefits of a tangible body again for two weeks, while he exercises and gets Lister back into shape. However, unable to resist the pleasures he has been denied for so long, he eats, drinks and smokes far more than Lister ever would have, putting on quite a bit of weight in the process. Lister is naturally appalled and demands his heavily abused body back after just one week.
Rimmer, enlisting Kryten's reluctant help, chloroform
s Lister and reacquires his body. In Lister's body, Rimmer then absconds in Starbug with a full freight of junk food, promising to be back in a month – maybe. Lister, with Cat
and Kryten, give chase with Blue Midget, causing Rimmer to lose concentration and crash into a rocky planet. Rimmer is forced again to give Lister's body back, but later Rimmer walks into Lister's sleeping quarters looking strange. It is Cat and he says that Rimmer has stolen his body. Just then Rimmer, in Cat's body, turns up carrying a heaping dinner plate and assures his crewmates that it will be for just one night, or maybe until Thursday.
and trying to match up with lip movements caused much mirth while recording. Chris Barrie, being an impressionist
, had no problems playing Lister, whereas Craig's portrayal as Rimmer was not as smooth. The final edit, with dubbed voices, was then played to a small audience to provide the laughter track.
The long chase sequence with Blue Midget and Starbug was overseen by effects supervisor Peter Wragg. Using his experience of working on shows such as Thunderbirds
, he had the model ships of Starbug and Blue Midget flying on hidden wires over a scaled landscape, Starbug eventually crashing into it.
This episode has the only mention of the ship White Midget. This was a mistake on the part of the writers. In the Remastered version, Lister's voice is dubbed over so he says "The Midget" instead of "White Midget". Originally the new smaller ship that would be used was White Midget, a similar version of the Blue Midget, but then Starbug was created, which would be bigger and allow for more room to film inside.
is referenced by Rimmer when describing Lister's silhouette. While using the toilet with Lister's body, Rimmer hums the The Grand Old Duke of York
tune to himself. It is from this experience that Rimmer references Star Trek
s Spock
when describing Lister's urine. Rimmer also recites Clint Eastwood
's line from Sudden Impact
.
special effects of Red Dwarf and many more visual and audio enhancements.
Changes made specific to "Bodyswap" include the Starbug and Blue Midget chase scenes have been replaced with a CGI sequence. The scene with Rimmer, as Cat, playing around with food has been added to the ending.
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
Situation comedy
A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...
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 III, and the sixteenth overall. It premiered 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 5 December 1989. 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....
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 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...
. This was the first episode to be recorded without a live studio audience. The plot has Rimmer suggesting that the perfect way to help Lister get "healthy" is swapping bodies. The episode was re-mastered, along with the rest of the first three series, in 1998.
Plot
A malfunctioning skutter runs amok and rewires Red Dwarfs circuitry, producing two thousand wiring faults and making the whole ship a booby trap. When Dave ListerDave 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...
orders a milk shake and a Toffee Crisp
Toffee Crisp
The Toffee Crisp bar is a well known chocolate bar which is produced by Nestlé in the United Kingdom. It consists of puffed rice embedded in soft toffee and shaped into a rectangular cuboid, the whole bar being covered by milk chocolate.- History :...
from one of the snack machines, he inadvertently triggers the ship's self-destruct
Self-destruct
A self-destruct is a mechanism which causes a device to destroy itself under a predefined set of circumstances.Self-destruct mechanisms are also found on devices and systems where malfunction could endanger large numbers of people...
countdown. As the auto-destruct can only be over-ridden by a senior officer, all of whom are dead, 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...
performs a mind-swap: the mind of Executive Officer Carol Brown is temporarily placed into Lister's body so she can voice-activate the shut-down procedure; but the plan fails and the auto-destruct sequence continues. Everyone braces for death as the countdown reaches zero – whereupon the food machine dispenses Lister's milk shake and candy bar. It turns out the countdown was wired only to the vending machine, not to the ship's bomb — besides which 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...
got rid of the bomb ages ago and never bothered to tell anyone.
Although the excitement is over, Kryten's solution gives Arnold 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...
an idea. He convinces Lister to swap bodies
Body swap
A body swap is a storytelling device seen in a variety of fiction, most often in television shows and movies, in which two people exchange minds and end up in each other's bodies. Alternatively, their minds may stay where they are as their bodies adjust...
with him. He will be able to enjoy the benefits of a tangible body again for two weeks, while he exercises and gets Lister back into shape. However, unable to resist the pleasures he has been denied for so long, he eats, drinks and smokes far more than Lister ever would have, putting on quite a bit of weight in the process. Lister is naturally appalled and demands his heavily abused body back after just one week.
Rimmer, enlisting Kryten's reluctant help, chloroform
Chloroform
Chloroform is an organic compound with formula CHCl3. It is one of the four chloromethanes. The colorless, sweet-smelling, dense liquid is a trihalomethane, and is considered somewhat hazardous...
s Lister and reacquires his body. In Lister's body, Rimmer then absconds in Starbug with a full freight of junk food, promising to be back in a month – maybe. Lister, with 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...
and Kryten, give chase with Blue Midget, causing Rimmer to lose concentration and crash into a rocky planet. Rimmer is forced again to give Lister's body back, but later Rimmer walks into Lister's sleeping quarters looking strange. It is Cat and he says that Rimmer has stolen his body. Just then Rimmer, in Cat's body, turns up carrying a heaping dinner plate and assures his crewmates that it will be for just one night, or maybe until Thursday.
Production
This was the first episode to be recorded without the live studio audience. Technical difficulties of the actors playing other characters meant that the scenes would have to have been done twice. Instead the voices were dubbed over the scenes in post-productionPost-production
Post-production is part of filmmaking and the video production process. It occurs in the making of motion pictures, television programs, radio programs, advertising, audio recordings, photography, and digital art...
and trying to match up with lip movements caused much mirth while recording. Chris Barrie, being an impressionist
Impressionist (entertainment)
An impressionist or a mimic is a performer whose act consists of imitating the voice and mannerisms of others. The word usually refers to a professional comedian/entertainer who specializes in such performances and has developed a wide repertoire of impressions, including adding to them, often to...
, had no problems playing Lister, whereas Craig's portrayal as Rimmer was not as smooth. The final edit, with dubbed voices, was then played to a small audience to provide the laughter track.
The long chase sequence with Blue Midget and Starbug was overseen by effects supervisor Peter Wragg. Using his experience of working on shows such as Thunderbirds
Thunderbirds (TV series)
Thunderbirds is a British mid-1960s science fiction television show devised by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and made by AP Films using a form of marionette puppetry dubbed "Supermarionation"...
, he had the model ships of Starbug and Blue Midget flying on hidden wires over a scaled landscape, Starbug eventually crashing into it.
This episode has the only mention of the ship White Midget. This was a mistake on the part of the writers. In the Remastered version, Lister's voice is dubbed over so he says "The Midget" instead of "White Midget". Originally the new smaller ship that would be used was White Midget, a similar version of the Blue Midget, but then Starbug was created, which would be bigger and allow for more room to film inside.
Cultural references
Alfred HitchcockAlfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
is referenced by Rimmer when describing Lister's silhouette. While using the toilet with Lister's body, Rimmer hums the The Grand Old Duke of York
The Grand Old Duke of York
‘The Grand Old Duke of York’ is an English children's nursery rhyme, often performed as an action song. The Duke of the title has been argued to be a number of the holders of that office, particularly Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany and its lyrics have become proverbial for futile action...
tune to himself. It is from this experience that Rimmer references Star Trek
Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
s Spock
Spock
Spock is a fictional character in the Star Trek media franchise. First portrayed by Leonard Nimoy in the original Star Trek series, Spock also appears in the animated Star Trek series, two episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, seven of the Star Trek feature films, and numerous Star Trek...
when describing Lister's urine. Rimmer also recites Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood
Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...
's line from Sudden Impact
Sudden Impact
Sudden Impact is a 1983 American crime thriller and the fourth film in the Dirty Harry series, directed by and starring Clint Eastwood...
.
Reception
The episode was originally broadcast on the British television channel BBC2 on 5 December 1989 in the 9:00pm evening time slot. It wasn't as well received as the others, 'Reviews by Gravielle' stating that the story "doesn't work" and that "the swapped dialogue is not convincing..."Remastering
The remastering of Series I to III was carried out during the late 1990s. General changes throughout the series included replacement of the opening credits, giving the picture a colour grade and filmising, computer generatedComputer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
special effects of Red Dwarf and many more visual and audio enhancements.
Changes made specific to "Bodyswap" include the Starbug and Blue Midget chase scenes have been replaced with a CGI sequence. The scene with Rimmer, as Cat, playing around with food has been added to the ending.