Rimmer's deathday party, as depicted in the artwork for Red Dwarf Remastered.
A Deathday was the anniversary of a person's death, celebrated by their hologram. George McIntyre, for example, didn't survive long enough in his light form to reach this milestone.
Three million years into the future, Arnold Rimmer celebrated one particular deathday with Dave Lister, The Cat, the Holly Robot and two skutters. They travelled to the surface of a bleak, rocky planetoid which nonetheless had an S3 atmosphere. On this planetoid they had a party, which included music (with Lister on guitar and skutters on keyboard), a barbecue, dancing and a lot of drinking. Lister even baked a cake for Rimmer, shaped like a technician's spanner.
Rimmer drank rather a lot of simulated alcohol, which was possible due to being in a Hologram Projection Cage and joined in a rendition of "Happy Deathday". Even Holly was drunk. The gang then stumbled back to Blue Midget and drunkenly piloted it back to Red Dwarf, where Rimmer found it impossible to tell the time, proceeded to eat a dangerous sandwich suggested by Lister, and revealed his sexual history before falling asleep.
In the aftermath of this, Lister felt so sorry for Rimmer that he uploaded his memories of Lise Yates into Rimmer's mind, thinking he was doing him a favour, but this ended up causing more problems. (Thanks for the Memory, Series II).
Gallery
.jpg "BM cockpit (II).jpg (132 KB)")
Notes
- It is unclear whether a deathday is an established celebration in the future (like the death anniversaries celebrated in some cultures on Earth), or if the concept was invented by the Dwarfers as an excuse for a drunken party as they passed a suitable planet or planetary body with an atmosphere.
- It is unclear exactly which deathday of Rimmer's they were celebrating. Holly says that Lister had been in stasis aboard Red Dwarf for exactly three million years, but it is unclear how much time has passed since Lister came out of stasis. It is possible that the deathday party was held on the exact three million year anniversary of the date of the radiation leak which killed Rimmer, but it is also possible that, since some time has passed in the ensuing series, it is the 3,000,001 or even the 3,000,002 anniversary of the radiation leak. The latter would seem the case, since in the Series II opening episode "Kryten", it is said that 3,000,002 years have passed since any of them have seen a woman. It is also possible that it was the 3,000,003 anniversary of the disaster.
- This is the first appearance of the Holly Robot, at least outside of virtual reality.
Behind the scenes
- The Deathday party scene was filmed in a Welsh quarry. Craig Charles's pregnant partner went into labour during filming, so the scene had to be filmed quickly before the taxi came to pick up Mr. Charles to take him to the birth. Outtakes show Mr. Charles notably agitated during the filming.