Pride and Prejudice Land

Pride and Prejudice Land was an artificial reality environment visited by the crew of Starbug. (RD: Beyond a Joke)

History[]

Discovery[]

Kryten and Kris Kochanski found the AR game aboard the SS Centauri, bringing it back to Starbug. At the time, they believed the SS Centauri to be derelict, not knowing that there were actually three crew members aboard, already in another AR game at the time. Kryten also found a fresh lobster in the stasis booths of the SS Centauri, and wanted to cook a special meal with it. This was because it was the fifth anniversary since Kryten was rescued from the Nova 5, and Kryten wanted to celebrate it. Much to Kryten's annoyance, Kris was more interested in taking Lister and the Cat into "Pride and Prejudice Land" in an attempt to make the boys more cultured.

Jane Austen World[]

The program allowed players to interact with the characters from the classic novel "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen. It was a part of a larger program called "Jane Austen World".

Kristine Kochanski spent much of her free time in this program as a schoolgirl. When the Starbug crew located a copy of "Jane Austen World" aboard a derelict spacecraft, Kochanski was very excited and convinced Lister and The Cat to join her. Lister agreed to impress her with his sensitivity, while The Cat was more interested in pursuing the girls in the program.

Upon arrival in the forested setting of Hertfordshire, England, Kochanski tried to interest her comrades in the subtle nuances of Austen's work. The Cat was dressed as an army officer of the time, while Lister was a country parson. The Cat complained about the tight trousers, which Lister explained were the cause of all the wars during the regency period. Kochanski, dressed in a typical young lady's dress and bonnet, introduced them to Mrs. Bennett and her five daughters: Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Kitty and Lydia. They decided to go for a walk in the woods and stop at Mr. Bingley's gazebo for afternoon tea.

T72 — "Perhaps I didn't make myself clear..."

Meanwhile, Kryten was fuming at having his dinner party ignored and followed his shipmates into the scenario. He stalked the group through the forest, picking off Jane and Elizabeth with a blowgun and various traps. After his attempt to waylay Mary failed, he abandoned subtlety and borrowed a T-72 Tank from a World War 2 game. As the tea party was in full swing, Kryten emerged from the nearby lake driving the tank. After declaring "Supper is Ready", he used the tank's main gun to obliterate the gazebo, leaving only his shipmates sitting in a smoking ruin. Lister says that he "didn't know robots got PMT".

Curryworld[]

After Kryten's nega-drive had been fixed, he designed a new environment for the crew to make up for before. Curryworld was a faithful recreation of an Indian restaurant serving authentic curries, which were introduced to England

during the regency period. The crew invited the Bennett family to join them for a meal. Kochanski urged her heroines to try something simple, but Mrs. Bennett insisted upon eating a vindaloo, since Jane had tried French apples without any ill effects. The Bennetts all declared the curries to be delicious, so the Dwarfers tucked in also. Due to a nasty glitch in the program, the vindaloo was dangerously hot for human consumption, even producing fire from Lister's mouth. ("Beyond a Joke", Series VII)

Behind the scenes[]

The episode's inclusion of the game came only two years after the tremendously successful BBC mini-series of Pride and Prejudice which is often cited as helping produce a new-found interest in Austen's writings.