Guru a.k.a. Derek was an elderly male human from 24th-century Earth who became was a crew member of SS Enconium, a spaceship where all forms of criticism were declared illegal. He had all his critical faculties "drained", which were then personified as a small, ranting man trapped inside a glass tube.
Three million years later, the boys from the Dwarf saw a video recording of Guru when they first boarded Enconium, and the rather deranged man was seen saying: "Howl at the moon! You will learn that we are all part of the tree of life. And on the tree, you are a fruit! I am fruit, a lovely fruit, let me play the flute!"
"Derek", The Guru's bottled Inner Critic
Some time later, after breaking the laws of the ship, the Dwarfers were also taken to be "drained" in the Criticism Extraction Room. Arnold Rimmer was terrified that he was going to end up a hippy, like the "crazy guy on the flute". Ziggy Briceman revealed that Guru's name had once been Derek, that he had once been a theater critic, and that he was much happier now. Ziggy showed the Dwarfers Derek's bottled inner critic, which was ranting about how useless he was and how he will fail without him. ("Timewave", Series XII)
Trivia[]
- Given that the Dwarfers convince Ziggy to repeal his own laws on criticism, it is possible that Derek was reunited with his inner critic.