RD: Psirens

From Tongue Tied

Contents 1 Overview 2 Summary 3 Notes 4 Noteworthy Dialogue 5 Background Information 6 Guest Stars 7 Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors 8 References

[edit] Overview

Brief overview of what the episode is about

[edit] Summary

Lister awakens with amnesia and Kryten explains that he's been in Deep Sleep aboard Starbug for the past 200 years. When Rimmer and Cat both recover from their hibernation, Kryten updates them on the situation: Red Dwarf itself had been stolen by an unknown party and the original crew had been chasing the ship's vapour trail ever since. The Red Dwarf has currently been forced to circumnavigate an asteroid belt, giving the Starbug the opportunity to reach the ship by shortcutting through the belt. However, the belt turns out to be a spaceship graveyard inhabited by Psirens, shape-changing GELFs who lure unwary travellers to them and suck out their brains.

Cat is almost lured by two attractive women and Lister sees Kochanski, who tells him that she has two children, Jim and Bexley, that are his. A flaming meteor then appears hurling towards the ship, but Kryten deduces it to be an illusion as Starbug's sensors do not detect it. Unfortunately, Rimmer is left in charge and assumes another flaming meteor to be fake; the illusion this time, is the lack of response from the ship's sensors.

Starbug is struck and crashes onto an asteroid. Lister exits the ship to blast the front landing gear out. Outside he encounters a lustful figure from his adolescence (the sister of one Pete Tranter). Lister snogs with the woman not knowing it is actually a hideous Psiren. He is ironically saved by another Psiren disguised as Kryten, whom murders the first one in order to steal its victim and is in turn killed by a panicking Lister. Lister manages to get back on board Starbug safely, only for a second Lister to arrive claiming he is the real article. To determine which is the false Lister, the crew ask them to play guitar, which Lister does poorly but the Psiren does extremely well. They have found their imposter and blast it away. However, as Lister gets suitably upset by their accusations that he is a poor guitar player, the Psiren escapes to the decks below.

A trail of yellow Psiren blood leads to the engine room. Lister and Cat stay behind to deal with a meteor shower, while Rimmer declines the offer to help, leaving Kryten to follow the psiren blood trail alone. When Kryten finds the Psiren it changes into Professor Mamet, his creator. With no choice but to obey her commands, he climbs into the waste compactor and starts it up. Lister, Cat and Rimmer quickly appear to find Kryten's psi-scan and bazookoid, abandoned on the floor. Rimmer suddenly fades out as his hologramatic light bee battery runs flat. Now just the two of them, Lister and Cat walk up to the Psiren disguised as a vending machine. As the Psiren decides which to eat first, Kryten, now cube shaped from his experience in the waste compactor, waddles over to the edge of the walkway from the deck above and crashes down on top of it. The threat ended, the crew continue onward, following the Red Dwarf into a vast nebula.

[edit] Notes

Among the wrecked spaceships in the asteroid field are models of the Narcissus shuttle from Alien, the Eagle from Space: 1999 and a Klingon Vor'cha attack cruiser from Star Trek: The Next Generation.

[edit] Noteworthy Dialogue

Interesting, funny or relevant dialogue in the episode.

[edit] Background Information

Any behind the scenes information or any other information that doesn't fit in the other categories.

[edit] Guest Stars

Actor and character they played.

• Samantha Robson as Pete Tranter's Sister

[edit] Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors

• If everyone bar Kryten have been in stasis for 200 years, what rubbish would he have to throw out at the start of the episode?

[edit] References

Other articles of things featured in this particular episode