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Skipper is the sixth and final episode in Series XII of Red Dwarf, and the seventy-third episode overall. It first aired 16 November 2017 on Dave.

Overview[]

An increasingly despondent Arnold Rimmer gets hold of a Quantum Skipper, and skips his way across The Multiverse looking for a dimension where he's not such a giant loser.

Summary[]

Aboard Red Dwarf, Arnold Rimmer is alone in the sleeping quarters doing some paperwork when he is interrupted by Cat entering and calling him "Officer Smegski" and "non-bud". Rimmer says that he is tired of Cat's disruptions, noting that Cat was recently on fire after attempting to cook, and Rimmer had to break off what he was doing to put him out. The incident meant that Rimmer missed a safety check, resulting in the Diesel Decks becoming flooded. When Cat says that he will continue to attempt to cook, Rimmer says that it is not allowed since Cat always gets distracted by his reflection in the spatula. To attempt to prove Rimmer wrong, Cat pulls out a small mirror from his sleeve, looks at it, but is almost immediately hypnotised by his reflection.

Screen-Shot-2017-11-10-at-15.40

In the sleeping quarters, Arnold Rimmer is annoyed to read that the Captain's confidential crew files say Dave Lister is 'bright'

Dave Lister and Kryten then enter the sleeping quarters, and Lister is forced to shake Cat out of his trance-like state, and Cat is initially unaware of where he is. Lister says excitedly that Kryten and himself have been going through Human Resources, and discovered Captain Hollister's private crew appraisal files. Rimmer says that they shouldn't be reading them, and Lister says that is the reason why they are reading them. Reading his own file, Lister reads about himself that "although clearly quite bright, is lazy, slovenly, rebellious, unreliable, rude and disorganized." Lister is, nonetheless, happy that the captain referred to him as 'bright', something which annoys Rimmer.

Rimmer then begins to read his own file, getting increasingly agitated as he does. It notes that he comes from an outstanding military family, and Rimmer's brothers (John, Frank and Howard) have all attained respect in the Space Corps and positions of command, but Rimmer has been wholly unsuccessful. Rimmer also denies the allegation that he always blames other people for his failings by blaming his mother, since "she was a blamer" and he got it from her. Rimmer then blames his fellow crewmates for his lack of achievement, saying that he should of surrounded himself with people brighter than himself. Lister counters that Rimmer did just that, noting that the captain at least called him bright, but had nothing good to say about Rimmer.

Soon after, Rimmer is listlessly going through some of his personal affects in the Science Room when Kryten enters with a trolley full of apples and oranges. Kryten explains that he is going to attempt to put Lister on a healthier diet, but Rimmer counters that Kryten has more chance of getting a vampire to eat garlic bread than getting Lister to eat fruit.

Space lesion

The Quantum Anomaly displayed on the navicomp in the Science Room of Red Dwarf

Kryten then suddenly notices something "quite terrifying" on the mid-range scan, but Rimmer is disinterested, assuming that Lister has once again used Rimmer's passport photo as the screensaver, blu tacking a piece of doner kebab meat to the screen to make Rimmer look like Freddie Mercury. Kryten tries to explain to Rimmer that an anomaly has penetrated their universe, resembling a cut or lesion in the space-time continuum, and it is headed strait for Red Dwarf. Rimmer remains unperturbed, seemingly more annoyed at the "cool, cosmologically 'on-trend'" language that he accuses Kryten of using to describe the anomaly, and which Rimmer doesn't understand. Rimmer then gets up to look up at the navicomp himself, to see the anomaly bearing down on them, and the ship begins to quake due to its close proximity. Rimmer asks Kryten if they can outrun it, and Kryten retorts that Red Dwarf "can't out run a fat guy with a backpack of uranium who's just scoffed a family fun bucket".

Up on A Deck, Lister and Cat exit the sleeping quarters into the corridor upon feeling the quake, and Cat says that the quake is probably nothing to worry about, since the "chick with the really calm voice" hasn't started talking. However, a pre-recorded female voice then begins to speak over the P.A. system, asking them to remain calm and requesting any survivors to return to their bunk for a head-count. Cat says out loud that they should go rendezvous with Kryten and Rimmer in the Science Room on G Deck to find out what is happening, and Lister agrees - however, immediately upon saying this, Lister and Cat then materialise in their sleeping quarters, much to their confusion. Lister begins to ponder over what has just happened, and asks if Cat will make him a coffee to help him think. Cat refuses, saying that Cats do not make coffee. Cat then suddenly materialises with a tray of coffee, confirming that Lister likes it with milk and two sugars. Cat is deeply perturbed by this turn of events, since he has never made anything for anybody, but Lister says that he likes it. Lister asks for biscuits, and Cat says that he isn't going to get biscuits - but then suddenly appears with some on a tray.

In the Science Room, Kryten requests a print out from the damage report machine, but nothing happens. This repeats three times. When Rimmer says that they should leave the damage report, it suddenly prints out. Rimmer says that they should not tell the others until they have figured out what it going on, and Kryten suddenly appears at the microphone at the other side of the room, requesting that Lister and Cat join them in the Science Room. Kryten then says that he has a theory - and tests it out by asking Rimmer if he would like some fruit off the cart. Rimmer says that he would like an apple, and Kryten throws him one. However, upon catching it, the apple has transformed into an orange. Kryten then explains that according to the Many Worlds interpretation of reality, every choice not taken results in the formation of a new universe that creates a new timeline and plays out the choice not taken. Due to the effects of a Quantum Anomaly, they are getting the results of the choices they haven't made feeding back to them.

Cleaning-shoes

Due to the effects of the Quantum Anomaly, Cat finds himself cleaning Lister's boots - after outright refusing to

In the sleeping quarters, Lister has begun to realise that whatever choice you say you are going to take, the choice you don't make happens instead. However, Cat has failed to grasp the concept, and Lister manipulates it to get Cat to some tasks for him, which he does as soon as refusing to do them. This includes cooking Lister breakfast (even though Lister had already had breakfast and said he didn't want to eat it, he suddenly started scoffing it down), cleaning Lister's bunk and polishing his moon boots (after miscalculating his ain't and nots, saying that "I ain't, not going to not polish your boots").

It takes Lister and Cat some time to reach the Science Room, since Cat keeps messing it up by saying out loud what they actually intend to do. This results in them teleporting back to the sleeping quarters when they talk about getting to the Science Room, and then back to the stairs when they mention taking the elevators - 229 floors above G Deck. When they finally reach the Science Room and reconvene with Kryten and Rimmer, Cat messes it up again by saying that they stay there and figure out what is going on - causing all four of them to materialise back in the sleeping quarters once again.

When they finally meet again in the Science Room, Kryten explains that there is a universe for everything - Cat finds this incredulous, since there must be a universe where double denim and crocs are cool. Kryten thinks that there must be a universe where he could return to Nova 5, and he could show his former crew that he is more than just a bog bot capable of cleaning toilets, since he can also mop floors. Rimmer thinks that there may be a universe where he is a "lucky bastard", and all the women who had said no to him instead said yes - and also wonders if there is a universe where Kryten gets to the point.

Kryten then admits that he has created the anomaly by mistake, after attempting to repair a broken Quantum Skipper device - technology that allows users to skip between alternate dimensions and take the place of an alternate version of themselves, to see how life would have been if they had made different decisions. The Dwarfers had previously salvaged the portable device from an abandoned quantum research station that Red Dwarf passed a month earlier. However, Kryten had miscalculated the settings in his experiments, tearing a hole in space-time.

Kryten assures the others that he will have the device in working order in a few hours, and so will be able to fix the anomaly, ending its effects. Lister then muses on the fact they will soon have a working Quantum Skipper, although he says that he has responsibilities as the last human in this universe, and so is unwilling to leave it. Cat says that there is no need to leave this universe since he is already in it, and Kryten says that he needs to stay to look after Lister, since without him "he'd fall apart quicker than a Jabba the Hutt diet plan." Kryten demonstrates this by taking an exposed electrical wire off Lister just as Lister was about to start sucking on it.

Rimmer states his intention that, once the anomaly is closed, he is going to use the Quantum Skipper to search for a new life, a fresh start, and "better people". Cat begs Rimmer to go, and tries to convince Rimmer to go by saying that maybe there is universe out there where Rimmer is not such a giant loser. Lister retorts that, even with an infinite number of universes, that's going to take some finding.

Quantum-skipper

Rimmer first uses the Quantum Skipper to enter another dimension

Soon after, Kryten has finished recalibrating the Quantum Skipper, and the anomaly has been fixed. Cat seems more anxious to get Rimmer on his way than anyone, excited at the prospect of Rimmer leaving Red Dwarf. Kryten explains to Rimmer that there is no menu to choose from as such, and any other Rimmer he jumps into will be from a random dimension within The Multiverse. However, all realities travelled to should be closely linked their own, and therefore not too different. Although the skips themselves are relatively straightforward, the skipper will require some recharge time between skips. After this brief tutorial, Rimmer then says that he has prepared a farewell speech to the other Dwarfers, pulling out a long sheet of paper. After a brief pause, Rimmer throws the paper away, loudly exclaims "See ya!" and presses the button, disappearing into a flash of blue light.

Screen-Shot-2017-11-10-at-15.43

Holly is once again the ship computer

Rimmer then finds himself in the body of a counterpart from another dimension, albeit still on board Red Dwarf and in cleaner looking White Corridor 159. He is still a hologram, although his uniform has reverted to his beige, pre-hologram style of dress, and the "H" on this forehead is much larger like it used to be when he was a new hologram. Rimmer is disappointed that he is still aboard Red Dwarf, since he thought he going to quantum skip to "somewhere good". However, he walks by the ship computer Holly on a wall monitor, looking much older in this reality. Rimmer at first does not realise that Holly was there - since, on his own ship, Holly had been out of order and absent for many years. Holly says "Morning, Arnold", and Rimmer replies "Morning, Holly", before suddenly doing a double take and staring at Holly in amazement.

Science-room-holly-skipper

Rimmer consults with Holly in the Science Room

Rimmer turns to Holly and asks him when it is and where he is; Holly replies that it is Monday, and he is in a corridor. Rimmer asks Holly if he is still computer senile, and Holly replies that due to some corrupted files he did believe that he was a dancing cabbage for a while, but he is over that now. Rimmer asks if he is now sane, and Holly says that he gets tested every month; he just doesn't have a certificate since he gets forgets to turn the exam page over.

SO Bradley

Bradley tells Rimmer to get back to work

A service elevator opens up, and a number of officers walk in to the corridor past Rimmer. At the forefront is Science Officer Bradley, who frowns at Rimmer and orders him back to work. Realising that the crew are still alive in this dimension, and the Cadmium II radiation leak has not happened in this reality, Rimmer begins to wander the ship in bewilderment, repeatedly asking Holly if "everybody is alive" (in a mirror of the scene where Lister comes out of stasis in "The End", repeatedly asking Holly is "everybody is dead".) Holly also explains that Lister is in stasis after having smuggled an unquarantined animal aboard.

As Rimmer asks how the crew survived the radiation leak, Holly tells him that there has not been a radiation leak. However, upon saying that, Holly breaks off to make an announcement - the red warning lights come on, klaxons blare out and Holly warns the crew that a radiation leak is now occurring, and advises the crew to run around screaming. In the background, panicked crew members run aimlessly. Rimmer checks a wall monitor which informs him that they've lost the port side. Holly retorts that they have lost not just the port but also the sherry, the brandy; the entire bar deck.

Screen-Shot-2017-11-10-at-15.44

Captain Hollister in the escape pod

Rimmer realises that the Quantum Skipper needs more time to recharge for him to skip to another dimension, and so he runs for an escape pod, only to find that an embarrassed Captain Frank Hollister is already inside. Hollister explains that he had every intention of going down with Red Dwarf; however he tripped into the escape pod and pressed the wrong button - he meant to press the 'get me out of this damned thing, I want to die nobly with my crew' button, only it turned out to be the 'get me home fast' switch. Rimmer asks Hollister to open up the door and take him with him, but Hollister explains that the pod is only a four seater, so there is only room for himself.

CadmiumIIleak-skipper-5

Rimmer manages to "skip" just in time before the Cadmium II leak hits him

Before admitting to Rimmer that he is not a good captain, Hollister presses the launch switch, but the pod jams. As flames race down the corridor, Rimmer repeatedly tries to activate the Quantum Skipper, which does eventually work and Rimmer skips out of there just before the flames hit him. The flames then consume Hollister's escape pod as he exclaims "Oh, nuts!"

Rimmer then finds himself in another version of Red Dwarf which appears similar to the one he first left, and he is once again in his usual blue hologram uniform. Moving onto the sleeping quarters, which is filled with large plants and more classy and refined decorations, Rimmer is surprised to discover that the Lister in this dimension is more upper class that the one he knew. Rimmer explains that he is from another reality where they are not friends, but Lister says that in this reality they are "space chums" and that he is not the sort of person who, as Rimmer says, would "clean his teeth and pee in the toilet simultaneously even though the basin and the toilet are in different rooms". Indeed, in this reality, Lister seems more nerdy and anally-retentive like Rimmer, and explains that he may need Rimmer's help in re-labelling his collection of vintage wires.

Screen-Shot-2017-11-10-at-15.45

"The Rat"

RatWorld

'Rat World'

Just as Rimmer is thinking of staying in this dimension, the fourth crewmember appears to join them for dinner - instead of Cat, it is a loud, boorish evolved rat simply called "The Rat", who announces his arrival by banging a gong by the door with his long tail. Lister explains that in this dimension, Lister's pet cat Frankenstein was instead a rat, and which involved into Rattus sapiens. Instead of leaving Red Dwarf during a religious war like the Felis sapiens did, the evolved rats simply stayed aboard Red Dwarf and filled every deck. "The Rat" loudly explains that he likes to sleep with Lister, since Lister is so "warm and snuggly", and demands off Kryten cheese sauce with his cheese. Rimmer says thanks for the invite, but he will skip dinner, and presses on the Quantum Skipper.

Sacrifice-dimension

Rimmer finds himself in a dimension where he is to be an occult sacrifice

Rimmer is still hopeful, and says that the next dimension must be better than 'Rat World'. However, upon entering the sleeping quarters, Rimmer sees that they are filled with several clones of Lister - that is, his own version of Lister - all listening to Rastabilly Skank and playing guitar terribly. Rimmer skips out of there, only to find that in the next dimension he is a disembodied head stuck inside a wall monitor as the ship computer, much the same as Holly was. He begs Kryten for help as Kryten passes, only for his cries to go ignored as Kryten cleans his monitor. The Quantum Skipper appears next to his head, and Rimmer presses the button with his nose. Rimmer then finds himself with his body, yet lying on a table in a darkened sleeping quarters whilst his crewmates stand over him wearing black robes, holding candles and chanting "Om". As Lister brings a knife down on Rimmer, he once again presses the skipper.

Blue-dwarf

Blue Dwarf

Rimmer then enters several dimensions where he is either disappointed or terrified by whatever he sees. Various noises, including growling, squelching, running water, elephant trumpets, and machine gun fire sound as Rimmer escapes unseen threats through the corridors. Red Dwarf travels through a different starscape every time Rimmer skips, and in one dimension, the ship itself is blue instead of red.

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Red Dwarf as it originally appeared - and appears once again

In the final dimension to which Rimmer travels, Red Dwarf appears as it originally did before it was altered by the nanobots (the same as it appeared in Series I-V) and he is once again wearing his old beige JMC uniform. Rimmer realises that he is no longer a hologram, but is human and alive in this reality. A female Science Officer, Parkinson, walks by and says "Officer Rimmer, Sir." Excited by the prospect he may be an officer in this reality, Rimmer runs to a wall monitor and looks up his file, which confirms that he has everything he ever wanted in this reality - he has finally passed his exams, is the ship Navigation Officer, and is married with four children, all boys. Parkinson then reappears to tell Rimmer that the captain wants to see him, and that she is passing by his quarters and so will tell Mrs. Rimmer that he will be a few minutes late. Thanking Parkinson, she happily does a Rimmer Salute as she leaves.

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Rimmer is horrified to discover that Lister is captain

Entering the Captain's Office, Rimmer is horrified to see that the captain is none other than a mustachioed Dave Lister. Although it is only lunchtime, Lister offers Rimmer cigars, cold beer, shots, and hot burgers all frozen in time from a stasis booth he has had installed in the office. Rimmer explains that he has Quantum Skipped from another reality, and he is exploring The Multiverse. Lister thinks that Rimmer is referring to a strip club of the same name on Venus, of which Lister denies ever having been to, but then admits he is a life-time member. Rimmer asks how Lister came to become the captain, and Lister explains that it is because he noticed the faulty drive plate in time, preventing the Cadmium II radiation leak, and after that it was "up the ziggurat lickedy-split", to coin a phrase that Rimmer had always used.

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Rimmer and Lister in the original bunkroom

Lister takes Rimmer onto their old Z shift sleeping quarters (the original bunkroom used by the boys in Series I-II), which has not been used in years, and been preserved exactly as they had left it. Rimmer looks out of the porthole window to see that Red Dwarf is in orbit of Earth, and is amazed that he is finally home. Lister says that he is also looking forward to seeing "Crissie", who Rimmer expects to be Kristine Kochanski - who his own Lister had been in love with - but captain Lister explains that he means Crystal, a stripper who Lister had met at the Multiverse, and who danced on table nine.

X1080-FOs

Rimmer explains he can't stay - due to jealousy over Lister's success

Rimmer wonders aloud why he should feel jealous of Lister, since although he is married to a stripper, he is still only a captain of a beaten up old mining ship, doing jags up and down the Milky Way every six months. Lister explains that he more successful than that - when he fixed the drive plate, he was offered a cash settlement by the JMC to keep quiet. However, Lister refused this settlement and instead successfully negotiated for shares. They had no idea that they would soon stumble upon a planet rich in Helium-7, making Lister a fortune. Defeated, Rimmer then explains that although he has everything he ever wanted in this reality, he could never live with the pain of Lister being more successful than him, and Quantum Skips for the final time.

Rimmer finds himself back in his usual sleeping quarters with his own versions of Lister, Kryten and Cat, who are playing poker for matchsticks. Kryten asks Rimmer if he found a universe where he felt less of a loser. Without saying anything, Rimmer then throws the Quantum Skipper on the ground and repeatedly stomps on it, smashing it to bits. Rimmer then quietly joins the others, shooing Kryten out of his usual place. Lister says to deal Rimmer in, and that infinite clearly wasn't enough.

Cast[]

Main Cast[]

Returning Cast[]

Guest Stars[]

Deleted Scenes[]

  • An alternate introduction to The Rat before he enters the sleeping quarters. Here, The Rat is stalking, sniffing and dancing around White Corridor 159, singing an alternate version of the "Fish Song" which replaces the word "fishy" with "cheesy" (I'm gonna eat you little cheesy...)

Trivia[]

  • "Skipper" is notable for containing cameo appearances by two former central characters - the original ship computer Holly (Norman Lovett) and former ship captain Frank Hollister (Mac McDonald) - both of whom make a return after last appearing in Series VIII two decades earlier.
    • The Captain Hollister and Holly in this episode are not however the same characters as before in the series, but alternate dimension versions of those characters. Therefore the fates of the two original characters (from our dimension) remains ambiguous.
  • The "Nobody's dead, Arnold" exchange between Rimmer and Holly references the classic "Everybody's dead, Dave" conversation between Holly and Lister from "The End" after the original crew were wiped out by the Cadmium II radiation leak.
  • Lister's major surprise to the time anomaly in this episode in ways are a lot similar from the early episodes in Series I, Series II & Series III and his reaction towards Kryten when he has built the device that skips different universes is a direct explanation to the last episode "M-Corp" where Lister is back to "square one", having lost his several years experiences in Deep Space since leaving stasis.
  • The Rat marks the first time that "evolved rats", or Rattus sapiens, have appeared in the television series. Rattus sapiens have previously been featured in the Red Dwarf Smegazine comics (1992), and also within the paper-based Red Dwarf the Roleplaying Game (2002).
  • This episode mentions Lister's aversion to eating fresh fruit and vegetables. (examples include "Quarantine", "Legion" and "Back in the Red II")
  • The more upper-class versions of Lister, replete with "posh" moustache, is almost identical to where Rimmer met "Captain Lister" in the Mirror Universe (in the deleted scenes of "Only the Good...", Series VIII).
  • Rimmer had gone through Captain Hollister's private files on the crew many years earlier, and was less than impressed with what was said about him, in the Series I episode "Waiting for God".
  • The classier, more refined sleeping quarters of 'Rat World' resemble how Kryten spruced up the place when allowed free reign in his first appearance.
  • In this episode, Rimmer has become depressed at his circumstances - that is, being stranded three million years into Deep Space, and forlorn at his lack of achievement in both life and death. Rimmer's despondency mirrors a numbers of former episodes, for example "Thanks for the Memory" and "Timeslides". Dave Lister has also become depressed at the circumstances of the Dwarfers on a number of occasions, such as the aforementioned "Timeslides", and later "Dear Dave".
  • Rimmer's very brief farewell speech to his crewmates before his first quantum skip mirrors other times he has said an awkward "final" goodbye to them, such as in "Holoship" and "Stoke Me a Clipper".
  • It is possible that the planet rich in Helium-7 which made the alternate captain Lister very wealthy was the same as "Planet Rimmer" in the episode "Timewave"; a planetoid discovered by the Dwarfers which was also rich in the extremely rare resource.
  • Although the boys from the Dwarf have visited their homeworld - Earth - on a number of occasions, this has always been through accidental time travel, dimensional travel, backward version, or even hallucinations. This episode marks the first time that an unaltered Earth is actually depicted from space within the show, and the first time that Red Dwarf is in orbit around its homeworld (albeit it takes place in a dimension where the accident never occurred, and Red Dwarf never left the Solar System).
    • For this final dimension visited by Rimmer, archive footage of the original model of Red Dwarf was used. There is also a faithful set recreation of the original sleeping quarters and the captain's office from the "The End" in the final dimension visited by Rimmer.

Background Information[]

  • The original title of this episode was "Star Knot"[1], referring to the Quantum Anomaly which was initially referred to as such.
  • Doug Naylor had intended this episode to be a "love letter to the fans and the older series". Originally, it was intended to have aired 15 February 2018 - the 30th anniversary of when "The End" was first broadcast by the BBC. However, due to scheduling with the Dave channel, Series XII aired significantly earlier then intended, and "Skipper" was broadcast 16 November 2017 - three months earlier than originally intended.
    • Nonetheless, the 30th anniversary of the show was still met with recognition, reflection and even celebration by fans.[2][3][4]
  • To make the set of the old Red Dwarf resemble the original sets, everything had to be resourced or remade by production designer Keith Dunne, down to the uniforms, seats and bedding.
Toddhunter-clipboard

Todhunter's original clipboard (pilot episode) / The Captain's personnel files in "Skipper"

    • Graphic designer for Series XII, Matthew Clark, spent many hours studying every episode of Series I in order to recreate the same visuals. One example of the detail which went into the recreation is that it the same font on the captain's files on the crew (as in this episode) that was on Todhunter's engineer report in the first episode - and even the same 80s clipboard.[5]
    • Cinematographer Ed Moore asked the original lighting director, John Pomphrey, to come to the set and show Moore how to light the set the exact same way it had been in Series I-II. Moore recreated Pomphrey's techniques, down to using the same coloured gel on the bunk room porthole window to shine the light through.[6]
  • The original, grey Series I-II sleeping quarters were recreated alongside the new, red Series X-XII sleeping quarters. Craig Charles noted that there was a stark contrast between the two, symbolising how far the show has come; with the new bunk room "looking like a film set", and the original still looking like "it was put together with blue tac and a bit of grey paint".
Skipper

Rimmer's old uniform and larger forehead "H"

  • Chris Barrie has said that he did not miss wearing the original "H" (hologram symbol) on his forehead again, since his neck could barely support the weight of it anymore.
  • Norman Lovett had told Doug Naylor that he would be happy to return as Holly, just for one episode, for old time's sake. Lovett had initially been smuggled into the studio incognito. Lovett's long awaited reappearance caused the studio audience to go wild; so much so that filming overran. Craig Charles said that he went for a tea break. Chris Barrie compared it to an explosion, and Danny John-Jules to an earthquake. The rest of the cast had to wait some time after Lovett's first line to wait for the crowd to stop laughing, cheering and whistling.
  • Mac McDonald has said that he struggled to remember his lines, since his short-term memory is failing, and especially since Doug Naylor rewrote the scene a number of times on the day of shooting to make Captain Hollister's lines funnier.
  • Danny John-Jules has said that he wanted his character of Cat to be the opposite of a "Huggy Bear", pimp-type character. However, the character of "The Rat" gave him just the excuse to act this way on this occasion.
    • When Danny John-Jules enters the sleeping quarters as The Rat, he knocks a gong with his tail. This was completely unintentional - since John-Jules could not even see where he was going in the outfit - but looked so good the take was kept. At first, John-Jules thought that it was a perfectly-timed sound effect.
    • "The Rat" scene was subject to numerous reshoots as the other cast could not stop "corpsing" - that is, they could not contain their laughter, ruining the take.
    • Robert Llewellyn said that he was nearly deafened by "The Rat" shouting "Yeah!", fitness instructor-like, repeatedly into his ear. The "snout" on the rat costume amplified the voice of John-Jules.

Noteworthy Dialogue[]

  • Rimmer: I'm busy, don't disturb me. Last time you disturbed me I was doing the safety check and I failed to notice that the Diesel Decks were flooded.
    Cat: All I said was "Help, I'm on fire".
    Rimmer: And it distracted me. I had to break off from what I was doing and put you out.
  • Kryten: Permission to try an anomalous, I mean weird experiment, sir.
    Rimmer: How weird?
    Kryten: Just moderately weird, sir; say, a 1989 Michael Jackson.
  • Rimmer: That's more than moderately weird, Kryten. That's more like a 1993 Michael Jackson.
  • Kryten: Ah, sir, that power line is live - it's best not to suck it.
  • Holly: Morning, Arnold.
    Rimmer: Morning, Holly.
    Rimmer: Holly, when is this? Where am I?
    Holly: It's Monday and you're in a corridor. Anything else I can help you with?
    Rimmer: Are you still senile?
    Holly: I've never been senile. I was a dancing cabbage for a while, but I'm over that now. Turned out it was some corrupted files.
    Rimmer: So you're sane again? Have you been tested?
    Holly: I'm the computer that runs the ship; I'm tested every month. Of course I've been tested. I'm always being tested.
    Rimmer: Can you prove that? Have you got a certificate?
    Holly: Well, no, I failed the test. I forgot to turn the paper over. I didn't realize there were two sides.
  • Rimmer: The crew are alive?
    Holly: Yes, Arnold.
    Rimmer: The original crew?
    Holly: Yes, Arnold.
    Rimmer: Captain Hollister ?
    Holly: Nobody's dead, Arnold.
    Rimmer: Todhunter?
    Holly: Nobody's dead, Arnold.
    Rimmer: Not even Petersen?
    Holly: Nobody.
    Rimmer: Nobody's dead, not even Lister?
    Holly: Gordon Bennett. Lister, Petersen - nobody. Nobody's dead. Nobody is dead, Arnold.
    Rimmer: So, hang on - you're telling me nobody's dead?
    Holly: I wish I never brought this up now.
    Rimmer: How is this any better than where I came from? Where is Lister? Where is that little goit?
    Holly: He's in stasis. He smuggled an un-quarantined animal on board so he got thrown into suspended animation.
    Rimmer: So, wait - how did you all survive the radiation leak that wiped out all the crew?
    Holly: There hasn't been a radiation leak, Arnold.
    Rimmer: Are you sure?
    Holly: Sorry to break off, Arnold, I've got to make an announcement.
    Holly: [an alarm sounds] Radiation leak alert! Radiation leak alert! All crew should run around screaming!
  • Rimmer: [finding Captain Hollister in an escape pod] Captain?
    Captain Hollister: Oh, Rimmer. Man, this is embarrassing.
    Rimmer: What are you doing?
    Captain Hollister: Errr, I was trying to go down with the Dwarf, do the right thing, when suddenly I tripped into this escape pod; I thought I was pressing the Get Me Out of This Damn Thing I Wanna Die Nobly With My Crew button, only it turned out to be the Get Me Home Fast switch. Now it's launching.
    Rimmer: Just press the emergency over switch. Take me with you.
    Captain Hollister: Aaahhh, I'd like to invite you along, Rimmer, but as you can see it's only a four-seater, so there's only room for me.
    Rimmer: But sir - I thought all good Captains went down with their ships.
    Captain Hollister: [waving] They do. Later.
    Captain Hollister: [as the flames consume his jammed escape pod] Oh, nuts...
  • Rimmer: [In another universe, entering the Captain's quarters on Red Dwarf] Rimmer, sir. You wanted to see me.
    [The Captain turns round from his seat to be none other than Lister. Rimmer gives a horrified expression]
    Lister: I run a tight ship here Rimmer, that's one of the reasons I'm so universally respected. [He hands out a can of beer to Rimmer] Fancy a cold one?
    Rimmer: [frustrated] No, no, no, no, no, no, no!

Reception[]

Ganymede & Titan gave "Skipper" a very favourable review, saying that this episode tipped the Dave-era episodes towards being favorable after some poor episodes.[7]

According to Gazpacho Soup: "This is a perfect celebration of thirty years of Red Dwarf... ...Skipper exemplifies how the show can still takes risks and surprise, as well as subvert established comedic ideas and remain fresh. The second half of this series has truly proved that the show continues to be every bit as relevant today as it has always been, and on the strength of Skipper, I can’t wait to see what’s still to come."[8]

According to Den of Geek: "Skipper is a funny and fan-pleasing series finale, at the end of a run that has had its highs and lows. It's not in the upper tier that Mechocracy and M-Corp reached in previous weeks, but it's a cracker nonetheless. Further series seem likely, even if they are yet to be confirmed by UK TV, but just in case, this leaves the show in remarkably rude health. Even when they look back to The End, there's nothing so final about it. To paraphrase a senile computer; appreciate what you've got, because basically, it's fantastic."[9]

References[]



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