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"Holoship" is the first episode of Series V of the
science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...
''
Red Dwarf ''Red Dwarf'' is a British science fiction comedy franchise created by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, which primarily consists of a television sitcom that aired on BBC Two between 1988 and 1999, and on Dave since 2009, gaining a cult following. T ...
'' and the twenty-fifth in the series run. It was first broadcast on the British television channel
BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...
on 20 February 1992 in the 9:00 PM evening time slot. It was written by
Rob Grant Robert Grant is an English comedy writer, television producer and co-creator of ''Red Dwarf''. Since ''Red Dwarf'', Grant has written two television series, ''The Strangerers'' and '' Dark Ages'', and four solo novels, his most recent being '' F ...
and
Doug Naylor Douglas Rodger Naylor (born 31 December 1955) is an English comedy writer, science fiction writer, director and television producer. Life and career Naylor was born in Manchester, Lancashire, England, and studied at Chetham's School of Music ...
, and directed by
Juliet May Juliet May is a British television director. She has directed television shows such as ''Dalziel and Pascoe (TV series), Dalziel and Pascoe'', ''Hope and Glory (TV series), Hope and Glory'', ''New Tricks'' and ''Miranda (TV series), Miranda''. ...
.


Plot

While travelling aboard a ''Starbug'',
Dave Lister David "Dave" Lister, commonly referred to simply as Lister, is a fictional character from the British science fiction situation comedy ''Red Dwarf'', portrayed by Craig Charles. Lister is characterised as a third-class technician (the lowest r ...
,
Cat The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of ...
,
Kryten Kryten is a fictional character in the British science fiction situation comedy ''Red Dwarf''. The name ''Kryten'' is a reference to the head butler in the J.M. Barrie play ''The Admirable Crichton''. Originally referred to as a Series III mecha ...
,
Arnold Rimmer Arnold Judas Rimmer is a fictional character in the science fiction sitcom ''Red Dwarf'', played by Chris Barrie. Rimmer is characterised as a second-class technician (and de facto leader) of the mining ship Red Dwarf. Portrayed as snobbish, peda ...
and
Holly ''Ilex'' (), or holly, is a genus of over 570 species of flowering plants in the family Aquifoliaceae, and the only living genus in that family. ''Ilex'' has the most species of any woody dioecious angiosperm genus. The species are evergreen o ...
finish watching a movie. While Lister is left in tears and Kryten praises the film, Rimmer shows disgust over the romantic elements of its plot, claiming no man would abandon their dreams for a woman they love, especially one they will never see again. Holly interrupts the discussion by alerting the group to the presence of another craft. The group discover the craft to be a holoship called the ''Enlightenment'' – a purely holographic vessel, not detectable on any sensors, crewed entirely by computer-generated holograms of Space Corps elite personnel. Rimmer is subsequently taken aboard and delights in finding himself able to exist in a place where he can touch, feel and taste without any form of assistance, further surprised that ''Enlightment'' upholds a regulation that crew members have sex twice a day. Rimmer becomes attracted to one such crew member, Commander Nirvanah Crane. He falls in love with her, and decides to ask the ship's captain to join the crew. However, he learns that the crew is already full but that if he passes an intelligence contest against another crew member, he will be recruited at the expense of his opponent's existence. Concerned he will fail, Rimmer opts to cheat and has Kryten give him a mind-patching operation to increase his IQ. The patch fails during the contest, leading Rimmer to abandon it halfway through and disrupt Lister, Cat and Kryten's interviews for a new hologram to request a new one. Kryten tells him that his mind cannot readily accept a patch. However, Rimmer is delighted when his opponent suddenly withdraws, and bids farewell to his friends before transporting onto the ''Enlightment''. Upon learning that Nirvanah was his opponent and that she sacrificed herself for his happiness, Rimmer finds himself renouncing his earlier belief on romance (even to his own disbelief), resigns his new commission, and returns to ''Red Dwarf'' in order to let Nirvanah be reinstated with her crew.


Production

The ''Enlightenment'''s model was built by Paul McGuiness. One of the cut scenes showed the holoship changing shape. The transparent perspex miniature was also a casualty of the editing cut. Besides the holoship special effects, other scenes and lines were cut out or trimmed down, including many holoship crew scenes and Holly's unhelpful speech to Rimmer. Guest stars included
Jane Horrocks Barbara Jane Horrocks (born 18 January 1964) is a British actress. She portrayed the roles of Bubble and Katy Grin in the BBC sitcom ''Absolutely Fabulous''. She was nominated for the 1993 Olivier Award for Best Actress for the title role in th ...
as Cdr. Nirvanah Crane, Matthew Marsh as Capt. Hercule Platini,
Don Warrington Don Warrington MBE (born Donald Williams, 23 May 1951) is a Trinidadian-born British actor. He is best known for playing Philip Smith in the ITV sitcom ''Rising Damp'' (1974–78), and Commissioner Selwyn Patterson in the BBC detective series ...
as Cdr. Binks,
Simon Paisley Day Simon Paisley Day (born 13 April 1967), also credited as Simon Day, is an English stage and screen actor. His most recent work includes ''Timon of Athens'' (2008), ''Entertaining Mr Sloane'' (2009), ''Private Lives'' (2010), ''Twelfth Night'' ...
as Cdr. Randy Navarro – Number Two, Jane Montgomery as Cdr. Natalina Pushkin – Number One, and
Lucy Briers Lucy Jane Briers (born 19 August 1967) is an English actress. Her film, stage and television roles have included appearances in '' Pride & Prejudice'' (1995) and sitcom '' Game On''. Early life Briers was born on 19 August 1967 in Hammersmith, ...
as Harrison. The two (uncredited) actors heard in the film at the beginning of the episode were
Kate Robbins Kate Elizabeth Robbins (born 21 August 1958) is an English actress, singer and songwriter. She came to prominence in the early 1980s when she scored a top ten single on the UK Official Charts with "More Than in Love", while she was appearing in t ...
and
Steve Steen Steve Steen (born 26 December 1954) is a British television, radio and theatre actor and comedian, known for improvisational comedy works. Early career Whilst a pupil at Clapham College in London, Steen became friends with Jim Sweeney, and the ...
.


Cultural references

*''
King of Kings King of Kings; grc-gre, Βασιλεὺς Βασιλέων, Basileùs Basiléōn; hy, արքայից արքա, ark'ayits ark'a; sa, महाराजाधिराज, Mahārājadhirāja; ka, მეფეთ მეფე, ''Mepet mepe'' ...
'', the story of
Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
, is mentioned by Lister as a film that Rimmer stated as unrealistic. *Kryten references
Albert Einstein Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...
in trying to convince Rimmer that he is more than his job. *Rimmer suggests that
St. Francis of Assisi Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, better known as Saint Francis of Assisi ( it, Francesco d'Assisi; – 3 October 1226), was a mystic Italian Catholic friar, founder of the Franciscans, and one of the most venerated figures in Christianit ...
said "
Never give a sucker an even break ''Never Give a Sucker an Even Break'' (known in some international releases as ''What a Man!'') is a 1941 Universal Pictures comedy film starring W. C. Fields. Fields also wrote the original story, under the pseudonym "Otis Criblecoblis." Fields ...
". Kryten states that if so it must have been strictly off the record.


Reception

Although "Holoship" was filmed third in the series,Series V Preview, Red Dwarf Smegazine, issue 1, March 1992, Fleetway Editions Ltd, issn 0965-5603 it was chosen to lead off the series as it was felt that it would draw in viewers the same way as " Camille" had done during the previous series. It worked in the sense that the viewing figures increased as the series progressed.Grant and Naylor Look Back, Red Dwarf Smegazine, issue 11, January 1993, Fleetway Editions Ltd, issn 0965-5603 However the episode was considered the worst in the series by fans, having a 0.2% rating on the Red Dwarf Smegazine poll.Red Dwarf Smegazine: Survey Results, issue 10, December 1992, Fleetway Editions Ltd, ISSN 0965-5603 With its out-of-place moment of pathos at the end of the episode, Sci-Fi Dimensions described it as "less like Red Dwarf and more like a rejected Star Trek episode."


Continuity goof

One of the biggest issues with continuity in ''Red Dwarf'' is the fact that the ship can only sustain one hologram. When Rimmer returns to ''Red Dwarf'' to get more of the mind patch, there is a hologram in the room with the others. This could be considered a mistake in continuity; however, Rimmer's hologrammatic status could be projected by the holoship, allowing for ''Red Dwarf'' to sustain the other hologram. ''Red Dwarf'' has projected two holograms in the past, for a short period (such as "Me2", which closed season one), although both these were holograms of Rimmer.


References


External links

* *
Series V episode guide at www.reddwarf.co.uk
{{Red Dwarf episodes Red Dwarf V episodes 1992 British television episodes Holography in television