Red Dwarf/Backwards

Backwards
Season 3, Episode 1
Airdate	November 14, 1989
Written by	Rob Grant, Doug Naylor
Directed by	Ed Bye
← 2x06 Parallel Universe	3x02 → Marooned
Red Dwarf — Season Three

Backwards is the first episode of the third season of Red Dwarf, and the thirteenth episode overall.

Guest Stars: Maria Friedman (Waitress), Tony Hawks (Compere), Arthur Smith (Pub Manager), Anna Palmer (Customer in Cafe)

Plot Overview

To explain changes and clear up loose ends from series two a rather lengthy and difficult to read prologue appears at the beginning of this episode.

Rimmer is giving Kryten a pilot's test aboard Starbug 1. While he is quizzing Kryten, a timehole appears directly in front of them, and they fly right into it.

When they come out the other side, they crash land on Earth in the year 1993. The only problem is that everything is backwards.

This episode is replete with backwards speech and sight gags:

• a woman un-eats a cream-filled doughnut.
• she also un-drinks her tea.
• people un-eating various other foods and beverages.

Lister and the Cat search for Kryten and Rimmer; and eventually follow them through the timehole to the backwards Earth. Unlike the others, Lister and the Cat don't realize that everything is backwards -- they think they're in Bulgaria.

They eventually find Rimmer and Kryten working as a novelty act at a pub. They are the Sensational Reverse Brothers, and are happy in this world. They don't want to go back.

When Lister finally figures out that everything is backwards, he un-drinks beer, un-rumbles (starts/ends a bar room brawl), and in the process gets Rimmer and Kryten fired ... all in reverse.

Just as they are boarding Starbug 2 to leave, the Cat takes a moment to be alone in the bushes. Bad move!

Arc Advancement

Happenings

Starbug 1 is lost when Kryten crashes it on the backwards Earth.

Characters

We find out several things in the prolgue:

• Holly has performed a head sex-change on himself and now looks like Hilly, his female opposite from the episode Parallel Universe.
• Lister's pregnancy which began in the episode Parallel Universe, completes successfully. He had two boys, Jim and Bexley. Unfortunately they aged at a rapid rate and were 18 within a few days of being born. To save their lives they had to be returned to their "mother" in the parallel universe.
• Kryten, the android from the episode of the same name, is found in pieces on an asteroid, the victim of an unfortunate space bike crash. Lister reassembles him, but is unable to recapture his entire personality. Kryten now becomes a regular on the show.

Trivia

Allusions and References

• Lister and the Cat have a discussion about the relative merits of the Flintstones women.
• To hide his mechanical appearance, Kryten dons a Ronald Regan mask.
• Rimmer makes reference to Doug McClure when asking Holly what time period they are in.

Memorable Moments

When Rimmer and Kryten are trying to convince the others that the backwards Earth makes more sense than their own reality, Lister points out that on the backward Earth, Santa Claus is the "fat git who sneaks down the chimney and steals all the kids favorite toys!" Also, Lister does not want to have to go through puberty again (backwards)!

Quotes

• As the show opens, we see Lister and the Cat watching the Flintstones. They have just had a discussion about how sexy Wilma is ...
  Lister: This is crazy. Why are we talking about going to bed with Wilma Flintstone?
  Cat: You're right. We're nuts! This is an insane converstation ...
  Lister: ... She'll never leave Fred and we know it!
• In a restaurant on the backwards Earth, Kryten is concerned that people may realize that he is not human:
  Kryten: If people see my face, what are they going to think?
  Rimmer: Tell them you took your car to the crusher's, and forgot to get out.
• Later when Rimmer and Kryten are looking for jobs
  Rimmer: But what jobs are there in a backwards reality for a dead hologram and an android with a head shaped like a novelty condom.

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