Red Dwarf/The Last Day

The Last Day
Season 3, Episode 6
Airdate	December 19, 1989
Written by	Rob Grant, Doug Naylor
Directed by	Ed Bye
← 3x05 Timeslides	4x01 → Camille
Red Dwarf — Season Three

The Last Day is the sixth episode of the third season of Red Dwarf, and the eighteenth episode overall.

Guest Stars: Gordon Kennedy (Hudzen 10), Julie Higginson (Marilyn Monroe android), Robert Llewellyn (Jim Reaper)

Plot Overview

A homing pod from DivaDroid International, the company that manufactured Kryten, arrives with a message telling them that in 24 hours time, Kryten's in-built shutdown chip will activate. This feature insures that manufacturers will always be able to sell their latest models.

Unable to prevent Kryten's demise, everyone throws a big party for him in the Officers Club. Everyone gives him presents. Holly whips up a batch of android home-brew (since he is unaffected by alcohol). She also gives him a 5517-W13 alpha sim modem as a present.

When they wake up in the morning they all have hangovers. Kryten too. Hudzen 10, Kryten's replacement, has arrived, and is requesting permission to come aboard.

Lister asks why they can't just tell him that he's gotten the wrong address. Kryten explains that his replacement will destroy him, if he doesn't come willingly. It is the only circumstance under which an android is programmed to be violent.

So, they go to meet him on the landing gantry. They are well armed, and there is alot of tough talk. However, Hudzen 10 is a tough guy android with a shotgun. On top of that his sanity chip has worn out. So when they actually see him, the Cat and Rimmer back down. Lister sticks with Kryten though. At one point he even shoots Hudzen with his own shotgun, but it has no effect whatsoever.

Ultimately Kryten (with a little help from Holly) talks Hudzen to death by telling him that there is no Silicon Heaven.

Arc Advancement

Characters

• As the episode opens we see another example of Lister not being comfortable having Kryten as a mere servant. He doesn't like master-servant relationships.
• Lister learns that Kryten believes in Silicon Heaven, the final resting place of all electronic devices, including calculators.
• Rimmer was once a member of the Samaritans ... for one day. He spoke with five people ... They all committed suicide. One of them was even a wrong number. The papers called it "Lemming Sunday".

Trivia

Behind the Scenes

• Jim Reaper, the Divadroid spokesman, is played by the same actor who plays Kryten, Robert Llewellen, only without the android makeup.

Allusions and References

• Lister tells the story of how he got drunk, went to the top of the Eifel Tower, got sick, and vomited. He calims a street artist sold the result to a Texan tourist, who believed it was a genuine Jackson Pollock.
• Kryten is moved that the others would gamble their safety to save him, a mere android. "Is this the human value you call ... friendship?" Lister responds, "Don't give me that Star Trek crap! It's too early in the morning."

Memorable Moments

• At Kryten's party, his present from Lister is a Marilyn Monroe android (constructed from a kit that Petersen bought on Callisto). The android does not even look human, much less like Marilyn Monroe, yet when Kryten first sees her he exclaims, "Goodness me! It's Marilyn Monroe!"
• In a video advert for the new Hudzen 10 android, the announcer tells us, "...10 times stronger ...". Then we see Hudzen 10 unzip his trousers (off screen), and proceed to break a brick in half with a single pelvic thrust.
• When Rimmer, who has been cowering in the rear, learns the Hudzen 10 is programmed not to harm humans, he suddenly becomes bold and gets right in Hudzen's face to give him a piece of his mind. This forces Hudzen 10 to reaccess the humanity of each of those present. Even Lister is classified only as "barely human". They are all viable targets!

Quotes

• Both Kryten and Hudzen ask the question,
  Where would all the calculators go?
• A moment after Kryten talks Hudzen to death, the Divadroid spokesman appears with an apologetic message.
  A metaphysical dichotomy has forced this unit to overload and shut down ...

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