Red Dwarf Favorites: Quarantine

Howdy smeggers and welcome to Day 5 of Red Dwarf Favorites.  Today we touch base on the first episode I ever saw from Red Dwarf and it was almost an instant like.  Our story begins in Series 5 Episode 4 leads our crew into a salvage mission at an abandoned research center on a ice planet.  The search follows an emergency distress signal leading them to look about the center which leads them to all sorts of danger.  This is Quarantine.

It's only a model.

Rimmer: So let me get this straight. You wanna fly on a magic carpet to see the king of the Spoiler People and plead with for your freedom, and you're telling me you're all completely sane?



As the team took Starbug out for the search and rescue mission Rimmer assumes command...  not that you would know it by the lack of response from Lister and the Cat.  Kryten asked politely for the scouter droid to be launched and the boys jumped right in action.  After a few minutes later the crew informs Rimmer that the research center holds the experiments of Doctor Hildegarde Lanstrom (Maggie Steed of Shine on Harvey Moon, Pie in the Sky, Clatterford, Whites, 32 Brinkburn Street, Stella and Midsomer Murders),  a brillant scientist whose field of studies are positive and negative viruses.  They point out that they need to borrow Rimmer's holo-projector to acquire Lanstrom, who is also a hologram.

She's got Betty Davis Eyes!!!

Rimmer grumbles and points out how Red Dwarf cannot handle more than one hologram at a time.  Lister suggests a time share idea and Rimmer goes through the roof over this.  As Kryten begins to inform Rimmer of Space Corp Directive, Rimmer preps a pod to go back to Red Dwarf claiming that Kryten has made up these rules.  Kryten asks Holly to provide Rimmer with a hologramatic version the Space Corp Directives and Rimmer snarls and capitulates while waiting for the pod to be prepared.

With that out of the way Kryten, Lister and the Cat make their way into the center only to discover the viral projects may be volatile but the scare was unjustified.  Lanstrom was in a stasis pod preserving herself, proceeds to fire beams from her eyes at our boys and they flee.   Kryten deduces that Lanstrom is infected with a holo-virus and she is quite crackers.  Trying to get support from Rimmer via radio, Rimmer behaves smug and petulant as per usual.  Lanstrom speaks to Rimmer and exclaims how quite mad she is.  Rimmer shakes his head and proceeds back to the Dwarf.   Our fellows luck out as the virus burns Lanstrom out and they take her discoveries and research back to the Dwarf.  

Just humor him, fellas.

Finding that Starbug is heading to a different landing bay which is quarantine.  Space Corp Directive 595 (any crew member in direct contact with diseases must enter quarantine for the next three months.)  Leaving the three of them in one bedroom accommodations as per Space Corp Directive 597 (one berth per registered crew member) Lister is the only registered crew member, one room is all they get.  Is the various diseases infected our heroes or is Rimmer being a total git?  Will they be cleared or cash in their chips all together?

Some fun facts about this episode now.  The Mr. Flibble penguin puppet was nothing more than a stand-in prop puppet as the crew was hitting every thrift shop imaginable but could not find anything as comical as the penguin.  In the end, the temporary prop was used for the episode.

It took up to an hour to film a three-minute scene with Cat, Lister and Kryten arguing in the quarantine bay.  The cast kept blowing their lines and cracking up with out and out laughter.  The producers were going out of their minds as they had only booked the studio for two and a half hours overall.

Rimmer out for his constitutional.