The End (Red Dwarf)
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"The End" is the first episode of
science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...
''
Red Dwarf A red dwarf is the smallest kind of star on the main sequence. Red dwarfs are by far the most common type of fusing star in the Milky Way, at least in the neighborhood of the Sun. However, due to their low luminosity, individual red dwarfs are ...
'', which was first broadcast on the British television channel
BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matter, incorporating genres such as comedy, drama and ...
on 15 February 1988. The episode introduces the main characters and sets up the story backbone of the series. On the mining ship ''Red Dwarf'',
Dave Lister David 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 ranking ...
is placed in stasis for refusing to give up the whereabouts of his forbidden pet cat. When he emerges from stasis, three million years later, he discovers that everybody has died from a radiation leak. The episode was written by
Rob Grant Robert Grant is an English comedy writer, television producer and co-creator of the ''Red Dwarf'' comedy franchise. Since ''Red Dwarf'', Grant has written two television series, ''The Strangerers'' and ''Dark Ages (TV series), Dark Ages'', and ...
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 ...
, directed by
Ed Bye Edward Richard Morrison Bye is a British film and TV producer and director. He directed the episodes of the science-fiction sitcom ''Red Dwarf'' from Series I-IV and VII-VIII. Early life Ed Bye is the son of Royal Marine Colonel Francis Cliffo ...
and starred
Craig Charles Craig Joseph Charles (born 11 July 1964) is an English actor, comedian and radio presenter. He is best known for his roles as Dave Lister in the science fiction sitcom ''Red Dwarf'' and Lloyd Mullaney in the soap opera ''Coronation Street'' (2 ...
,
Chris Barrie Chris Barrie (born Christopher Jonathan Brown; 28 March 1960) is a British actor and comedian. He worked as a vocal impressionist on the ITV sketch show '' Spitting Image'' (1984–1996) and as Lara Croft's butler Hillary in '' Lara Croft: ...
,
Danny John-Jules Daniel John-Jules (born 16 September 1960) is a British actor, singer and dancer. He is best known for playing Cat (Red Dwarf), Cat in the sci-fi comedy series ''Red Dwarf'', Barrington in the comic children's series ''Maid Marian and Her Merry M ...
and
Norman Lovett Norman Lovett (born 31 October 1946) is a British stand-up comedian and actor best known for his portrayal of Holly, the ship's computer in ''Red Dwarf''. Career Lovett became a stand-up comedian in his thirties, initially supporting punk b ...
. The script was rejected by the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
three times before it was given the go ahead three years later. An electricians' strike at the BBC prevented filming and production on the series halted, only going ahead after the dispute was resolved. The broadcast episode differs greatly from the originally filmed version. Grant and Naylor felt that scenes from the episode did not work, so with a spare filming slot additional scenes were added and previous scenes filmed again. Gaining more than five million viewers on its first showing, the episode is considered one of the best from the first series by fans. It was later re-mastered, along with the rest of the first three series, in 1998.


Plot

On the mining vessel ''Red Dwarf'',
Dave Lister David 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 ranking ...
(
Craig Charles Craig Joseph Charles (born 11 July 1964) is an English actor, comedian and radio presenter. He is best known for his roles as Dave Lister in the science fiction sitcom ''Red Dwarf'' and Lloyd Mullaney in the soap opera ''Coronation Street'' (2 ...
) and
Arnold Rimmer Arnold Judas Rimmer is a fictional character and one of the main characters of the science fiction sitcom ''Red Dwarf'', played by Chris Barrie. Rimmer is a second-class technician and the de facto leader of the mining ship ''Red Dwarf''. Portray ...
(
Chris Barrie Chris Barrie (born Christopher Jonathan Brown; 28 March 1960) is a British actor and comedian. He worked as a vocal impressionist on the ITV sketch show '' Spitting Image'' (1984–1996) and as Lara Croft's butler Hillary in '' Lara Croft: ...
) go about their daily routine of maintenance. Rimmer takes his maintenance duties very seriously, despite lacking respect from other crew members, while Lister is more eager to be lazy and drink with others, and hopes to return to Earth to start a farm on
Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...
with the true love of his life,
Kristine Kochanski Kristine Z. Kochanski is a fictional character from the British science fiction situation comedy ''Red Dwarf''. Kochanski was the first console officer in the navigation chamber on board the spaceship ''Red Dwarf''. As well as appearing in the te ...
( Clare Grogan). The following day, Rimmer prepares for his latest attempt at the engineering exam, hoping to get promoted, but finds that the notes and equations he wrote on his arms and legs have been blurred due to him sweating nervously, prompting him to hand in a voided examination paper to the examiner before fainting.Howarth & Lyons (1993) p. 45. Meanwhile, Lister is brought before
Captain Hollister This is a list of characters from the TV sitcom ''Red Dwarf''. Major characters Overview Details Alter egos Ace Rimmer Arnold "Ace" Rimmer is an alter-ego of Arnold Rimmer, also played by Chris Barrie. Ace first appears in the episod ...
(
Mac McDonald Mac McDonald (born Terence McDonald; June 18, 1949) is an American actor. He is known for playing Captain Hollister This is a list of characters from the TV sitcom ''Red Dwarf''. Major characters Overview Details Alter egos Ace Ri ...
) and accused of smuggling aboard a non-quarantined pet – a pregnant cat that Lister named Frankenstein and hopes to include in his future plans. Learning that Frankenstein would be " put down" for a
biopsy A biopsy is a medical test commonly performed by a surgeon, interventional radiologist, an interventional radiologist, or an interventional cardiology, interventional cardiologist. The process involves the extraction of sampling (medicine), sample ...
, Lister refuses and is sentenced to 18 months of suspended animation in a stasis cell. When he is revived by
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 ...
(
Norman Lovett Norman Lovett (born 31 October 1946) is a British stand-up comedian and actor best known for his portrayal of Holly, the ship's computer in ''Red Dwarf''. Career Lovett became a stand-up comedian in his thirties, initially supporting punk b ...
) – the ship's ever increasingly senile computer – he is informed that the crew are all dead, after a faulty drive plate caused them to be subjected to a lethal dose of cadmium II radiation. Lister is horrified to learn that he could not be released until three million years later, when the radiation had dispersed. Lister soon discovers that Rimmer was resurrected by Holly as a hologram, though with the inability to touch or feel anything, and learns that he was responsible for the accident. While they explore the ship, the pair come across a graceful-looking humanoid which Holly reveals to be an evolution of cats descended from Lister's pet. Holly reveals that Frankenstein managed to get into the ship's hold during the accident and was able to be safely sealed as a result. When the pair catch up with it, they manage to convince it that they are no threat, whereupon Lister names him
Cat The cat (''Felis catus''), also referred to as the domestic cat or house cat, is a small domesticated carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species of the family Felidae. Advances in archaeology and genetics have shown that the ...
(
Danny John-Jules Daniel John-Jules (born 16 September 1960) is a British actor, singer and dancer. He is best known for playing Cat (Red Dwarf), Cat in the sci-fi comedy series ''Red Dwarf'', Barrington in the comic children's series ''Maid Marian and Her Merry M ...
) and learns that his ancestors created a religion around him. When Cat explains that his kind revered Lister as "Cloister the Stupid", who would lead them to the "
promised land In the Abrahamic religions, the "Promised Land" ( ) refers to a swath of territory in the Levant that was bestowed upon Abraham and his descendants by God in Abrahamic religions, God. In the context of the Bible, these descendants are originally ...
", Fuchal. Lister points out what he means and promises to do so, prompting Holly to a course for Fiji. After Rimmer remarks that humankind will have evolved to the point that Lister will be like "the slime that first crawled out of the oceans", Lister declares "Look out, Earth – the slime's coming home!"Howarth & Lyons (1993) p. 46.


Production


Writing

The episode was written in 1983 during a stay at a cottage in Wales belonging to Doug Naylor's father. Almost a mile up a mountain the writing duo team of Rob Grant and Doug Naylor spent day and night writing.Howarth & Lyons (1993) pp. 3–4. Almost finished, the pair had a near fatal accident during nightfall when their car veered perilously near the edge of a cliff. The script was not finished as expected as they spent the next day rescuing the car. Grant and Naylor passed the completed script to their agent Paul Jackson, whom they had worked for on ''Three of a Kind'' and ''Carrot's Lib'', and John Lloyd, whom they worked with on ''
Spitting Image ''Spitting Image'' is a British satirical television puppet show, created by Peter Fluck, Roger Law and Martin Lambie-Nairn. First broadcast in 1984, the series was produced by 'Spitting Image Productions' for Central Independent Television ...
''. They both came back saying that they loved it, with even talk of them doing a co-production for the series.Howarth & Lyons (1993) p. 4. However, the task of dealing with the production rested with Jackson who had trouble convincing the BBC who went on to reject the script three times. Grant and Naylor were keen to have the series done on the BBC as they felt the extra 3 minutes of non-
commercial Commercial may refer to: * (adjective for) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and services ** (adjective for) trade, the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money * a dose of advertising ...
time would be invaluable. It would take another three years before the series was accepted by BBC North West.Howarth & Lyons (1993) p. 5.


Casting

When casting auditions started
Norman Lovett Norman Lovett (born 31 October 1946) is a British stand-up comedian and actor best known for his portrayal of Holly, the ship's computer in ''Red Dwarf''. Career Lovett became a stand-up comedian in his thirties, initially supporting punk b ...
was the first member of the cast selected, but had originally auditioned for Rimmer. Grant and Naylor thought otherwise and offered him the role of Holly, who at this stage was just a
voice-over Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique used in radio, television, filmmaking, theatre, and other media in which a descriptive or expository voice that is not part of the narrative (i.e., non- ...
part.
Danny John-Jules Daniel John-Jules (born 16 September 1960) is a British actor, singer and dancer. He is best known for playing Cat (Red Dwarf), Cat in the sci-fi comedy series ''Red Dwarf'', Barrington in the comic children's series ''Maid Marian and Her Merry M ...
auditioned successfully for the Cat.
Craig Charles Craig Joseph Charles (born 11 July 1964) is an English actor, comedian and radio presenter. He is best known for his roles as Dave Lister in the science fiction sitcom ''Red Dwarf'' and Lloyd Mullaney in the soap opera ''Coronation Street'' (2 ...
was sent the script for his opinion as there were concerns over the Cat character coming across as
racist Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...
. Charles was also being considered for the role.Interview: Grant Naylor, Red Dwarf Smegazine, issue 6, August 1992, Fleetway Editions Ltd, However it was later decided that Craig would be better suited auditioning for the role of Lister, who was initially described in the script as in his early forties.Howarth & Lyons, (1993) pp. 5–6. Chris Barrie later auditioned for both the Lister and Rimmer roles. A previous collaborator with Grant and Naylor, Chris had worked on their radio show ''Son of Cliché''. Bigger named actors like
Alan Rickman Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman (21 February 1946 – 14 January 2016) was an English actor and director. Known for his distinctive deep, wikt:languid#Etymology 1, languid voice, he trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and b ...
and
Alfred Molina Alfred Molina (born Alfredo Molina; 24 May 1953) is a British and American actor. He is known for his leading roles and character actor roles on the stage and screen. In a career spanning over five decades he has received a Drama Desk Award ...
had also auditioned but were not considered because they would be unlikely to stay for a series run.Episode Guide — Series 1 episode 1, Red Dwarf Semagazine, volume 2 issue 1, May 1993, Fleetway Editions Ltd, Interview: Norman Lovett, Red Dwarf Smegazine, issue 9, November 1992, Fleetway Editions Ltd, Paul Jackson's initial plan was for the show to run for two series only, like '' The Young Ones''. The character of the first hologram seen on screen, George McIntyre, was intended to be
Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...
to fit into the idea that the ship was international, but the actor, Robert McCulley had problems with the accent and decided to make the character Welsh instead. The episode featured a host of guest stars and extras, most uncredited. As well as featuring
Mac McDonald Mac McDonald (born Terence McDonald; June 18, 1949) is an American actor. He is known for playing Captain Hollister This is a list of characters from the TV sitcom ''Red Dwarf''. Major characters Overview Details Alter egos Ace Ri ...
as
Captain Hollister This is a list of characters from the TV sitcom ''Red Dwarf''. Major characters Overview Details Alter egos Ace Rimmer Arnold "Ace" Rimmer is an alter-ego of Arnold Rimmer, also played by Chris Barrie. Ace first appears in the episod ...
and Clare Grogan (she changed her name to C. P. Grogan because of an Equity clash with another person with the same name) as
Kristine Kochanski Kristine Z. Kochanski is a fictional character from the British science fiction situation comedy ''Red Dwarf''. Kochanski was the first console officer in the navigation chamber on board the spaceship ''Red Dwarf''. As well as appearing in the te ...
,
Robert Bathurst Robert Guy Bathurst (born 22 February 1957) is a British actor. Bathurst was born in The Gold Coast (British colony), The Gold Coast (now Ghana) in 1957, where his father was working as a management consultant. In 1959, his family moved to Ball ...
appeared as Todhunter, Mark Williams as
Petersen Petersen is a common Danish patronymic surname, meaning ''"son of Peter"''. There are other spellings. Petersen may refer to: People In arts and entertainment * Adolf Dahm-Petersen, Norwegian voice specialist * Anja Petersen, German operatic ...
, Paul Bradley as Chen, and David Gillespie as Selby.


Filming

The episode, and the series, almost never happened due to an electricians strike at the BBC in 1987 which prevented filming and the project was shelved. Filming eventually went ahead after the industrial action was resolved. Filming a scene with the Frankenstein cat caused problems when it came to trying to get the right shot. The cat would not stay still long enough, would not look at the photo of
Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...
, and kept scratching Craig Charles' leg and running away. Charles' genitals were also visible in some takes; Grant and Naylor later considered digitally editing them out, but went for an inferior take instead. The opening theme tune was written by musician
Howard Goodall Howard Lindsay Goodall (; born 26 May 1958) is an English composer of musicals, choral music and music for television. He also presents music-based programmes for television and radio, for which he has won many awards. In May 2008, he was name ...
. With its classical music style it parodied
Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American filmmaker and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Stanley Kubrick filmography, his films were nearly all adaptations of novels or sho ...
's '' 2001: A Space Odyssey''. Goodall also wrote the lyrics for the end credits theme tune, which was sung by
Jenna Russell Jenna Russell (born 5 October 1967) is an English actress and singer. She has appeared on the stage in London in both musicals and dramas, as well as appearing with the Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a maj ...
. The intention was to match the lyrics to Lister's desire to go to Fiji, especially regarding the "goldfish shoals nibbling at my toes" line.Interview: Howard Goodall, Red Dwarf smegazine, issue 10, December 1992, Fleetway Editions Ltd, For the opening credits and exterior shots a Red Dwarf model ship had to be built from scratch. Peter Wragg was the visual effects designer of Red Dwarf; Wragg also had a large part in set building and was the chief model maker. Wragg had previously filled a similar role in British television series such as '' Thunderbirds Are GO'', ''
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons ''Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons'', often shortened to ''Captain Scarlet'', is a British science fiction television series created by Gerry Anderson, Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and filmed by their production company AP Films#Century 21, Centu ...
'' and ''
Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...
''. The opening effects shot features a dissolve from Lister painting the ship to a full model shot of the city-sized vessel traveling through space. Originally it was supposed to be one long take but it proved too difficult to mesh together with a small budget and lowly special effects of the day. The model of Red Dwarf itself measured about long from scoop to engine.Intrerview: Peter Wragg, Red Dwarf Smegazine, issue 8, October 1992, Fleetway Editions Ltd, With a seventh episode slot left over at the end of production, Grant and Naylor decided to go back and re-shoot certain scenes and drop others that they felt did not work. Scenes removed include Lister ejecting the crew members' canisters into space and Rimmer conducting his own eulogy. One of the more drastic changes was the ship's computer, Holly. Initially shot as a voice over, Norman Lovett had convinced the creators to have a disembodied head on screen. The Holly scenes from the first three episodes were re-edited to feature the newly shot lines with the head of Holly. Altogether, approximately two-thirds of the broadcast episode was composed of reshoot footage. Set designer Paul Montague gave the ship interiors a grey submarine look. Walls, floors, bunks, cans and even cigarette packets were coloured grey. The "Welcome Back George McIntyre" reception featured bright red plastic chairs, which had to be covered up with jackets to avoid harsh clashes of colour.


Reception

Originally broadcast on the British television channel BBC2 on 15 February 1988 in the 9:00 p.m. evening slot. The episode gained 5.1 million viewers from its first showing.Howarth & Lyons (1993) pp. 8–9. The BBC had also received letters from viewers regarding the quality of the series as a whole. An audience Appreciation Index score of 80 out of 100 was also seen as a sign that the series had done well. Co-creators/writers Grant and Naylor were so embarrassed by the first series that they had requested that the BBC not repeat the episodes as they felt that it would harm the following series. The video release of the first series was held back, making the first release of the series — featuring "The End" on tape one and "Confidence and Paranoia" on the second tape — hotly anticipated. Series I episodes performed poorly in a ''Red Dwarf Smegazine''
poll Poll, polled, or polling may refer to: Forms of voting and counting * Poll, a formal election ** Election verification exit poll, a survey taken to verify election counts ** Polling, voting to make decisions or determine opinions ** Polling pla ...
. This was perceived to be because fans hadn't seen, or had forgotten, the episodes — Series I not being repeated until 1994.Red Dwarf episode survey results, Red Dwarf Smegazine, p. 27., issue 10, December 1992, Fleetway Editions Ltd, However, the episode was considered the best from Series I.


Remastering

The remastering of Series I to III was carried out during the late 1990s. Changes included replacement of the opening credits (re-instating the original idea of the one shot pulling away from the ship), the picture has been given a colour grade and filmised, new computer generated
special effects Special effects (often abbreviated as F/X or simply FX) are illusions or visual tricks used in the theatre, film, television, video game, amusement park and simulator industries to simulate the fictional events in a story or virtual world. ...
of ''Red Dwarf'' flying through space, and visual, audio and scene adjustments. Changes specific to "The End" include bluescreen elements added to the opening scene with skutters – small maintenance robots – placed in the foreground of Rimmer and Lister. Silhouettes of the crew's heads were added to the foreground of George McIntyre's funeral scene. Background noise was added to the soundtrack to give the impression that the ship was busy with a full crew on board. The George McIntyre funeral scene was trimmed down, with shots that did not work removed, and a new shot of the canister leaving the ship was inserted. Music and sound effects were added to Cat's entrance, with hissing noise added when he tries to frighten Lister and Rimmer.


See also

* '' Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers'' – the first ''Red Dwarf'' novel features an expanded version of events from this episode and builds on the backstory as well as featuring new stories not seen in televised episodes.Howarth & Lyons (1993) p. 206


Notes


References

*


External links

* * *
Episode Guide – Series 1 at RedDwarf.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:End, The 1980s British television series premieres 1988 British television episodes Red Dwarf I episodes