It wouldn’t take long for us to know the episode titles of Series XI but luckily those fine people at Dave and The Official Site have shared them in their latest Friday update. We were all refreshing the BBFC website waiting for those to leak the episode titles as they did in Series X.
Not only has the the official site shared titles for all six episodes but it has also some basic plot synopses too.
Time for a #RedDwarfXI teaser. Here are the episode titles to set your nipple nuts spinning. https://t.co/H57uM9bQaA pic.twitter.com/L4Q1D3CINk
— Dave (@Join_Dave) August 5, 2016
Episode 1 – Twentica
The Dwarfers find themselves in an alternative version of America where modern technology is prohibited, making Rimmer and Kryten illegal. The Dwarfers infiltrate the tech savvy underground and try to bring down the authoritarian regime.
We already knew this episode title from a previous Friday update but now we have a plot synopsis to go with it. It sounds very Tikka to Ride with a new twist. It will be interesting to see how they execute this with their budget, as it sounds like a very expensive idea to create an alternative America set replete with an underground resistance group and an authoritarian regime.
Episode 2 – Samsara
When the Dwarfers investigate a crashed ship at the bottom of an ocean moon, Lister and Cat become trapped together and Lister’s nightmare begins. Meantime Rimmer and Kryten discover the ship is controlled by a dark force.
This is a plot synopsis that wasn’t included in the overall Series XI synopsis. Why that is I don’t know as the gang getting trapped on a crashed ship on an ocean moon is an interesting idea and could probably fit in any previous series of Red Dwarf. Now we need to hope that the model shots of the ocean moon look as glorious as the Back to Reality shots did, squid aside.
Episode 3 – Give and Take
After an altercation with a deranged droid Lister has his kidneys organ-napped. The only solution is to ask Cat, the most selfish creature in the universe, to give him one of his.
Now this is pure speculation on my part but what is the betting that the picture from last week’s Friday update is from this episode?
A dark storyline with a light comedy twist. If the balance is right between the dark and scary moments with the deranged organ stealing droid and the lighter comedy moments of Cat having to be convinced to give a kidney then this could be a real classic story.
4. Officer Rimmer
After a scandalous piece of good fortune Rimmer saves the life of a bio-printed Captain and is promoted, fulfilling his life-long dream of becoming an Officer. He immediately opens an Officer’s club, which is out of bounds to the lower orders, and uses the bio-printer to fill it with versions of himself.
Red Dwarf has played around with the idea of Rimmer becoming an officer many times and it plows well worn ground again with this episode but with a new twist. An officer’s club filled with bio-printed Rimmer’s perhaps might seem a good idea initially for Rimmer but you only need to look at the last few times he has met doubles of himself to know how this probably won’t turn out all that well. Yes we have seen episodes with Rimmer doubles before but the show does it so well you can’t begrudge them doing it again.
I can’t help but think there was a better episode title here. Perhaps Officer’s Club would have worked better.
5. Krysis
Kryten has a mid-life crisis and changes his body cover from Mech grey to Ferrari red. The posse try and show him how much he’s achieved in life by taking him to visit a mechanoid from his old fleet.
The first episode of Red Dwarf since Back to Earth to touch on the characters ageing and it comes from the unlikely source of Kryten. But it is plots like this that justify why the show can continue over 25 years after it started. Many people criticise the show for continuing saying the actors are too old to play the parts but here we have the perfect reason why that isn’t true, the characters age with the actors.
Whether the mechanoid from Kryten’s old fleet is played by Robert Llewellyn as with Able from Beyond a Joke will remain to be seen.
6. Can of Worms
Cat takes time off from being in love with himself to fall head over heels in love with a lady Cat with a big secret.
So we finally have the episode with Cat’s virginity addressed. What could the secret of Cat’s love interest be? She is actually a dog? She is actually a vampire? She is his long lost sister? She has been spayed? I’m sure it will be none of those things and something less silly instead.
The title seems to indicate that the secret might open up an issue for Cat and the gang. What is this can of worms that they are about to open up?