The worst episodes of Red Dwarf

Ranked by viewer rating, lows first. Lit marks on the season rail place this list across the run. Vote on a placement to back it or contest it.

  1. 01

    S09E02 · April 11, 2009 · 30m

    Back to Earth, Part 26.0

    Rimmer's replacement, Katerina, is determined to guide Lister back to his home planet. But Earth in 2009 is not everything the boys had expected, and Rimmer has no intention of being replaced.

  2. 02

    S10E01 · October 4, 2012 · 30m

    Trojan6.4

    Rimmer receives an SOS Distress Call from a doomed ship commanded by his all-conquering brother, Howard. But Rimmer can't bring himself to save Howard until he's on an equal footing career-wise. He has 15 hours to pass his Astro-Nav exam and become an Officer. The same exam he's already failed nine times.

  3. 03

    S10E06 · November 8, 2012 · 30m

    The Beginning6.4

    Hiding in an Asteroid, surrounded by a Simulant Death Ship and a fleet of Annihilators, the Dwarfers begin to wonder whether this is the beginning of the end. Only one man can save them. Unfortunately, that man is Arnold J Rimmer.

  4. 04

    S09E01 · April 10, 2009 · 30m

    Back to Earth, Part 16.5

    Nine years later the Red Dwarf crew are older but still none the wiser. Lister's busy day of annoying Rimmer is interrupted by the discovery of a dimension-hopping leviathan in the ship's mile-deep water tank.

  5. 05

    S09E03 · April 12, 2009 · 30m

    Back to Earth, Part 36.5

    Knowing they are destined to die, the Dwarfers head to a mysterious address in London to plead for more life.

  6. 06

    S11E01 · September 22, 2016 · 40m

    Twentica6.9

    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.

  7. 07

    S08E03 · March 4, 1999 · 30m

    Back in the Red, Part 37.0

    The Dwarfers face two years in the brig for crimes against the Space Corps. Realising their defence has more holes than Lister's underpants they escape to prove their innocence.

  8. 08

    S08E05 · March 18, 1999 · 30m

    Krytie TV7.0

    Kryten starts his own pirate TV station to entertain the prisoners.

  9. 09

    S08E07 · April 1, 1999 · 30m

    Pete, Part 27.0

    The Dwarfers discover birds are descended from dinosaurs when they de-evolve a sparrow into a T-Rex!

  10. 10

    S10E03 · October 18, 2012 · 30m

    Lemons7.0

    Marooned in Britain in 23 AD, the Dwarfers need an 8-volt battery to power up their Returner Remote and get home. Remembering a lesson from school, Rimmer suggests they make a battery out of lemons - but the nearest lemon to Britain in 23 AD is in India, 4,000 miles away. They begin their journey, a journey that will ultimately lead them to a meeting with a historical A List Celebrity that could alter the entire history of civilisation.

  11. 11

    S10E04 · October 25, 2012 · 30m

    Entangled7.0

    Lister loses Rimmer in a game of poker to a group of Biologically Engineered Life Forms and in return gets an unwanted gift: a groinal exploder programmed to detonate in 24 hours unless Lister pays his debts. Meanwhile Kryten and Cat become quantum entangled and do everything in perfect unison.

  12. 12

    S08E06 · March 25, 1999 · 30m

    Pete, Part 17.2

    When Rimmer and Lister are forced to take on the guards in a basketball game they sabotage the opposition's half-time juice with 'Boing' - the virility enhancement drug.

  13. 13

    S11E02 · September 29, 2016 · 40m

    Samsara7.3

    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.

  14. 14

    S08E02 · February 25, 1999 · 30m

    Back in the Red, Part 27.4

    Rimmer is invited to dinner with the Captain and to make the evening go with a swing douses himself with the "Sexual Magnetism Virus" making himself irresistible to the female crew.

  15. 15

    S08E08 · April 5, 1999 · 30m

    Only the Good...7.4

    Rimmer crosses into a mirror universe where he discovers another version of himself captaining the ship.

  16. 16

    S07E03 · January 31, 1997 · 30m

    Ouroboros7.5

    When two realities converge, the Dwarfers undergo their most terrifying ordeal yet - they bump into a real, live, human woman who's attractive and nice. It's Lister's ex-girlfriend Kristine Kochanski. Kryten immediately goes into jealousy overload mode, convinced she'll steal Lister away from him, and starts plotting her immediate return to her own dimension.

  17. 17

    S12E03 · October 26, 2017 · 40m

    Timewave7.5

    The Dwarfers run into a ship where criticism is illegal. How will Rimmer cope?

  18. 18

    S08E01 · February 18, 1999 · 30m

    Back in the Red, Part 17.6

    Not only have the nanobots recreated Red Dwarf, they've also populated the ship with its original crew. This is extremely good news for Rimmer.

  19. 19

    S08E04 · March 11, 1999 · 30m

    Cassandra7.6

    Taking Holly's advice Lister joins the "Canaries" - a battle hardened convict army trained to go on suicide missions, and not, as he thought, the prison choir!

  20. 20

    S10E05 · November 1, 2012 · 30m

    Dear Dave7.6

    Lister has women trouble when he gets himself in a love triangle with Snack Dispensers 23 and 34; then, to make matter worse, gets a letter from an old girlfriend telling him she's pregnant and it might be his. Lister and Rimmer hunt through the mountain of letters from the mail pod to discover if Lister is finally a dad.

  21. 21

    S12E01 · October 12, 2017 · 40m

    Cured7.6

    The Dwarfers come across a space station where the crew have developed a cure for evil.

  22. 22

    S03E01 · November 14, 1989 · 30m

    Backwards7.8

    Rimmer is giving Kryten a driving lesson in Red Dwarfs Starbug and they end up going through a time hole in space. Kryten and Rimmer then land on a parallel Earth where the time stream flows backwards. Dave and Cat go in search of them.

  23. 23

    S03E02 · November 21, 1989 · 30m

    Marooned7.8

    When Holly believes a disaster is about to occur, she calls a "Abandon Ship". Lister and Rimmer end up crashing one of the Starbugs on a ice moon with limited supplies and nothing but ice outside.

  24. 24

    S03E03 · November 28, 1989 · 30m

    Polymorph7.8

    A genetically engineered shape changing creature comes on board and starts sucking the crews emotions out of them one by one.

  25. 25

    S07E01 · January 17, 1997 · 30m

    Tikka to Ride7.8

    The crew are dead, slain by their future selves in the cliff-hanger that ended series six. But coming back from the dead is a piece of cake compared to the real dilemma confronting Lister - the curry supplies have been destroyed and he's three million light years from the nearest poppadom. Unable to face cold turkey vindaloo style, he ignores causality and goes back in time intending to order "500 vindaloos to go" but winds up in Dallas, in November 1963, where he accidentally pushes a gunman out of a fifth floor window.

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