Cured (Red Dwarf)

Last updated

"Cured"
Red Dwarf episode
Episode no.Series 12
Episode 1
Directed by Doug Naylor
Written by Doug Naylor
Original air date12 October 2017 (2017-10-12)
Guest appearances
Episode chronology
 Previous
"Can of Worms"
Next 
"Siliconia"
List of episodes

"Cured" is the first episode of Red Dwarf XII and the 68th in the series run. Originally broadcast on the British television channel Dave on 12 October 2017, it was made available early on 5 October 2017 on UKTV Play.

Contents

The crew happen upon an abandoned research facility where several infamous figures from history reside, supposedly "cured" of their evil.

Synopsis

The crew play a game of poker, with Lister attempting to teach Cat how to have a proper poker face, but Cat failing to understand. Kryten interrupts to report on a resource-rich station to scavenge, which the crew head off towards onboard Starbug, which requires an elaborate start-up sequence to work due to its state of disrepair. A powerful sandstorm leaves them temporarily stranded there.

The crew venture through the base, encountering "cyrobooths" bearing the names of Messalina, Vlad the Impaler, Joseph Stalin, and Adolf Hitler. They are then greeted by Professor Shaul Telford, who reveals that the occupants were in stasis and their arrival has triggered their release, but that they have been cured of their formerly psychopathic ways. They are introduced to these infamous figures over dinner. Surprisingly, they prove to be kind and pleasant, and claim to be completely reformed. Lister gets to know Hitler, and the pair perform "The Happy Wanderer" on guitar. The rest of the crew pull Lister aside to chastise him for socializing with Hitler, but are all knocked unconscious and put into separate torturous scenarios.

After escaping from their traps, the crew meet up and accuse the base occupants of trying to kill them. They decide to test everybody using a device that scans who among them is a psychopath, which returns the results that of them two are psychopaths, one being the Cat, due to his inherently selfish and vain personality, and the other being Professor Telford. Telford reveals himself as the base's real patient, with the other occupants having been his android caretakers, who he reprogrammed. Telford holds the crew at gunpoint, but due to not knowing how to start Starbug, offers to take the Cat with him. Cat, seemingly, agrees and requests a gun to kill the other three with, only to immediately kill Telford with it. He credits his deception to his newly-learned poker face.

Production

Originally, "Africa" by Toto was going to be used in place of "The Happy Wanderer" during their guitar performance, but the rights were denied because Lister would be playing it alongside Hitler. [1] Early drafts of the script originally had Professor Telford be revealed as the real Hitler, though that was scrapped in subsequent rewrites. [2]

Reception

"Cured" was met with positive reviews from critics [3] and fans. [4]

Related Research Articles

Cat (<i>Red Dwarf</i>) Fictional character in Red Dwarf

The Cat, or simply Cat, is a fictional character in the British science fiction sitcom Red Dwarf. He is played by Danny John-Jules. He is a descendant of Dave Lister's pregnant pet house cat Frankenstein, whose descendants evolved into a humanoid form over three million years while Lister was in stasis. As a character, he is vain and aloof, and loves to dress in extravagant clothing. He is simply referred to as "Cat" in lieu of a real name.

"Back in the Red" is the opening three-part episode of series VIII of science fiction sit-com Red Dwarf. Part 1 was first broadcast on the British television channel BBC2 on 18 February 1999 followed by Part 2 on 25 February and Part 3 on 4 March.

"Marooned" is the second episode of science fiction sitcom Red Dwarf Series III, and the fourteenth in the series run. It premiered on the British television channel BBC2 on 21 November 1989. Written by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, and directed by Ed Bye, the story is about Lister and Rimmer being marooned together on a bleak ice planet. The episode was re-mastered, along with the rest of the first three series, in 1998.

"Bodyswap" is the fourth episode of science fiction sitcom Red Dwarf Series III, and the sixteenth overall. It premiered on the British television channel BBC2 on 5 December 1989. Written by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, and directed by Ed Bye. This was the first episode to be recorded without a live studio audience. The plot has Rimmer suggesting that the perfect way to help Lister get "healthy" is swapping bodies. The episode was re-mastered, along with the rest of the first three series, in 1998.

"Dimension Jump" is the fifth episode of science fiction sit-com Red Dwarf Series IV and the twenty-third episode in the series run. It was first broadcast on the British television channel BBC2 on 14 March 1991, written by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, and directed by Ed Bye. The episode, featuring the first appearance of Ace Rimmer, was intended to end the series; but Meltdown was rescheduled and broadcast last due to the Gulf War.

Quarantine (<i>Red Dwarf</i>) 4th episode of the 5th series of Red Dwarf

"Quarantine" is the fourth episode of science fiction sitcom Red Dwarf Series V and the twenty eighth in the series run. It was first broadcast on the British television channel BBC2 on 12 March 1992. The episode, fifth to be filmed, was the first one to be solely directed by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor. The episode has Rimmer contracting a holo-virus and turning against the rest of the crew.

"Back to Reality" is the sixth and final episode of the fifth series of science fiction sitcom Red Dwarf, and the 30th in the series' run. It was first broadcast on the British television channel BBC2 on 26 March 1992, written by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor and directed by Juliet May and Grant Naylor. The plot features the crew waking up after a crash to discover that the last four years of their lives has been spent in a "Total Immersion Video Game" called Red Dwarf. This episode marks the final appearance of Hattie Hayridge as Holly. The episode often tops polls and surveys as the best episode in the entire series.

"Legion" is the second episode of science fiction sit-com Red Dwarf Series VI and the 32nd in the series run. It was first broadcast on British television on 14 October 1993, was written by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor and was directed by Andy de Emmony.

"Out of Time" is the sixth episode of science fiction sitcom Red Dwarf Series VI and the 36th in the programmes run. It was first broadcast on the British television channel BBC2 on 11 November 1993. Written by Rob Grant & Doug Naylor and directed by Andy de Emmony, it was the first Red Dwarf series finale to end on a cliffhanger. It is the final episode with contributions from Rob Grant.

"Backwards" is the first episode of science fiction sitcom Red Dwarf Series III, and the thirteenth in the series run. It premiered on the British television channel BBC2 on 14 November 1989. Written by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, and directed by Ed Bye, the episode has the crew travel to an alternate Earth where time runs backwards.

"Entangled" is the fourth episode of science fiction sitcom Red Dwarf series X, originally broadcast on the British television channel Dave on 25 October 2012. Lister loses Rimmer in a game of poker to a group of "biologically engineered garbage gobblers", 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.

"Samsara" is the second episode of Red Dwarf XI and the 63rd in the series run. Originally broadcast on the British television channel Dave on 29 September 2016, it was made available early on 23 September 2016 on UKTV Play.

"Officer Rimmer" is the fourth episode of Red Dwarf XI and the 65th in the series run. Originally broadcast on the British television channel Dave on 13 October 2016, it was made available early on 7 October 2016 on UKTV Play.

"Can of Worms" is the sixth episode of Red Dwarf XI and the 67th in the series run. Originally broadcast on the British television channel Dave on 27 October 2016, it was made available early on 21 October 2016 on UKTV Play.

"Twentica" is the first episode of science fiction sitcom Red Dwarf series XI, originally broadcast on the British television channel Dave on 22 September 2016, and made available early on 15 September on UKTV Play. The show again continued in its "classic" format of six standalone half-hour episodes, initially returned to in Series X four years previously.

"Siliconia" is the second episode of Red Dwarf XII and the 69th in the series run. Originally broadcast on the British television channel Dave on 19 October 2017, it was made available early on 12 October 2017 on UKTV Play.

"Timewave" is the third episode of Red Dwarf XII and the 70th in the series run. Originally broadcast on the British television channel Dave on 26 October 2017, it was made available early on 19 October 2017 on UKTV Play.

"Mechocracy" is the fourth episode of Red Dwarf XII and the 71st in the series run. Originally broadcast on the British television channel Dave on 2 November 2017, it was made available early on 26 October 2017 on UKTV Play.

"Give & Take" is the third episode of Red Dwarf XI and the 64th in the series run. Originally broadcast on the British television channel Dave on 6 October 2016, it was made available early on 30 September 2016 on UKTV Play.

References

  1. "Red Dwarf cast and co-creator interview: Series XII, the future". 17 October 2017.
  2. "Cured", reddwarf.co.uk
  3. Mark Harrison (5 October 2017), Red Dwarf XII Episode 1 Review: Cured, Den of Geek
  4. Capps, Jonathan (11 October 2017). "Red Dwarf XII: Cured Review". Ganymede & Titan.