Demons and Angels

"Demons and Angels"
Red Dwarf episode
The "Low" versions of the Red Dwarf crew
Episode no.	Series 5 Episode 5
Directed by	Juliet May, Rob Grant & Doug Naylor
Written by	Rob Grant & Doug Naylor
Original air date	March 19, 1992
Guest stars
none
Series 5 episodes
20 February – 26 March 1992 "Holoship" "The Inquisitor" "Terrorform" "Quarantine" "Demons and Angels" "Back to Reality"
List of all Red Dwarf episodes

"Demons and Angels" is the fifth episode of science fiction sit-com Red Dwarf Series V^[1] and the twenty ninth in the series run.^[2] It was first broadcast on the British television channel BBC2 on 19 March 1992.^[3] Written by Rob Grant & Doug Naylor,^[4] the episode was the first to be filmed with new director Juliet May.^[5] The episode has the regular Red Dwarf crew meet their 'high' and 'low' versions.

Plot

Kryten has created a Triplicator, derived from the Matter Paddle, which he hopes will solve any supply problems that might arise on Red Dwarf. It can create two copies of anything placed within its field, and he tests the machine out with a strawberry. Two seemingly identical copies are created, however they both contain a lot of differences. Lister tastes one, and is amazed at how succulent it taste. However the second is anything but, as it is filled with maggots. Kryten realises that the machine, instead of creating two identical copies, is instead putting all the very best elements into one copy and all the worst elements into another. Lister decides to test what happens when the beam is reversed. However, all this does is cause the science room to begin to blow up. Holly appears however her voice unit is damaged meaning she spouts out gibberish (although Rimmer notes that this isn't much difference to normal) however Kryten tells everyone that the engine core is about to go into meltdown. As a result, the crew, joined by the Cat, quickly head to Starbug to make their escape. Starbug is forced to crash its way through the cargo doors when Holly is too damaged to open them, but manage to make it out. As the rest of the crew start to bemoan the situation, Lister tries to reassure everyone that they've only escaped as a precaution as the safety systems aboard Red Dwarf should take care of the danger. However he is quickly shut up when Red Dwarf suddenly explodes.

Later, Kryten reports to the crew that the supply situation is bleak. They don't have enough fuel to make it to a habitable planet, but this isn't a problem as they literally only have minutes worth of oxygen and hologram battery. However, when scanning for supplies that might have escaped the explosion, the crew discover two identical copies of Red Dwarf. Kryten realises that when the triplicator was put into reverse then the field of the beam was projected outwards towards the whole ship creating the copies (with the sudden power drain destroying the original). Unfortunately, the copies will only last an hour meaning the crew can't simply stay on the higher version of Red Dwarf. Kryten proposes to restore Red Dwarf by using the Triplicator on board the higher ship to amalgamate the two copies. Starbug lands on the first ship which is much more advanced than the original. The air and music give Lister and the Cat a feeling of happiness, and the dispensers ever produce an edible Pot Noodle. The crew is then greeted by alternative versions of themselves embodying the best parts of their personalities. These are the spiritualistic 'highs', who spend their time philosophising, reading poetry and trying to improve their minds. Naturally, Rimmer is disgusted and considers them to be hippies. Unfortunately, Kryten finds that the triplicator aboard this ship contains only half the vital components. The crew will have to board the low ship in order to find the rest.

However, the 'low' ship, the crew split up however the higher crew are all quickly killed by their 'low' counterpart (including a sadistic and glitchy Kryten, an ugly and violent cowboy Lister, an aggressive cannibalistic Cat and a sexually domineering Rimmer). They capture Lister and implant him with a device enabling them to dictate his actions by remote control. He is made to attack his shipmates and the ensuing violence is only stemmed when Lister is chloroformed by Kryten. Having seen off the danger, they collect the Triplicator and reverse-the-reversal, bringing the situation back to the point before Red Dwarf blew up in the first place. As the crew head home, Lister accidentally reimplants the device, and the Cat, stealing the controls, requests it remain there for a week, much to Lister's horror.

Production

"Demons and Angels", which had the working title "High and Low",^[6] was the first episode from Series V to be filmed. Following the departure of Ed Bye, who had directed all the previous four series' episodes, Juliet May was brought in as the new director.^[5]

Grant and Naylor commented that the script was a tricky episode to shoot. Several scenes had to be re-shot and going back to re-shoot caused no end of stress as they re-wrote and directed the episode with limited studio time. Scenes were re-written there and then and given to the cast to block out in one take.^[7]

For this series the Red Dwarf model was rebuilt from the original version which had fallen apart over the years. The ship explosion was filmed using pyrotechnics and shooting the cameras at three thousand frames a second. From a few seconds of explosions the crew got around 20 seconds' worth of film footage.^[8]

To achieve the High and Low versions interacting with the regular Red Dwarf crew, old techniques of split screens were the order of the day. Doubles for the cast were used, but a large number of shots were created with the by-now traditional locked-off camera and split screen. Craig Charles did his bluescreen scenes to roll on the floor in front of himself; the video effects crew added a holowhip.^[9]

Reception

The episode was originally broadcast on the British television channel BBC2 on 19 March 1992 in the 9:00pm evening time slot,^[3] and received a mixed response from viewers,^[10] one review of the episode stating that the script "probably looked like a great idea on paper, but it bombs badly in translation."^[11]

Notes

• This episode features the last shot of the inside of Red Dwarf until Season 8. The irony is that the ship blows up and reappears at the end, only to not be shown again until Season 8.

References

1. ^ "British Sitcom Guide - Red Dwarf - Series 5". www.sitcom.co.uk. http://www.sitcom.co.uk/red_dwarf/series5.shtml. Retrieved 2008-01-29. 
2. ^ "TV.com - Demons and Angels summary". www.tv.com. http://www.tv.com/red-dwarf/demons-and-angels/episode/10973/summary.html. Retrieved 2008-01-29. 
3. ^ ^{a b} "BBC - Programme Catalogue - RED DWARF V - DEMONS AND ANGELS". BBC. http://catalogue.bbc.co.uk/catalogue/infax/programme/NMRE197T. Retrieved 2007-12-12. 
4. ^ "Demons and Angels cast and crew". www.imdb.com. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0756588/fullcredits. Retrieved 2008-01-29. 
5. ^ ^{a b} Series V Preview, Red Dwarf Smegazine, issue 1, March 1992,Fleetway Editions Ltd, issn 0965-5603
6. ^ Howarths, Chris; Steve Lyons (1993). Red Dwarf Programme Guide. Section 1: The History: Virgin Books. ISBN 0-86369-682-1. 
7. ^ Grant and Naylor Look Back, Red Dwarf Smegazine, issue 11, January 1993, Fleetway Editions Ltd, issn 0965-5603
8. ^ Interview: Peter Wragg, Red Dwarf Smegazine, issue 8, October 1992, Fleetway Editions Ltd, issn 0965-5603
9. ^ "Red Dwarf Series V Effects". www.reddwarf.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2007-10-30. http://web.archive.org/web/20071030185842/http://www.reddwarf.co.uk/deck05/series_5/effects.html. Retrieved 2008-01-07. 
10. ^ Red Dwarf Smegazine: Survey Results, issue 10, December 1992, Fleetway Editions Ltd, ISSN 0965-5603
11. ^ "Series V review by Gavrielle". www.reviewsbygavrielle.com. http://www.reviewsbygavrielle.com/dwarf3.shtml. Retrieved 2008-01-29. 

External links

• "Demons and Angels" at the Internet Movie Database
• "Demons and Angels" at TV.com
• Episode Guide - Series 5