Identity Within

Identity Within is described as a "lost episode" of the British science fiction comedy television series "Red Dwarf".

A "lost episode"

"Identity Within" was originally the supposed second episode in the seventh series (the episode ultimately replacing it as the second episode in this series was "Stoke Me a Clipper"). This episode was to focus on Cat as there hadn't been a "Cat episode" before; the episode was also to address the fact that Cat had become increasingly "domesticated" and less "independent" over the show and had become a slightly different character (leading to some annoyance amongst certain fans of the show). It was scripted and storyboards were produced, getting further than most "lost episodes".

Ultimately the episode was never filmed as it was a surprisingly ambitious script for the show and the sets would have been far too costly to produce - more than the whole series itself. However the budget for the seventh series was not for seven episodes but for eight episodes, therefore the less ambitious, simpler and cheaper episode "Duct Soup" was then written and produced in its place. "Duct Soup" became the fourth episode in the series.

ynopsis of episode

The Cat is still a virgin; he has never even met another of his own race "(Felis sapiens)" (except for an old, blind dithering Cat priest in his earlier years). Cat's sexual frustration is getting so bad that he has fallen ill, and if he doesn't have sex soon, he may die. Apparently, as Kryten discovers, it is common for "Felis sapiens" to die if they haven't had sex by a certain age, and Cat has now reached that age.

There is one way to cure Cat's illness. The Dwarfers set the "Starbug" scanners to probe for any "Felis sapiens" lifesigns; some register deep in GELF territory. With little choice, the Dwarfers set a course...

They find a Brefewino village where a female "Felis sapiens" called Aura is being held prisoner for slave auction. Lister, Rimmer and Kryten have to save Aura and get her to fall in love with the Cat before he dies from being a virgin.

Availability

A reconstructed version of the episode using newly-created storyboards appears as a bonus feature on the Series VII DVD release. It was performed entirely by Chris Barrie, who is himself a professional voice artist and voices both his character, Arnold Rimmer, and the rest of the cast.

Trivia

* The episode was not produced due to the high cost of creating a marketplace inside a whole tribal village of Brefewino, other assorted GELFs and their "Felis sapiens" slaves.
* A reference to "Batman Returns" is in this episode as the Cat was watching a slideshow as part of his "medicine", one set of slides were of Michelle Pfeiffer in the aforementioned film.
* A script of this episode was auctioned for charity at a Red Dwarf convention in Melbourne, Australia before Series VII aired there.
* The premise of this episode is similar to the "Star Trek" Original Series episode Amok Time.