Red Dwarf (TV Series) Timeslides (1989) User Reviews

Good episode showing Lister on a downer

[snoozejonc · 7/10 · 27 November 2020]

Kryten's photographic development fluid causes some outrageous effects that lead to time-travel.

This is good episode with fun sci-fi concept and some decent banter. It also gives a bit more background information on Lister.

As alternative timeline/reality plots go it is reasonably inventive. We meet a young Lister, an alternate Lister, and the writers feels like they are finally acknowledging the loneliness and isolation associated with the situation they put Lister in when the show started. There is also some comical takes on the lifestyles of the rich and famous and a running theme on whether money leads to happiness. Ruby Wax has an amusing cameo in relations to this.

Performances are as strong as ever, however Lister borders on annoying from his opening scene as we witness his depression. It's a good thing the other characters play off it in a humorous way.

As the plot progresses Rimmer moves to centre stage and by the end he has well and truly stolen the show. There are two very funny jokes in the last two scenes that end the episode very strongly.

A fun episode, as long as you ignore the gaping plot holes

[Leopold005 · 7/10 · 28 December 2021]

Timeslides starts off with Lister bemoaning his lot. The reality of being stuck on a space ship so far from home is really sinking in and he's descending into depression. However, as a stroke of luck, Kryten discovers that the developing fluid he's using to process old photo negatives has mutated, bringing the pictures to life. Lister discovers that it's possible to interact with these pictures, firstly by getting beaten up by Rimmer's brother, Frank, and then stopping Adolf Hitler's assassination, which reveals the full scope of this discovery: They can alter time. Lister uses this to alter his timeline so he doesn't end up working for the Space Corps, instead encouraging his younger self to become fantastically wealthy thanks to the invention of the Tension Sheet (basically repurposed bubble wrap) and married to a goddess. Rimmer, now alone, decides to use it to his advantage, beating Lister to the punch with the invention to put himself in the position of wealth, only for it to backfire and put everything back as it was. Well, almost, as for the last few moments of the episode, he is alive. At least until he dies in an explosion.

Season 3 of Red Dwarf was really hitting the stride that was this show at its peak, and Timeslides is no exception. The writing is taut and full of good gags. The idea behind the episode is a fun one, but there's some glaring errors in the plot. Firstly, when Lister alters the timeline, the Cat and Kryten disappear, as the Cat race was born because of Lister smuggling a cat on board in the very first episode, and Kryten being rescued thanks to Lister. However, the whole reason Rimmer is present as a hologram is to keep Lister sane, something that also wouldn't have happened had Lister not been there. Of course, this would have led to a very short episode. That said, had Lister not been in the Corps, the odds are Rimmer's underling wouldn't have been in stasis when Rimmer was repairing the drive plate in the first episode, thus averting the disaster that spawned the series in the first place. Oh, and thanks to the laws of causality, Lister not ever being on Red Dwarf would have meant he wouldn't have been able to "rescue" his younger self, thus reversing anything he'd have done and just putting everything back as it was.

If you ignore all of that, it's a great episode from one of the strongest series in Red Dwarf history.

Timeslides

[MrFilmAndTelevisionShow · 10/10 · 17 August 2020]

I mentioned it previously but how did the writers come up with such a genius and so far as I know, original idea? They keep doing it time and time again? It's almost scary how good they are!