Gateway "Red Dwarf"?

[The Borgified Corpse]

I agree with lonemagpie's suggestion, Backwards, for the same reasons. He's seen The End, so he knows the setup, and Backwards is a mini reboot.

I don't know that "Backwards" is really a mini-reboot. Yes, it's the 1st episode to feature the new Series III-V look. But it's not like it does anything special to really ease you into the characters or the new situation. That super fast, unreadable opening crawl could have just as easily been tacked onto the beginning of any of the Series III episodes.

Series VI does a much better job of beginning with a mini-reboot in "Psirens" with Kryten gradually bringing Lister & all of the other characters out of stasis one by one.

Right now, this is the order that I'm contemplating:
1. "Meltdown."
2. "White Hole."
3. "Polymorph."
4. "Backwards."
5. "Quarantine."
6. "Holoship."

 

[diankra]

Can't vote for it, but Thanks for the Memory (s2). (Actually, Parallel Universe is the only first/second season episode on the list!)

I was supplying the tapes for a charity comedy night back at university, and insisted on putting in Memory as an episode of RD (this was back in 1989). At the start of the episode, the reaction was 'Oh god, he's insisted on putting in some sci-fi!, why can't we have Fawlty Towers?'. By the end, it was 'When is this on? How did I miss it?'

PS edit: Sorry, missed that Queeg was a voting option. Definitely the one I'd go for of the available choices!

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Another of my favourites is DNA.

A decent good sci-fi concept, DNA cloning & re-sequencing, plus a human Kryten arguing with his spare heads.

And a mutton vindaloo beast too.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

Another of my favourites is DNA.

A decent good sci-fi concept, DNA cloning & re-sequencing, plus a human Kryten arguing with his spare heads.

And a mutton vindaloo beast too.

I nearly included that one in the poll solely for the famous "double polaroid" scene:

"Is that normal?"
"You mean taking pictures of it and showing them to your mates? No, that's not normal!"

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

^ "Yes then, my nipples don't work"
"In what way don't work?"

 

[scnj]

I'd say Polymorph. It has a light sci-fi plot and some overt jokes, as well as less obvious jokes that would make sense on a second viewing.

 

[Lance]

I wish that subsequent seasons did what Series I & II did with Holly recapping the premise of the series at the beginning of each episode. Plus, I always loved the additional bits at the end. ''We have been traveling for 3 million years and there is much we have learned. The highest form of life in the universe is man and the lowest is a man who works for the post office.''

Sorry for bumping an old thread, but I discovered the other day that Doug Naylor did plan to do this on the 'Remastered' versions of Red Dwarf III, getting Hattie Hayridge into the studio to record some brand new links in the style of Norman Lovett's from Series I and II. But in the end, they didn't have enough money left in the budget to do it, unfortunately.

My vote for best episode to introduce the series to a newcomer would waver between 'Queeg', 'White Hole' and 'The Inquisitor'. All of them are great sci-fi concepts as well as being funny as heck.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Would anyone like some TOAST?

 

[Mr Light]

Backwards is where the series truly begins with me, when it becomes a comedy action/adventure show. Also, the addition of Kryten as a regular. The first two seasons are just too small and isolated and morose.

 

[The Wormhole]

Quarantine was the episode that converted me, so I vote that on those grounds.

 

[Hugo Rune]

Marooned - has and (likely) always will be my quintessential RD episode. Simple premise, just the two main characters talking to one another, each others eccentricities, foibles and and selfishness pushed to the extremes. But balanced with their softer, more sentimental sides too.

Hysterically funny, not a single gag drops. Perhaps the least SF the show has ever been and the better for it. I always found I preferred the episodes that found the humour that focussed on the banter-infused interplay of the crew, rather than those that hinged upon the more outlandish SF concepts.

Marooned sits right up there with the finest of all UK comedy TV and my personal selling point to anyone who shows a passing interest in RD


Hugo - Because, believe it or not, Lister, he told me that, in a past incarnation, I was Alexander the Great's chief eunuch.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRKafB6XB08[/yt]

 

[Lance]

Quarantine was the episode that converted me, so I vote that on those grounds.

The thing that's truly interesting about ''Quarantine'' is that it's got a strong horror/adventure vibe. Fully the first ten minutes or so is creepy atmosphere-building, almost without jokes, and despite the funny costume, even Rimmer's going mad is as creepy as hell and feels like a real threat.

''Quarantine'', ''The Inquisitor'', ''Demons & Angels'', ''Justice'', even ''Meltdown'' feel like strong science fiction concepts first and comedy second. ''Gunmen of the Apocalypse'' is as close to a good example of a 'holodeck episode' as I've seen any show get outside of Star Trek.

 

[Tim Walker]

Re-watched DNA. This episode has a strong science fiction theme, and reveals the personalities of the characters.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Re-watched DNA. This episode has a strong science fiction theme, and reveals the personalities of the characters.

More fiction than science though

Turning an android into a human from a little bio material in his brain and creating a mutton vindaloo beast out of a curry were a stretch.

Still my absolute favorite episode of all time. I could watch this one every day.

 

[Lance]

Re-watched DNA. This episode has a strong science fiction theme, and reveals the personalities of the characters.

More fiction than science though

Turning an android into a human from a little bio material in his brain and creating a mutton vindaloo beast out of a curry were a stretch.

Still my absolute favorite episode of all time. I could watch this one every day.

(high pitched voice)
''Of course! Lager!! The only thing that can kill a vindaloo!!!''