Camille (Red Dwarf)
Kryten falls for a GELF that appears as everyone's desire.
The nineteenth episode of Red Dwarf and the first of Series IV, "Camille" aired on BBC2 on Valentine's Day 1991, after being moved up in the schedule. Written by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor and directed by Ed Bye, it parodies Casablanca. Kryten saves and falls for an android that looks just like him.
Quick Facts
- Series
- Red Dwarf
- Episode
- 1
- Director
- Ed Bye
- Writer
- Rob Grant & Doug Naylor
- Air date
- 14 February 1991
Facts from the source article.
Plot
Dave Lister attempts to teach Kryten how to lie, arguing it is a natural form of defence. Kryten makes some progress but cannot lie in the presence of others, and his lessons are interrupted when Arnold Rimmer orders him to pilot a Starbug for asteroid spotting. When a distress call comes from a doomed ship, Kryten uses Lister's insubordination training to search for survivors despite Rimmer's orders. They rescue Camille, the only survivor, and each crew member sees her differently: Kryten sees a mechanoid like himself, Rimmer sees a hologram with shared interests, Lister sees a human female matching his own tastes, and Cat sees a mirror version of himself. Lister soon realises something is wrong when Rimmer and he receive different responses from her about the same question. He reveals that Camille is actually a pleasure GELF—a Genetically Engineered Life Form—designed to appear as the object of each individual's desire, while her true form is a slimy green blob with tentacles. Despite this, Kryten compliments her real appearance and agrees to date her in that form, even showing her the film Casablanca. When Camille's husband arrives looking for her, Kryten advises her to leave with him, echoing the film's ending. Lister smiles when he learns Kryten lied to spare her feelings, and Kryten insults Lister for his role in the events.
Production
For Series IV, the show’s recording location shifted from Manchester to Shepperton Studios because the original studio was undergoing refurbishment. This change proved beneficial, as Shepperton allowed the sets to be used for both rehearsals and recording. Production also permanently moved to Grant Naylor Productions from this series onward. Judy Pascoe, Robert Llewellyn’s partner (they later married), played the droid version of the GELF. Llewellyn has often joked about complaining to Pascoe about his heavy make-up, while she wore it without complaint. Pascoe also voiced the blob Camille, which was operated from inside by effects artist Mike Tucker. Initially, Camille was meant to appear as Kristine Kochanski in Lister’s eyes; though that changed, Suzanne Rhatigan was still credited as “Kochanski Camille.” Like Pascoe and Llewellyn, Rhatigan and Craig Charles were in a relationship during recording. Francesca Folan played the Hologram Camille, and Rupert Bates voiced the Hector Blob. This episode wasn’t originally scheduled first but was moved up when “Meltdown” was delayed due to the Gulf War, and because it suited a Valentine’s Day broadcast. The script by Grant and Naylor was collected in the 1995 book Son of Soup.
Reception
The episode was first broadcast on BBC2 on 14 February 1991 at 9:00 pm, though it was originally planned as the third episode of Series IV, as shown in repeat runs in 1992 and 1994. The transmission order was changed to air on Valentine's Day, and further changes came about because of the Gulf War and the subject matter of other episodes, notably 'Dimension Jump' and 'Meltdown'. Nancy Banks-Smith of The Guardian called the episode 'affecting' and 'funny'. In a 1992 poll by the Red Dwarf Smegazine, it was ranked 14th of the 30 then-existing episodes. Writing in 2017 for CultBox, Sophie Davies said the episode has 'a corker of an opening scene' and 'some good laughs' from the misunderstandings Camille causes, but that after she reveals herself as a green blob the episode becomes lighter on laughs, and the Casablanca parody ending is 'not particularly inventive'.
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