Dimension Jump (Red Dwarf episode)

Did You Know?

• The episode topped the Series IV list in a Red Dwarf magazine poll with 7.3% of the vote.
• Chris Barrie names this as his favourite episode on the Series IV DVD.

Plot

In a different universe, Arnold Rimmer exists as Ace Rimmer, a dashing and well-liked test pilot for the Space Corps. The rest of the Red Dwarf crew also have alternate versions: Dave Lister works as a Head Technician, the Cat is a human priest, Kryten is a human officer who outranks Rimmer, and Holly is a human secretary working for Kryten. After completing a mission, Ace is ordered to pilot a new dimension-jumping ship, knowing the trip might be one-way. He says his goodbyes and activates the jump. Back on Red Dwarf, Lister, Kryten, Cat, and Holly are stuck taking Rimmer on a fishing trip to an ocean world. Their Starbug crashes into Ace's ship during the journey, and they all end up stranded on the planet. Ace arrives to help them, quickly befriending Lister, while Rimmer and Ace take an instant dislike to each other. Once Starbug is fixed and everyone returns to Red Dwarf, Lister and Rimmer discuss Ace. Lister is impressed, but Rimmer is disgusted, seeing Ace as the personification of every lucky break he never had. He refuses to feel glad that another version of himself succeeded. Later, Ace tells Lister he plans to leave, finding it too painful to stay in a dimension where his counterpart is so pathetic. He explains the key moment that split their lives: as children, both were at risk of being held back a grade. Rimmer advanced, but Ace was kept back. That humiliation, Ace says, forced him to change his ways and work harder—it was the turning point he needed. After saying goodbye to Lister, Ace sets off on an endless quest to find a Rimmer even worse off than the one he left behind.

Production

Chris Barrie, who was juggling his role in Red Dwarf with playing the similarly unpopular Gordon Brittas in The Brittas Empire, asked writers Rob Grant and Doug Naylor for a chance to portray a heroic character. He was suffering from what he called "git overload." The episode's final scene underwent many revisions. Originally, Rimmer was supposed to drop a pile of kippers onto Ace, but this gag failed both comedically and practically. After that didn't work, a text scroll was inserted during post-production. Several miniatures were built for the episode, including Ace's ship, the Io city dome, and the Space Corps test space station. To film Ace's ship crashing into Starbug, the model was flown through space on wires. The Starbug crash site was created using a miniature ocean moon set. For the first time in the series, the end theme was changed. Director Ed Bye asked for a "naff organ sound" to close the episode. Keeping with the Rimmer theme, Howard Goodall provided an instrumental arrangement for the end credits. Every regular cast member played an alternate universe version of their character. Chris Barrie became Ace Rimmer, Craig Charles played Spanners, Danny John-Jules took the role of the Chaplain, Robert Llewellyn was Bongo, and Hattie Hayridge got to appear as more than just a floating head, playing Mellie. Kalli Greenwood and Simon Gaffney returned as Mrs. Rimmer and Young Rimmer, roles they had previously played in "Polymorph" (Simon also played young Rimmer in "Timeslides"). Hetty Baynes voiced the Cockpit Computer. The script for this episode was later collected in the 1993 book Primordial Soup.