Parallel Universe (Red Dwarf)

Did You Know?

• The "Tongue Tied" single reached number 17 in the UK charts in October 1993.
• The dance sequence in the opening dream scene was choreographed by Charles Augins, who had appeared in the previous episode "Queeg".

Plot

Holly invents the "Holly Hop Drive", which can theoretically return Red Dwarf to Earth instantly. There they meet female versions of themselves: Arlene Rimmer, Deb Lister, and Hilly. In this universe, women dominate society and men fought for equal rights. Cat finds his counterpart is a male dog-like humanoid named Dog. Holly and Hilly need a day to repair the drive, so the groups socialize in the disco. Lister and Rimmer are put off by their counterparts—Lister criticizes Deb for qualities he shares, and Rimmer resists Arlene's advances—while Cat and Dog disagree on dance. Lister has sex with Deb, but learns the next morning that men in that universe become pregnant. After returning to their own universe, Lister takes a pregnancy test. Holly speculates this could explain a "future echo" Lister saw of himself with twin boys. The test comes back positive, to Lister's dismay.

Production

Hattie Hayridge plays Hilly, Holly's female counterpart. Producer Paul Jackson suggested her after seeing her on Saturday Live. This was Norman Lovett's last appearance as Holly until Series VII; Hayridge would play Holly from Series III. Angela Bruce plays Deb Lister, Suzanne Bertish plays Arlene Rimmer, and Matthew Devitt plays Dog. To reduce costs, existing shots of Red Dwarf were matted together to show two ships, allowing the budget to be used on other model shots. These scenes were recreated for the remastered version using CGI.

Reception

When Red Dwarf magazine asked readers to pick their favourite from Series II, this episode came out on top, and it also ranked sixth among all 30 episodes that existed at the time, with 5.6% of the vote. Sophie Davies, reviewing for CultBox in 2017, liked how it broadened the show’s characters and settings. She called it a pleasant surprise, noting that while it wasn’t groundbreaking, its 1988 gender politics were far less problematic than later episodes.