Demons and Angels
Encyclopedia
"Demons and Angels" is the fifth episode of science fiction
sit-com Red Dwarf
Series V and the twenty ninth in the series run. It was first broadcast on the British
television channel BBC2 on 19 March 1992. Written by Rob Grant
& Doug Naylor
, the episode was the first to be filmed with new director Juliet May
. The episode has the regular Red Dwarf crew meet their 'high' and 'low' versions.
has created a Triplicator, derived from the Matter Paddle, which he hopes will solve any supply problems that might arise on Red Dwarf. It can create two copies of anything placed within its field, and he tests the machine out with a strawberry. Two seemingly identical copies are created, however they both contain a lot of differences. Lister tastes one, and is amazed at how succulent it taste. However the second is anything but, as it is filled with maggot
s. Kryten realises that the machine, instead of creating two identical copies, is instead putting all the very best elements into one copy and all the worst elements into another. Lister decides to test what happens when the beam is reversed. However, all this does is cause the science room to begin to blow up. Holly
appears however her voice unit is damaged meaning she spouts out gibberish (although Rimmer
notes that this isn't much difference to normal) however Kryten tells everyone that the engine core is about to go into meltdown. As a result, the crew, joined by the Cat
, quickly head to Starbug to make their escape. Starbug is forced to crash its way through the cargo doors when Holly is too damaged to open them, but manage to make it out. As the rest of the crew start to bemoan the situation, Lister tries to reassure everyone that they've only escaped as a precaution as the safety systems aboard Red Dwarf should take care of the danger. However he is quickly shut up when Red Dwarf suddenly explodes.
Later, Kryten reports to the crew that the supply situation is bleak. They don't have enough fuel to make it to a habitable planet, but this isn't a problem as they literally only have minutes worth of oxygen and hologram battery. However, when scanning for supplies that might have escaped the explosion, the crew discover two identical copies of Red Dwarf. Kryten realises that when the triplicator was put into reverse then the field of the beam was projected outwards towards the whole ship creating the copies (with the sudden power drain destroying the original). Unfortunately, the copies will only last an hour meaning the crew can't simply stay on the higher version of Red Dwarf. Kryten proposes to restore Red Dwarf by using the Triplicator on board the higher ship to amalgamate the two copies. Starbug lands on the first ship which is much more advanced than the original. The air and music give Lister and the Cat a feeling of happiness, and the dispensers ever produce an edible Pot Noodle
. The crew is then greeted by alternative versions of themselves embodying the best parts of their personalities. These are the spiritualistic 'highs', who spend their time philosophising, reading poetry and trying to improve their minds. Naturally, Rimmer is disgusted and considers them to be hippies. Unfortunately, Kryten finds that the triplicator aboard this ship contains only half the vital components. The crew will have to board the low ship in order to find the rest.
However, the 'low' ship, the crew split up however the higher crew are all quickly killed by their 'low' counterpart (including a sadistic and glitchy Kryten, an ugly and violent cowboy Lister, an aggressive cannibalistic Cat and a sexually domineering Rimmer). They capture Lister and implant him with a device enabling them to dictate his actions by remote control. He is made to attack his shipmates and the ensuing violence is only stemmed when Lister is chloroformed by Kryten. Having seen off the danger, they collect the Triplicator and reverse-the-reversal, bringing the situation back to the point before Red Dwarf blew up in the first place. As the crew head home, Lister accidentally reimplants the device, and the Cat, stealing the controls, requests it remain there for a week, much to Lister's horror.
Grant and Naylor commented that the script was a tricky episode to shoot. Several scenes had to be re-shot and going back to re-shoot caused no end of stress as they re-wrote and directed the episode with limited studio time. Scenes were re-written there and then and given to the cast to block out in one take.
For this series the Red Dwarf model was rebuilt from the original version which had fallen apart over the years. The ship explosion was filmed using pyrotechnics and shooting the cameras at three thousand frames a second. From a few seconds of explosions the crew got around 20 seconds' worth of film footage.
To achieve the High and Low versions interacting with the regular Red Dwarf crew, old techniques of split screens were the order of the day. Doubles for the cast were used, but a large number of shots were created with the by-now traditional locked-off camera and split screen. Craig Charles did his bluescreen scenes to roll on the floor in front of himself; the video effects crew added a holowhip.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
sit-com Red Dwarf
Red Dwarf
Red Dwarf is a British comedy franchise which primarily comprises eight series of a television science fiction sitcom that aired on BBC Two between 1988 and 1999 and Dave from 2009–present. It gained cult following. It was created by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, who also wrote the first six series...
Series V and the twenty ninth in the series run. It was first broadcast on the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
television channel BBC2 on 19 March 1992. Written by Rob Grant
Rob Grant
Robert Grant is a British comedy writer and television producer, who was born in Salford and studied Psychology at Liverpool University for two years....
& Doug Naylor
Doug Naylor
Douglas R. Naylor is a British comedy writer, science fiction writer, director and television producer.Naylor was born in Manchester, England and studied at the University of Liverpool. In the mid-1980s, Naylor wrote two regular comedy sketch shows for BBC Radio 4 entitled Cliché and Son of Cliché...
, the episode was the first to be filmed with new director Juliet May
Juliet May
Juliet May is a British television director. She has directed a variety of television shows, including Challenge Anneka, Dalziel and Pascoe, Hope and Glory New Tricks and the award-winning Miranda....
. The episode has the regular Red Dwarf crew meet their 'high' and 'low' versions.
Plot
KrytenKryten
Kryten is a fictional character in the British science fiction situation comedy Red Dwarf. Kryten's registration code on Red Dwarf is "Kryten additional 001". The name Kryten is a reference to the head butler in the J.M...
has created a Triplicator, derived from the Matter Paddle, which he hopes will solve any supply problems that might arise on Red Dwarf. It can create two copies of anything placed within its field, and he tests the machine out with a strawberry. Two seemingly identical copies are created, however they both contain a lot of differences. Lister tastes one, and is amazed at how succulent it taste. However the second is anything but, as it is filled with maggot
Maggot
In everyday speech the word maggot means the larva of a fly ; it is applied in particular to the larvae of Brachyceran flies, such as houseflies, cheese flies, and blowflies, rather than larvae of the Nematocera, such as mosquitoes and Crane flies...
s. Kryten realises that the machine, instead of creating two identical copies, is instead putting all the very best elements into one copy and all the worst elements into another. Lister decides to test what happens when the beam is reversed. However, all this does is cause the science room to begin to blow up. Holly
Holly (Red Dwarf)
Holly is the ship's computer on the science fiction situation comedy Red Dwarf.The character is played by Norman Lovett in Series I and II and, following a "head sex change" to look like his parallel universe alter ego "Hilly", played by Hattie Hayridge in the series 3 episode Backwards, is female...
appears however her voice unit is damaged meaning she spouts out gibberish (although Rimmer
Arnold Rimmer
Arnold Judas Rimmer is a fictional character in the science fiction situation comedy Red Dwarf, played by Chris Barrie. He is unpopular with his crew mates, and is often the target of insults or pranks...
notes that this isn't much difference to normal) however Kryten tells everyone that the engine core is about to go into meltdown. As a result, the crew, joined by the Cat
Cat (Red Dwarf)
The Cat is a character in the British science fiction sitcom Red Dwarf. He is played by Danny John-Jules.-Character development:According to Danny John-Jules, the character of Cat is based on a combination of Little Richard's look, James Brown's moves and Richard Pryor's facial...
, quickly head to Starbug to make their escape. Starbug is forced to crash its way through the cargo doors when Holly is too damaged to open them, but manage to make it out. As the rest of the crew start to bemoan the situation, Lister tries to reassure everyone that they've only escaped as a precaution as the safety systems aboard Red Dwarf should take care of the danger. However he is quickly shut up when Red Dwarf suddenly explodes.
Later, Kryten reports to the crew that the supply situation is bleak. They don't have enough fuel to make it to a habitable planet, but this isn't a problem as they literally only have minutes worth of oxygen and hologram battery. However, when scanning for supplies that might have escaped the explosion, the crew discover two identical copies of Red Dwarf. Kryten realises that when the triplicator was put into reverse then the field of the beam was projected outwards towards the whole ship creating the copies (with the sudden power drain destroying the original). Unfortunately, the copies will only last an hour meaning the crew can't simply stay on the higher version of Red Dwarf. Kryten proposes to restore Red Dwarf by using the Triplicator on board the higher ship to amalgamate the two copies. Starbug lands on the first ship which is much more advanced than the original. The air and music give Lister and the Cat a feeling of happiness, and the dispensers ever produce an edible Pot Noodle
Pot Noodle
Pot Noodle is a brand of ramen-style instant noodle snack foods, available in a selection of flavours and varieties. Its dehydrated mixture consists of wide noodles, textured soya pieces, assorted dried vegetables and flavouring powder. The product is prepared by adding boiling water, which softens...
. The crew is then greeted by alternative versions of themselves embodying the best parts of their personalities. These are the spiritualistic 'highs', who spend their time philosophising, reading poetry and trying to improve their minds. Naturally, Rimmer is disgusted and considers them to be hippies. Unfortunately, Kryten finds that the triplicator aboard this ship contains only half the vital components. The crew will have to board the low ship in order to find the rest.
However, the 'low' ship, the crew split up however the higher crew are all quickly killed by their 'low' counterpart (including a sadistic and glitchy Kryten, an ugly and violent cowboy Lister, an aggressive cannibalistic Cat and a sexually domineering Rimmer). They capture Lister and implant him with a device enabling them to dictate his actions by remote control. He is made to attack his shipmates and the ensuing violence is only stemmed when Lister is chloroformed by Kryten. Having seen off the danger, they collect the Triplicator and reverse-the-reversal, bringing the situation back to the point before Red Dwarf blew up in the first place. As the crew head home, Lister accidentally reimplants the device, and the Cat, stealing the controls, requests it remain there for a week, much to Lister's horror.
Production
"Demons and Angels", which had the working title "High and Low", was the first episode from Series V to be filmed. Following the departure of Ed Bye, who had directed all the previous four series' episodes, Juliet May was brought in as the new director.Grant and Naylor commented that the script was a tricky episode to shoot. Several scenes had to be re-shot and going back to re-shoot caused no end of stress as they re-wrote and directed the episode with limited studio time. Scenes were re-written there and then and given to the cast to block out in one take.
For this series the Red Dwarf model was rebuilt from the original version which had fallen apart over the years. The ship explosion was filmed using pyrotechnics and shooting the cameras at three thousand frames a second. From a few seconds of explosions the crew got around 20 seconds' worth of film footage.
To achieve the High and Low versions interacting with the regular Red Dwarf crew, old techniques of split screens were the order of the day. Doubles for the cast were used, but a large number of shots were created with the by-now traditional locked-off camera and split screen. Craig Charles did his bluescreen scenes to roll on the floor in front of himself; the video effects crew added a holowhip.