Epideme
Encyclopedia
"Epideme" is the seventh episode of science fiction
comedy
series Red Dwarf VII
and the 43rd in the series run. It was first broadcast on the British
television channel BBC2
on 28 February 1997. Written by Paul Alexander & Doug Naylor
and directed by Ed Bye
. The episode involves Lister contracting an intelligent, but deadly, virus.
's former crushes. She is taken on board the Starbug, where the crew attempts to thaw her out, but are unable to melt the ice. That night, Carmen defrosts of her own accord and turns out to be in an advanced state of decomposition, and she sneaks into Lister's bed. After a brief episode where Lister confuses her for Kochanski
(eventually resulting in him being punched by the real Kochanski when she and Kryten
walk in halfway through), Carmen grabs Lister and spits part of her jaw and tongue down his throat, infecting him with the Epideme virus. Epideme is an intelligent virus (with an annoying personality) that was supposed to cure nicotine addiction, but in practice kills its victims within a day, then reanimates their corpse to find a new victim to transfer itself to.
Lister tries reasoning with Epideme directly through a communication link, but has no luck in convincing the virus to leave. Kochanski comes up with the idea to coax the virus to move down towards Lister's hand and then cut off the hand, with virus and all. Unfortunately the plan proves a total failure, as they end up cutting off Lister's right arm instead of the left one as he had requested, and they only manage to dispose of part of the Epideme virus, with the end result that they only succeed in prolonging Lister's life by an hour. Lister sneaks aboard the Leviathan with some explosives, intending to kill both himself and Epideme, but the virus talks him out of it by revealing that the destination of the Leviathan was Delta VII, a research base that might have a cure.
Unfortunately, when Starbug arrives at Delta VII, it turns out that the planet has been destroyed in order to deal with a massive Epideme outbreak; a fact that the virus was fully aware of, and used in its attempt to prevent Lister from killing himself. With Lister on the verge of death, Epideme taunts the crew by revealing that it'll infect Kochanski next, then the Cat
, and finally it'll smash Kryten up (while in control of Cat's body) for the fun of it. In a desperate move, Kochanski injects Lister with a drug that stops his heart, then gets his corpse to bite her left hand, infecting it. She then immediately slices off most of her left arm to the astonishment of Kryten and the Cat (who faints). Only after she has ejected the arm into space does she reveal that it was actually Caroline Carmen's arm, and that her own left arm is still perfectly intact. Kryten admits that he was wrong about Kochanski, and the two finally put their differences aside... before Kryten realises with utter horror that Lister is still dead. Kryten and Kochanski successfully revive the now virus-free Lister, and Kochanski gives her first real kiss to Lister.
An alternate ending was scripted and filmed for the episode - involving the dead arm, containing the Epideme virus, flying through space and then towards the camera - but it was decided to end the episode just before this scene.
Of the many new props needed for the new series was a laser bone-saw - used for the scenes of severing the Epideme-infected arm. For the scene Chloe Annet had taken several attempts to cut the arm off.
Voice artist Gary Martin
played the talking virus Epideme. He was recommended by Danny John-Jules, his friend of many years' standing, and had even been with Danny when he auditioned for the role of the Cat in the mid-eighties.
Nicky Leatherbarrow also appeared, in heavy make-up, as Caroline Carmen - the initial carrier of the Epideme virus.
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...
comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
series Red Dwarf VII
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...
and the 43rd 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
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
on 28 February 1997. Written by Paul Alexander & 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...
and directed by Ed Bye
Ed Bye
Edward Richard Morrison Bye is a British film and TV producer and director. He is best known for his work with Grant Naylor, Harry Enfield and Jasper Carrott, and has worked with many of British TV's best known comedians and comedy actors...
. The episode involves Lister contracting an intelligent, but deadly, virus.
Plot
The crew encounters an abandoned ship, the Leviathan, which is buried in the middle of an ice planetoid. After further investigation they find the frozen body of one survivor - Caroline Carmen, one of ListerDave Lister
David "Dave" Lister, commonly referred to simply as Lister, is a fictional character from the British science fiction situation comedy Red Dwarf, portrayed by Craig Charles...
's former crushes. She is taken on board the Starbug, where the crew attempts to thaw her out, but are unable to melt the ice. That night, Carmen defrosts of her own accord and turns out to be in an advanced state of decomposition, and she sneaks into Lister's bed. After a brief episode where Lister confuses her for Kochanski
Kristine Kochanski
Kristine Z. Kochanski is a fictional character from the British science fiction situation comedy Red Dwarf. Kochanski was the first console officer in the navigation chamber on board the spaceship Red Dwarf...
(eventually resulting in him being punched by the real Kochanski when she and Kryten
Kryten
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...
walk in halfway through), Carmen grabs Lister and spits part of her jaw and tongue down his throat, infecting him with the Epideme virus. Epideme is an intelligent virus (with an annoying personality) that was supposed to cure nicotine addiction, but in practice kills its victims within a day, then reanimates their corpse to find a new victim to transfer itself to.
Lister tries reasoning with Epideme directly through a communication link, but has no luck in convincing the virus to leave. Kochanski comes up with the idea to coax the virus to move down towards Lister's hand and then cut off the hand, with virus and all. Unfortunately the plan proves a total failure, as they end up cutting off Lister's right arm instead of the left one as he had requested, and they only manage to dispose of part of the Epideme virus, with the end result that they only succeed in prolonging Lister's life by an hour. Lister sneaks aboard the Leviathan with some explosives, intending to kill both himself and Epideme, but the virus talks him out of it by revealing that the destination of the Leviathan was Delta VII, a research base that might have a cure.
Unfortunately, when Starbug arrives at Delta VII, it turns out that the planet has been destroyed in order to deal with a massive Epideme outbreak; a fact that the virus was fully aware of, and used in its attempt to prevent Lister from killing himself. With Lister on the verge of death, Epideme taunts the crew by revealing that it'll infect Kochanski next, then 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...
, and finally it'll smash Kryten up (while in control of Cat's body) for the fun of it. In a desperate move, Kochanski injects Lister with a drug that stops his heart, then gets his corpse to bite her left hand, infecting it. She then immediately slices off most of her left arm to the astonishment of Kryten and the Cat (who faints). Only after she has ejected the arm into space does she reveal that it was actually Caroline Carmen's arm, and that her own left arm is still perfectly intact. Kryten admits that he was wrong about Kochanski, and the two finally put their differences aside... before Kryten realises with utter horror that Lister is still dead. Kryten and Kochanski successfully revive the now virus-free Lister, and Kochanski gives her first real kiss to Lister.
Production
For Paul Alexander's second script he used an old Jasper Carrot joke for the premise of the plot - "What if your flu could talk to you? Wouldn't it just say that it was doing its job?" Again Naylor helped out with the script, tweaking it to conform to the Red Dwarf universe.An alternate ending was scripted and filmed for the episode - involving the dead arm, containing the Epideme virus, flying through space and then towards the camera - but it was decided to end the episode just before this scene.
Of the many new props needed for the new series was a laser bone-saw - used for the scenes of severing the Epideme-infected arm. For the scene Chloe Annet had taken several attempts to cut the arm off.
Voice artist Gary Martin
Gary Martin (actor)
Gary Martin is a British voice artist and actor who has been in the industry since the early 1980s. His first recorded acting credit is as a chauffeur in the television series Nobody's Perfect. He has since gone on to perform in over 60 roles, either as a voice artist or actor...
played the talking virus Epideme. He was recommended by Danny John-Jules, his friend of many years' standing, and had even been with Danny when he auditioned for the role of the Cat in the mid-eighties.
Nicky Leatherbarrow also appeared, in heavy make-up, as Caroline Carmen - the initial carrier of the Epideme virus.