Timeslides
Encyclopedia
"Timeslides" is the fifth episode of science fiction
sit-com Red Dwarf
Series III, and the seventeenth in the series run. It premiered on the British
television channel BBC2 on 12 December 1989. Written by Rob Grant
and Doug Naylor
, and directed by Ed Bye
, the plot deals with Lister's desire to change his life by going back in time and changing his past. The episode was re-mastered, along with the rest of the first three series, in 1998.
(Craig Charles
) is bored - bored with Scrabble
, bored with table golf, bored with Durex
volleyball - even bored with Junior Angler. He tells Cat
(Danny John-Jules
) and Rimmer
(Chris Barrie
) that he hates his life on Red Dwarf. During the conversation, Rimmer reminisces about a former schoolmate, Fred "Thickie" Holden, who despite being one of the stupidest boys in the class went on to earn an immense fortune with an invention called the "tension sheet", which, as Rimmer states, is merely bubble wrap
that has been painted red with the words "tension sheet" written on it. Meanwhile, while working in the ship's darkroom, Kryten
(Robert Llewellyn
) accidentally discovers that the developing fluid can make photographs come to life. The same thing is possible with slides, and soon the crew are stepping into photographs and back in time. The only problem is that they can't move outside the borders of the original photo. Lister goes back in time, thanks to one of Rimmer's old pictures, to Germany standing alongside Adolf Hitler
(where he shouts "Ignore him, he's a complete and total nutter, and he's only got one testicle.") before accidentally foiling Claus von Stauffenberg's assassination attempt on him.
Lister decides to go back in time and change history by giving the "Tension Sheet" invention to his 17-year-old self. This creates unforeseen changes in the present, as the Cat and Kryten disappear, leaving Rimmer alone with Holly
(Hattie Hayridge
). Deciding that this is not on, Rimmer visits Lister, hoping to persuade him to come back to Red Dwarf, claiming "it is my duty. My duty as a complete and utter bastard!". Lister, however – now living in a mansion with a supermodel – fails to recognise him, and tells the butler to throw him out.
Rimmer decides to take it upon himself to restore the time-lines to normal, and travels even further back in time to give the secret of the "Tension Sheet" to his younger self. However, Rimmer's plan is overheard by his younger self's bunk room schoolmate, Thickie Holden. Upon returning to the present, everything is put back exactly the way it was. Lister, Cat and Kryten re-appear and Rimmer waits to disappear to fame and riches. However, nothing happens as Holly explains the "Tension Sheet" was invented by one Thickie Holden. But one thing is different; Rimmer is now alive, not a hologram. Delighted, he rushes out into a corridor, slams his fists down on top of some innocuous-looking crates and accidentally blows himself up.
The episode featured music from Craig Charles. Not only did he write "Bad News" and "Cash" but he penned the "Om" song which was sung by the young Lister, who was played by Emile Charles, Craig's brother. Young Lister was lead singer in the band 'Smeg and the Heads', portrayed by Jeffrey Walker
and Bill Steer
of real-life band Carcass
.
Simon Gaffney played the Young Rimmer. Robert Addie
played Gilbert, Lister's servant. Rupert Bates and Richard Hainsworth each played as one of Lister's Bodyguards. Stephen McKintosh played Thickie Holden, Rimmer's roommate and inventor of the Tension Sheet. Louisa Ruthven appeared as Ski Woman and Mark Steel
appeared as Ski Man in one of the Timeslide photos, Koo Stark
played Lady Sabrina Mulholland-Jjones, Lister's "most desirable woman in the western hemisphere" fiancée. Ruby Wax
, director Ed Bye's wife, played Blaize Falconberger, the host of the fictional TV show Lifestyles of the Disgustingly Rich and Famous. Wax was a late addition to the cast as the original actor chosen to play Blaize, Graham Chapman
of Monty Python
fame died shortly before rehearsals began. Chris Barrie also appears in one slide as Rimmer's Brother Frank, it is a picture of Frank Rimmer's wedding which Lister manages to accidentally gatecrash, leading an annoyed Frank to repeatedly punch Lister in the stomach. It is interesting to note that Chris Barrie's portrayal of Frank Rimmer is similar to Barrie's later portrayal of Ace Rimmer, the more successful, brave and popular version of Rimmer from a parallel dimension. This is most evident in Ace's accent as his voice is a more mid-atlantic version of the voice Barrie used to play Frank.
, leader of the "runners-up" in World War II
, in Nuremberg
. Lister comes back from the Timeslide with a suitcase from Staff Colonel Von Stauffenberg
, who was a key member in the assassination attempt on Hitler. The possibilities of the Timeslides are endless, as Lister says, that they could go back and convince Dustin Hoffman
not to make Ishtar
.
With the timelines changed Lister is now famous and rich as shown in a news reel. He bought Buckingham Palace
and "...had it ground down just to line his drive." He called his home "Xanadu", not as a reference to the movie Citizen Kane
, but rather as a tribute to the hit single by Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich
. The wealthy Lister is profiled in a fictional TV show as a spoof of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous
.
Lister's
teenage self continually accuses him of being a crypto-fascist
.
Dobbin and Gazza from Lister's band 'Smegs and the Heads' are actually played by Jeff Walker
and Bill Steer
from the death metal
/grindcore
band Carcass
.
The alternate Lister's mansion and the courtyard with the non-peeing statue is a Grade 1 listed mansion house within Lyme Park
. The building can also be seen in the background of the spoof TV show presented by Ruby Wax in the episode.
" and "Polymorph
" - it was still rated highly. 'Reviews by Gavrielle' remarking that the episode was "brilliant from start to finish."
special effects of Red Dwarf and many more visual and audio enhancements.
There have been changes made specific to "Timeslides". The special guest star Adolf Hitler mention has been removed from the opening credits. Lister kicking the bomb into the timeslide has been tightened and a fire element added to explosion. Lister's reference to the Dustin Hoffman movie Ishtar has been removed. Xanadu and Citizen Kane references have been removed. A running water video effect has been added to rich Lister's huge statue.
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 III, and the seventeenth in the series run. It premiered 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 12 December 1989. 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....
and 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 plot deals with Lister's desire to change his life by going back in time and changing his past. The episode was re-mastered, along with the rest of the first three series, in 1998.
Plot
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...
(Craig Charles
Craig Charles
Craig Joseph Charles is an English actor, stand-up comedian, author, poet, radio and television presenter, best known for playing Dave Lister in the British cult-favourite science fiction sitcom Red Dwarf...
) is bored - bored with Scrabble
Scrabble
Scrabble is a word game in which two to four players score points by forming words from individual lettered tiles on a game board marked with a 15-by-15 grid. The words are formed across and down in crossword fashion and must appear in a standard dictionary. Official reference works provide a list...
, bored with table golf, bored with Durex
Durex
Durex is the trademarked name for a range of condoms that used to be made by British company SSL International. This company was sold to Reckitt Benckiser in July 2010....
volleyball - even bored with Junior Angler. He tells 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...
(Danny John-Jules
Danny John-Jules
Daniel "Danny" John-Jules is a British actor, singer and dancer. John-Jules attended Rutherford Comprehensive School, Penfold Street, Marylebone, from 1972 to 1977. He is best known for portraying Cat in the television programme Red Dwarf.-Dance and song:John-Jules is a baritone...
) and 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...
(Chris Barrie
Chris Barrie
Chris Barrie is a British actor. He first achieved success as a vocal impressionist, notably in the ITV sketch show Spitting Image...
) that he hates his life on Red Dwarf. During the conversation, Rimmer reminisces about a former schoolmate, Fred "Thickie" Holden, who despite being one of the stupidest boys in the class went on to earn an immense fortune with an invention called the "tension sheet", which, as Rimmer states, is merely bubble wrap
Bubble Wrap
Bubble wrap is a pliable transparent plastic material commonly used for packing fragile items. Regularly spaced, protruding air-filled hemispheres provide cushioning for fragile items....
that has been painted red with the words "tension sheet" written on it. Meanwhile, while working in the ship's darkroom, 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...
(Robert Llewellyn
Robert Llewellyn
Robert Llewellyn is an English actor, presenter, and writer. He is best known as the mechanoid Kryten in the hit sitcom Red Dwarf, and for his role as presenter of Scrapheap Challenge.-Early career:...
) accidentally discovers that the developing fluid can make photographs come to life. The same thing is possible with slides, and soon the crew are stepping into photographs and back in time. The only problem is that they can't move outside the borders of the original photo. Lister goes back in time, thanks to one of Rimmer's old pictures, to Germany standing alongside Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
(where he shouts "Ignore him, he's a complete and total nutter, and he's only got one testicle.") before accidentally foiling Claus von Stauffenberg's assassination attempt on him.
Lister decides to go back in time and change history by giving the "Tension Sheet" invention to his 17-year-old self. This creates unforeseen changes in the present, as the Cat and Kryten disappear, leaving Rimmer alone with 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...
(Hattie Hayridge
Hattie Hayridge
Hattie Hayridge is a British stand-up comedienne and actress, best known for the role of the female version of Holly in Red Dwarf during the third, fourth and fifth series, along with the role of Hilly in Parallel Universe, the final episode of the second series.After graduating from the...
). Deciding that this is not on, Rimmer visits Lister, hoping to persuade him to come back to Red Dwarf, claiming "it is my duty. My duty as a complete and utter bastard!". Lister, however – now living in a mansion with a supermodel – fails to recognise him, and tells the butler to throw him out.
Rimmer decides to take it upon himself to restore the time-lines to normal, and travels even further back in time to give the secret of the "Tension Sheet" to his younger self. However, Rimmer's plan is overheard by his younger self's bunk room schoolmate, Thickie Holden. Upon returning to the present, everything is put back exactly the way it was. Lister, Cat and Kryten re-appear and Rimmer waits to disappear to fame and riches. However, nothing happens as Holly explains the "Tension Sheet" was invented by one Thickie Holden. But one thing is different; Rimmer is now alive, not a hologram. Delighted, he rushes out into a corridor, slams his fists down on top of some innocuous-looking crates and accidentally blows himself up.
Production
Due to a continuity error certain lines had to be cut from the skiing holiday picture scene. The scene established that Lister had got somebody's skiing holiday pictures back by mistake. The skiers were scripted to discuss how they received Lister's rather scary birthday snaps in place of theirs. Craig Charles realised that this was a continuity flaw as at that time, the skiers would not have received them yet. The lines were cut, but as they were originally speaking parts, Lusisa Ruthven and Mark Steel were still credited for their parts.The episode featured music from Craig Charles. Not only did he write "Bad News" and "Cash" but he penned the "Om" song which was sung by the young Lister, who was played by Emile Charles, Craig's brother. Young Lister was lead singer in the band 'Smeg and the Heads', portrayed by Jeffrey Walker
Jeffrey Walker
Jeffrey Walker is a bass guitarist and vocalist from Windle, St Helens, UK. He is best known for his work with the death metal / grindcore band Carcass for which he is also the main lyricist. Before Carcass, he played in the punk band the Electro Hippies. After the demise of Carcass, he went on to...
and Bill Steer
Bill Steer
Bill Steer is an English guitar player, and a founder of British Metal band Carcass...
of real-life band Carcass
Carcass (band)
Carcass are an extreme metal band from England, who formed in 1985 and disbanded in 1995. A reunion was enacted in 2008 without one of its original members, drummer Ken Owen, due to health reasons....
.
Simon Gaffney played the Young Rimmer. Robert Addie
Robert Addie
Robert Alastair Addie was an English actor who was best known for playing Sir Guy of Gisbourne in the television series Robin of Sherwood.-Career:...
played Gilbert, Lister's servant. Rupert Bates and Richard Hainsworth each played as one of Lister's Bodyguards. Stephen McKintosh played Thickie Holden, Rimmer's roommate and inventor of the Tension Sheet. Louisa Ruthven appeared as Ski Woman and Mark Steel
Mark Steel
Mark Steel is a British socialist columnist, author and comedian. He was a member of the Socialist Workers Party from his late teens until 2007.-Early life:...
appeared as Ski Man in one of the Timeslide photos, Koo Stark
Koo Stark
Kathleen Dee-Anne Stark, better known as Koo Stark , is an American film actress and photographer. She is known for her appearance in the film Emily and subsequent relationship with Prince Andrew, son of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, before his marriage to Sarah, Duchess of York.-...
played Lady Sabrina Mulholland-Jjones, Lister's "most desirable woman in the western hemisphere" fiancée. Ruby Wax
Ruby Wax
Ruby Wax is a BAFTA nominated American comedian who made a career in the United Kingdom as part of the alternative comedy scene in the 1980s.-Early life:...
, director Ed Bye's wife, played Blaize Falconberger, the host of the fictional TV show Lifestyles of the Disgustingly Rich and Famous. Wax was a late addition to the cast as the original actor chosen to play Blaize, Graham Chapman
Graham Chapman
Graham Arthur Chapman was a British comedian, physician, writer, actor, and one of the six members of the Monty Python comedy troupe.-Early life and education:...
of Monty Python
Monty Python
Monty Python was a British surreal comedy group who created their influential Monty Python's Flying Circus, a British television comedy sketch show that first aired on the BBC on 5 October 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series...
fame died shortly before rehearsals began. Chris Barrie also appears in one slide as Rimmer's Brother Frank, it is a picture of Frank Rimmer's wedding which Lister manages to accidentally gatecrash, leading an annoyed Frank to repeatedly punch Lister in the stomach. It is interesting to note that Chris Barrie's portrayal of Frank Rimmer is similar to Barrie's later portrayal of Ace Rimmer, the more successful, brave and popular version of Rimmer from a parallel dimension. This is most evident in Ace's accent as his voice is a more mid-atlantic version of the voice Barrie used to play Frank.
Cultural references
One of the Timeslide photos shows Adolf HitlerAdolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
, leader of the "runners-up" in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, in Nuremberg
Nuremberg
Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...
. Lister comes back from the Timeslide with a suitcase from Staff Colonel Von Stauffenberg
Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg
Claus Philipp Maria Justinian Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg commonly referred to as Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg was a German army officer and Catholic aristocrat who was one of the leading members of the failed 20 July plot of 1944 to assassinate Adolf Hitler and remove the Nazi Party from...
, who was a key member in the assassination attempt on Hitler. The possibilities of the Timeslides are endless, as Lister says, that they could go back and convince Dustin Hoffman
Dustin Hoffman
Dustin Lee Hoffman is an American actor with a career in film, television, and theatre since 1960. He has been known for his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and vulnerable characters....
not to make Ishtar
Ishtar (film)
Ishtar is a 1987 American comedy film directed by Elaine May and starring Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman as "Rogers and Clarke" – a duo of incredibly untalented lounge singers who travel to Morocco looking for work, and stumble into a four-party Cold War standoff.It also starred Isabelle Adjani...
.
With the timelines changed Lister is now famous and rich as shown in a news reel. He bought Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace, in London, is the principal residence and office of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality...
and "...had it ground down just to line his drive." He called his home "Xanadu", not as a reference to the movie Citizen Kane
Citizen Kane
Citizen Kane is a 1941 American drama film, directed by and starring Orson Welles. Many critics consider it the greatest American film of all time, especially for its innovative cinematography, music and narrative structure. Citizen Kane was Welles' first feature film...
, but rather as a tribute to the hit single by Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich
Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich
Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich , were a British pop/rock group of the 1960s. Two of their single releases sold in excess of one million copies each, and they reached Number One in the UK with the second of them, "The Legend of Xanadu".-Biography:Five friends from Wiltshire, David John Harman,...
. The wealthy Lister is profiled in a fictional TV show as a spoof of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous
Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous
Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous is a television series that aired in syndication from 1984 to 1995. The show featured the extravagant lifestyles of wealthy entertainers, athletes and business moguls....
.
Lister's
Dave 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...
teenage self continually accuses him of being a crypto-fascist
Crypto-fascism
Crypto-fascism is a pejorative term implying a secret support for, or admiration of, fascism. The term is used to imply that an individual or group keeps this support or admiration hidden to avoid political persecution or political suicide....
.
Dobbin and Gazza from Lister's band 'Smegs and the Heads' are actually played by Jeff Walker
Jeffrey Walker
Jeffrey Walker is a bass guitarist and vocalist from Windle, St Helens, UK. He is best known for his work with the death metal / grindcore band Carcass for which he is also the main lyricist. Before Carcass, he played in the punk band the Electro Hippies. After the demise of Carcass, he went on to...
and Bill Steer
Bill Steer
Bill Steer is an English guitar player, and a founder of British Metal band Carcass...
from the death metal
Death metal
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....
/grindcore
Grindcore
Grindcore is an extreme genre of music that started in the early- to mid-1980s. It draws inspiration from some of the most abrasive music genres – including death metal, industrial music, noise and the more extreme varieties of hardcore punk....
band Carcass
Carcass (band)
Carcass are an extreme metal band from England, who formed in 1985 and disbanded in 1995. A reunion was enacted in 2008 without one of its original members, drummer Ken Owen, due to health reasons....
.
The alternate Lister's mansion and the courtyard with the non-peeing statue is a Grade 1 listed mansion house within Lyme Park
Lyme Park
Lyme Park is a large estate located south of Disley, Cheshire, England. It consists of a mansion house surrounded by formal gardens, in a deer park in the Peak District National Park...
. The building can also be seen in the background of the spoof TV show presented by Ruby Wax in the episode.
Reception
The episode was originally broadcast on the British television channel BBC2 on 12 December 1989 in the 9:00 pm evening time slot. Although the episode is not remembered as much as its fellow Series III efforts - "BackwardsBackwards (Red Dwarf episode)
"Backwards" is the first episode of science fiction sitcom Red Dwarf Series III, and the thirteenth in the series run. It premiered on the British television channel BBC2 on 14 November 1989...
" and "Polymorph
Polymorph (Red Dwarf episode)
"Polymorph" is the third episode of science fiction sitcom Red Dwarf Series III, and the fifteenth in the series run. It premiered on the British television channel BBC2 on 28 November 1989. It is considered by some to be the series' best. Written by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, and directed by Ed...
" - it was still rated highly. 'Reviews by Gavrielle' remarking that the episode was "brilliant from start to finish."
Remastering
The remastering of Series I to III was carried out during the late 1990s. General changes throughout the series included replacement of the opening credits, giving the picture a colour grade and filmising, computer generatedComputer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
special effects of Red Dwarf and many more visual and audio enhancements.
There have been changes made specific to "Timeslides". The special guest star Adolf Hitler mention has been removed from the opening credits. Lister kicking the bomb into the timeslide has been tightened and a fire element added to explosion. Lister's reference to the Dustin Hoffman movie Ishtar has been removed. Xanadu and Citizen Kane references have been removed. A running water video effect has been added to rich Lister's huge statue.