10 Red Dwarf Episodes You Absolutely Must See

10. Parallel Universe

To kick things off, here's an iconic episode that marked the end of an era. After the first season's ship-bound "odd couple" format, Season Two saw the show experimenting with more bizarre sci-fi concepts, with its final episode showcasing one of the show's biggest sci-fi ideas at that point.

This episode sees Lister, Rimmer, Cat and Holly using Holly's newly devised "Holly Hop Drive" to visit a parallel universe. Here they find an alternate version of Red Dwarf crewed by female versions of Lister, Rimmer and even Holly, while a man evolved from a dog serves as Cat's counterpart. Naturally, the jokes write themselves and the crew's female counterparts make for some brilliant comedy, with the actresses doing stellar jobs at mirroring the Boys from the Dwarf.

The episode also offers up some not so subtle social commentary, as the boys learn that this entire universe is actually female-centric, with gender-flipped versions of historical figures and a "masculinist" movement. Of course though, it's Lister's one-night stand with, well, Lister - and its unexpected consequences - that offers the biggest shock of the episode. This resulted in a massive cliffhanger that actually created a rare moment of continuity from the first season, only to have it hand-waved away in the next season. Regardless, this is still a monumental moment from the show's early days.

Oh and of course, there's that show-stopping opening musical number - Tongue Tied - which showed fans just how talented Danny John-Jules really is.