10 Red Dwarf Episodes You Absolutely Must See

Every sci-fi TV series seems to do a western episode at some point, that's almost a cliché. But Red Dwarf does it in such a clever way, that it stands unique among all the others. In another rare moment of continuity for the show, this episode sees the crew having an encounter with a group of simulants they'd fought in a previous episode. This results in Starbug being infected with the Armageddon Virus and locked on a collision course with a lava moon. In order to remedy this, Kryten voluntary contracts the virus so that he can develop a "dove program" to counteract it.

Watching Kryten's dreams, the rest of the crew see that his battle with the virus is being represented by an old western town, in which Kryten is the drunken sheriff. After things don't seem to be going well for their friend, the rest of the crew use an artificial reality machine to enter Kryten's dream, complete with their own western characters.

The Dwarfers' western personas are perfection, each complete with their own special skillset and It's amusing to see the usually well-mannered Kryten as a washed up drunk. Furthermore, the blending of sci-fi and western themes is done seamlessly, with many features of the simulation being symbolic of Kryten's struggle. Of course, the smeg really hits the fan when the titular gunmen, which represent the virus, mosey into town...

All in all, this is a fun and creative episode and it's no wonder that it's become a fan-favourite.