Red Dwarf: Every Series Ranked From Worst To Best
3. Series 3
Series 3 was when the BBC first realised they'd got a hit on their hands and started shoveling more money into the show. The bland sets were replaced and expanded upon, Blue Midget was replaced with the more iconic Starbug, the basic costumes were upgraded, Robert Llewellyn was introduced as a returning Kryten, and Hattie Hayridge took over from Norman Lovett as Holly.
The new budget brought with it the opportunity to add creatures, though Grant & Naylor's belief that alien life would derail the show caused them to introduce Genetically Engineered Life Forms. Supposedly created by mankind as a labour force, the first of these GELFs we meet is a Polymorph in the episode of the same name that riffs off the film Alien.
Fantastic moments fill series 3, from everything about Backwards to Body Swap's characterisations, but there's one episode that stands above all the others. Ironically something that could have been included in the simpler early series, Marooned traps Lister with Rimmer in a crashed Starbug, and is basically a half-hour conversation between the two. Filled with great stories, charming wit, gross food, and a lot of heart, this is what Red Dwarf does best.