"The End" is the first episode of science fiction sitcom Red Dwarf, which was first broadcast on the British television channel BBC2 on 15 February 1988. The episode introduces the main characters and sets up the story backbone of the series. On the mining ship Red Dwarf, Dave Lister is placed in stasis for refusing to give up the whereabouts of his forbidden pet cat. When he emerges from stasis, three million years later, he discovers that everybody has died from a radiation leak.
The episode was written by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, directed by Ed Bye and starred Craig Charles, Chris Barrie, Danny John-Jules and Norman Lovett. The script was rejected by the BBC three times before it was given the go ahead three years later. An electricians strike at the BBC prevented filming and production on the series halted, only going ahead after the dispute was resolved.
The broadcast episode differs greatly from the originally filmed version. Grant and Naylor felt that scenes from the episode did not work, so with a spare filming slot additional scenes were added and previous scenes filmed again. Gaining more than five million viewers on its first showing, the episode is considered one of the best from the first series by fans. It was later re-mastered, along with the rest of the first three series, in 1998.
Plot
On the mining vessel Red Dwarf, Dave Lister (Craig Charles) and Arnold Rimmer (Chris Barrie) go about their daily routine of maintenance. Rimmer takes his maintenance duties very seriously, despite lacking respect from other crew members, while Lister is more eager to be lazy and drink with others, and hopes to return to Earth to start a farm on Fiji with the true love of his life, Kristine Kochanski (Clare Grogan). The following day, Rimmer prepares for his latest attempt at the engineering exam, hoping to get promoted, but finds that the notes and equations he wrote on his arms and legs have been blurred due to him sweating nervously, prompting him to hand in a voided examination paper to the examiner before fainting.
Meanwhile, Lister is brought before Captain Hollister (Mac McDonald) and accused of smuggling aboard a non-quarantined pet – a pregnant cat that Lister named Frankenstein and hopes to include in his future plans. Learning that Frankenstein would be "put down" for a biopsy, Lister refuses and is sentenced to 18 months of suspended animation in a stasis cell. When he is revived by Holly (Norman Lovett) – the ship's ever increasingly senile computer – he is informed that the crew are all dead, after a faulty drive plate caused them to be subjected to a lethal dose of cadmium II radiation. Lister is horrified to learn that he could not be released until three million years later, when the radiation had dispersed.
Lister soon discovers that Rimmer was resurrected by Holly as a hologram, though with the inability to touch or feel anything, and learns that he was responsible for the accident. While they explore the ship, the pair come across a graceful-looking humanoid which Holly reveals to be an evolution of cats descended from Lister's pet. Holly reveals that Frankenstein managed to get into the ship's hold during the accident and was able to be safely sealed as a result. When the pair catch up with it, they manage to convince it that they are no threat, whereupon Lister names him Cat (Danny John-Jules) and learns that his ancestors created a religion around him. When Cat explains that his kind revered Lister as "Cloister the Stupid", who would lead them to the promised land "Fuchal", Lister points out what he means and promises to do so, prompting Holly to a course for Fiji. After Rimmer remarks that humankind will have evolved to the point that Lister will be like "the slime that first crawled out of the oceans", Lister declares "Look out, Earth – the slime's coming home!"
Production
Writing
The episode was written in 1983 during a stay at a cottage in Wales belonging to Doug Naylor's father. Almost a mile up a mountain the writing duo team of Rob Grant and Doug Naylor spent day and night writing. Almost finished, the pair had a near fatal accident during nightfall when their car veered perilously near the edge of a cliff. The script was not finished as expected as they spent the next day rescuing the car.