rd-11-4Rimmer gains a promotion, and it rather goes to his head…

…which must come as a surprise to absolutely no one. Chris Barrie has great fun in this episode as multiple versions of Rimmer – or at least, he does when there are many separate Rimmers. He seems to be having rather less fun in the conglomerate at the end, which, frankly, applies for the viewer as well.

Technically, the episode belies the budget, and before the Rimmer monster appears, it looks pretty smooth. The idea of a 3D printer is a good one (and the “inaccurate” printing of the captain stays just the right side of body horror for it to be funny rather than as nauseating as it might be), and the Rimmer barber shop quartet is one of the great moments so far of this series. The monster, though, is just one step too far.

It also feels as if there’s something missing in the latter part of the episode – most of the episodes have had some sort of tag to them, whereas here we just get the monster blown up (off screen) and cut to the titles. It’s abrupt and really doesn’t work, which is a shame because there’s a lot in this that’s another strong outing for the team.

Verdict: A weak ending spoils a promising episode. 6/10

Paul Simpson