red-dwarf-xi-5Kryten undergoes a midlife crisis…

As with pretty much every episode of this season, there are some really strong parts, including some cracking dialogue which the cast deliver with the aplomb you’d expect of a group who have worked together for so long. The audience reaction to Kryten’s new outer shell is given its head, and Robert Llewellyn plays up every element of this new version of the mech.

There was probably enough material just in the concept of a mid-life crisis-riven mech to fill an episode, but we get two more great ideas – a mech who’s Kryten’s superior in every way (particularly in terms of attitude), and an encounter with the Universe (who sounds like a bargain basement version of Morgan Freeman – perhaps the only part of this episode that really didn’t come off that well). The scenes in Butler’s ship are well observed – particularly Rimmer’s reactions – and the tag after the Universe conversation, for once this season, really feels like a proper payoff for the episode.

The effects are a little more in the viewer’s face than usual, and on the whole they work – there’s no disguising the budgetary constraints, but they do what they need to do in storytelling terms.

Verdict: An enjoyable character piece. 7/10

Paul Simpson