rnold Rimmer, tight-shirted junior officer with dreams of advancement, and Dave Lister, a lowly maintenance man, are an odd couple. Forced together by circumstances beyond their control, they now represent the last humans alive—and one of them isn't even alive. The short version of the story: Dave Lister brings a pregnant alien cat aboard the deep-space mining ship Red Dwarf, and when he is caught violating this basic rule he is sentenced to 18 months in stasis. While he's serving this term, the ship suffers a radiation leak caused by Rimmer, and everyone aboard dies. Three million years later, Lister is released from stasis to find he's absolutely alone. At least ... there are no humans left alive. Holly, the ship's computer, informs him of the bad news.
What he discovers is that his pregnant cat gave birth to kittens, who have, over 3 million years, evolved into catlike humanoids. He also discovers that a holographic version of Rimmer has survived the disaster, and their embittered relationship starts up again as if nothing has happened.
Red Dwarf, written by Grant Naylor (comedy writing duo Bob Grant and Doug Naylor), is a hilarious space comedy TV series that took the world by storm when it appeared in the late 1980s with episodes of such consistent quality that it is difficult to choose the best—or the worst. They're all good.
Red Dwarf merchandising has always been available, but mostly in the form of books, videos and the like. Very few toys were created from the franchise. More's the pity.
Corgi, long known for its contribution to science-fiction merchandising, has released a pair of figures and a pair of ships from the TV series. The ships can be purchased separately but are also available in a box set with the two figures.
The figures are solid rubber (or soft vinyl) and stand just over 2 inches in height and are quite detailed.
The Red Dwarf mining vessel is molded in red metal with plastic ram scoop at the front and plastic engine housing at the rear. It is painted in red and dirtied up to look like a mining ship.
The other ship is the Starbug 1, a green, bulbous shuttlecraft used to ferry our crew to off-ship adventures throughout the galaxy. Starbug is painted in industrial green, with nice detailing.
New toys herald new interest
While the cast and crew are hard at work creating a movie based on this beloved TV series (whose popularity continues to bloom as DVD series sets are continually being released), Corgi has leapt into the fray with these ships and figures.
The figures vary in quality. The sculpt of Arnold Rimmer is not terribly lifelike. While the detail is rich for such a small figure (the quilted blue jacket, the holographic "H" on the forehead), the likeness to actor Chris Barrie (standing rigidly at attention) is not very strong. The cartoonlike face is fine, but don't expect a Rimmer lookalike.
Dave Lister's figure, however, is quite good. He wears his beige jumpsuit and black vest, his face is easily recognizable as actor Craig Charles, and the lengthy dreadlocks are well molded. It is by far the better of the two figures.
The show's namesake, the mining ship Red Dwarf, measures almost 5 inches from the engine to the tip of the ram scoop ribs. The bulk of the ship is molded from die-cast metal, which holds details fairly well. Painted in a deep blood red with silver highlights along the hull, the ship has very fine detail all along its length. Dark paint does the double job of highlighting the deck detail and making the ship look used and dirty, as a mining ship should. The plastic engine cluster and housing are also finely molded and look excellent.
As nice as the Red Dwarf model is, the Starbug 1 model is even better. Measuring 2.5 inches long, it is painted in a kind of 1960s hospital-locker-room green. The Starbug is made from three spheres and, as its name implies, resembles a fat, round bug. The hull detail is quite nice and, like the Red Dwarf, it is dirtied up with darker paint. Plastic landing struts jut out from rounded protrusions on the fore and aft spheres.
Each of the ships comes with a clear plastic display stand, which can hold the comfortable heft that die-cast metal brings.
For fans of Red Dwarf, this set is a must-have. While not widely available, it can be found, and the quest, if successful, is well worth it.
