Which poses the question how many more returns can it make before it finally draws to a close?
How will the TV series that started with a pilot episode called The End end?
Red Dwarf is unlike any other science fiction franchise of comparable longevity.
Nor is it the adventure of a single character whose face changes on a semi-regular basis.
The last episode ofRed DwarfX, titled The Beginning seems like a fitting bookend.
It is a show set in a universe that lasts for 30 minutes.
In a vast and empty graveyard universe, the crew are forced to reckon with each other and themselves.
And this is what Out of Time does perfectly.
At first glance, it might appear to be two different episodes.
The first half is about the reality bubbles, the second is about the Time Drive.
But it all comes down to the crews unending rivalry with itself.
Both the characters and the situation are static and unchanging.
And then we meet the Dwarfs future selves.
But they are no longer bound to the void of space, they can go anywhere and anywhen.
Rimmer has never quite achieved that sense of growth and chance again.
And nobody deserves that.
Red Dwarf is available to stream in the UKon BBC iPlayer.
Chris Farnells own space-comedy-set-after-the-human-race-has-been-wiped-out, Fermis Progress, is available fromAmazonandScarlet Ferret.
