"Future Echoes" - Episode 2

It's sweetly ironic that the best future echo is in fact the episode itself. Just as a future echo shows the crew a glimpse of their future, so too do we bear witness to an episode which demonstrates many of the strengths Red Dwarf would ultimately win awards for.

The two main pillars of Red Dwarf's later success; superbly-written character comedy, and a unique inventive approach to handling traditional sci-fi principles, are both present here. A tribute to the ambition that would drive the show to greater heights in the following years. In fact like many episodes, it's surprising just how much story is crammed in.

Sure, Future Echoes is not without its flaws: the ending is arguably weak, and the pixellated Holly we witness in the introductory pieces to camera and throughout the first series looks simply atrocious, and dreadfully dated. Also it really hits home just how grey and dull the ships interior and props are in this episode (Painted grey boxes why? Damn designers) - but seeing as at this early stage creative control over such matters almost certainly lay beyond the great gestalt entity Grant Naylor you can accept such errors, particularly when the scales are tipped so heavily by sucesses.

Whilst the sets may not be colourful, the language is - invented profanity like Goit, Gimboid, Modo, even Smeg ring true and give the dialogue edge and yet non-offensive texture. The masterstroke of giving personalities to such appliances as toasters and dispensing machines is not just inventive but allowed a greater variety of characters into a seemingly enclosed world without ever devaluing the sense of isolation and loneliness in which Lister now finds himself.

Elsewhere other aspects previously established in The End are also built upon. Cats humongous wardrobe backs up his previously shown vanity, Rimmer continues to come across as conniving and yet at times (such as in his 300m speech), shows hints of vulnerability - the direction the character would eventually take. Interestingly, other early series one traits fall quickly by the wayside - Lister's singing and the amount of mimickry by Rimmer both disappear swiftly.

Most important though, Future Echoes has some genuinely great dialogue. The drive room scene is nothing short of superb and illustrates Red Dwarf using an established sci-fi element, in this case time, not only in a humorous way but in an original one too. Should anyone ever be dumb enough to tell you Craig and Chris are bad actors politely point them to this scene. The timing and delivery is simply impeccable - even more so when you consider both "actors" were at the time under two screen hours into their sit-com careers. It could be argued this scene is perhaps the stand-out moment of Series 1 and certainly a lot of Red Dwarf's future can be seen in it - but it's further testament to the strength of Future Echoes that it's not alone...

Following not long after is a short scene where Holly with the help of Talkie Toaster explains the concept of Future Echoes to Lister, Rimmer and the at this stage more childlike Cat. The short knockaround banter spliced with exposition bears a strong resemblence in style to the cockpit scenes which would become the hub of almost every show by Series Six. The must-see episode of Series One.