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Gunmen of the Apocalypse

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"Gunmen of the Apocalypse"
Red Dwarfepisode
Episodeno.Series 6
Episode 3
Directed byAndy de Emmony
Written byRob Grant&Doug Naylor
Original air date21 October 1993(1993-10-21)
Guest appearances
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"Gunmen of the Apocalypse"is the third episode of the sixth series of thescience fictionsitcomRed Dwarf.It was first broadcast on 21 October 1993, onBBC Two,[1]and went on to win anInternational Emmy Award.[2]The episode was written byRob GrantandDoug Naylor,and directed byAndy de Emmony.[3]In the episode, the regular cast find themselves in a computer simulation of aWild Westtown, facing a gunfight against theFour Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

Plot

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Dave Listertakes delight in using a salvaged functioningartificial reality(AR) machine to have sex with various female game characters, but is forced byKrytento suspend his latest endeavour. Reuniting withCatandRimmer,Lister learns thatStarbughas strayed into a RogueSimulanthunting zone. Despite the crew's best efforts, the ship is discovered by a battle-cruiser ofxenophobicsimulants that despise humanity, and promptly capture the crew after they fail to deceive them. After being knocked unconscious, the crew awaken to find the simulants have upgraded their systems, weapons and armour, intending to battle them for sport, but managed to get destroyed by the crew through pure luck. Before their destruction, the simulants' leader hasStarbuginfected with an "Armageddon Virus", locking the ship on a suicide course with a large volcanic moon. Kryten infects himself with the virus in order to begin creating a "dove" anti-virus program to counter it, advising the others to watch his dreams.

The group find Kryten combating the virus within a Wild West dream, in which the mechanoid is a burnt-out sheriff in a town called Existence, with the virus operating as an outlaw gang called the Apocalypse Boys, consisting of Famine, Pestilence, War, and Death. Seeing him losing, Lister, Rimmer and Cat opt to help him by entering his dream through the AR machine, utilising the abilities of characters from a Wild West-styled video game. Upon arriving and getting Kryten to recognise them, the trio distract the Apocalypse Boys to give him time to create his antidote, escaping the dream when the virus infects the AR machine and takes away their characters' special abilities. Kryten successfully completes the programme, cleansing himself of the virus, before using it to free the ship from the virus' control.Starbugplunges into the moon, but resurfaces a few seconds later unscathed, with the crew giving an appropriate"Yeeha!"before flying off into the sunset.

Production

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Written by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor,[3]the script was originally titled "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse",[4]and then had the working title of "High Midnight";[5]it was later changed to "Gunmen of the Apocalypse". The Western themes of the episode were written first, with the plot framing with the Simulants coming later, and described by Grant and Naylor as a "roast beefwestern "(parodying the phrase 'Spaghetti Western').

During filming of the episode,Janet Street-Porterwas Head of Art & Culture at the BBC. When she received the ambitious script for "Gunmen..." she sent out a memo that all production for the episode be stopped immediately, because she believed it too difficult to film, too costly and too time-consuming. By the time theRed Dwarfcrew received her memo, filming had already wrapped and post-production had started.[6]

Denis Lillappears as the Simulant Captain and Death. The other 'Apocalypse Boys' were played by Dinny Powell, Robert Inch and Jeremy Peters playing Famine, War and Pestilence respectively. Jennifer Calvert plays the 'Artificial Reality' character in Lister's detective scenario. Steve Devereaux plays Jimmy. Liz Hickling appears as Simulant Lieutenant,Imogen Bainplays Lola andStephen Marcusplays Bear Strangler McGee.[3]

It was filmed atLaredo,a Wild West reenactment town in Kent.[7]

Cultural references

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The title is a reference to theFour Horsemen of the Apocalypse.[8]

Reception

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The episode was first broadcast on the British television channel BBC2 on 21 October 1993 in the 9:00pm time slot.[1]The episode was watched by over 6 million viewers,[9]and it has been described as "the best episode of Series VI".[10]One reviewer described the episode as "an excuse to transport the characters to a Wild West landscape, with results just as contrived as those on the original Star Trek but considerably funnier."[11]The episode won anInternational Emmyaward in 1994.[5]

See also

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  • Backwards,the fourthRed Dwarfnovel by Rob Grant, features plot elements from the episode[9]

References

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  1. ^ab"BBC - Programme Catalogue - RED DWARF VI - GUNMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE".BBC.Retrieved12 December2007.[permanent dead link‍]
  2. ^"Red Dwarf VI released on DVD".12 January 2005.
  3. ^abc"Gunmen of the Apocalypse cast and crew".imdb.Retrieved1 February2008.
  4. ^"News From The Dwarf",Red Dwarf Smegazine,volume 2 issue 1, May 1993, Fleetway Editions Ltd,ISSN0965-5603
  5. ^ab"Red Dwarf Series VI Writing".Red Dwarf.co.uk. Archived fromthe originalon 4 January 2008.Retrieved17 December2007.
  6. ^"Red Dwarf Series VI Production".Red Dwarf.co.uk. Archived fromthe originalon 7 January 2008.Retrieved17 December2007.
  7. ^Kent Film Office."Kent Film Office Red Dwarf, Gunmen of the Apocalypse (1993)".
  8. ^"Gunmen of the Apocalypse movie connections".imdb.Retrieved8 January2008.
  9. ^ab"Red Dwarf Series VI Aftermath".Red Dwarf.co.uk. Archived fromthe originalon 4 January 2008.Retrieved2 January2008.
  10. ^"Series VI review at Sci-Fi Dimensions".scifidimensions. Archived fromthe originalon 7 January 2007.Retrieved29 January2008.
  11. ^"SCI FI Weekly review - Red Dwarf Series VI DVD".scifi. Archived fromthe originalon 26 February 2009.Retrieved23 January2008.
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