My Top Ten Red Dwarf Episodes

As Red Dwarf X starts tomorrow night I thought it would be a good time to write about some of my favourite episodes of the show. I've been a fan of Red Dwarf since I was 8 years old. My love of the show started when Red Dwarf VI first aired. I remember seeing the advert and being desperate to watch it but it went out after my bedtime. Luckily having a TV in my room meant me and my brother were able to see it (with the volume on low) and we instantly fell in love with this band of wacky characters (my dad did find out we were staying up late to watch it and we got in a spot of bother but it was well worth it). Even though there are only 55 episodes (at present) it's incredibly hard to pick just ten. Just about every episode is a classic (I don't rate series 7, 8 and Back To Earth particularly highly but they're still worth watching).  As ever this is just my opinion...

10. Tikka to Ride

I always felt that Rob Grant & Doug Naylor were the perfect writing team. Each of them brought something different to the team and that's what made the first six series of Red Dwarf so good. This is perhaps most evident in the novels the pair wrote. The first two, written together, were quite brilliant where as the second two, one written by each of them, both lacked something. For me I felt Rob Grant was better at the jokes and Doug Naylor was better at the stories. The lack of quality jokes is part of the reason this is the only episode that wasn't co-written by Grant that made my list. I was in my first year of high school when Red Dwarf VII started and the internet wasn't as widely available then so I didn't really realise how disliked series seven was among a lot of fans. These days it's easy enough to watch all the episodes and series seven is not one I enjoy as much as the earlier series but I've always had a soft spot for this episode. Yes it ignores the rules for the Time Drive set up in the previous series and JFK manages to kill his past self without any trouble when the future selves of the boys from the Dwarf had no such luck but it's an enjoyable time travelling yarn.

9. Meltdown

Apparently this episode from the fourth series isn't very popular with fans but I've always loved it. When the crew end up on a planet populated by wax droids of famous historical figures they end up in the middle of a war. Rimmer ends up taking charge of one side and in the end, just like in real life, there are no winners in war. This episode is worth inclusion for Lister's commentary on the execution of Winnie the Pooh.

8. Polymorph

Series three saw a lot of changes and they all helped make the show even better. The crew meet a genetically engineered shape shifting mutant that feeds on negative emotions. Between them the Dwarfers lose their vanity, guilt, anger and fear. The highlight of this episode is of course Lister's shrinking boxer shorts.

7. Marooned

After being forced to abandon Red Dwarf Rimmer and Lister are marooned on an ice planet after Starbug is struck by a meteorite. The Lister/Rimmer relationship has always been the backbone of Red Dwarf and giving the pair a whole episode where they have little to do but talk to each other is a stroke of genius. Both Chris Barrie and Craig Charles are fantastic in this episode.

6. Quarantine

After investigating a research facility Lister, Cat and Kryten return to Red Dwarf to find Rimmer has taken over the ship and has put them into quarantine. It's not long before they realise that Rimmer has been infected with a holovirus and has gained some impressive new powers and a glove puppet named Mr. Flibble. Christ Barrie is excellent as the deranged gingham dress wearing psychotic Rimmer.

5. Dimension Jump

Another Rimmer centric episode. We discover that how Rimmer's life turned out all depended on one decision made when he was a child. We then see what would have happened to him if things had gone differently when we meet dimension hopping pilot Ace Rimmer. This episode is a brilliant character study and Chris Barrie is excellent.

4. Justice

Another episode that doesn't top fan polls but is one of my very favourite episodes. The crew have picked up an escape pod that either contains a woman or a psychotic simulant. They decide to open the escape pod in Justice World a high tech prison. Unfortunately upon arrival the crew are scanned for crimes they may have committed and Rimmer is accused of murdering the crew of Red Dwarf. There are a lot of laughs in this episode with Kryten forced to defend Rimmer from his own ego and Danny John-Jules gets to steal the show with his hilarious performance.

3. Me²

The first two series of Red Dwarf aren't bad they're just very different to everything that followed. Perhaps I should have found room for more episodes from those early runs but for me there is only one episode really stands out. Rimmer is my favourite character and Me² gives us double the Rimmer pleasure. This is the strongest episode of the first series in my book and Chris Barrie plays off himself very well.

2. Gunmen of the Apocalypse

Yes I've gone for the easy options for my top two and with good reason. Gunmen of the Apocalypse is a fantastic episode with plenty of laughs. Who doesn't love a sci-fi/western cross over? With Starbug on a direct course with a sun and a virus locking out the console Kryten attempts to battle the virus in his digital mind. This battle takes place in a wild west themed dream.

1. Back To Reality

Often voted the best episode by fans the fifth series finale is practically perfect. After investigating a wrecked ship the crew are chased by a despair squid. Then suddenly the crew wakes up and find out they aren't who they think they are. They aren't the crew of Red Dwarf but rather players in a total immersion video game called Red Dwarf. And they were playing it badly. Craig Charles is especially good in this episode and we get to meet the legendary Duane Dibbley.

My Top 10 Batman: The Animated Series Episodes

It may make you feel incredibly old to read this but on this day twenty years ago Batman: The Animated Series first aired on American TV. Gotham's Dark Knight has been animated many, many times and Batman: The Animated Series has never been bettered in this writer's humble opinion. There aren't many shows like Batman: TAS. Over 85 episodes and a handful of feature length adventures we were given one of the most rewarding incarnations of Batman. Even twenty years on this show can be enjoyed by both children and adults.

Perfect is a word that is too easy to toss around but Batman: The Animated Series was almost perfect. Probably as close to perfection a cartoon about a man dressed as a bat could ever get. The episodes were mature, the characters were realistic and the voice actors are now the stuff of legend. Mark Hamill's performances as The Joker make you doubt whether it's the same Mark Hamill that played lovable farm boy Luke Skywalker. And in my book Kevin Conroy is the greatest actor to ever have portrayed the Dark Knight. There's no one that puts a foot wrong on this series and if you haven't seen it it's time you did. The box sets are readily available on sites like Amazon. Last time I checked the UK Amazon you could pick up the first 28 episodes for less than a fiver.

To celebrate the show's birthday I've compiled a list of ten of my favourite episodes of Batman: The Animated Series (and the New Batman Adventures)  in no particular order. It's nearly impossible to pick just ten and every single episode is well worth checking out. This is by no means a definitive list of the "best" episodes of the series. These are just the ones I enjoyed the most and that have stayed with me. I'll give a brief explanation on why I enjoy each episode and I'll try and avoid giving too much away so those who have yet to see these awesome episodes can enjoy them for what they really are.

10) Perchance To Dream

Bruce Wayne wakes up to discover his parents are alive and he isn't the Batman. It's all a dream of course but the most interesting aspect of the episode is how desperate Bruce is to prove it is. True to the character Bruce is unable to enjoy this fantasy that has taken away his reasons for becoming the Batman. Watching this episode then remembering that this is actually a show targeted at children is rather mind blowing.

9) Joker's Millions

A mob boss dies and leaves a fortune to The Joker but is it all as good as it seems? This episode is hilarious and the revelation at the end is the icing on the cake.

8) Trial

Batman is put on trial by the inmates of Arkham Asylum. 'Nuff said.

7) Robin's Reckoning

This two parter covers the origins of Batman's young sidekick and his quest for revenge against the murderer of his parents. I am a Robin fan (though not in his big screen outings) and I think Batman: TAS made excellent use of the character. Rather than shoe horn him into every episode they only used him when the story needed him. These episodes should provide the ground work for any future appearance of the boy wonder.

6) Mad Love

Harley Quinn was one of the greatest things to come out of Batman's animated universe. Originally created for the series she is now a major part of the Batman universe. If you got an episode with Harley in you knew you were in for a treat. This episode shows us how Harley got involved with her beloved Mr. J and features some rather saucy material you'd struggle to get in a kid's show these days.

5) Showdown

There's not a whole lot of Batman in this episode but it's still a great episode. This was my first introduction to the disfigured cowboy Jonah Hex and also sees the return of the legendary David Warner as Ra's Al Ghul with an adventure set in the old west.

4) Almost Got 'Im

A selection of Batman's rogues gallery play cards whilst discussing how close they came to taking down the Dark Knight. This episode is a lot of fun and features several of the major villains and has a nice twist at the end. Can't ask for much more.

3) Legends of the Dark Knight

A group of kids tell tales of the Batman and the writers take a pop at Joel Schumacher. This episode features nods to Dick Sprang and Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns and features one of the darkest lines muttered in the history of kid's TV.

2) Over The Edge

Over The Edge is one of the darkest episodes in what is a very dark show. Batgirl has been killed by the Scarecrow, Commissioner Gordon knows Batman's identity and holds him personally responsible for his daughter's death and the entire Bat family is falling apart. Even though you suspect none of this can actually be happening it's still an incredibly shocking episode.

1) Heart of Ice

I vaguely recall Mr. Freeze from the old Adam West TV show and he was hardly an A List villain. Batman: TAS redefined the character and turned him into something quite special. Mr. Freeze appeared several times throughout the series but none were quite as good as Heart of Ice. Mr. Freeze is a tortured soul who had dedicated his life to finding a cure for his terminally ill wife only to be stopped by villainous business man Ferris Boyle (voiced by Mark Hamill). This is a story with real heart and is rather an incredible episode of an incredible show.

Now go and watch every episode of Batman: The Animated Series you can get your hands on!

Top 10 Monk Episodes

As Project Monk draws to a close it seemed like a good idea to compile a list of my ten favourite episodes from the series. It was not an easy task. There's 125 episodes of Monk and I've enjoyed them all and this is by no means a definitive list. Heck I'm not even completely happy with it but here is a list of the ten episodes that at this moment in time I consider to be my favourite (as in my opinion I don't claim it to be fact so feel free to disagree with me). 

10. Mr. Monk’s 100th Case

Picture from Monk Source

100 episodes is quite a milestone in modern TV and Monk reached it during season seven. The 100th episode manages to mix of nostalgia with a brand new case for the defective detective to solve. Several characters from past seasons return including the flight attendant from season 1's "Mr. Monk and the Airplane", Monk's arch rival Harold Krenshaw and his brother Ambrose. 

The episode serves as a great tribute to the show's rich past. There is little I'd change about this episode although it would have been nice to have paid some small tribute to the late Stanley Kamel's Dr. Kroger and it's a real shame Bitty Schram didn't make a return appearance as Sharona.

9. Mr. Monk and the magician

Picture from Monk Source

I am a big fan of Monk's annoying neighbour Kevin Dorfman. Every episode he appeared in was a joy to watch and when I accidentally discovered that he was killed off before I'd seen this episode (damn you Sporcle) I was gutted. Poor Kevin's murder at the hands of an evil magician is very sad but the magician's downfall at the hands of Monk is a truly satisfying moment. 

The last scene of Monk and Natalie watching Kevin's video will is incredibly touching. After Monk worrying about not having any friends over the last couple of seasons it's sad to realise he had a friend in Kevin he never really appreciated that until he was gone.

8. Mr. Monk and Little Monk

What was Adrian Monk like as a child? We find out here. Two cases one girl. Through a series of great flashbacks we get to see the that the young Monk was a brilliant detective even then. Young Monk is awesome and the fact he didn't get a full spin off series is a crime.

7. Mr. Monk and the Class Reunion

This episode of Monk is another with flashbacks to a younger Monk. This time it's Monk at college and we get to see how he and Trudy first met and the first time he told her he loved her. It's all rather touching. Sentimentality aside this episode also features one of my very favourite murderous schemes. The evil Kyle wants to kill his wife and after finding a suicide note she wrote whilst in college. He decides to use the note to make her murder look like a suicide. The only problem being that the note made mention of various events that occurred at college meaning he has to use the reunion to recreate them. 

6. Mr. Monk and the Kid

Tony Shalhoub is a fantastic actor and throughout the eight seasons he made us genuinely care for the character of Adrian Monk. When Monk took in a young boy who found a finger in the park there wasn't a dry eye in the house. The more time the boy spends with Monk the more like him he becomes. The scene where Monk realises that the kid will never be happy with him is truly heart breaking.

5. Mr. Monk and the Actor

Monk had a tendency to do episodes where it finally looked like Monk was well on the road to recovery before the events of the episode devastated him leaving him back at square one. It was a toss up between this episode and the episode "Mr. Monk and Mrs. Monk" for inclusion on this list but I think Stanley Tucci's amazing performance as the method actor who gets far too involved in his latest role just shades it for the most devastating. Hollywood is making a film version of one of Monk's most high profile cases and David Ruskin, the actor who is to play Monk, wants to study the real detective to aid his performance. Unfortunately he has a tendency to take things to far and its not long before he believes he's the real Monk and tries to solve Trudy's murder. This episode also features the fantastic moment where Stottlemeyer and Disher get to be on set as they film a scene featuring the pair only to discover Disher has been made a woman and the two have a romantic relationship.

4. Mr. Monk and the Leper

Filmed in glorious black and white Mr. Monk and the Leper finally sees a criminal using Monk's well documented phobia's to aid their evil scheme. Monk's reaction to discovering he's shaken hands with a leper is classic. This coupled with Natalie's disappointment in his reaction followed by her reacting the same way when she finds out she's kissed a former leper makes this one of the funniest episodes and the case itself is very interesting.

3. Mr. Monk and the garbage strike

This picture says it all. This is the funniest episode of Monk. Period. A garbage strike is enough to send Monk completely insane. So insane that he accuses rock legend Alice Cooper of committing murder to get his hands on his antique chair that he ruined during the murder leading to him no longer wanting it. Cooper's completely silent cameo is just awesome and Monk's descent into madness is hilarious. From mailing his garbage to Dr. Kroger to stealing garbage trucks and picking up the rubbish himself Monk completely loses it and it is incredibly funny. Only when Monk is locked in a "clean room" at a computer factory is he able to think straight and solve the case.

2. Mr. Monk and the End

Yeah all right this is technically two episodes but screw it it's my list and I'll cheat if I want to. I very nearly put this at the top of the list. Maybe it's not the best episode of the series but it's one of the most satisfying. All the loose ends from the last eight seasons are tied up and Monk finally gets closure. He solves the murder of Trudy and everyone gets a happy ending. Perhaps the actual solution is a little too simple what with Monk having held the answer in his hands all these years. It was a nice touch that the last Christmas present Trudy gave Monk that he could never bring himself to open played a part as it had been clearly set up in earlier seasons. If I ever made a list of my all time favourite series finales this would probably make the list.

1. Mr. Monk and the Astronaut

Never in my life have I hated a fictional character more than I hate Steve Wagner. The evil astronaut that very nearly got away with murder is a cruel bully that puts Adrian Monk through hell during this episode. But Steve Wagner gets his just desserts by the end. His constant attempts to make Monk feel like a coward and less than a man are his undoing. Is there a more satisfying moment than when Monk stands in front of Wagner's fighter jet preventing him from disposing of the only evidence of his guilt? For me this is the brightest moment in Monk's eight season run and my all time favourite episode.

Notable mention: There are a few episodes I wanted to include but just couldn't find the space for them. The one that narrowly missed out was "Mr. Monk and the Man Who Shot Santa Claus" which is by far my favourite Christmas episode ever. I also feel pretty bad for not including any episodes featuring Sharona. But they're all good. Watch 'em all.