EPISODE: Out of Time (Season 6)

When it comes to the ultimate smeghead, there’s nobody more deluded and stuck-up than Arnold J. Rimmer. This would often lead to Arnie becoming the subject of ridicule by the fellow Dwarvees. But in the Season Six finale Out of Time, he showed his heroic side in one surprisingly gripping sitcom cliffhanger where Starbug faced destruction unless someone would destroy the time device before the duplicate Starbug ship finished them off. With the others being killed off, it was left up to Rimmer to race through the ship with his gun and take out the device.

But a further twist beckoned as the real Starbug exploded leaving us to wonder whether it really was the end of Red Dwarf. But fortunately, we were rest assured about the character’s fates in the Series Seven opener which did lead to some confusing continuity issues. However some old school Dwarf fans still regard this moment as the true end of the show.

#6 – Lister’s dummy

EPISODE: Legion (Series 6)

A new addition to this list comes from the brilliant Series 6 episode Legion as the Red Dwarf crew find themselves staying at a state of the art space station. Their host Legion (Nigel Williams) initially seems like an intelligent chap only for the guys to discover that he is composed from the minds of themselves and that he won’t allow them to leave. They decide to conjure up a plan to try and deceive Legion which leads to this hysterical moment where they disguise a dummy in Lister’s clothing so that the real Lister can try to knock him out. Unsurprisingly, the poorly made dummy is exposed straight away but this silly selection was enough to give me the giggles hence its inclusion.

#5 – Vindaloovians

EPISODE: Blue (Series 7)

Chris Barrie’s decision to leave in Series 7 was a major blow for fans especially given the popularity of Rimmer and the disappointment of Kristine Kochanski (Chloe Arnett) as his replacement. Arnie’s (temporary) exit saw him take over as the new Ace Rimmer which resulted in him going off on new adventures. But later in the same series, a distraught Lister voices his disappointment about missing his old friend which leads to a seemingly jolly sequence where the two frienemies reunite. However as the pair bond with an emotional hug, the scene takes an unexpected turn as they then proceed to lock lips much to the shock of those of us watching. Fortunately for Listy, it turns out to be a nightmare but one that he won’t want to remember in a hurry!

#3 – The return of Duane Dibbley

EPISODE: Emohawk (Series 6)

During the Series five finale, the Dwarves were led to believe that they were back in their own reality which resulted in Lister and Rimmer finding out they were half-brothers and that Kryten was a traffic cop. The Cat draw the short straw after discovering that he was a geeky individual named Duane Dibbley who had big teeth and funny hair. However to his and the rest of the Dwarves relief, it turned out they were part of a hallucinatory paradox that made them think that Red Dwarf was a computer game. The personalities had looked to have been forgotten in the next series but the writers decided to make an excuse of bringing Dibbley back as a running gag. His first comeback came in Emohawk where the Polymorph attacks Cat who suddenly finds himself back to being his alternative ego. The cheering from the audience sums up how big an impression Dibley had made in his original appearance!

#2 – Shrinking Boxers

EPISODE: Stoke Me a Clipper (Series 7)

Visual humour wins it for my favourite moment in Red Dwarf as we are left howling with laughter at the weird yet painstakingly funny scene from the Series 7 episode Stoke Me a Clipper. To most people, Ace Rimmer shared similarities with Rik Mayall’s scene-stealing character Flashheart in Blackadder in terms of his smug and boisterous attitude. However, Chris Barrie excelled as a comedy actor whether he’d be playing the snobby Rimmer or his heroic alternative Ace and it was as the latter character which saw him involved in the ‘greatest’ moment of the show. When our hero battles it out with a Nazi general (played by Ken “Reg Holdsworth” Morley), it leads to their plane heading for destruction especially when the general escapes with the only parachute. But what he doesn’t know is that Ace has an ‘ace’ up his sleeves….Two words: Alligator Surfboarding! Red Dwarf was always recognised for its bizarre humour but this moment summed up the randomness of it all and makes the scene complete genius. As our hero would say: “Smoke me a kipper, I’ll be back for breakfast”