Villordsutch reviews Red Dwarf XII “Cured”…
Hitler – Selfie!
Red Dwarf XII arrives on our screens this Thursday at 9pm on Dave. The boys from the Dwarf finally return after a year off, though truth be told this latest series was filmed directly after Red Dwarf XI and we’ve been made to wait for our Dwarf fix for twelve long months. The heartless swines!
Our first episode of the series is titled ‘Cured’ and finds the Dwarf posse investigating an apparently abandoned science research centre. Previously owned by United America, the scientists here, lead by Professor Telford (Adrian Lukis) were attempting to cure evil by manipulating the DNA of a number of rather unpleasant ne’er-do-wells from the past. These include the descendants of Hitler (Ryan Gage), Joseph Stalin (Callum Coates), Valeria Messalina (Chloe Hawkins) and Vlad the Impaler (Phillipe Spall).
With a group of “cured” mass murders now entertaining the Red Dwarf crew, everything becomes somewhat uncomfortable. Then when it becomes known that the base will soon be destroyed thanks to interstellar justice, things aboard the research station take a turn for the worst as Lister, Rimmer, Kryten and the Cat all wake up seconds away from death. Somebody aboard this research station wants them dead, but how do you find a specific killer in amongst a nest of murderers?
Red Dwarf is back! It’s clear from the off that Doug Naylor isn’t softening his writing or directing any time soon. For any Red Dwarfers that can recall the execution of Winnie the Pooh, or Noel Coward along with Elvis, Stan Laurel and Marilyn Monroe charging down a hill brandishing machine guns, then Cured will ring numerous bells and if you enjoyed Meltdown, you’ll probably enjoy this.
Bringing these infamous mass murderers into the light and curing them of evil is one thing in science fiction but to make the fascist dictator Adolf Hitler become a selfie-loving person in search of companionship is another completely. This will test a person’s sense of humour and for me, well I loved it! When the fascist in question stood up at the dinner table and blurted out “Selfie!” I nearly lost my Peppermint Tea.
The only negative found in this episode comes right at the end. Occasionally in Red Dwarf XI a small cluster of episodes ended rather abruptly, where you the viewer felt another joke was due, or a few lines to wrap up the episode was missing. Here to in Cured we get that same feeling on the close of the episode, the end arrives and you think, ‘Is that it done!?’
Though this doesn’t spoil an excellent opening episode of Red Dwarf XII. You’ve got Cat playing Poker, Hitler dying during a game of golf, Lister jamming on guitar with the Fuhrer, Cat trying his hardest to ward off Valeria, and we discover Starbug can only turn left. It’s great to see Red Dwarf back on the screen and I hope Doug Naylor is currently scripting Red Dwarf XIII as I type.
Red Dwarf XII “Cured” is available to watch now on UKTV Play, the official launch of this new series starts on Dave this Thursday, 12th October 2017 at 9pm.
Rating: 8/10
