Asclepius' Station

Asclepius' Station (forefront) with Red Dwarf approaching (background)

Asclepius' Station was an ill-fated space station in Deep Space where Asclepius resided.

History

The space station was still functional three million years into the future, although it was completely abandoned except for a few droids.

When the spaceship Red Dwarf passed by the station, the boys from the Dwarf detected it to be rich in technology and decided to scavenge it. However, they realised that they had to be quick in this task, since the station was due to be destroyed by an asteroid storm in a mere five hours time. The Dwarfers took Starbug 1 over and docked with the station. They then split up into two pairs to expedite their search, since a few minor asteroids have already began to strike the station, and minor ship-quakes have already started. Dave Lister and Cat found the skeletal remains of Romero G. Gonzalez, a stasis booth engineer who mysteriously seems to have stabbed himself in the back, since his own DNA is on both the blade and handle.

Meanwhile, Rimmer and Kryten explore a medical suite which once belonged to the sophisticated medi-bot Asclepius. However, they do not find the Asclepius, but instead an automated snack dispenser called Snacky, and believing him to be Asclepius they ask him to come with them to avoid the impeding destruction of the station, and to join the Dwarfers. Snacky gladly accepted. Soon after, Lister and the Cat were accosted by the real Asclepius, who had gone dangerously computer senile. Asclepius shot Lister and Cat with tranquiliser darts, and believing them to be former patients, it took them to its surgery room.

Kryten and Rimmer entered the surgery room and opened fire with bazookoids, with Rimmer using Kryten as a shield. Although Kryten was hit by tranquiliser darts, they of course didn't harm Kryten since he is a mechanoid. Rimmer accidentally blew up a jar of kidneys in the volley of plasma fire. Asclepius was knocked back and apparently disabled, and Rimmer, Kryten and Snacky then wheel out the still unconscious Lister and Cat on their gurneys back to Starbug. Although Asclepius reactivated and gave chase, it was destroyed as the space station exploded in a barrage of major asteroid strikes, and Starbug escaped just in time.

Back onboard Red Dwarf and in the Science Room, the Dwarfers realised that Lister was missing his kidneys. However, after Snacky revealed that he knew Romero Gonzalez - and had heard how to hack a stasis booth to create a time portal from Gonzalez - the Dwarfers come up with a unique solution to Lister's dilemma. ("Give & Take". Series XI)

Gallery

Asclepius' Station with Red Dwarf approaching in the background

Starbug approaching the station

preparing to dock with the landing bay

The interior of the station

Cat and Lister searching the station

Lister and Cat find the skeleton of Romero G. Gonzalez

Kryten and Rimmer in the Asclepius Suite

Rimmer and Kryten discover Snacky in the Asclepius Suite

Asclepius performing surgery on Lister and Cat

Kryten and Rimmer to the rescue

Rimmer shooting a bazookoid and using Kryten as a shield

Kryten hit by tranq darts

Rimmer accidentally hits the jar of kidneys

Asclepius hit by plasma fire

Asclepius offline

The asteroid storm begins

Further destruction to the station

The station begins to explode

The Dwarfers barely escaping the destruction

Starbug exiting the flaming landing bay

Total destruction

Starbug clears the blast zone just in time

Asclepius in his final moments

Trivia

• The space station is left unnamed and undesignated in the episode. It is merely referred to as "Asclepius' Station" since, most notably, it was where the legendary Asclepius resided and where the Asclepius Suite was.
• In the deleted scenes of the episode, Kryten mentions that the space station specialised in recycling old space junk into more useful items. Rimmer then tells Kryten that he best be on his toes, implying that Kryten is junk. In the broadcast episode, no mention is made of it being a junker station.

Behind the Scenes

• The interior of Asclepius' Station was filmed at Fawley Power Station, near Southampton.

Station explosion comparison

• The shot of Starbug flying out of the exploding hangar was reused in the 2020 special The Promised Land, for when Starbug flew out of the hangar of the exploding Iron Star. The shot for the latter was mirrored and had additional flames.