Professor Rachel Barker aboard the SS Samsara
Professor Rachel Barker was a computer scientist aboard the Mega Core research spaceship, the SS Samsara.
History[]
Barker was married, although she was engaged in an extramarital affair with Colonel Jim Green, the mission director of the SS Samsara. Barker had met Green at Cacos 12, where they learned that their respective spouses had attended college together, and their affair had began. Barker was later posted to the SS Samsara, and the two were very happy to be reunited, immediately running off to Green's sleeping quarters to get reacquainted.
Soon after, Green got a slipped disc in his back, and Barker fell ill. The pair were called in for a reprimand by the captain of the Samsara, Tom Kadri, who told them that he knew of their immoral behaviour and their dozens of lies. Kadri also told them that there was a Karma Drive on board, which would continue to punish them for "bad" or "immoral" behaviour.
Nevertheless, Green and Barker continued with their affair. After having cold showers, being served disgusting food, and having unpleasant visits to haywire dentists and hairdresser droids, they decided to do something. Since Barker was a computer scientist, she decided that she would reprogram the Karma Drive, which meant that it would reward bad behaviour and punish good behaviour. They then took the only working escape pod so that they could have some time alone. However, they unwittingly left the Samsara a virtual war zone. The quantum motherboard soon overloaded, instantly flash-killing everyone aboard the Samsara with a blast of extreme heat. The empty ship then crashed into the ocean moon it had been orbiting.
Green and Barker went into stasis, only to wake up three million years later as another spaceship came close to their pod - the Red Dwarf. However, as Barker contacted Red Dwarf and tried to warn them of the still-active Karma Field surrounding the ocean moon, Green and Barker were themselves flash-heated to death, since warning the Dwarfers was a "good" act.
Kryten remote piloted their escape pod into Red Dwarf, only to find that Green and Barker were already piles of dust. The boys from the Dwarf then decided to go down to the wreck of the Samsara in a Starbug to investigate what had occurred... (Samsara, Series XI)
Behind the scenes[]
- Rachel Barker was portrayed by Maggie Service.