Series I

Series I
Series I DVD Art. Note that the background is that of Red Dwarf itself, whilst other series uses other ships and locations as their backgrounds.
Year first aired	1988
Next	Series II

"This is an S.O.S. distress call from the mining ship Red Dwarf. The crew are dead, killed by a radiation leak. The only survivors were Dave Lister, who was in suspended animation during the disaster, and his pregnant cat, who was safely sealed in the hold. Revived three million years later, Lister's only companions are a life-form who evolved from his cat, and Arnold Rimmer, a hologram simulation of one of the dead crew."
- Holly, Series I

Series I of Red Dwarf aired between February and March 1988. It introduced Chris Barrie as Arnold Rimmer, Craig Charles as Dave Lister, Danny John-Jules as Cat and Norman Lovett as Holly.

Summary

The crew of the Jupiter Mining Corporation mining ship Red Dwarf dies in a radiation accident and the only survivor, third technician Dave Lister is revived after three million years in suspended animation. His only company, besides Holly the ship's computer, is a hologram simulation of his much loathed immediate superior, Arnold Rimmer, and the the last descendant of a species that evolved from his stowed-aboard cat. On the way back to Earth they encounter future echoes, the difficulties of the chef's exam, the Lister-Cat race relationship, contract mutated pneumonia, and meet a double of one of the crew.

Main Cast

• Craig Charles as Dave Lister
• Chris Barrie as Arnold Rimmer
• Norman Lovett as Holly
• Danny John-Jules as Cat

Episodes

Picture	Title	Original Airdate	Episode #
	The End	15 February 1988	1
	Dave Lister awakens from stasis after three million years to find himself the only survivor of a radiation accident that killed the crew of the mining ship Red Dwarf. Lister's only companions are the ship's senile computer Holly, a hologram of his abrasive former bunkmate and superior, Arnold Rimmer, and a creature that has evolved from his pet, simply named Cat.
	Future Echoes	22 February 1988	2
	As the ship accelerates to the speed of light, the Boys from the Dwarf experience future echoes or glimpses into their future.
	Balance of Power	29 February 1988	3
	Lister wants to revive navigation officer, and secret crush, Kristine Kochanski, replacing Rimmer as the ship's hologram, and takes the chef's exam in order to outrank Rimmer to do so.
	Waiting for God	7 March 1988	4
	Lister discovers he is Cloister the Stupid, the cats' god; meanwhile, Rimmer investigates what he is convinced to be an alien pod.
	Confidence and Paranoia	14 March 1988	5
	A mutated pneumonia virus causes Lister's dream to become real, including physical manifestations of his Confidence and Paranoia.
	Me²	21 March 1988	6
	Lister brings online as a hologram what he thinks is Kochanski's personality disk, only to find that that Rimmer has switched disks.

Background Information

• Although the pilot episode was first written in 1983, the show did not get filmed until 1987, delayed due to difficulties getting it commissioned, and then later an electricians strike. Also, despite being fairly well-received with decent ratings, the co-creators' low opinion of their starter pieces made it so that the series was not released on video until 1993 and was not repeated on television until January and February 1994.
• The second VHS tape (Byte Two) of this series bore the title "Confidence and Paranoia" despite "Waiting for God" being the actual first episode on the tape. While this was a somewhat frequent practice with VHS releases, in this case it came about because the BBC refused to allow the video to be titled "Waiting for God" out of concern that it might be confused with the contemporary sitcom of the same name.