Manual Menu British Science Fiction
While there are many British science fiction programs, Dr. Who and Red Dwarf are among the most popular.
Dr. Who officially began as a television series in 1963, though there had apparently been some obscure films in the 1930's. The doctor is a rebellious time-lord from the planet Gallifrey, who travels through space and time in his TARDIS (Time and Relative Dimensions in Space), which is larger on the inside than the outside. He looks much like the inhabitants of Earth, though he has two hearts and a very long lifespan. Also unlike us, he occasionally regenerates, which is a convenient plot device for changing actors.
The series is noted for its many ingenious, but slightly tacky aliens. Everyone talks with a British accent, but in all fairness, on the Star Trek series, everyone talks with a North American accent.
There is a rumor of a theatrical Dr. Who movie, which is in addition to the 1996 television movie.
In zany Red Dwarf, a crewman named Dave Lister smuggles a pregnant cat aboard the Red Dwarf, a massive spaceship owned by the Jupiter Mining Corporation. As punishment, he is sentenced to the stasis chamber for a week. When he is released, he discovers that everyone had been killed in a reactor accident three million years in the past. The ship's computer, Holly, had kept him there while the radiation levels died down. In the meantime, the descendants of his cat had evolved into a new lifeform.
Dave awakens to discover that he is alone except for a hologram of Arnold Rimmer, who was sort of his nemesis, Holly the computer, and Cat, the last descendent of his cat, Frankenstein. Later, they pick up Kryten, a very emotional android who had been dutifully tending to the needs of three dead women for millions of years.
A Red Dwarf theatrical movie is rumored to be in the works.
See the Red Dwarf sites for more details. Episodes can defy description.
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Here is a photo of the stars Craig Charles (Lister ) and Robert Llewellyn (Kryten ) at the Seattle Swirly-thing event in June, 1997. |
Last modified Monday, July 12, 2004