The Red Dwarf crew takes Starbug on a recon mission where they discover the wreckage of the SSS Esperanto, a ship conducting marine seeding experiments at the bottom of an ocean-covered moon. It appears that all life on board the Esperanto committed suicide, right down to a haddock which closed its gills and suffocated itself. The crew discovers their deaths are due to severe depression caused by a hallucinogenic nerve toxin. Upon returning to Starbug the crew is attacked by a giant squid that releases the toxin. The crew crashes Starbug while trying to escape, resulting in destruction of Starbug and its crew. The message "GAME OVER" shows on the screen.The crew then awakens in their chairs, having just spent four years playing the total-immersion video game Red Dwarf. They retire to the recuperation lounge to give time for their memories to return, where they discover artifacts from their prior lives. In 'reality', each character was their moral opposite. Kryten is half-human Cybernautics Division Detective (traffic officer) Jake Bullet. Cat is dorky Duane Dibbley. Lister is Sebastian Doyle, the head of the secret police in a fascist state, and Rimmer is Billy Doyle, Lister's half brother and a tramp. After Kryten shoots a Gestapo-like police officer, the crew become involved in a high-speed car chase with the police. Devastated by the implications of their "true" selves, the crew is about to commit group suicide when Holly finally manages to awaken them, revealing that Starbug's crash and 'reality' were just a group hallucination brought on by the despair squid's ink.
Trivia
- Along with "Gunmen of the Apocalypse", this episode has been voted "best Red Dwarf episode" by fans numerous times over the years. It scored the award on BBC2's "10th Red Dwarf anniversary evening" in 1998.
- Much of the set in the arcade scene where the crew awoke was the re-used set from the earlier episode "Holoship".
- Cat becomes Duane Dibbley for the first time in this episode.
- At the time of filming, Grant and Naylor were involved in the development of the American version of Red Dwarf; a running joke on set was that the UK version would come to an end through the crew discovering it really was all a computer game. However, the US pilot never got off the ground and Red Dwarf VI was commissioned.
- This is Hattie Hayridge's last appearance as Holly. It is later taken over again by Norman Lovett, who originally played the role.
- This episode is reportedly Stephen Hawking's favourite episode of Red Dwarf.
- This is also the last appearance of the Red Dwarf ship until the end of Season VII.
Production Error
- When the men are talking in the room, Bill Doyle (Rimmer) calls Officer Jake Bullet (Kryten) Kryten, even though they have new names. Although for Continuity, they would have been so used to calling each other by their previous names that they'd not care of the new or just were so used it they did it out of force of habit.
