DNA

Red Dwarf encounters a drifting spacecraft and the crew investigate, finding a DNA modifier. The Cat fiddles with it and manages to change Lister into a chicken, then a hamster, and back to human.

In trying to replicate his actions the Cat traps Kryten in the DNA modifier and he turns him into a human. Life as a human, though, is less interesting to Kryten than aspiring to be human ("I have located what I presume to be the recharging socket, but for some strange reason it doesn't appear to have the standard three-pin adaptation. Now, do I have to use some kind of special adaptor? Because no matter what I do, the lead just keeps falling out.") and he asks to be returned to his original self.

Meanwhile whilst repairing the damages to the machine Holly suggests they try the device on a test subject this job is given to Lister's mutton vindaloo dish, however the team inadvertently create a "mutton vindaloo beast". It seems indestructible and they have little choice but to use the machine to change Lister into a "super human — man plus". It nearly works as he becomes a Lister-Robocop hybrid but he is also shrunk to about one foot in size.

In a scene that heavily parodies the film Jaws, Lister finishes off the monster by throwing a can of Leopard Lager into its mouth and shooting the can. The monster then explodes and Lister reflects "Of course — lager, the only thing that can kill a Vindaloo!"


Continuity
  • When the episode ends, Kryten is still in human form. He is in android form at the beginning of the next episode. His reverse transformation is never shown on screen.


Trivia
  • The computer game TimeSplitters Future Perfect parodies the final scene of this episode, in the levels set in The Mansion. The boss in this level is very similar to the Mutton Vindaloo Beast, even up to the fact that the mission is to shoot a barrel stuck in the monster's mouth.
  • The script for this episode reveals that DNA in this instance stands for "Do Not Alter".
  • The photograph Kryten shows to Lister of his genitals was a real photograph of a film crew member's penis. This was ostensibly done to "get the proper reaction" out of the actors.
  • Contrary to previous episodes, it is revealed that Lister dated Kochanski. This was a deliberate retcon by the writers, who felt that Lister was feeling way too strongly for a woman that he'd never gone out with. This is in line with the Red Dwarf novels, where Lister and Kochanski dated for a few weeks before she dumped him and returned to her ex-boyfriend.