Red Dwarf receives a distress call from the hologram Dr. Hildegarde Lanstrom. Lanstrom had been working on a theory that viruses can be negative or positive and had isolated several positive viruses, including ones that grant whoever contracts it extreme good luck. However, when the crew (minus Rimmer) arrive at Lanstrom's lab she proves to have contracted a holo-virus that causes her to become insane. She passes this virus on to Rimmer before dying, resulting in Rimmer imprisoning his shipmates in quarantine (in compliance with Space Corps Directive 595) and then appearing before them, completely mad, clad in a red-and-white checked gingham dress and army boots and with Mr. Flibble, a penguin hand puppet. Lister, Cat, and Kryten defeat the insane Rimmer and then sentence him to just punishment, which is to be locked in quarantine with only the three of them, dressed in the red-and-white gingham dress, to entertain him.Trivia
- Rimmer gets his first look at the Space Corps Directive manual.
- This is the only on screen appearance of Mr Flibble, Rimmer's evil penguin glove puppet. Mr Flibble became a cult character with Red Dwarf fans, has his own column on the official website and is also now available as an officially licensed toy puppet (minus his "hex vision").
- When Kryten and the Cat argue and lock heads in the quarantine suite, some of Danny John-Jules's makeup ends up on Robert Llewellyn's mask. This disappears just before he says "Okay".
- It is reported that Chris Barrie only agreed to wear the gingham dress, if the others did the same. After that, the last scene with Lister, The Cat and Kryten in dresses was included.
