Better Than Life story
A post pod carrying a three-million-year-old bag of mail arrives, and Rimmer becomes depressed when he reads a letter saying his dad is dead. Meanwhile the crew play a total-immersion computer game called "Better Than Life" which makes the player's wishes come true. Rimmer's neurotic brain fittingly begins to rebel against the fantasy and turn it into a nightmare. Directed by: Ed Bye. Story by: Rob Grant & Doug Naylor.
20 total · 5 major · 15 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| felinoid being | major | The cat-man Cat. |
| sentient computer | major | The Red Dwarf computer Holly. |
| speculative virtual reality | major | The protagonists donned headsets to play a VR game in which all your dreams came true. |
| virtual person | major | The Rimmer hologram. |
| what if my thoughts became reality | major | The Rimmer hologram's thoughts uncontrollably started to become (virtual) reality. |
| cannibalism | minor | Cat made a quip about eating Rimmer's dad's corpse. |
| coping with bad cooking | minor | The Rimmer hologram's meal of jumping dumplings and burned lamb left Lister and Cat were in a terrible state. |
| coping with the death of a parent | minor | The Rimmer hologram mourned the death of Rimmer's father. |
| father and son | minor | A simulation of Rimmer's father called the Rimmer hologram a "total smeg head" to its face. The Rimmer hologram spoke of how he had divorced his horrible parents. |
| friendship | minor | The three protagonists were chumming around in a virtual reality fantasy world. |