Demons & Angels story

rd1988e5x05 · 1992-03-19

An experiment with a machine – a Triplicator – that can make duplicates of an object goes wrong, causing Red Dwarf to explode. The crew escape aboard Starbug but find that the Triplicator has made two copies of Red Dwarf in place of the original. One of these copies has extracted the "good" qualities of the former vessel, and the other has extracted the "bad" qualities. The crew board one, first meeting angelic versions of themselves, then to the other, meeting their demonic versions. Directed by: Juliet May & Grant Naylor. Story by: Rob Grant & Doug Naylor.

17 total · 6 major · 11 minor

Theme	Level	Motivation
felinoid being	major	The cat-man Cat.
humanoid robot	major	The humanoid robot Kryten.
matter manipulating technology	major	There was a machine, called the Triplicator, that was capable of making two imperfect copies of a given material object: one copy is imbued with all the good properties of the original, the other with all the bad properties. In the episode an experiment gone wrong with the Triplicator resulted in the production of two copies of Red Dwarf in place of the original: one exquisite with an enlightened crew, the other decrepit with a vulgar crew.
the human capacity for good and evil	major	The crew were "triplicated" into their good selves, their evil selves, and their normal selves.
virtual person	major	The Rimmer hologram.
what if I met my double	major	The crew first encountered enlightened versions of themselves, and later despicable versions of themselves.
body implant	minor	Lister was equipped with a remote control implant.
choosing who dies and who lives	minor	The crew briefly found themselves in this predicament: If Lister and Cat were eliminated, then Rimmer and Kryten could commandeer the Starbug to safety; otherwise they'd all perish in seven minutes time.
facing death	minor	Aboard the Starbug, it seemed everyone but Kryten had merely minutes to live.
human aspiration	minor	The enlightened versions of the crew were driven by a common desire to attain a higher spiritual and intellectual level of development.