THE RED DWARF BOOK PLOT INCONSISTENCIES PROJECT v.1.50
THE RED DWARF BOOK PLOT INCONSISTENCIES PROJECT v.1.50
* BPIP -- Companion to the PIP *
A loving look at everything that's not quite right with the Red
Dwarf novels.
Edited by Annette 'El Skutto' McIntosh ([email protected]).
Original concept by Damone.
This document contains *detailed* plot
spoilers for Last Human. Those who don't want to know,
avoid section *2.3*, and also the last question of section
2.2 (this has its own spoiler warning and is indicated by
percent signs in the left margin).
NOTICE: This document, its format, and all material contained
herein are protected by public copyright, except where it conflicts
with the copyright of Grant Naylor. This document *may* be
distributed freely in its entirety and posted at electronic sites
where no fee is charged for its viewing. It *may not* be sold or
published for profit in any form.
BPIP Availability:
The BPIP is posted as updates warrant on the USENET newsgroup
alt.tv.red-dwarf.
The BPIP is making its Web at
http://www.ftech.net/~cobweb/alt.tv.red-dwarf/
http://www.queeg.crater.com/
Also via FTP at
ftp://ftp.queeg.crater.com/pub/red-dwarf/general/
Alternatively, email me on [email protected] and request
a copy. It will be sent as text.
DO NOT ask Damone for the BPIP.
C O N T E N T S
Each major section is divided by a line of: =
Each minor section is divided by a line of: -
All new additions from last version are marked with a: 
ABBREVIATIONS:
JMC = Jupiter Mining Corporation
RD = Red Dwarf, the JMC ship
SB = Starbug, the RD shuttle craft
BM = Blue Midget, the RD shuttle craft
WG = White Giant, the RD shuttle craft
GS = Gazpacho Soup, food of Rimmer's greatest humiliation
0.5 UPDATES AND NEW STUFF
New Stuff for:
- Version 1.00:
- The first version. Born when Cma indicated it was
needed. ;-) Posted to group.
(30 Dec. 1995 - 2 Jan. 1996)
- Version 1.25:
- Contributions from Max Kolombos and Raz (once known
as The Inconsistency-Buster!). Web availability for the
BPIP courtesy of Friday, Michael Nagy, Dave Williamson.
Posted to group.
(2 Jan. 1996 - 11 Feb. 1996)
- Version 1.50:
- No longer available on Dave Williamson's page due to
the unfortunate demise of same. Very minor updates. Posted
to group.
(11 Feb. 1996 - 10 Apr. 1996)
1.0 WHAT IS THE BOOK PLOT INCONSISTENCIES PROJECT (BPIP)?
The Book Plot Inconsistencies Project (BPIP) is an attempt to
compile, record, and resolve all of the various plot inconsistencies
for the three Red Dwarf novels written by Grant/Doug Naylor. The
BPIP is a companion document to the PIP (originated by Damone),
which deals with the television show of Red Dwarf. The BPIP is
not as detailed a document as the PIP, and what qualifies for inclusion
in *this* document adheres to more specific criteria than for the
PIP. See section 2.0 for what counts, and section 3.0 for how to
contribute.
2.0 WHAT ARE THE BOOK PLOT INCONSISTENCIES?
The BPIP will include BPIs of the following type *only*:
-- statements, occurrences, actions, or intentions of
actions which are *directly contradicted* by statements, occurrences,
events or intentions preceding them (including historical events).
No distinction will be made for things which may be printing
errors; in these cases, such instances may have no explanation.
Things which will *not* qualify for the BPIP (unless part
of a direct contradiction) include hypothetical questions,
philosophical questions, speculation on how machinery/equipment
works, speculation on what goes on that the novels do not cover,
etc. Any 'BPI' that cannot be presented with at least two citation
points in the novels probably will not qualify -- assumptions will be
made to *explain* the BPIs only, not to *create* them.
The BPIP will be maintained in this way to stop it going the
road of the PIP, in which speculative questions mean the document
is essentially infinite. With direct contradictions only, the BPIP
should be a limiting document and not turn into the monster that
its parent has become!
The BPIs will be listed by novel, with part and chapter
citations in the format (IWCD, 1:12) -- this means Infinity
Welcomes Careful Drivers, Part 1:Chapter 12. Each inconsistency
will be listed, and if a resolution exists for it, it will be included
below it.
2.1 INFINITY WELCOMES CAREFUL DRIVERS (IWCD)
- Rimmer says he took his astronavigation exam 11 times,
receiving nine 'F's for fail, and two 'X's for unclassified (1:12).
Yet later in this same chapter, he says he got *ten* 'F's and
two 'X's.
- No explanation needed. This has been corrected in the
RED DWARF OMNIBUS, where both instances say nine 'F's and
two 'X's.
- Rimmer says he has been on RD for six years (1:12). Yet later,
during his GS story (2:33), it is apparent that he had only been
with the company for 18 months prior to the accident (refer also 1:15).
- If the JMC and the Space Corps are separate yet cooperative
entities, then it is possible that Rimmer was on RD as part of
the Space Corps but only joined the JMC at a later date.
- Rimmer's timetable is described as a 'three month revision
timetable' (1:14), yet later when he reads it (1:15) it is a
four/five month revision timetable -- August, September,
September, October, November.
- It is just possible that the term 'three month' can refer
to the length of time it can take Rimmer to actually make his
timetable, and not necessarily to his *total* study time period.
- Red Dwarf's dimensions are given as three miles wide, four
miles deep and six miles long (1:10). How then can the cargo
hold contain 'hundreds of cubic miles of supplies' (2:5)?
- Red Dwarf is three miles wide and six miles long (1:10). How
then can it have a 40 square mile cargo hold to support the 'sea
of cats' (2:6)?
- If the cargo hold contains at least two decks, the total
surface area can be 40 square miles.
- The future-echo old Lister (2:13) has a 'tattoo' on his arm of
U = BIL. Shouldn't this be U = BTL, as this is what Kryten actually
lasers into Lister's arm (3:3; 3:8)?
- The faded scar of the future-echo old Lister probably meant
that the 'T' could be easily misinterpreted as an 'I.'
- It is stated and reiterated that the seven crew members in
stasis didn't survive the Nova 5's crash (2:14), yet Rimmer later
finds one of the stasis booth occupants alive, if not totally
whole (2:19). If it were just a statement by Richards, the stasis
readouts could have been malfunctioning or been misinterpreted,
but the statement is also made as part of the narrative, ie. as
a fact.
- Rimmer has nine year and 12 year long service medals (2:32),
yet he had only been on RD six years (1:12) and with the JMC for
18 months (1:15; 2:33) prior to the accident.
- Rimmer may have been with the Space Corps for several
years before he signed up with Red Dwarf, so the long service medals
may be for the Space Corps rather than the RD or the JMC.
- Lister says that Rimmer has been torturing himself about GS
for the last seven years (2:33), yet the soup incident only
happened 13 months previous to Rimmer's death (1:15).
- Lister apparently knows that Rimmer was on Red Dwarf
for over six years (1:12) prior to the accident. Lister may think
that Rimmer also joined the JMC at around this time (see the
second question of section 2.1 above), thus Lister could erroneously
conclude that the soup incident did happen over six years ago.
- When Lister comes out of stasis (2:1), Holly comments that
Lister is 24. Given that Lister arrived on Mimas sometime soon
after celebrating his 24th birthday in October (1:3 corrected
in the RED DWARF OMNIBUS), and the accident happened the
following October 27th (1:15), Lister must have had a birthday
just before the accident -- making him 25 when he went into
stasis. And Holly does know Lister's 'birthdate' (1:9) so he
should know Lister's correct age.
- This may be a lapse due to Holly's computer senility.
2.2 BETTER THAN LIFE (BTL)
2.3 LAST HUMAN (LH)
Many 'contradictions' exist between this book and
the two previous. One blanket explanation may be
that the participants from Last Human are from a
slightly different reality than are those of Infinity
Welcomes Careful Drivers and Better Than Life; a
reality in which the main points of the story are
the same, but some details differ (compare with
the Universal Explanation found in the PIP). This
is probably the only explanation that will make any
sense to account for several of Last Human's
inconsistencies.
- Rimmer is a Third Technician (3:17), whereas it has been said
before that he is a First Technician (IWCD, 1:9).
- If Starbug was destroyed on Garbage World, and it was stated that
only one shuttle craft was left -- the WG (BTL, 3:11), how can the
crew now be travelling in SB again (2:1)?
- Perhaps the RD has a repair/construction facility to make
new Starbugs.
- Kryten and Rimmer wouldn't age, but shouldn't Cat have gotten
36 years older while waiting for Lister and Kochanski to de-age?
- If (despite the temporal differences between realities)
the Cat would have aged significantly while waiting for Lister and
Kochanski, then he would have gone into stasis or Deep Sleep.
- Why did the crew need to undergo the 20 year Deep Sleep on the
way back to RD (2:1)?
- The temporal anomalies caused by traversing the Omni-
zone (eg. BTL, 3:6) must mean that time in the reality the Red
Dwarf was left in moves at a rate such that the Red Dwarf's
position is now up to twenty years of Starbug travel away, so
the crew need to go into Deep Sleep. This means the position
of the RD could be as much as 20 light years away (Starbug has
to be able to travel at lightspeed in order to traverse the
Omni-zone -- BTL, 3:5).
- It has been stated before (BTL, 3:3; BTL, 3:5) that for
ships to traverse the Omni-zone, they must travel faster than
light. Starbug obviously has this capability (2:1), so why is
the lightspeed of Starbug not used in other instances; eg. to
escape getting caught in the suction beam from Blerios 15 (2:3)?
- Lightspeed may take a good length of time to reach and
come down from (this is possibly why the crew needed to be in
Deep Sleep for 20 years -- 2:1), therefore the lightspeed
capability is no good in this type of emergency situation
(where Starbug was travelling relatively very slowly to begin
with).
- Kochanski is a flight coordinator, first class (2:2), yet earlier
she was called Third Console Officer (IWCD, 1:13).
- One may be a subsidiary of the other -- Third Console
Officer may be a position on RD held by a flight coordinator.
- Kochanski was brought back to life on Backwards World (BTL,
4:4). Rimmer was upset to be dead (IWCD, 2:2), so couldn't the
same have been done for him so he could be alive again?
- After his initial depression over his death, Rimmer
seems to have reached an impasse in his feelings about his
own dead state (2:2). The fact of his being dead gives him comfort
in situations of danger where he's grateful that he can't be
killed (BTL, 2:5). Perhaps during the initial depositing of the
dead Kochanski and Lister on Backwards World, Rimmer may
have considered the possibility of the same being done for him
(and maybe again once he saw it had been successful), but once he
got his hard-light body, which made him feel somewhat 'whole
again' (2:2), he seemed to be satisfied to stay as a hologram.
- Lister and Kochanski spent 36 years growing young together on
Backwards World (2:1; 2:11; also BTL, 4:4). However, on a couple of
occasions it is said that Lister and Kochanski have spent the last
half-century together (2:1; 2:2).
- These occasions may be counting the 20 years of Deep
Sleep, and then rounding 56 years to a half-century approximation.
- The first of several references to 'Star Fleet' is made (2:1).
Surely it should be 'Space Corps'?
- Star Fleet is probably an interchangeable name for the
Space Corps, or one may be a subsidiary of the other. Also, it
may in some instances be a term describing that particular
organisation's headquarters.
- Rimmer is now a hard-light hologram and able to touch things.
Yet on one occasion, both he and Kochanski behave as if he's still
soft-light and intangible (during the discussion of fetching the MG
and the lamps -- 2:2).
- Rimmer apparently *was* in his soft-light form at this
time. Just after he is powered up, it is stated (2:1) that he is
on battery backup -- he must be soft-light and intangible at the
time that Kochanski makes such a statement. The first proof that
Rimmer is in his hard-light, tangible form is when the crew land
on Blerios 15 and are all 'bound...with a thick rope' by the
Blerions (2:3) -- extra power supply for the hologram hard-light
drive was probably salvaged from the derelict Starbug.
- Rimmer has failed the engineering exam 11 times (2:2). It has
been stated previously (IWCD, 1:12) that it was the astronavigation
exam that he made 11 unsuccessful attempts at.
- The terms may be able to be used interchangeably, as the
scope of the exam may cover both fields. This is backed up by
Rimmer's labelling of the exam also as astro-engineering (3:17).
- Lister takes the cigar from the lips of the head of Kryten from
the derelict Starbug (2:2) -- a Kryten supposedly identical to
the crew's Kryten. Yet it has been stated on several occasions
(eg. IWCD, 2:16 and IWCD, 2:23) that the Kryten Series 4000
mechanoid has a lipless mouth.
- There are obvious differences between the two realities
(eg. the Lister-doppelganger is evil, and Kochanski-doppelganger
and Rimmer-doppelganger were the lovers). The precise anatomical
detail of the Kryten Series 4000 mechanoid is apparently another,
and more minor, difference between the two realities.
- Kryten is a Series 4000 mechanoid (2:5; also eg. BTL, 3:11), yet
he is labelled on one occasion as a Series 3000 (2:2).
- Lister says he's a Pisces (2:7), meaning a birthday between
February 20 and March 20. Lister's birthday is decided on as the
14th of October (IWCD, 1:7), making him a Libra (or a Scorpio if
the zodiac shift -- IWCD, 1:4 -- is taken into account).
- There's nothing to say that Lister necessarily knows
enough about astrology to even get his own star sign correct.
- Kochanski says she and Lister rendezvoused on Backwards
World with the rest of the Red Dwarf crew, on Lister's 24th
birthday (2:11). The personal notice in the Backwards World
newspaper (BTL, 4:4) is dated the 21st of some month, and
tells Lister to make the rendezvous in 36 years' time
(presumably the 21st of the same month). This wouldn't then
be Lister's birthday, as his birthday has been nominated as the
14th, not 21st (IWCD, 1:7). Also, Lister was 61 years old when
he died (BTL, 3:12), so after 36 years of de-aging, he would be
25 (as stated earlier -- 2:1), not 24.
- Kryten does not discover that 'Lister' is actually the Lister-
doppelganger until he checks dental and scar records (3:6).
When the Lister-doppelganger was rescued from Lotomi 5,
leaving Lister behind (2:13; 2:14), the Starbug crew should
have been able to tell immediately that the doppelganger
was not their Lister. The doppelganger had been in Cyberia
for four months (2:13), meaning that his head would have been
bald or nearly -- standard fashion for the Cyberian inmates
(1:2). The real Lister still had all his hair at this stage, his
rasta plaits he'd had since age 17, which wouldn't be removed
until his own term in Cyberia began some weeks later (1:2).
- The Lister-doppelganger may have concocted a passably-
believable story about why his hair was gone -- for instance,
he may have said that the plaits were burnt off when he was
'pushed into the fire' (a possible four months' growth of
hair in Cyberia may approximate to Lister's hair sans rasta,
leaving only the lack of actual plaits to be explained away).
- Yvonne McGruder is referred to as a geo-mapper (3:17) when
previously she has been called a flight technician (BTL, 2:6).
- One may be a subsidiary of the other.
- Rimmer says that Lister teased him about Yvonne McGruder,
saying that she called Rimmer 'Simon' (3:8). Rimmer admits
to himself that she called him 'Alan' (BTL, 2:6).
- Rimmer's low self-esteem might be playing tricks with
his mind such that he cannot truly believe that Yvonne wanted
him for himself -- especially in the light of how things with
her panned out (3:8), seeming to confirm this. The actual name
Alan/Simon is not important to him, just that he believes it
could never have been 'Arnold.'
- Rimmer muses about his one sexual encounter with Yvonne
McGruder (IWCD, 2:32; BTL, 2:6) which took place on the 16th of
March. The affair is later described as occurring over 'one long
glorious weekend' (2:9) -- it seems strange that they had sex only
once during this time, especially given Yvonne's feelings for
Rimmer (3:8). Also the 'March 16th' in question must have been
March 16th in the year 2180, as this was the year Lister joined
RD (he joined RD around March, approximately six months after his
24th birthday during October 2179 -- IWCD, 1:3 corrected in the
RED DWARF OMNIBUS; IWCD, 1:7); yet this date will fall on a
Thursday, not during a weekend.
- It is not impossible (though improbable), that for some
reason or other the actual intercourse instances were restricted
to one, leaving Rimmer and Yvonne to engage in other forms of
'glorious weekend' activities... As far as the day/date is
concerned, there may be some changes/rearrangements in the 22nd
century calendar (such that it is slightly different to the
20th century calendar) that means that March 16th 2180 may fall
on a weekend.
- Yvonne McGruder became pregnant to Rimmer in March 2180 (see
above) and left the ship when RD stopped at Miranda (3:16). Red
Dwarf must have stopped at Miranda around about September 2180
(IWCD, 1:12; IWCD, 1:13), meaning that Yvonne must have been 6-7
months pregnant when she left the ship -- it's highly unlikely that
she or others would not have known about her condition. Might not
Rimmer have found out too?
- Given how desperately Yvonne wanted to be with Rimmer
(3:8), the realisation that the affair *had* been real, and that
Rimmer apparently wanted nothing more to do with her, must have
hurt her. If she believed that there was no future for them together,
she may have kept the pregnancy from him to save herself further
humiliation and trouble.
- How could Red Dwarf's black box have ended up on Earth (3:1; 3:11)
containing information not available until three million years hence?
For example, Holly didn't create Rimmer's hologram immediately
Lister exited stasis, but a few days after (IWCD, 2:1) with every
indication that Rimmer's hologram had not existed previously, and
no indication that Holly had planned this from the outset (IWCD, 2:2).
- The black box recording must have been made after Lister's
exit from stasis, but apparently has travelled through some time
anomaly (worm hole, swirly thing, whatever) to make it
splash down on Earth three million years before it is due to be
made. The recording is very incomplete, obviously missing such
details as its three million years hence origin (else Michael
McGruder, who even with his longevity could not expect to clock
up the big 3,000,000, would not expect that he might possibly
meet Rimmer one day -- 3:1), or that Rimmer was only a
technician and not the great soldier Michael McGruder believed
him to be (3:11).
- How can Michael McGruder (and even the GELFs, despite their
longevity -- 2:4) be alive at the same time as the RD crew,
when the Mayflower's journey (apparently taking upwards of
400,000 years, with its passengers in Deep Sleep most of the
time -- 3:4) must still have ended with its entry into the Omni-
zone hundreds of thousands of years before Lister came out of
stasis?
- The Mayflower fell into a worm hole before it was sucked
into the Omni-zone and ended up in the reality which came to
support the GELF asteroid belt (3:4). Perhaps falling through the
worm hole sent the Mayflower into the future near to the time
when Lister came out of stasis. Alternatively, the effect may be
that time in the GELF belt reality may be moving much more
slowly relative to the Red Dwarf reality -- the Mayflower may
have entered the GELF belt reality hundreds of thousands of years
before Starbug did, but from the GELF reality point of view, it
has been a *much* shorter time taken for the two ships' crews
to meet.
- During 20 years of Deep Sleep, Starbug has traversed the
Omni-zone (reaching lightspeed for the crossing -- eg. BTL, 3:3)
and has slowed to a speed (2:1) enabling it to rendezvous with
the derelict Starbug. However, 20 years seems excessive, given
that Starbug (while in the GELF asteroid belt reality) never
appears to be even a tenth this far from the Omni-zone (eg.
32 weeks' travel for Starbug from the lava planet to the Rage's
planet -- 3:14).
- Starbug may be able to come down from lightspeed in
much less time than it takes to power up to lightspeed, in which
case the majority of the 20 year (Deep Sleep) journey may have
been spent in the Backwards World reality, gathering speed for
the Omni-zone crossing.
- The Lister-doppelganger killed the Kinitawowis before they
got back to their own ship (3:18), which they had docked onto
Starbug (3:6). There is no indication of the Kinitawowi ship
disengaging from Starbug, but it does seem to have disappeared.
- Lister-doppelganger may have disengaged it to make it
seem that the Kinitawowis had gone, in order that the others
did not become suspicious and discover him before he was
well enough to attack them. Alternatively, the Kinitawowi ship
may have been lost in the crash on the lava planet (3:7), and the
others were too busy with their problems with Starbug to notice
that the ship didn't disengage in the standard way.
- Kochanski appears to have three vials of luck virus (3:20), yet
there were only two (3:10).
- There *are* only two vials of luck virus, and one of quick-
growing broccoli virus (the purpose of which is yet to come).
Kryten finds the first vial of luck virus (3:10), and Kochanski
uses a minute dose from this first vial to find (amongst others)
another vial of luck virus and the broccoli virus vial. Kochanski
then apparently hangs the *first* vial of luck virus and the vial
of broccoli virus (better keep *it* handy too as she doesn't know
when she will need it) around her neck, and presumably puts the
second vial of luck virus somewhere safe (maybe even in her bra).
The first luck virus vial is cracked by the Longman-leopard (3:14).
The crew then use this same vial of virus to work out the
coordinates and means to find Lister, before Kochanski hangs the
'almost empty' vial back around her neck (3:14). It is this same
vial that Kochanski later uses to prevent herself being shot, and
that the Lister-doppelganger finally takes and crunches up to
make the Rage choose him (3:18). The second, untouched vial of
luck virus is the one that Kochanski finally takes out of her bra-
cup for herself and Lister to drink (3:20).
3.0 ADDITIONS, CORRECTIONS, OR CONTRIBUTIONS TO BPIP
If you have an inconsistency, resolution, or other input about
the BPIP, please address your e-mail to: [email protected]
Provide as much information as possible about the BPI -- I
cannot include it if I cannot identify it.
%% Do not, repeat *NOT*, send *book* contributions to Damone. %%
Please consider the criteria for BPIP inclusion, detailed in
section 2.0, before posting a contribution. I cannot afford to have
my mailbox explode with instances that will not even qualify, and I
intend to be strict with what can go in and what can't.
Names of contributors will be included in the Acknowledgements
section.
Note that there are *no* book/series contradictions. For this
reason also, the Red Dwarf Log No. 1996 is included in *neither* Project
as it is essentially a companion book dealing with the television series,
in which story continuity with either novels or series appears not to
be regarded.
4.0 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First and foremost to:
*** Damone ***
...who provided the original concept of the PIP and allowed this
companion document to exist in the same format as its parent.
(Yes it's a mutual backscratch, innit?) ;-)
Special thanks to:
*** Friday and Michael Nagy ***
...for providing the BPIP with a Web home or two.
CONTRIBUTORS...
Cma
Max Kolombos
"John Q. Public"
Raz
Jim Richards
Daniel Snyder
Dave Williamson
Jim Wraith
And of course, thanks to Grant Naylor, who really made it all
possible.