Red Dwarf Series X: Lemons Review

The peculiarly titled Lemons is the third episode in the newly revived tenth series of Red Dwarf. We’ve reviewed episode one and two so far and have been pleasantly surprised about the quality of writing and the production values.

Episode three marks the halfway point for Red Dwarf X as we only have another three left this season. It’s a shame because this episode really hit the mark and reminded us much more of classic episodes than the previous two.

The plot of Lemons is great; the boys are stranded on earth and in need of lemons (to make a battery of course). The only problem is that it’s the year 23AD, and the closest lemons are over 4,000 miles away in India.

This plot point is something that we think shows Red Dwarf is back to form; the very fact that the writers and cast have no problem letting 4 months of travel occur off-screen is a good sign for the series (in the opinion of TekGabber at least).

A lot of great jokes were scattered throughout the episode; Rimmer’s observations on our favourite hairstyle, the skullet, as well as a great section involving Swedish flat-pack furniture jibes and a thoroughly hilarious montage. Who doesn’t love a montage?

If you’ve seen the trailer for Lemons, which was shown at the end of last week’s episode, then you’ll know that the gang run into the biblical heavyweight champion of the old world, Jesus himself – who appears to be a Geordie. This allows the writers to throw in some great gags and an anecdote from Rimmer reminiscent of The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ by Philip Pullman.

Sidenote: According to @GazzPH90 on Twitter “She was NOT a member if the Church of Judas. Rimmer’s mother was a 7th Day Advent Hoppist. #RedDwarfX”

Jesus is brilliant in this episode and the actor obviously has a lot of fun with the role, helped along by some immensely well-written dialogue. The gang’s interaction with him is nothing short of genius, from Lister calling him a nob, right down to the final twist in the episode.

Another mention of Kochanski has us excited for the next episodes and there are a tonne of jokes and lines in Lemons which we’ll be repeating over the week; not least of all ‘Urethra Franklin’. The mention of the Mersey River was a nice touch, as was Lister’s comments about it.

Another subtle joke involving meat (that some people might have missed if they weren’t paying attention) was included; this style of humour isn’t one we remember from early episodes, but if it’s as funny as it has been the past few shows of series ten then it’s more than welcome.

All-in-all, this episode was great fun; we’re hoping that the next three weeks trudge by as slowly as possible, so that we can enjoy having Red Dwarf to look forward to each Thursday. It’s the most fun we’ve had since we found out what people were actually saying to the gang on Backwards earth:

The next episode looks great, from what we saw in the trailer, and if it’s anything like Lemons then this series looks set to be one of the best yet. As Jesus said, “Lemons truly are an amazing fruit”.

As always, I’m Jake Higginson – you can smoke me a kipper, as I’ll be back for breakfast; or you can follow my personal Twitter here.