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The Best Episodes of Red Dwarf

Every episode of Red Dwarf ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of Red Dwarf!

Binge this in 1d 10h•Peaking at 9.3/10

The adventures of the last human alive and his friends, stranded three million years into deep space on the mining ship Red Dwarf.

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
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    Red Dwarf Season 5 Episode 6 - Back to Reality
    9.3/10(1269 votes)

    #1 - Back to Reality

    S5:E6

    While exploring an ocean planet, Lister, Kryten, Rimmer and Cat discover an abandoned ship whose entire crew committed suicide.

    Directors:Rob Grant, Juliet May, Doug Naylor
    Writers:Rob Grant, Doug Naylor

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  2. Red Dwarf Season 5 Episode 4 - Quarantine
    8.9/10(1124 votes)

    #2 - Quarantine

    S5:E4

    When the crew goes exploring on a snowy planet, they cross paths with a hologram scientist infected with a nasty virus.

    Directors:Rob Grant, Doug Naylor
    Writers:Rob Grant, Doug Naylor

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  3. Red Dwarf Season 3 Episode 3 - Polymorph
    8.8/10(1122 votes)

    #3 - Polymorph

    S3:E3

    Terror reigns on the Red Dwarf when a shape-shifting genetic mutant climbs aboard and subjects the crew to its menacing slobber.

    Director:Ed Bye
    Writers:Rob Grant, Doug Naylor

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  4. Red Dwarf Season 2 Episode 5 - Queeg
    8.7/10(1103 votes)

    #4 - Queeg

    S2:E5

    With Holly on the fritz, the ship's backup computer, Queeg 500, steps in to command the Red Dwarf and its crew of misfits.

    Director:Ed Bye
    Writers:Rob Grant, Doug Naylor

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  5. Red Dwarf Season 4 Episode 5 - Dimension Jump
    8.7/10(983 votes)

    #5 - Dimension Jump

    S4:E5

    After Rimmer comes face-to-face with his alter ego, the craven hologram decides he can't stand the sight of his counterpart.

    Director:Ed Bye
    Writers:Rob Grant, Doug Naylor

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  6. Red Dwarf Season 6 Episode 2 - Legion
    8.7/10(1001 votes)

    #6 - Legion

    S6:E2

    With the Starbug running low on supplies, the crew goes hunting for rations and finds an abandoned spaceship with a wish-granting being on board.

    Director:Andy De Emmony
    Writers:Rob Grant, Doug Naylor

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    The 20 WORST Episodes of Red Dwarf

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  7. Red Dwarf Season 6 Episode 3 - Gunmen of the Apocalypse
    8.6/10(1075 votes)

    #7 - Gunmen of the Apocalypse

    S6:E3

    The crew heads to the Wild West when Kryten contracts a deadly computer virus.

    Director:Andy De Emmony
    Writers:Rob Grant, Doug Naylor

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  8. Red Dwarf Season 3 Episode 1 - Backwards
    8.5/10(1205 votes)

    #8 - Backwards

    S3:E1

    Under Rimmer’s supervision, Kryten takes a driving lesson at the wheel of Starbug, Red Dwarf's newly-revealed scout ship. A chance meeting with a wormhole, however, sends student and teacher to a world that literally has everything backwards.

    Director:Ed Bye
    Writers:Rob Grant, Doug Naylor

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  9. Red Dwarf Season 4 Episode 3 - Justice
    8.5/10(965 votes)

    #9 - Justice

    S4:E3

    Not knowing if the stasis pod they've found contains a security guard or a homicidal criminal, the crew heads to the capsule's initial destination.

    Director:Ed Bye
    Writers:Rob Grant, Doug Naylor

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  10. Red Dwarf Season 4 Episode 4 - White Hole
    8.5/10(957 votes)

    #10 - White Hole

    S4:E4

    Kryten's attempts to restore Holly's IQ to genius level inadvertently cause the Red Dwarf to shut down its support systems.

    Director:Ed Bye
    Writers:Rob Grant, Doug Naylor

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  11. Red Dwarf Season 2 Episode 2 - Better Than Life
    8.4/10(1108 votes)

    #11 - Better Than Life

    S2:E2

    Rimmer learns that his father has passed away but isn't sure which is sadder: his father's death or that he is now encumbered with an £8,500 tax bill.

    Director:Ed Bye
    Writers:Rob Grant, Doug Naylor

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  12. Red Dwarf Season 3 Episode 2 - Marooned
    8.4/10(1068 votes)

    #12 - Marooned

    S3:E2

    As the Red Dwarf approaches a minefield of black holes, the crew must evacuate, throwing Lister and Rimmer together on a frozen planet.

    Director:Ed Bye
    Writers:Rob Grant, Doug Naylor

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  13. Red Dwarf Season 6 Episode 6 - Out of Time
    8.4/10(898 votes)

    #13 - Out of Time

    S6:E6

    After experimenting with an abandoned time drive, the crew of the Red Dwarf comes face-to-face with an exact replica of the ship.

    Director:Andy De Emmony
    Writers:Rob Grant, Doug Naylor

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  14. Red Dwarf Season 2 Episode 3 - Thanks for the Memory
    8.3/10(1037 votes)

    #14 - Thanks for the Memory

    S2:E3

    When Lister awakens after a night of revelry, he's at a loss to explain how he and Cat broke their legs.

    Director:Ed Bye
    Writers:Rob Grant, Doug Naylor

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  15. Red Dwarf Season 3 Episode 5 - Timeslides
    8.3/10(1009 votes)

    #15 - Timeslides

    S3:E5

    Kryten's discovery of a liquid that transforms photographs into interactive portals sends the Red Dwarf crew on a series of misadventures.

    Director:Ed Bye
    Writers:Rob Grant, Doug Naylor

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  16. Red Dwarf Season 5 Episode 1 - Holoship
    8.3/10(993 votes)

    #16 - Holoship

    S5:E1

    Rimmer is beamed aboard the computer-generated ship Enlightenment and finds that all his wildest dreams have come true.

    Director:Juliet May
    Writers:Rob Grant, Doug Naylor

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  17. Red Dwarf Season 12 Episode 6 - Skipper
    8.3/10(521 votes)

    #17 - Skipper

    S12:E6

    With the aid of a Quantum Skipper, Rimmer leaves the Red Dwarf to travel the multiverse in search of a dimension where he isn't such a loser.

    Director:Doug Naylor
    Writer:Doug Naylor

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  18. Red Dwarf Season 5 Episode 2 - The Inquisitor
    8.2/10(964 votes)

    #18 - The Inquisitor

    S5:E2

    The crew crosses paths with a dark figure who calls himself the Inquisitor.

    Directors:Rob Grant, Doug Naylor
    Writers:Rob Grant, Doug Naylor

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  19. Red Dwarf Season 6 Episode 1 - Psirens
    8.2/10(943 votes)

    #19 - Psirens

    S6:E1

    After realizing that the Red Dwarf has been stolen, Lister, Rimmer, Kryten and Cat go looking for the missing ship.

    Director:Andy De Emmony
    Writers:Rob Grant, Doug Naylor

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  20. Red Dwarf Season 6 Episode 5 - Rimmerworld
    8.2/10(892 votes)

    #20 - Rimmerworld

    S6:E5

    Rimmer finds himself on a strange planet where the only other inhabitants are the clones he's made of himself.

    Director:Andy De Emmony
    Writers:Rob Grant, Doug Naylor

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  21. Red Dwarf Season 2 Episode 4 - Stasis Leak
    8.1/10(1005 votes)

    #21 - Stasis Leak

    S2:E4

    A wrinkle in time takes the crew 3 million years into the past, before the radiation leak killed everyone aboard except Lister.

    Director:Ed Bye
    Writers:Rob Grant, Doug Naylor

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  22. Red Dwarf Season 2 Episode 6 - Parallel Universe
    8.1/10(1031 votes)

    #22 - Parallel Universe

    S2:E6

    After testing Holly's latest invention, the crew ends up in a parallel universe where they encounter opposite versions of themselves.

    Director:Ed Bye
    Writers:Rob Grant, Doug Naylor

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  23. Red Dwarf Season 3 Episode 6 - The Last Day
    8.1/10(965 votes)

    #23 - The Last Day

    S3:E6

    When the Red Dwarf crew learns that Kryten has only 24 hours left to live, they band together to give the android the best night of his life.

    Director:Ed Bye
    Writers:Rob Grant, Doug Naylor

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  24. Red Dwarf Season 4 Episode 2 - D.N.A.
    8.1/10(947 votes)

    #24 - D.N.A.

    S4:E2

    While investigating an abandoned alien vessel adrift in space, the crew discovers a device that can change organic life by altering an object's DNA.

    Director:Ed Bye
    Writers:Rob Grant, Doug Naylor

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  25. Red Dwarf Season 4 Episode 6 - Meltdown
    8.1/10(948 votes)

    #25 - Meltdown

    S4:E6

    When a matter transporter sends the crew to a theme park populated by wax androids that have overridden their programming, they get ensnared in a war.

    Director:Ed Bye
    Writers:Rob Grant, Doug Naylor

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Best Episodes Summary

"Back to Reality" is the best rated episode of "Red Dwarf". It scored 9.3/10 based on 1269 votes. Directed by Rob Grant, Juliet May, Doug Naylor and written by Rob Grant, Doug Naylor, it aired on 3/26/1992. This episode scored 0.4 points higher than the second highest rated, "Quarantine".