Trivia / Red Dwarf Season VII "Epideme"

• Deleted Scene: Scenes cut from the episode:
  • More of the crew discussing the astro-glacier when they first discover it. Whereas Kochanski is fascinated by it, the Cat is not impressed by "a big iceberg", instead saying what fascinates him is animals which reproduce without sex. As Kochanski asks if they can get closer, Lister attempts a little light flirting with her which she raises a smile to, showing she is becoming more accepting of his advances.
  • As the four crewmembers enter the Leviathan, Kryten notes that the Psi-Scan is reading five life signs aboard. Cat says that he ate a mouse about 20 minutes earlier, and that "it's probably still running around in my stomach wondering what the hell happened". Kochanski sarcastically thanks him for the mouse story. Kochanski also asks Cat if his pimp coat is made of real fur, to which he replies, "I don't know. You'll have to ask the little squealy things I cut it off".
  • As the Starbuggers discover the bodies of the Leviathan crew, Cat says "It's grotesque. I mean, blue lips with yellow work suits? What were they thinking of?".
  • More of Kochanski mocking Lister as he says that he once dated Caroline Carmen.
  • Kochanski puts some ice down the back of the Cat's clothes, causing him to wail.
  • Extensions to the crew discussing the Epideme virus and chatting with it. After, Kochanski says that she never thought she would hear a disease that likes the sound of its own voice, and Cat replies that she must have never watched daytime television.
  • The Cat gets a dictionary and tests Epideme at spelling, and the Cat finds Epideme smart and funny.
  • An extended version of the discussion of Kochanski's Ice-Cream Koan, where she admits she wasn't really listening when her Dave said it because they were both drunk and handsy at the time.
  • Kryten pleads with Lister not to blow himself up by telling him that washing his underwear is the only thing that gives his life meaning.
  • The Cat asks Kochanski not to go near Lister's corpse without a gun and a bucket of breath mints lest he turn into "one of those crumbly snot monsters".
  • Kryten throws the severed, Epideme-infected arm out of the waste disposal unit airlock holding it with a pair of tongs. He then throws the containing towel out into space too, then the tongs, then the medical tray.
  • An alternate ending which was cut as it was ultimately felt to be too ill-fitting and also suffered special effects issues. The severed, Epideme-infected arm floats in space, and Epideme's voice is heard discussing which way he should go. The arm then points at the camera, saying in a deep voice "This way...".
• Edited for Syndication: Cut from a 2012 repeat:
  • Lister bringing up his last party in response to Kochanski mentioning she's never seen anything like the inside of the Leviathan.
  • Lister mentioning how women have to pour hot wax on their crotches and rip out half their thatch.
• Inspiration for the Work: Doug Naylor has said that the inspiration for this episode came from his one-time writing partner, stand-up comedian Jasper Carrott. The comedian once pondered: "What if your flu could talk to you? Wouldn't it just say it was doing its job?".
• What Could Have Been:
  • Paul Alexander originally intended for the Epideme virus to be voiced by Patrick Stewart, who showed interest as a fan of the show. However, since the episode had such a dark tone, Doug Naylor decided that rather than Shakespearean, the virus should be more like a game show host to add a little light-hearted comedy to the episode, and Gary Martin was cast instead.
  • An early draft of the script had Lister going into AR to consult some of history's greatest thinkers on his predicament. These included Einstein, Solomon, and Herbert J. Spilliker, the inventor of the sink which perfectly bounces water up to soak your crotch. These parts were cast before the scene was written out. Spilliker was to have been played by Ian Masters who went on to play Birdman in the next series.
  • In the original draft, Rimmer was still part of the crew, and the hologram would have defeated the virus by letting it infect him before deactivating his Light Bee, leaving the virus hanging in mid-air to be blasted by a bazookoid.

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