Trivia / Red Dwarf Season VIII "Only the Good..."

• Deleted Scene: Scenes cut from the episode:
  • Extensions to the opening scene in the Captain's Quarters, trimmed for time from the broadcast episode. These include additional dialogue between Captain Hollister and Rimmer, as Rimmer asks if he could ever become a captain himself. Hollister tells Rimmer that his ideas about leadership are flawed; captains are not merely there to boss people about, as Rimmer believes.
  • As Talia Garrett enters, Captain Hollister explains that Talia was once his personal fitness instructor before he made Captain. Hollister holds his large gut, joking that he has needed her lately.
  • The discussion during the gang's escape from Red Dwarf is slightly extended, with Kryten and the Cat agreeing with Rimmer that they need to escape the ship due to Baxter gunning for them.
  • After Captain Hollister tells the assembled prisoners of The Tank that they are being left to die, there are some additional lines of dialogue. The Captain says that the ship will soon be a skeletal carcass, and Rimmer says that so will Lister for cutting short their escape to impress Kochanski. Lister and Kochanski share longing stares and smiles. Captain Hollister says that three random names have been selected from the prison roll call to join the crew in the few spare places on the escaping shuttles. The lucky prisoners include Brown, Polesen, and Lister. Lister is about to offer his place to Kochanski, but Baxter butts in threateningly, and intimidated Lister offers his place to Baxter instead. Baxter then tells Lister that "We're square now."
  • When Kochanski first explains about Mirror Universes, the Cat says that he just has to get there, thinking it is a universe full of mirrors where he can seriously indulge on his vanity. The Holly Watch gives his two cents on the Mirror Universe - "politicians will be trusted, children will love sprouts, and rap music will be really good".
  • After Rimmer enters the Mirror Universe, he notices the reverse lettering on the wall signage and telephone. Soon after Rimmer forces the alternate Captain Hollister to refer to himself as a "shambles" repeatedly.
  • When Rimmer realises he no longer has small genitalia in the Mirror Universe, and is in fact now well endowed, he says that he is going to need some of anti-gravity harness to cart it around.
  • More of "Sister" Talia Garrett breaking down in distress after Rimmer snogs her. She says that he put his tongue where no man has ever been, and that referring to her "lumpy bits" indicates that he has knowledge of her private parts.
  • As 'Captain' Rimmer leaves the Captain's Quarters, two crewmen walk by and do the Rimmer Salute. Rimmer replies with the Rimmer Salute and walks off - into a wall, since everything is other way around to what he knows.
  • Exploring the Mirror Red Dwarf further, Rimmer soon comes across his "Number One" - a posh-talking, mustachioed alternate Lister who refers to Rimmer as "Sir". In shock, Rimmer refers to him simply as "Mr. Thing". First Officer Lister tells the Captain that they've all been very very worried about him, and that he should be back in bed resting from his Yellow Fever. With one eyebrow raised, the alternate Lister then softly asks Rimmer - "How is the Squirrel? I've missed him", and putting an arm on Rimmer's shoulder. Wide-eyed in horror, Rimmer believes that Lister is referring to his penis, under the belief that they must be homosexual lovers in the Mirror Universe. Rimmer replies that it's over - "Whatever we once did with my... squirrel, it's in the past. I'm different now." Confused, First Officer Lister tells Rimmer that Squirrel is Captain Rimmer's nickname. After getting the alternate Lister to help him read some reverse signage, Rimmer leaves him, complimenting the alternate Lister on his 'tash. First Officer Lister then finishes with "He's gone bloody mad".
  • Expansion of the Kochanski Secretary character. As Rimmer asks her what the microbe is, she tells him that it is a test-tube. When he asks what is inside it, she says "some white stuff". Rimmer says that she clearly isn't in charge. She tells Rimmer that she is not thick, since she has diplomas and certificates - to work in a cake shop. "Hygiene Proficiency. My mum keeps it on the telly. I don't have to work here." She then directs Rimmer to the Professor.
• Descended Creator: The ending with Rimmer meeting the Grim Reaper was such a last-minute addition that there was no time to cast an actor as the Grim Reaper. Director Ed Bye donned a black robe to play the character.
• Executive Meddling: An example that, for once, had positive effects; Doug Naylor was adamant that Series VIII would be the final televised series of Red Dwarf, and that the planned Red Dwarf: The Movie would be a Continuity Reboot, hence why three of the five endings planned for Series VIII at one point or another ended with the ship Red Dwarf being destroyed. The BBC pressured him into rewriting the ending so that it at least ended on an ambiguous note, eventually allowing the televised series to resume with Back to Earth (by which point the series was no longer being produced by the BBC, ironically enough).
• Torch the Franchise and Run: The reason for the Uncertain Doom ending with Rimmer dying and the ship about to be destroyed was because Doug Naylor wanted to make a Non-Serial Movie that ignored season 8. To accomplish this he wanted to destroy the TV continuity and make a ninth season impossible.
• What Could Have Been:
  • The season finale was originally a two-parter, with this being the first part. The second part, which would have been called "Earth", would have had the ship return to Earth using antimatter from the mirror universe, smashing through various historic monuments, before finally crashing, at which point Lister would swap insurance details with one of the few humans still remaining on Earth. They couldn't afford it.
  • There were, at different stages, four different endings. The first one, which was written and shot, was an upbeat ending where the Dwarfers saved the ship and took it for themselves, flying right past the escape fleet, effectively restoring the status quo of the first five series. However, Doug Naylor felt that this too clearly hinted at a Series IX, which he didn't want to do at this stage, and he also realized that the Brick Joke the ending was building to didn't actually make sense.^note (The vending machine getting revenge on Rimmer now that he was captain of Red Dwarf, which didn't work because the highest-ranking of the Dwarfers would actually have been Kochanski rather than Rimmer) It was therefore rejected in favour of the second ending, which was a Downer Ending in which Rimmer went down with the ship. After Naylor's two young sons objected and told him it was a horrible ending, a third ending was written in which Rimmer was rescued at the last minute by Ace Rimmer (i.e. the original Rimmer from I-VII). Then, right before shooting, Doug Naylor came up with the final version of the ending: an ambiguous cliffhanger ending where an apparently doomed Rimmer sees a vision of the Grim Reaper... and knees it in the balls and runs away.
  • When the time came to do the DVD release of Series VIII in 2006, Doug Naylor gave serious consideration to reinstating the originally filmed ending where the Dwarfers clearly survive and take back control of the ship. He had not yet made a decision when he realised that the effects work was incomplete on the original ending and it wasn't going to be possible to complete it for the DVD.
• Working Title: "MirroR/RorriM" and "Every Dog..." were considered. The episode was originally supposed to end with the Red Dwarf getting home and would have been called "Earth".