Red Dwarf characters

Character descriptions and casting details for the Red Dwarf BBC sitcom and series of novels by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor.

Shipboard robots

The Skutters

The skutters are service robots.

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They have bodies similar to K9 from Doctor Who and a single limb extending from this. The limb ends in a three-clawed hand with an elecronic eye.

Related Topics:
K9 - Doctor Who

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The duties of the skutters are to perform basic tasks around the ship. Lister claims they outrank himself and Rimmer, due to having a better union.

Related Topics:
Lister - Rimmer

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The skutters are unable to speak, but can usually make their feelings clear. Their hands are particularly well designed for giving V-signs to Rimmer.

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It was originally implied there were only two skutters ("Pinky and smegging Perky" after the pig marionettes in the 1960s British television programme Pinky and Perky although this could have just been an insult to the skutters), but later episodes suggest these were simply the skutters assigned to Rimmer, and there are many more, as befits a ship the size of a city. In the book, the two Rimmers accidentally crushed dozens of Skutters.

Related Topics:
Pig - Marionette - 1960s - British - Pinky and Perky

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Kryten referred to a skutter as "Bob" in the episode The Last Day. Series 8 also featured a skutter named Bob, presumably the same one, along with his wife Madge.

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Rimmer's skutters, if not all of them, are fans of John Wayne and strongly dislike Rimmer.

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Skutters were not programmed to believe in Silicon Heaven, to keep the cost down. They find the concept ridiculous.

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Queeg 500

Queeg 500 is a "back-up" computer played by Charles Augins in the television series.

Related Topics:
Computer - Charles Augins

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Queeg is actually a practical joke implemented by Holly.

Related Topics:
Practical joke - Holly

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In the episode Queeg of Season 2, a back up computer known as Queeg 500 replaces Holly on Red Dwarf view screens when Holly accidentally gives Lister bad advice, resulting in minor injury. Queeg claims to be a backup system, and is keenly aware of Holly's senility. Queeg claims that Holly's IQ is not 6,000 but 6. Holly is very upset and exclaims "6? Do me a lemon! That's a poor IQ for a glass of water". He also claims that Holly gets his information from a children's science book and has been piloting the Red Dwarf around in circles. Holly is outraged and claims that it is a "load of Tottenham. A steaming pile of Hotspur." He is demoted to nightwatch man and Queeg takes over the ship. Queeg makes the crew's lives hell. Rimmer is pleased at first but when Queeg takes over his body and makes him sprint several miles is angered. The Cat is horrified that he has to do the 'W' word (work) and has no supply of food. Lister feels awful for not sticking up for Holly.

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Then Holly challenges Queeg to a game of his choice and agrees that the loser gets deleted. Unfortunately it is chess. Holly is hopeless at this and gets it confused with poker, and refers to the knights as "horsies" and pawns as "prawns". Holly loses the game and wishes everyone good luck with their lives and says farewell. Much to the horror of the crew Queeg changed into Holly who grinned smugly and claimed that his prank was "the jape of the decade", "wheeze of the week" and an "April, May, June, July and August fool".

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On screen, Queeg 500 is a bald African American man of middle age, with the tone and mannerisims of a US Marine drill sergeant.

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The name Queeg comes from the similarly "by-the-book" Captain Queeg in The Caine Mutiny.

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See also: computer senility, Britcom, Norman Lovett, Hattie Hayridge

Related Topics:
Computer senility - Britcom - Norman Lovett - Hattie Hayridge

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Talkie Toaster

Talkie Toaster is a minor character, a monomaniacal toaster that tries to steer every conversation to the subject of toast.

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Owned by Dave Lister, Talkie Toaster is a toaster with Artificial Intelligence who is completely obsessed with making toast and annoys everyone on board. He appears in series 1 (and in a deleted scene in series 2) with a stainless-steel cover and a circular light on the side which flashes as he speaks. He appears in series 4, and is described in the book, as a red toaster made of plastic, with his name "Talkie Toaster" emblazoned on the side and rather more flashing lights, although they have nothing to do with when he speaks, which is indicated by the press-down handle that would usually be used to start bread toasting. In series 1 he is voiced by John Lenahan, and in series 4 by David Ross.

Related Topics:
Dave Lister - Toaster - Artificial Intelligence - John Lenahan - David Ross

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In the TV show, the Toaster would keep interjecting in conversations in surprisingly and annoyingly smart ways, and whenever possible would try eventually to steer the conversation towards toast. Eventually this became too much for Lister who smashed the Toaster into 3000 separate pieces with a 14lb lump hammer.

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Kryten eventually repaired the Toaster in order to use him as a guinea-pig for "intelligence compression" - restoring his former intelligence (his AI chips were very badly damaged) at the cost of reducing his operational lifespan. After it worked with him Kryten tried it on Holly, but a miscalculation made her twice as smart as she used to be and left her with only three-and-a-half minutes to live. Later on by blocking up a "white hole" (opposite of a black hole, and which spews out time) time was reset to before the Toaster was repaired so he did not end up repaired after all. The Toaster's repaired personality was somewhat different to his original one: it now had a different voice and no longer tried to hide its obsession with toast. Where before, the Toaster would cut into a conversation, insult someone, and then make some reference to toast, the new Toaster was barely able to go more than two sentences without asking if someone would like a cooked bread product.

Related Topics:
Kryten - Holly - White hole - Black hole

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In the book, the Toaster helped Holly double his original IQ but shortened his life to three and a half minutes. He won seven hundred and ninety three chess games against Holly. During this time, the Toaster also saved the crew from death: while Holly was a genius, he explained to the Toaster how to escape from a black hole, information which later came in useful when the crew encountered one. The Toaster did not, however, merely volunteer this information: it forced the crew to eat ridiculous amounts of toast before talking. When the crew were attacked by a polymorph, and the crew lost a certain emotion, (Rimmer loses his anger, Lister loses his fear, The Cat loses his vanity and Kryten loses his guilt), the Toaster is destroyed by Kryten. After getting his guilt back, Kryten rebuilt the Toaster. Unfortunately the Toaster thinks he is a moose.

Related Topics:
IQ - Chess - Polymorph - Rimmer - Lister - The Cat - Moose

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The Toaster was apparently manufactured by a Taiwanese company named "Crapola Inc."

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The Toaster's interviews with various Red Dwarf characters (complete with offers of toast) can be found on Red Dwarf's official website.

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