"The End" is the first episode of science fiction sitcom Red Dwarf, which was first broadcast on the British television channel BBC2 on 15 February 1988.
On the mining ship Red Dwarf, Dave Lister is placed in stasis for refusing to give up the whereabouts of his forbidden pet cat.
The episode was written by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, directed by Ed Bye and starred Craig Charles, Chris Barrie, Danny John-Jules and Norman Lovett.
On the mining vessel Red Dwarf, Dave Lister (Craig Charles) and Arnold Rimmer (Chris Barrie) go about their daily routine of maintenance.
Rimmer takes his maintenance duties very seriously, despite lacking respect from other crew members, while Lister is more eager to be lazy and drink with others, and hopes to return to Earth to start a farm on Fiji with the true love of his life, Kristine Kochanski (Clare Grogan).
Learning that Frankenstein would be "put down" for a biopsy, Lister refuses and is sentenced to 18 months of suspended animation in a stasis cell.
When he is revived by Holly (Norman Lovett) – the ship's ever increasingly senile computer – he is informed that the crew are all dead, after a faulty drive plate caused them to be subjected to a lethal dose of cadmium II radiation.
[1] Lister soon discovers that Rimmer was resurrected by Holly as a hologram, though with the inability to touch or feel anything, and learns that he was responsible for the accident.
While they explore the ship, the pair come across a graceful-looking humanoid which Holly reveals to be an evolution of cats descended from Lister's pet.
When the pair catch up with it, they manage to convince it that they are no threat, whereupon Lister names him Cat (Danny John-Jules) and learns that his ancestors created a religion around him.
Wragg had previously filled a similar role in British television series such as Thunderbirds Are GO, Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons and Doctor Who.
Originally it was supposed to be one long take but it proved too difficult to mesh together with a small budget and lowly special effects of the day.
[14] With a seventh episode slot left over at the end of production, Grant and Naylor decided to go back and re-shoot certain scenes and drop others that they felt did not work.
[15] Scenes removed include Lister ejecting the crew members' canisters into space and Rimmer conducting his own eulogy.
The "Welcome Back George McIntyre" reception featured bright red plastic chairs, which had to be covered up with jackets to avoid harsh clashes of colour.
[25] Changes included replacement of the opening credits (re-instating the original idea of the one shot pulling away from the ship),[26] the picture has been given a colour grade and filmised,[27] new computer generated special effects of Red Dwarf flying through space,[21] and visual, audio and scene adjustments.
[21] Changes specific to "The End" include bluescreen elements added to the opening scene with skutters – small maintenance robots – placed in the foreground of Rimmer and Lister.