Waiting For God: Capsule
Recorded: 11/10/1987
Broadcast: 7/3/1988
Written by: Rob Grant and Doug Naylor
Directed by: Ed Bye
What is it?
Holly, the ship's computer, recovers a strange unidentified pod floating in the frozen wastes of Deep Space. Rimmer is convinced it contains the remains of a long-dead alien warrior and immediately begins a scientific investigation to decipher the pod's hieroglyphics. Meanwhile, Lister's rather mundane day perks up a little when he discovers that he is a God.
Production Notes
Waiting For God, the third episode recorded, was the first to include Norman Lovett on-screen throughout. Some scenes from The End and Balance of Power were later re-shot with Norman in mind, hence his appearances on monitors in the Drive Room scenes.
Only one scene was pre-recorded for this episode - the one in the Cat-hedral. This is the only scene ever to include another member of the Cat race, in the shape of Noel Coleman's aged priest. We do see other Cats in Danny John-Jules's Tongue Tied video, but they don't count. Incidentally, notice that Noel Coleman's left arm has been painted black, to reflect that Felis Sapiens can be tabby-coloured.
The excellent credit sequence for this episode, in which Rimmer interrupts the music as he realises that the alien pod is in fact merely a smegging garbage pod, was a last minute idea by Doug Naylor. Doug was always keen to make the credits more varied (a technique applied with great effect to Son of Cliché), hence the photo developing in Future Echoes.
Book Version
Although the actual events of this episode were never echoed in any of the books, the Cat religion was covered in Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers (Part Two, Chapter Six). In the book version, however, the cause of the Holy War was whether the name of the saviour was Cloister or Clister, as opposed to whether the cardboard hats in the donut diner should be red or blue.
Deleted Scenes
The recent DVD release featured:
- An additional section of 'aliens' dialogue during the bunkroom scene.
Re-Mastered
- The excellent Bible illustrations are replaced by new versions.
- The music is removed from the Cat-hedral scene, and much shorter pieces of music are put in its place, occasionally.
- A shot of the Cat Priest's ashes being fired into space is added.
- An echo is added to Rimmer's mid-credits shouting.
Names
Waiting For God shares its name with a BBC sit-com, which was set in a nursing home. In fact, the original video release was titled after the second episode on the tape, Confidence and Paranoia, to prevent fans of the nursing home-based sit-com from making an erroneous purchase. Presumably, the big Red Dwarf logo and picture of people in space weren't enough. The name itself is a pun on Waiting For Godot, a play by Samuel Beckett.
Videos/DVDs:
The episode is (or at least was) availiable on the following releases:
- Red Dwarf I Byte II: Confidence and Paranoia. Released in 1993 by BBC Enterprises. Catalogue No. : BBCV 4915
- Red Dwarf Series One Re-Mastered: Episodes IV - VI. Released in 1998 by BBC Worldwide. Catalogue No. : BBCV 6437
- Red Dwarf I - The Original Series. Released in 2002 by BBC Worldwide. Catalogue No. : BBCDVD 1117
Credits
| Rimmer | Chris Barrie |
| Lister | Craig Charles |
| Cat | Danny John-Jules |
| Holly | Norman Lovett |
| Toaster | John Lenahan |
| Cat Priest | Noel Coleman |
| Written by | Rob Grant and Doug Naylor |
| Music | Howard Goodall |
| Developed for Television by | Paul Jackson Productions |
| Graphic Designer | Mark Allen |
| Visual Effects Designer | Peter Wragg |
| Properties Buyer | Duncan Wheeler |
| Assistant Floor Manager | Dona Distefano |
| Production Assistant | Alison Thornber |
| Unit Manager | Mario Dubois |
| Production Manager | George R. Clarke |
| Costume Designer | Jacki Pinks |
| Make-up Designer | Suzanne Jansen |
| Vision Mixer | Jill Dornan |
| Camera Supervisor | Mike Jackson |
| Technical Co-ordinator | Ron Clare |
| Videotape Editor | Ed Wooden |
| Lighting Director | John Pomphrey |
| Sound Supervisor | Tony Worthington |
| Designer | Paul Montague |
| Executive Producer | Paul Jackson |
| Produced & Directed by | Ed Bye |
Uncredited Extras: Tony Hawks (Dispensing Machine)