Red Dwarf (TV Series) Timewave (2017) User Reviews

Some good laughs but some weak points

[Tweekums · 7/10 · 29 October 2017]

While the crew are mining 'Helium 7' on a remote moon, named Planet Rimmer by Rimmer, the discover a spacial wave heading towards them. As they leave in Starbug the wave arrives; it is a time wave and it has brought a ship from the 24th Century… a ship that is on a collision course with Planet Rimmer. The crew board the ship. It turns out that here it is illegal to criticise anybody else and everybody is free to express themselves as they wish (so long as it isn't criticising others). The Red Dwarf crew try their best to follow the rules but ultimately it is impossible for them not to criticise their ridiculous hosts.

This was a rather mixed episode; there were lots of really good jokes and the idea of a society where all criticism is illegal seems like a nice dig at the more extreme advocates of political correctness and their 'safe spaces' although I may be reading something unintended into the story… either way it amused me. There are also down points; as others have said it is rather camp and not in a cool 'Flash Gordon' way. We have a cop in a pink uniform and he isn't the most extreme example. We also have a joke inspired by the Silence of the Lambs… that would have felt fresh twenty five years ago but now it is well past its use by date. Overall I'd say this was a bit weaker than the previous two episodes but still entertaining enough; despite its weaknesses there are enough good laughs.

Carry on Camping

[nickishane · 6/10 · 22 November 2017]

Nice try at something a bit different this time, but the Carry on Camping theme wore thin in the end and overshadowed the excellent incarnation of Rimmer's internal critic. This could have been explored more thoroughly and given center stage for longer. I chuckled a few times, but the big laughs were missing.

What happens when criticism is outlawed

[dave-03795 · 7/10 · 26 October 2017]

The Dwarfers end up on another fully crewed ship -- space is getting very busy in season 12 -- and this time have to content with a society where nobody can do any wrong.

Some fun moments, but too much silliness for my taste. I never thought camp worked well for Dwarf (looking at you, season 8). Still, worth watching.

Criticizing the Episode

[justinboggan · 6/10 · 24 October 2017]

SPOILERS

While mining a moon, the crew have to leave because of a time wave that could blow them into the future and sweep them into the past.

The timewave drags a ship from the 24th century into their time. A ship from a time when criticism is illegal. However, the ship is on a collision course with the moon, so the crew go to warn them and find themselves arrested for the illegal act of criticizing.

Inferior to the previous two episodes of this season, the episode is really standard and does exactly what you think it would do. There are no surprises.

While not terrible and still watchable, if you happen to miss the episode by accident, don't feel too bad.

Interesting concept, but not particularly well done

[snoozejonc · 6/10 · 15 January 2021]

A space time phenomenon shifts the crew in time where they encounter the spaceship Encomium.

I liked the idea behind this episode, the characters were amusing and well played, but I really struggled with the humour.

If you watch a Timewave without really thinking what the intension behind it might be, it appears to be a dreadful 30 minutes of television. However, I'm willing to give the benefit of the doubt that a lot of what's presented is purposely bad, owing to the episode's theme of criticism. As in without criticism this is how bad things can get.

Underlying all the annoying characters, hideous visuals and endlessly repetitive, clichéd jokes are some decent themes on criticism from both social, professional and psychological perspectives, but very little of the humour hits the mark. For me it is another Red Dwarf episode that tries so hard to be clever it forgets how to be funny. I say this with the greatest respect to the sense of humour of other viewers who might feel differently if the humour appeals.

In spite of the material, all cast do a great job including the main stars and guest performers.

Timewave

[Prismark10 · 4/10 · 15 December 2017]

I really did not like this episode much, it was a mish mash of concepts that really did not mix well. It was as garish as Johnny Vegas's pink policeman uniform. Yet my son found it funny and was laughing along consistently.

A twenty fourth century spacecraft, the Encomium temporally gets close a planet called Rimmer, which has just been named by Rimmer when his ego has gone loose.

The planet and Starbug are endangered by a timewave. The crew dock with the Encomium to discover that the crew have outlawed criticism. Just tutting labels you as a dangerous criminal leading to some kind of lobotomising of their critical faculties.

The best bit is Rimmer coming face to face with his inner critic made up to look like Blofeld, but this was not one of the best which even Johnny Vegas struggles to save.

Underrated

[johnjones-19023 · 8/10 · 21 October 2018]

'Timewave' is quite good when you're simply looking for an episode of Red Dwarf that relies more on comedy than anything else. Some jokes don't land, but others are quite good, "-Kryten shut up!" and "This mechanoid is reversing." are highlights plus I love the lighting which is really a compliment for the whole of Series XI & XII.

Utter, turgid, offensive dross

[bens_k · 2/10 · 11 November 2017]

(Very light spoilers in the second paragraph)

This really was poor. An episode about criticism being outlawed, and constructive criticism being a necessary and good thing - two potentially interesting themes - ends up being the worst episode of Red Dwarf by a long shot, and the one most worthy of criticism. Ironic, huh?

Everything is fine until Ziggy, the camp captain turns up. We've had some recycled series VI gags and some tired characterisation, and plenty of exposition. Nothing special, but nothing offensively bad. Then as soon as they board the ship-of-the-week, it's as if everything that was badly done about Series VIII is thrown into a blender with a big heaping pile of smeg and poured directly into the audience's mouth. The resolution of the plot is just "oh, maybe we're wrong, okay we will change our entire civilisation on a whim... oh wait never mind you didn't like my drawing so I won't!" Awful.

There are some terrific lines in this episode, however - captain asshole, the line about titties, and anything that came out of Johnny Vegas' mouth had me in hysterics. But everything else just drags it down, down, down, to the worst episode, certainly of the Dave era, and possibly ever.

Which is a shame, because the previous episode (Siliconia) and the following one (Mechocracy) were both fantastic, ambitious, and hilarious - real shining examples that Red Dwarf is still worth making in the 21st Century, and can hit the heights it managed to in the 90s, if not as consistently as before.

Come on Doug, you can do better than this.

(Incidentally, some people are saying this episode is deliberately bad, in a sort of meta/ironic way, given the concept of the episode. If this is true, then it's a 10/10 work of genius postmodern art, but still a terrible episode of Red Dwarf.)

Timeware

[MrFilmAndTelevisionShow · 8/10 · 3 September 2021]

The boys from the Dwarf have to go one hour without saying a single harsh word to or about each other, naturally you can guess how well that goes, and in the end everything is restored to normal as it so often is.

A prophetic episode.

[aelthric · 10/10 · 30 April 2021]

We live in a world that is increasingly suplanting sensible laws with draconian anti-criticism laws where you only have to "Criticise" someone to face imprisonment, yes we have laws now where if certain people claim they are offended by something you have written in any of the social media outlets you can face not only prison time but the complete and total dismantling of your life.

This episode accurately lampoons the society of 2021 from back in 2017 amazing how prophetic it is with the setting up of new laws in the UK where if you say something "mean" on social media or something deemed to be "Not ______ friendly" (please fill in the minority of your choice) you can get your door kicked down by the police and you can be imprisoned for supposed "Hate Speech".

Yes I watched this episode with very few laughs, not because it wasn't funny for 2017 (Because in 2017 it was just bizaarre enough to be funny) but because I watched it for the first time in 2021 where the world is becoming this ridiculous, in view of social media mob mentality and how that is now the driving force for the making of more and more restrictive laws that have loose interpretations so that you can be arrested for saying "Good Morning" without the chosen pronoun of some person who goes out of their way to be offended who nonetheless doesn't see how offensive and aggressive they are being in their petulance.

It is now less an episode of comedy as it is an indictment on society in the grips of social media totalitarianism.