Awful pun. Danny John Jules remains securely in his role of The Cat of course. I'm referring to the lovely new character Katarina who appears in Red Dwarf: Back To Earth payed by Sophie Winkleman.
Here she is, and doesn't she look lovely? Feel free to click on the pic to read the article.
So, she plays a hologram, and she hopes to replace Rimmer. Interesting.
This raises a couple of points. Red Dwarf supposedly can only sustain two holograms, and yet there are two (even if she eventually plans on replacing him.) However, they often found ways to get round that in the programme.
In series one, the ship sustained two Rimmers when all the extraneous systems were shut down. And Rimmer functioned just fine without Red Dwarf at all during their sojourn on Star-bug in series 6 and 7. That was never really explained, but we do know that they raid various derelict ships for supplies when need be. It's not much of a stretch that they encountered more advanced power sources. They're three million years in the future after all. Either way, they can easily get around the problem of two holograms.
But why was she brought back? Considering the fact she is a science officer, I wonder if we will get a resolution to the cliff-hanger of series 8. Could Holly and Rimmer have brought her back to create an antidote for the virus eating away the ship? Does that mean she has a resurrected human version of herself that fled the ship with the rest of the crew? (I doubt we will ever see her!) Will we see all this happen, or will it merely be back-story, if the ages of the main cast are taken into account? Will she remain a permanent character should a new series be commissioned? (If two holograms can be sustained, there is no reason she need replace Rimmer after all.)
So many questions, and of course the answers will arrive next month. (Yes. Next month. Doesn't time fly?) It's fun to speculate in the meantime though.
