Kill the smeggin' dddrrums!

So, you know how, technically-speaking, there are two versions of Back To Reality?

... What do you mean, 'technically-speaking?', I hear you rightly grumble. Well, there's the broadcast version which first aired on the 26th March 1992, and the version that aired on the 22nd December 1995, as voted The Best-Ever (episode of) Red Dwarf, to date.

What separates Back To Reality 'X-tended' from its original airing is a specially-filmed intro (similar to the Smeg Ups/Outs interstitials), in which a barely festive-looking Lister (accompanied by an out-of-frame Kryten), rattles-off the five highest-ranked episodes of Red Dwarf, as per a recent BBC poll, all before the venerable 'RED DWARF LOG'.

Of course, as it rightly shall forever be, Back To Reality rightly beats all the competition to the #1 spot, but something I noticed on rewatching this fated DVD extra is, you guessed it, Lister's jacket, which, on my latest viewing, appears to be in something of a transitional state...

As of Series XIII, by my reckoning, and not counting the early series' polyester-efforts, there have been approximately five distinct styles of Lister's leathers:

1. Series III (1989)
   
2. Series IV (1991)
3. Series V (1992)
4. Series VII + Back To Earth (1997, 2009)
5. Series X-XII + The Promised Land (2012-2020)
   

Yet, here we have an example that doesn't fit into any distinct series in terms of screen-accuracy, seemingly 'existing' between Series V-VI. As far as continuity is concerned, the last time we see Lister's classic leather jacket is Back To Earth, during which it resembles that seen during Lister's flashback, and Kryten's dramatic re-enactment for The Rimmer Experience, in Blue.

So, assuming that most, if not all, major changes to Red Dwarf's continuity accompany a notable variation of Lister's Jacket, one could assume that sometime between Series V and Series VI, something in the established timeline changed irrevocably. Even though this is a wildly speculative theory on my part, it nevertheless makes a modicum of sense when you consider the sweeping aesthetic changes that take place off-camera between the SSS Esperanto and Spaceship Graveyard; over two hundred years spent in Deep Sleep for Lister; his perishable leather garment held together by little more than custard stains, gum ointment, and the long-forgotten remnants of a shrivelled raw sprout - not to mention, presumably left outside the protective field to crumble dustily over the centuries.

So, in practical terms, what are we looking at in terms of changes? Well, this appears to be the same jacket used during The Inquisitor at least, so it's possibly easier to note what is still there by the time of Back To Earth.

From top-left to bottom-right can be found the illusive Red Running Man pin (screen-left lapel), the first appearance of the silver Motorcycle Pin (screen-left lapel), the final appearance of the mysterious Silver Eagle pin - for the first and only time seated below the Hollywood Brats and Madonna pins (screen-right lapel). I believe this also marks the final outwardly appearance of the holographic keychain (screen-right breast pocket) - from this point, tucked into the pocket, itself.

The full list of fan-favourite episodes, are as follows:

1. Back To Reality
2. Quarantine
3. Gunmen Of The Apocalypse (which Lister thought would win, but never mind...)
   
4. Polymorph
5. Backwards

For the sake of preserving one's sanity, I think it's fair to say, the situation surrounding this episodic preface shouldn't be explored or considered too deeply. It closely resembles the intro for Tikka To Ride, during which Lister records Starbug 1's inaugural ships' log, in the hope of preserving his lonely legacy, post-28th birthday.

This intro, however, makes far less sense, with little to no context offered. Here, Lister seems fully aware that Red Dwarf is a television show, which notionally doesn't rear its multi-universal head until Back To Earth - the last time we see the jacket in its then-current form. I wonder, could this be a Lister from an alternate dimension; as in, with the timeline being erased due to reality becoming unstable, anomalies having to merge from other dimensions to cope with the paradox..?!

Or, in fact, could all Listers featuring different jackets merely be parallel doppelgängers set loose through the Omniverse by that pan-dimensional liquid beast from the Mogidon Cluster?

Whatever. In any event, it still doesn't adequately justify how Kryten can suddenly play the drums.

Until next time, Jacket Jesters, keep... jacketing..!