Sets

Despite an improvement on the set budget following IV, recycling was still the order of the day - Red Dwarf V proved so ambitious that the budgets were stretched to the limit. The fabulous-looking corridors of the holoship Enlightenment were thoroughly dirtied down and re-coloured to provide Back to Reality's grotty Artificial Reality suite.

Elsewhere, Mel Bibby redecorated the main bunk-room set - not once, but twice. Firstly the set was filthed-up to provide the sleeping quarters for the 'low' Rimmer and Lister. The set included contemporary posters from the world of comics, as well as a classic pin-up image of one of James Cameron's Aliens. A wrecked motorcycle was also added, salvaged from a genuinely knackered and abandoned bike at Shepperton Studios, which had apparently been left to rust several years earlier.

Secondly - and much to Mel's disappointment - the bunk-room doubled as quarantine bay. Theorising that the ship would be made up of hundreds of similar units, the notion that the quarantine bay would look similar to standard quarters seemed appropriate to the designer - but he found the lack of difference telling. The upper bunk was masked over, and a board was placed in front of what had been Holly's monitor. Medical-green colouring helped, but far more successful was the viewing window added on the left side.

Last season's investment in a corridor set proved a Godsend for series V. It allowed for several scenes in The Inquisitor plus sections of Holoship, Quarantine and Demons and Angels to play out aboard Red Dwarf without sticking to the usual sleeping quarters and science room. And, with different lighting, the set never looked quite the same twice.

For all that, fans were left in no doubt as to where the money had been spent - the torture chamber belonging to Terrorform's Master was a stunning creation. The Starbug set was given the once-over, and Leisureworld International's waiting room was eerily convincing.

On location, the crew returned to the Sunbury Pumphouse for key moments during The Inquisitor's chase scene and Dr Lanstrom's research facility. Maintaining the show's complete avoidance of glamorous locations, they crew also visited a car park for Back to Reality.

Meanwhile for Terrorform the lake location made for a dangerous time. Craig Charles' eternal quest for a light for his cigarette led him to row the crew, in their boat, towards one of the massive jets of flame set up by the effects boys. Meanwhile, lighting director John Pomphrey, plus two technicians, all found themselves accidentally plunging into the freezing water during the shoot.