Dear Johnny Fanboy,

In the Inquisitor episode of Red Dwarf, the crew have to justify their existences by showing that they have led worthwhile lives.

When it comes to Kryten's turn, he claims that he can't justify his good deeds as he is simply following his programming and that the only way he could be judged would be if he: "attempted to break his programming and conduct his life according to a set of values he arrived at independently." Because of this he is sentenced to deletion.

Didn't Kryten break his programming in Series 4? You can't claim he is lying about it to avoid judgement, because those who are judged by the Inquisitor are judged by themselves.

Natasha Denny

Johnny Fanboy replies:

Honestly, you wait for ages for a Red Dwarf nit-pick, then two come along at once! Well, in the same month anyway.

Actually Kryten managed to break his programming in the second series episode Kryten, but the effects of this were undone when he was rebuilt and rebooted prior to Series 3 (see the previous nit-pick Broken programme). It is true that Lister teaches Kryten to lie about fruit and to insult Rimmer in the fourth series episode Camille, but there is strong evidence in subsequent instalments to suggest that the mechanoid's basic programming remains intact. For example, Legion in Series 6 clearly demonstrates his overriding urge to cook and clean.

I would suggest, therefore, that Kryten has only succeeded in circumventing a few minor protocols rather than breaking the entire basis of his programming - and that was only because Lister instructed him to do so. Following his reconstruction, he has made no serious attempt to override his compulsion to serve.

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