Third technician Dave Lister wakes from stasis to find himself alone aboard the mining ship Red Dwarf, three million years after the end of humanity. His new existence isn’t entirely lonely: also aboard are cowardly hologram Arnold J Rimmer, the ship’s senile computer Holly, and an evolved, self-absorbed descendant of his pet cat. Unfortunately, there’s little left to do in the universe but bicker with his unlikely new friends, make a pig sty out of his bunk and, unwittingly, eat the powdered remains of his former crewmates.

Attempting to return to Earth at light speed, the crew experience a bizarre series of flash-forwards to future events. Some are as benign as the Cat breaking his tooth on a robot goldfish, others as disturbing as Lister’s death while performing emergency repairs. Troubled by thoughts of his imminent demise, the slobbish technician receives absolutely no support from his companions, Rimmer revelling in the belief that his fate is sealed.

Lister's dream of dating former colleague Kristine Kochanski runs into a big problem: the ship can only revive one hologram at a time - and right now it's Rimmer. Lister knows that his one-time superior will never agree to a brief swap, Rimmer knowing that, with a feisty girl in his place, he'll never be swapped back. Against the odds, Lister hatches a plan that has his rival quaking in his boots: if he passes the company chef's exam, he'll be the ship's commanding officer.

Given a copy of the Cat Bible, passed down through generations while the species evolved, Lister makes an incredible discovery: in his absence, he became a god. Dubbed "Cloister The Stupid" by the Cat people, his dream of opening a hot-dog and donut diner in Fiji has given rise to an entire religion. Rimmer, meanwhile, leaps to his own conclusions when the ship recovers a space capsule, believing it to contain an alien lifeform of a race he calls the Quagaars.

A mutated form of pneumonia turns Lister's dreams into reality, raining herring upon the crew and summoning the sixteenth century Mayor of Warsaw who promptly explodes. The fever subsides, but not before inviting two unlikely guests to Red Dwarf: personifications of Lister's conflicted personality. Much to the chagrin of the snivelling Paranoia, the larger-than-life Confidence brings Lister closer than ever to finding Kochanski's hidden hologram disc - but at what cost?

Lister's attempt to activate a second hologram - his dream date Kristine Kochanski - goes horribly wrong and creates Rimmer's ideal companion instead: himself. Moving into their own shared quarters, the two Rimmers quickly drive both the crew and each other mad, the city-sized Red Dwarf proving too small for such an insufferable pair. Before long, the conflict has escalated to the point where only one Rimmer can survive - and it falls to Lister to decide which.