Awesome Music / Red Dwarf

• The variations on the main theme, from the slow 2001: A Space Odyssey like opening for series one and two, to the insane rock stylings of the opening theme for the rest of the series. Not forgetting the catchy lyrics of the closing theme, unchanged since the first episode. The full length version at nearly 5 minutes long combines the original orchestral opening from the first two series and the closing theme, and includes the extra verse that wasn't in the show AND a fairly awesome bridge to tie both of the sections together!
• "Tongue-tied" from "Parallel Universe" manages to be Music of Awesome and Crowning music of Funny! And, wow, can John-Jules strut!
• "Cash" from "Timeslides". Performed by none other than Craig Charles himself.
• "Gunmen of the Apocalypse" gives the theme tune a western spin, resulting in one of the best and most spine-tinglingly awesome pieces in the history of Red Dwarf. The Western music plays whenever the Dwarfers are being badass and also at their Moment of Awesome at the end.
• "The Rimmer Experience" from "Blue". The closest thing Red Dwarf has to a Villain Song, and frankly a ridiculous one at that. And it is brilliant.
• Ace's Leitmotif from "Stoke Me a Clipper". Very appropriate for a daredevil pilot who rescues princesses in sexy red outfits from Those Wacky Nazis and turning their own Animal Assassin alligators against them. What a guy! What a theme! And later in the episode, we have the Ace Rimmer cemetery.
• Speaking of Ace Rimmer, the Top Gun-inspired theme from "Dimension Jump".
• From "Queeg": There's a brief rendition of "Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darling", sung by Howard Goodall (who sang the chorus of the Rimmer Song and composed the theme tune) as Holly prepares for his showdown with the title character. It's only short, but it's incredibly well done. Here it is in all its glory.
• The version of the theme tune from "Meltdown", which is sung by Elvis Presley! Okay, it's actually Clayton Mark, an Elvis impersonator, but you get the idea.
• The music written for the end of "Out of Time", as the crew fight against their future selves, culminating in Rimmer's race to destroy the time drive.
• The Canaries' Leitmotif from "Cassandra" is suitably militaristic and captures the tension of the Dwarfers' suicide mission aptly.
• Howard Goodall's four mini-albums of works based around the music he's done for Red Dwarf over the years are well worth a listen, as he takes some of the leitmotifs further, with some season's scores turning into 10-40 minute pieces, which also make you more aware of just how cleverly he re-uses them (for example, the Rimmer song in a minor key turning up in "Trojan" as Howard Rimmer expires). Sadly, not all of the planned releases appeared, as not enough of the material he wrote for Season XII was used, while there's no EP for Season VIII due to the use of a lot of library music.

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