This leads to them being sentenced to two weeks of spud-peeling duty... then Lister gets the bright idea to use a programmable virus to consume the potato skins for them. Unfortunately, he fails to program it correctly, causing it to eat his and Rimmer's clothes and hair. And then they infect Captain Hollister with it, causing him to sentence them to two months in "the Hole", the solitary confinement pit. Which turns out to be home to a crazy old man and his pet sparrow, Pete.
Whilst Lister and Rimmer are in the Hole, the remaining Boyz go on another Canaries mission. Here, they discover a new form of time-manipulating device; a Time Wand, which can basically manipulate the flow of time around the users. Kochanski realizes they could use this to instantly end their prison sentence, and they smuggle it back onto the Red Dwarf. Unfortunately, Kryten isn't quite as good at using it as he thinks, and an encounter with the Tank's biggest bully, Baxter, results in him accidentally freezing almost the entirety of the ship.
Bob the Skutter and the denizens of the Hole are the few exceptions, and they find themselves wandering around the ship in complete bafflement. Eventually, they reunite with their teammates and learn of the Time Wand - and then Birdman's sparrow dies. Wanting to do a good deed, Kryten tries to resurrect Pete with the Time Wand, only to overdo it and turn him into a T-rex.
This episode includes examples of:
- Acrofatic: After being spiked with Viagra, Captain Hollister claims he had to handstand on the toilet seat in order to pee.
- Artistic License – Sports: There is no way that any of the foul play the guards pull on the inmates during the basketball match would be acceptable. If there was a proper ref out there, the entire team would have been disqualified and the inmates would have won by default. Deliberately set up by the Captain, who was the coach for the guards' team.
- Captain Obvious: Birdman. So called because he's got a pet bird (the titular Pete). Some time alone in The Hole has made him a little screwy.Birdman: They call me "Birdman".
Lister: Why?
Rimmer: Because he really likes instant custard. Why do you think? - Chew Toy: Captain Hollister, starting with drinking the half-time juice. Then Rimmer accidentally infects him with the programmable virus.
- Continuity Nod: Rimmer mentions Yvonne McGruder again, on seeing the frozen crewmembers, comparing it to the last time he tried to kiss her.
- Disaster Dominoes: The chain of events that sees Lister and Rimmer stuck in the Hole.
- Epic Fail: Using a sewage pipe and a spoon to speak in Morse code to get the programmable virus, Lister manages to get the wrong number. How the smeg do you get the wrong number with Morse code?
- Everyone Hates Mimes: Holly initially figures the frozen Canaries are mimes.
- Gone Horribly Right: The Programmable Virus and Kryten's attempt to revive Pete.
- Hair Reboot: Kryten uses the Time Wand to regrow Lister and Rimmer's hair which was eaten off by the virus.
- Hollywood Evolution: Through the magic of the Time Wand, Pete the Dead Sparrow turns into Pete the Live T-Rex.
- I Ate WHAT?!: The punishment detail food menu contains something drowned in gravy that is reminiscent of meat yet tastes horribly.Lister: Kill Crazy reckons it's some cloning experiment that's gone wrong and it's covered with gravy to disguise it.Rimmer: You waited until I was swallowing that, didn't you?
- It Tastes Like Feet: Rimmer disgustedly proclaims that the gravy-covered meat they're being served on punishment tastes worse than his grandmother's buttocks deep-fried in old chip fat.
- I Was Quite a Fashion Victim: The time wand is accidentally used to regress first Cat and Kochanski's hair and then their clothing to an earlier time in their lives. Holly thinks they look like the Turkish entry in the Eurovision Song Contest.
- Kick the Dog: An irate Hollister threatens to crush one of the Skutters for helping Lister and Rimmer.
- Mundane Made Awesome: The mountain of potatoes is introduced with ominous orchestral chanting. It is a lot of potatoes.
- Naked People Are Funny: Lister and Rimmer's clothes are eaten by the Progmmable virus. Then they're marched to see the Captain Hollister.
- The Nudifier: The reprogrammed virus eats through Lister and Rimmer's clothes forcing them to rely on Hand-or-Object Underwear when they're marched into the Captain's office.
- Peeling Potatoes: Lister and Rimmer are assigned to peel a veritable mountain's worth of potatoes using a knife about as sharp as a knitted sweater. Lister tries to cheat their way out of it with a virus, which sort of works.
- Raging Stiffie: The result of the Dwarfers spiking the wardens' drinks with the potency drug 'Boing'. It lasts for seven hours
- Take That!: Holly Watch describes the "regressed" Cat and Kochanski as looking like the Turkish entry in the Eurovision Song Contest.
- Taunting the Transformed: Upon finding the Time Wand, Kryten tests it on Kochanski and the Cat, regressing them to about five years old; when they demand to be turned back, he condescendingly reassures them that they're "cute as buttons," before successfully restoring them. His second and third tests leave their hair and clothes stuck at an earlier period in their lives: bum-length hair for Kochanski, an afro for Cat, and 70s-era outfits for both. Holly immediately remarks that they look like the Turkish entry in the Eurovision Song Contest.
- This Is Gonna Suck: The Cat's entirely understandable reaction to Pete being turned into a T-Rex.Cat: There is an old Cat saying which I believe has particular relevance: "We are all gonna die".
