Kryten is a fictional character in the British science fiction situation comedy Red Dwarf. The name Kryten is a reference to the head butler in the J.M. Barrie play The Admirable Crichton. Originally referred to as a Series III mechanoid, he is later described in the show as a 4000 Series, or Series 4000.
In their original plan for the series, Rob Grant and Doug Naylor had specified that there would be no aliens and no robots. Following the success of the first appearance by the Kryten character, Naylor convinced Grant to bring him back.
In the character's first appearance, originally only intended as a one-off, Kryten was played by actor David Ross but the popularity of the character meant that Kryten was introduced as a regular in Series III. The intention was to bring Ross back to play the role, but he was not available at the time and the position was filled by Northampton-born actor Robert Llewellyn, whose performances as Kryten from series III resulted in even greater popularity of the character. David Ross later returned to voice Talkie Toaster in the series IV episode "White Hole".
"Kryten" is the seventh episode from science fiction sit-com Red Dwarf, the first from series two, and was first broadcast on BBC2 on 6 September 1988. Written by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, and directed by Ed Bye, this episode introduced the mechanoid character Kryten. The episode was re-mastered, along with the rest of the first three series, in 1998.
Red Dwarf receives a distress call from a crashed spaceship, the Nova 5. As usual, Rimmer (Chris Barrie) claims this to be aliens. But according to the on-board service mechanoid that sent the distress call, Kryten (David Ross), the ship contains lifeforms of a much less hostile nature — women. The Red Dwarf crew boldly spruce themselves up to respond to the call. However, on arrival the gang are shocked to find the droid character Kryten has been looking after, clothing and feeding three skeletons ever since the crash, and have been that way for centuries. Kryten however, takes some convincing. How will he cope now? What will he do? After all, he is programmed to serve on the human race (as he explains, "I serve, therefore I am"). In the end, Lister (Craig Charles) takes pity on him and brings Kryten back to Red Dwarf.
Another day try to stand up straight;
keep the world from draggin' me,
down’; fight the flames that feed
the fire, but my mind keeps spinnin'
around. Holding on to what You
said, cuz I know Your words are
true; only way to win this fight is
to keep my eyes on, You
CHORUS
Fire and Love, the two extremes
that we live between. Fire and
Love, there’s more to life than the
eye can see.
Feelin' down, well I've been there
too; I know just how you, feel. A
winning hand from every side, it's
hard to tell what's real. Caught
between the two extremes, Feel
the pull from side to side. Trying
to run the easy road; just enough
to get you by.
BRIDGE:
Oh Lord, I know You've got the
answers; Oh Lord, I know You are
the Way. Oh Lord, I know You
are the Answer, Oh Lord, I need
You, everyday.
CHORUS
BRIDGE
CHORUS