You are Dave Lister, the only survivor of a disaster that killed the crew of the Jupiter Mining Company spaceship Red Dwarf. The lowest ranking crewmember of Red Dwarf, you smuggled a pregnant cat, Frankenstein on board after shore leave on Titan. You were caught in possession of an illegal animal, but refused to surrender it to the ship's captain for dissection. As punishment you were sentenced to eighteen months in suspended animation. However, during this time, a radiation leak killed every living thing on board Red Dwarf except for you and your cat, who was safely stashed in the ship's vast cargo hold. After three million years, when the radiation finally faded into background levels, you were revived by the ship's artificial intelligence Holly to discover that you are the last human being alive, but you are not alone.

As you make your way back to Earth your only companions are Arnold Rimmer, a hologramatic representation of a dead shipmate, Cat, a member of a feline race that evolved from your pet cat and who was, other than Lister, the only known remaining living being aboard the vessel, and Kryten, a mechanoid.