Confidence and Paranoia#Plot

While snooping through Kristine Kochanski's quarters for her hologram disc, despite the fact they were not decontaminated, Dave Lister (Craig Charles) contracts a mutated strain of pneumonia. The condition causes Lister to become delirious and experience hallucinations, all of which become physical in presence, including fish raining in his sleeping quarters (which Cat (Danny John-Jules) later eats), and the Mayor of Warsaw from 1546 appearing and then spontaneously combusting. Arnold Rimmer (Chris Barrie) later reveals this to Lister, before stating that he also caused two men to appear in the Drive Room. Lister discovers that the men each symbolise a part of his personality: Confidence (Craig Ferguson), who appears as a tall, tanned, flashily-dressed game show host-type man; and Paranoia (Lee Cornes), who appears as a stooped, pallid, black suit-clad little man.Howarth & Lyons (1993) p. 49.

Despite Rimmer's warning that they are symptoms of his condition and thus dangerous, Lister spends time with Confidence and quickly figures out through him that Rimmer hid Kochanski's hologram disc in the solar panels outside their sleeping quarters and that a second hologram could be projected if all unnecessary power is switched off. Rimmer soon learns that someone smashed the Medical Unit's computer to prevent Lister receiving treatment, and warns Lister that he is in mortal danger. Rimmer assumes that Paranoia is the culprit, since he has disappeared. While on a spacewalk to recover the hologram disc, Lister questions Paranoia's actions, only to learn that Confidence was the culprit and had murdered the other to spend more time with him. Confidence soon pressures Lister into suicidal acts, and dies from the vacuum of space when he removes his helmet. After recovering, Lister prepares to use the disc after retrieving it, but discovers when he uses it that Rimmer planned for this by having it contain a second hologram of himself.Howarth & Lyons (1993) p. 50.

File:confidence and paranoia split screen.jpgThe production team were very worried that they might get complaints about cruelty to fish regarding the raining fish hallucination scene. In fact no fish were actually harmed and none were dropped from any height, but placed on the floor. The episode used split-screen techniques to show The Mayor of Warsaw approaching Rimmer and spontaneously combusting. The technique was used to minimise any potential threat to the actors. The mayor, Rimmer's reaction and the explosion were all carried out as separate shots and cut together.{{cite web|url=http://www.reddwarf.co.uk/deck05/series_1/effects.html |title=Series I Effects |publisher=www.reddwarf.co.uk |access-date=11 February 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080119055554/http://www.reddwarf.co.uk/deck05/series_1/effects.html |archive-date=19 January 2008 |url-status=dead |df=dmy }}

This episode was originally going to be the last of the series, and would have concluded with Kochanski being successfully resurrected as a "sort-of cliffhanger". The BBC electrician strike had disrupted the series production, but this gave Grant and Naylor time to re-think about an earlier script titled "Bodysnatcher", which was intended to be the second episode: the pair felt that "Bodysnatcher" was the weakest script of the six, and also suffered because they had not actually written an ending for it. Rob and Doug took the idea from "Bodysnatcher" of two Listers (i.e. him and his hologram) not getting along, and adapted it into the idea of having two Rimmers together. So the ending of "Confidence and Paranoia" was changed to have a duplicate of Rimmer resurrected instead, and this cliffhanger continued into the series finale "Me²".

• Film references include The Wizard of Oz whose Munchkins are mentioned.{{cite web | url =https://www.imdb.com/rg/title-tease/movieconnections/title/tt0684151/movieconnections | title =Confidence and Paranoia movie connections | publisher =www.imdb.com |access-date =8 January 2008}}
• The Alien tagline is also parodied "In space, no one can hear you cha-cha-cha".{{cite web | url =https://www.imdb.com/rg/title-tease/movieconnections/title/tt0684151/movieconnections | title =Red Dwarf movie connections | publisher =www.imdb.com |access-date =8 January 2008}}
• To relieve his boredom, Holly has Lister delete all of Agatha Christie's writings from the computer's memory banks, and then gets intensely involved with reading Hercule Poirot novels.

The episode was originally broadcast on the British television channel BBC2 on 14 March 1988 in the 9:00pm evening time slot. Although the pilot episode "The End" drew in over five million viewers, this figure was now tailing off as the series progressed.Howarth & Lyons (1993) p. 8-9. The episode was considered to be one of the weakest from the first series by Red Dwarf Smegazine readers — it came in 28th place with 0.2% of the votes.

{{See also|Red Dwarf remastered}}

The remastering of Series I to III was carried out during the late 1990s.{{cite web|url=http://www.reddwarf.co.uk/deck01/dvd_remasters_of_the_universe_221206.html |title=Remasters of the Universe |publisher=www.reddwarf.co.uk |access-date=28 January 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080104012351/http://www.reddwarf.co.uk/deck01/dvd_remasters_of_the_universe_221206.html |archive-date=4 January 2008 |url-status=dead |df=dmy }} Changes throughout the series included replacement of the opening credits,{{cite web|url=http://www.reddwarf.co.uk/deck05/series_1/remastering.html |title=Red Dwarf Series I Remastering |publisher=www.reddwarf.co.uk |access-date=30 January 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080118140243/http://www.reddwarf.co.uk/deck05/series_1/remastering.html |archive-date=18 January 2008 |url-status=dead |df=dmy }} giving the picture a colour grade and filmising,{{cite video | people =Remastering Crew | title =The End Re-Mastered DVD Commentary | medium =DVD | publisher =BBC | at =Bodysnatcher DVD Boxset disc 1 | date =2007 }} computer generated special effects of Red Dwarf{{cite video | people =Remastering Crew | title ='Re-Dwarf' Documentary | medium =DVD | publisher =BBC | at =Bodysnatcher DVD Boxset disc 1 | date =2007 }} and many more visual and audio enhancements. Changes specific to "Confidence and Paranoia" include a new recorded Holly joke to replace the opening 'post office worker' gag, dramatic music cue added to Lister's collapse due to the mutated illness and a CGI scene of Red Dwarf travelling through the dust storm.{{cite video | people =Remastering Crew | title =Confidence and Paranoia Re-Mastered text commentary | medium =DVD | publisher =BBC | at =Bodysnatcher DVD Boxset disc 1 | date =2007 }}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{cite book |last=Howarth |first=Chris |author2=Steve Lyons |title=Red Dwarf Programme Guide |year=1993 |publisher=Virgin Books |isbn=0-86369-682-1 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/reddwarfprogramm0000howa }}

{{Wikiquote|Red_Dwarf#.22Confidence_and_Paranoia.22|Confidence and Paranoia}}

• {{BBC episode|b008m8ks}}
• {{IMDb episode|0684151}}
• [http://www.reddwarf.co.uk/series/1/behind-the-scenes/sources/ Episode Guide - Series 1 at RedDwarf.co.uk]

{{Red Dwarf episodes}}

Category:Red Dwarf I episodes

Category:1988 British television episodes