Confidence & Paranoia: Reviews
Ian Symes
Theory time - odd-numbered Series I episodes are rubbish. Well, 'rubbish' is probably a tad unfair, but, as with Star Trek movies, it has to be said that the even-numbered episodes are better. This doesn't work when you consider the original running order, which had Balance of Power second and Future Echoes fifth, but it seems to fit the broadcast series with eerie accuracy.
Upon re-watching the episode for the purposes of this review, I noted that Confidence and Paranoia pushes my theory to the absolute limit. There is some excellent stuff in here, most of it involving Rimmer. This is odd, seeing as this is clearly a Lister-oriented episode, but Rimmer is there for most of the classic moments, such as persuading Cat to help Lister, encouraging a skutter to stab Paranoia and witnessing the Mayor of Warsaw spontaneously combusting. However, Rimmer wasn't present when Cat sang his 'S-E-X' song, or when Lister sang his 'Indling' song, which are both classic works of musical genius.
Speaking of musical genius, I feel I've done really well to go for a full two paragraphs without mentioning the space walk scene. I want that music played at my funeral, preferably a full orchestra, conducted by the God-like genuis of Howard Goodall. There's also a lovely piece of music playing under Lister's film at the beginning, which sounds uncannily similar to the incidental music in Home and Away. Incidentally, the opening scene to this episode is another great one - featuring the first Kevin Keegan reference in Red Dwarf. The running joke of Agatha Christie works very well, as it is used sparingly and effectively.
Given that I haven't listed any bad points so far, and it is apparant that I really like the episode, you'd be forgiven for wondering why I bothered to mention my theory. Well, the reason Confidence and Paranoia isn't as good as Future Echoes, Waiting For God and Me² is the acting, from two people in particular. Craig Ferguson is rubbish. Confidence is supposed to personify the very best elements of Lister's character, so he should be likeable at least. I found Craig's performance a tad annoying, particularly the exaggerated, pantomime delivery of some of his lines. That said, I do like "from the people who brought you beeeeeeeeeer milkshakes", and his perpetual grinning at Rimmer late on in the episode is excellent. The other dodgy acting in this episode comes from Craig Charles, who cannot pretend to sleep-talk at all. He's more clear and lucid when he's supposed to be asleep than he is when he's awake. Lee Cornes does put in a good performance, however, and it's a shame that he isn't featured more. Although, the fact that he is still milking this appearance fifteen years later worries me slightly.
Another problem with the episode is that Confidence should have been much more creepy. As soon as we learnt that he is in fact a sabateur and a murderer, he dies within thirty seconds. This is symptomatic of the set-up of the show for Series I, and I feel that if the show had been made a few years later, we would have seen much more of Confidence's nasty streak, and would probably have known what he was up to way before the other characters did. This would have added an extra dimension to the space walk scene - the audience would see Lister trapped in a situation with a dangerous, obsessive man, which doesn't come across in the episode that was made. Of course, seeing as Confidence and Paranoia weren't actually introduced until half way through the episode, this was never going to happen. However, to make the episode great from a comedy point-of-view, more Rimmer/Paranoia scenes would clearly have been the way forward.
This episode doesn't deserve to be labelled 'rubbish', and it is the best odd-numbered episode of Series I. Compared to what was to come, it does of course seem rubbish, but, as with most of the early episodes, if you judge it on its own merits, it is a valiant effort.
Curtis Threadgold
Lets face it, the early series of Red Dwarf aren’t famous for their directing. After the SOS intro (still featuring the annoying brief snippet of laughter after ‘a hologram simulation of one of the dead crew’), the opening scene is constructed of a simple three shot structure. A mid-shot of Lister, an over-the-shoulder shot revealing the monitor and a pixellated close-up of Holly, and on top of that, even the film Lister is watching looks crap. In a later bunkroom scene, there is a mid-shot of Rimmer, featuring Lister upper frame left, which lasts for a full 46 seconds. In fact, the majority of the episode is made up simply of mid-shots and medium-long-shots. Now, I’m not one to slag off Ed Bye’s abilities, as although he does seem to be a ‘by-the-book’ director, it does improve in later series (and indeed, in this episode, which I will discuss later) and Confidence and Paranoia does feature the first action model shot, in the form of the dust storm. Excellently made, and a touch of class way above the Re-Mastered version.
But the thing is, none of this is important and that’s a credit to Messers Naylor and Grant for the script and a fine performance by Chris Barrie, as although the plot focuses on Lister, Rimmer more than steals the show, with his quips and awkwardness around Paranoia. In Lister’s diagnosis scene in the medical unit, Rimmer’s blank refusal to accept Lister and Chen’s Confidence and Paranoia theory is priceless and bears a much less cruel resemblance to the scene in Future Echoes when Lister and Rimmer meet the future Lister (‘I’m gonna have two sons’ ‘Yeah but one of them dies’). Also, the episode features some excellent scenes between Rimmer and the Cat, most notably in the bunkroom, where the Cat attempts to sleep in his bunk.
However, the key scene in this episode is what has become known as the Space Walk scene, featuring Howard Goodall’s beautiful music, mixing the Blue Danube Waltz with the Red Dwarf theme tune. Even though it can’t be heard that well (check out the isolated music cues on the DVD), due to Lister and Confidence’s cha-cha-cha, it does nothing to suppress one of the most poignant scenes in the first series. The long-shots and echoed voices, coupled with Lister’s discovery of the dangerousness of Confidence, gives a true sense of the loneliness and Lister’s predicament. Well done to all concerned.
Overall, Confidence and Paranoia is very much a product of the first series, but the Space Walk scene is an excellent example of what makes Red Dwarf a cut above most sitcoms: funny, intelligent and often touching.