Confidence & Paranoia: Capsule
Recorded: 25/10/1987
Broadcast: 14/3/1988
Written by: Rob Grant and Doug Naylor
Directed by: Ed Bye
What is it?
Lister contracts a mutated pneumonia virus. The hallucinations of his fevered brain materialise in solid form, and suddenly the ship is beset by herring rain and exploding sixteenth century mayors of Warsaw. When his fever breaks, Lister wakes up to find he has created personifications of his Confidence and Paranoia and a war of manipulation begins.
Production Notes
There was a veritable shitload of pre-records for this episode: the entire exterior scene; the final scene, which included a split-screen with two Rimmers; the fish rain and exploding mayor; and Rimmer stepping into the smashed up Medical Unit.
A couple of notes about the aforementioned scenes - in the exterior scene, after Confidence exploded, Craig Charles dived to the floor, apparantly in some pain. The crew stepped in to investigate, only to be informed by Craig that he was 'only acting'. A bit of freeze-frame fun - have a look at the scene were the mayor explodes. You can tell that a split-screen is used, as Rimmer does not get illuminated by the flame. Amateurs.
This episode was originally going to be the last of the series, and would have concluded with Kochanski being successfully resurrected, and everyone living happily ever after. After an earlier script, in which Rimmer went insane and stole bits of Lister's body, was deemed too rubbish, Rob and Doug came up with the idea of having two Rimmers together, so the cliffhanger ending to this episode was invented.
Deleted Scenes
The recent DVD release featured:
- An extended version of the scene where Rimmer confronts Confidence over the Medical Unit.
- An extended version of Cat doing his laundry.
Re-Mastered
- The dust storm was recreated in CGI.
Recycled Ideas
The notion of Holly wanting to create the perfect woman, but being thwarted by the inability to do so, was originally attributed to Hab in a Dave Hollins: Space Cadet sketch, featurred in the second episode of the second series of Son of Cliché
Videos/DVDs:
The episode is (or at least was) availiable on the following releases:
- Red Dwarf I Byte II: Confidence and Paranoia. Released in 1993 by BBC Enterprises. Catalogue No. : BBCV 4915
- Red Dwarf Series One Re-Mastered: Episodes IV - VI. Released in 1998 by BBC Worldwide. Catalogue No. : BBCV 6437
- Red Dwarf I - The Original Series. Released in 2002 by BBC Worldwide. Catalogue No. : BBCDVD 1117
Credits
| Rimmer | Chris Barrie |
| Lister | Craig Charles |
| Cat | Danny John-Jules |
| Holly | Norman Lovett |
| Confidence | Craig Ferguson |
| Paranoia | Lee Cornes |
| Written by | Rob Grant and Doug Naylor |
| Music | Howard Goodall |
| Developed for Television by | Paul Jackson Productions |
| Graphic Designer | Mark Allen |
| Visual Effects Designer | Peter Wragg |
| Properties Buyer | Duncan Wheeler |
| Assistant Floor Manager | Dona Distefano |
| Production Assistant | Alison Thornber |
| Unit Manager | Mario Dubois |
| Production Manager | George R. Clarke |
| Costume Designer | Jacki Pinks |
| Make-up Designer | Suzanne Jansen |
| Vision Mixer | Jill Dornan |
| Camera Supervisor | Mike Jackson |
| Technical Co-ordinator | John Spicer |
| Videotape Editor | Ed Wooden |
| Lighting Director | John Pomphrey |
| Sound Supervisor | Tony Worthington |
| Designer | Paul Montague |
| Executive Producer | Paul Jackson |
| Produced & Directed by | Ed Bye |
Uncredited Extras: Risa Hall (woman in movie), Chris Barrie (man in movie), Garry Devine (Mayor of Warsaw).