Red Dwarf

Confidence and Paranoia

Season 1, Episode 5, Aired 3/14/88

Episode Summary

After foolishly visiting the officer's living quarters aboard the ship before the area has been properly decontaminated, Lister wakes up with a case of pneumonia and begins to hallucinate in his sleep.
This is no ordinary flu, however. Lister's hallucinations manifest as real events when it begins to rain fish in their bunk room, and the Mayor of Warsaw appears and then spontaneously combusts in front of Rimmer.''Lister wakes feeling better but he finds that, strangely, two men have appeared on the ship -- one is a living manifestation of his inner Confidence, the other of his abject Paranoia. While Lister's Confidence gives him the strength to face Rimmer to demand Kochanski's hologram disk, he is unaware that Confidence would do anything to be with him, including inducing the destruction of the Medicomp and the murder of Paranoia.''Lister belatedly discovers this -- too late to stop Confidence from foolishly trying to convince, by demonstration to Lister, that he (Confidence) can breathe in space, with the end result of Confidence exploding into a billion pieces.''Lister retrieves the hologram disk and loads it, but what follows is far worse than being alone in space.moreless

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Cast & Crew

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Craig Charles

Dave Lister
Danny John-Jules

Cat
Norman Lovett

Holly (season 1-2, 8-)

Fan Episode Reviews (1)

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Probably my least favourite episode from season one, but it still has some great moments.

7.0

"Good"

By The_Womp, May 05, 2010 Report Abuse

I'm not a big fan of this episode, despite it's very interesting concept. Solid hallucinations...I mean that's pretty out there.

I don't really know why I don't like this episode. Perhaps it just didn't make me laugh as often as others.

Still, the idea and the execution of the two title characters is well done, especially knowing the two actors auditioned for the show, and especially condsidering that the Confidence guy went on to star in the Dre Carey Show (he just doesn't look the same).

There are some great moments and gags (Oxygen's for losers), but I definitely would not consider this episode amongst my all time favourites.moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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Trivia
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- Rimmer will eventually get around to decontaminating the officer's block somewhere between seasons two and three, providing himself and Lister with officers quarters to live in. Edit
- When Confidence says "...is it someplace near Uruguay?" Watch Listers lips... you clearly see him mime the line that Confidence says. Of course, in a sense, Confidence is him. Edit
- When the Cat finds Lister and says the line "S-E-X, I think I've found it", Craig Charles seems to be smiling. Edit
Notes
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- Craig Ferguson and Lee Cornes originally auditioned for the parts of Lister and Rimmer respectively. Edit
- In Lister's soppy romance movie, the voice of the male character is Chris Barrie. Edit
- According to the Series 1 DVD, this episode was intended to be the final episode of the series, with Kochanski's hologram appearing and thus becoming a regular character in Series 2. However, an earlier episode featuring Rimmer trying to build himself a new body was scrapped and the plot of Me2 was devised. Edit
Quotes
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- Confidence: Oxygen's for losers! Edit
- (after seeing fish falling through the ceiling and the mayor of Warsaw spontaneously combust) Rimmer: It really is gonna be one of those days. Edit
- Rimmer: (Looking at the medicomp) That's odd, Lister. According to this reading, you're clinically dead. Edit
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