{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}} {{DISPLAYTITLE:Me<sup>2</sup> (''Red Dwarf'')}} {{Infobox television episode | italic_title = no | series = [[Red Dwarf]] | image = | image_size = | caption = | series_no = 1 | episode = 6 | director = [[Ed Bye]] | writer = [[Rob Grant]] & [[Doug Naylor]] | airdate = {{Start date|1988|03|21|df=yes}} | guests = * [[Mac McDonald]] as Captain Hollister * [[Tony Hawks]] as Indian Restaurant Advert (Voice)<ref>{{Cite book |last=Howarth |first=Chris |title=Red Dwarf: programme guide |last2=Lyons |first2=Steve |date=1997 |publisher=Virgin |isbn=978-0-7535-0103-0 |edition=2nd rev |location=London |pages=51}}</ref> | prev = [[Confidence and Paranoia]] | next = [[Kryten (Red Dwarf episode)|Kryten]] | episode_list = List of Red Dwarf episodes }}
"'''Me<sup>2</sup>'''" (pronounced "me, [[Exponentiation|squared]]") is the sixth and final episode from series one of the [[science fiction]] [[sitcom]] ''[[Red Dwarf]]'', which was first broadcast on [[BBC Two|BBC2]] on 21 March 1988. Written by [[Rob Grant]] and [[Doug Naylor]], and directed by [[Ed Bye]]. The script was written as a late addition to the series following an electricians' strike at the BBC. The episode follows on from the cliffhanger set by "[[Confidence and Paranoia]]"—there are now two Rimmers on board ''Red Dwarf''. The episode was [[remastered]], along with the rest of the first three series, in 1998, to bring it up to a standard suitable for international broadcast.
==Plot== [[Arnold Rimmer]] ([[Chris Barrie]]) is delighted to have a double of himself after [[Dave Lister]] ([[Craig Charles]]) activated his hologram disc, believing it would allow him to see his old girlfriend. The pair promptly move out and begin spending time with each other, the Rimmers both moving into new sleeping quarters and encouraging each other through their routines of study, exercise, sleep. Lister decides to make the most of it by enjoying his own sleeping quarters to himself and viewing a video left by Rimmer, detailing his death. Choosing to skip his lengthy monologue, he views the moment when Rimmer was being chastised by [[Captain Hollister]] ([[Mac McDonald]]) for his repair of the drive plate before the crew's death in [[The End (Red Dwarf)|the radiation surge]]. Lister soon becomes confused over Rimmer's dying words, "[[Gazpacho]] soup!", and decides to find out why he said them.
The Rimmers soon find themselves competing against each other, causing their tempers to fray and an argument to break out between the two.<ref name="Programme Guide p51">Howarth & Lyons (1993) p. 51.</ref> Lister learns that each has determined that the other must go. Deciding which one should go, Lister randomly chooses the original Rimmer. As Rimmer arrives in full uniform, including his medals for his long years of service on ''Red Dwarf'', to prepare for erasure, Lister asks him about his final words before his death. Rimmer, after becoming (simulatedly) drunk, soon explains he was once invited to the Captain's Table for dinner, and was served Gazpacho soup for starters. Because he did not realise that it was meant to be served cold, Rimmer was humiliated by everyone when he ordered the chef take it away and bring it back hot, and thus was never invited to the Table again. Rimmer remarks that it was the worst moment in his life and prepares for his erasure, only for Lister to explain that he opted to erase the double just to hear his explanation. Rimmer, annoyed at being tricked, demands him to tell no one, to which Lister agrees before teasing him.<ref name="Programme Guide p51"/>
==Production==
When ''Red Dwarf'' first went into the studios at BBC [[Manchester]], "Me<sup>2</sup>" had not yet been written. An electrician strike meant that the originally planned shooting dates were used instead for rehearsals; it was decided that episode two of the run, "[[Bodysnatcher (Red Dwarf)|Bodysnatcher]]" was the weakest of the six. For the remount, it was scrapped, and replaced by "Me<sup>2</sup>", following up the cliffhanger established at the end of the originally planned series finale, "[[Confidence and Paranoia]]".<ref name="Red Dwarf Series 1 guide: Episode six: Me²">Red Dwarf Series 1 guide: Episode six: Me<sup>2</sup>, Red Dwarf Smegazine, volume 2, issue 6, October 1993, Fleetway Editions Ltd, {{ISSN|0965-5603}}</ref> The plot of "Me<sup>2</sup>" is partly based on "Bodysnatcher", which featured Lister not getting along with his own hologram - Grant and Naylor took this basic concept and centred it around Rimmer instead. The script for the episode was collected in the 1995 book ''Son of Soup''.<ref name="son_of_soup">{{cite book|title=Son of Soup: A Second Serving of the Least Worst Scripts|author=Grant Naylor|date=1996|isbn=0-14-025363-7|publisher=Penguins Books}}</ref>
The two Rimmer scenes were shot using a [[split screen (film)|split screen]] process, meaning that Chris Barrie would do a take on one half of the screen and then go over to the other half and do another take. The takes would be spliced together in the editing process.<ref name="Red Dwarf Series 1 guide: Episode six: Me²"/> Rimmer's embarrassing and reputation-damaging incident with [[gazpacho]] soup is based on a real incident that was only narrowly avoided by writers Rob Grant and Doug Naylor. At a meeting at [[Thames Television]], the pair were bewildered when they received cold soup, but refrained from saying anything. Afterwards, they discovered that gazpacho soup is meant to be served cold, and they had avoided the embarrassment that the fictional Rimmer would later suffer.<ref name="Red Dwarf Series 1 guide: Episode six: Me²"/>
Although [[Mac McDonald]] returned to play [[Captain Hollister]], his scene was filmed at the same time as his appearances in the first episode; "[[The End (Red Dwarf)|The End]]".<ref name="Red Dwarf Me² (1988) Full cast and crew">{{cite web | url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt00684165/fullcredits#cast | title =Red Dwarf Me<sup>2</sup> (1988) Full cast and crew | publisher =IMDb |access-date =22 January 2008}}</ref><ref name="Red Dwarf Series I Effects">{{cite web|url=http://www.reddwarf.co.uk/deck05/series_1/effects.html |title=Red Dwarf Series I Effects |publisher=reddwarf.co.uk |access-date=2008-01-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071218164246/http://www.reddwarf.co.uk/deck05/series_1/effects.html |archive-date=18 December 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
Additionally, the line "What a guy!" used by Rimmer 1 when spoken to Rimmer 2 was re-used in later series by other characters in reaction to the actions of Rimmer's parallel-universe alter-ego [[Ace Rimmer]].
==Cultural references==
*[[Orson Welles]]' film ''[[Citizen Kane]]'' is referenced both directly and indirectly during this episode.<ref name="Red Dwarf movie connections">{{cite web | url =https://www.imdb.com/rg/title-tease/movieconnections/title/tt0684165/movieconnections | title =Red Dwarf movie connections | publisher =IMDb |access-date =8 January 2008}}</ref> Lister tells Rimmer that he and Cat are going to be watching ''Citizen Kane'' at the ship's cinema. The more subtle references appear in Rimmer's death scene, where a snow globe drops off the Captain's desk next to his hand, thus mirroring Kane's death in the film, and utters his cryptic last words "gazpacho soup" which hold importance in the episode. Kane's last word, "Rosebud", was the theme of the film. *'My Diary, by Arnold J. Rimmer' was Rimmer's journal of his thoughts and deeds. He had hoped it would someday be placed alongside his historic heroes' own work; '[[Napoleon]]'s War Diaries' and 'The Memories of [[Julius Caesar]]'. *For the reveal of his April fool's joke, Holly dons a [[Groucho Marx]] comedy [[Groucho glasses|glasses-nose-and-moustache]].
==Reception== The episode was originally broadcast on the British television channel BBC2 on 21 March 1988 in the 9:00 p.m. time slot.<ref name="BBC Programme Catalogue RED DWARF — Me2">{{cite web | url=http://catalogue.bbc.co.uk/catalogue/infax/programme/NMRE759B | title=BBC Programme Catalogue RED DWARF — ME2 | publisher=BBC | access-date=5 December 2007 }}{{dead link|date=September 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> Both co-creators/writers, Grant and Naylor, consider "Me<sup>2</sup>" as one of the successes of the first series. Grant stating that it is one of his favourite shows and the idea of how you would react if you met yourself was an intriguing story.<ref name="Red Dwarf Series 1 guide: Episode six: Me²"/> Despite coming 25th in a ''Red Dwarf Smegazine'' readers poll, with 0.9% of the votes, the episode was considered one of the better efforts from the first series.<ref name="Red Dwarf Smegazine: Survey Results">Readers survey results, ''Red Dwarf Smegazine'', p. 27., issue 10, December 1992, Fleetway Editions Ltd, {{ISSN|0965-5603}}</ref>
==Remastering== {{See also|Red Dwarf remastered}}
The remastering of Series I to III was carried out during the late 1990s.<ref name="Remasters of the Universe">{{cite web|url=http://www.reddwarf.co.uk/deck01/dvd_remasters_of_the_universe_221206.html |title=Remasters of the Universe |publisher=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 }}</ref> Changes throughout the series included replacement of the opening credits,<ref name="Red Dwarf Series I Remastering">{{cite web|url=http://www.reddwarf.co.uk/deck05/series_1/remastering.html |title=Red Dwarf Series I Remastering |publisher=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 }}</ref> giving the picture a colour grade and [[filmising]],<ref name="The End Re-Mastered Commentary">{{cite video | people =Remastering Crew | title =The End Re-Mastered DVD Commentary | medium =DVD | publisher =BBC | at =Bodysnatcher DVD Boxset disc 1 | date =2007 }}</ref> [[Computer-generated imagery|computer-generated]] [[special effects]] of the ''Red Dwarf'' spaceship<ref name="Re-Dwarf">{{cite video | people =Remastering Crew | title ='Re-Dwarf' Documentary | medium =DVD | publisher =BBC | at =Bodysnatcher DVD Boxset disc 1 | date =2007 }}</ref> and many more visual and audio enhancements.<ref name="Re-Dwarf"/>
Changes specific to "Me<sup>2</sup>" include new music and sound effects over Rimmer's tribute video, fireball corridor shot added to flashback of cadmium explosion, new explosion and sound effects added to scene, shots of Lister smoking tightened or removed to keep in line with current TV standards and Rimmer 2 calling Rimmer 1 a "great nancy" was removed.<ref name="Me2 text commentary">{{cite video | people =Remastering Crew | title =Me<sup>2</sup> text commentary | medium =DVD | publisher =BBC | at =Bodysnatcher DVD Boxset disc 1 | date =2007 }}</ref>
==See also== * ''[[Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers]]'' – The first ''Red Dwarf'' novel which expands on the episode's premise.<ref name="Programme Guide p8-9">Howarth & Lyons (1993) p. 8-9.</ref>
==Notes== {{Reflist}}
==References== * {{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 }}
==External links== {{Wikiquote|Red_Dwarf#Me.C2.B2|Me<sup>2</sup>}} * {{BBC episode|b0077mcw|Me<sup>2</sup>}} * {{IMDb episode|0684165|Me<sup>2</sup>}}
{{Red Dwarf episodes}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Me2}} [[Category:Red Dwarf I episodes]] [[Category:1988 British television episodes]]