Casting

The casting of Red Dwarf's main characters did not go entirely as the writers had planned. Having set their minds specifically to the idea of hiring 'proper actors', they ended up with a comedian, a poet, an impressionist and a dancer!

The role of Lister eventually went to Craig Charles, who had been performing stand up comedy and poetry on shows such as Wogan and Saturday Night Live. The latter was produced by Paul Jackson, who had sent Craig the script in order to gauge his opinion on the Cat; could the character be seen as racist? Craig said no, and asked to audition for the show.

Chris Barrie had been an impressionist at the Comedy Store before working with Rob and Doug on their radio show, Son of Cliché, as well as on TV in Spitting Image and Jasper Carrott's shows. Originally auditioning for Lister, he eventually nailed the part of Rimmer - a role coveted at one point by both Alfred Molina and Alan Rickman.

Rickman had, in fact, refused to audition with a reading, but was interested in both main parts. The writers, with Ed Bye, eventually talked him into trying out the lines - perhaps unsurprisingly - in a nearby pub. Other auditionees included David Badiel and Hugh Laurie; had casting gone in yet another direction, we could have seen Lee Cornes as Rimmer and Robert Bathurst as Lister! (Actors who made the shortlist for main characters would eventually be offered Red Dwarf guest roles.)

Danny John-Jules was an hour late for his audition, but his arrival - in costume and in character - so impressed the production team that he was offered the part of the Cat very quickly. Danny's background is in musicals, but as an actor he takes time to research his roles. He studied Desmond Morris's Catwatching (learning, amongst other things, not to blink while in character) and selected the Cat's character traits based on performers he admired, whose on-screen personas contained elements of the Cat's personality. Thus the Cat dressed like Little Richard, developed facial movements like Richard Prior and moved and talked like James Brown.

Norman Lovett completed the regular cast as Holly - despite the writer's prophetic notion that the role might be played by a woman, and Norman actually auditioning for Rimmer. Norman was an experienced stand-up comedian who had recently appeared as a surly floor manager in Don't Miss Wax. His dead-pan delivery was ideal for Holly, who was given more funny lines as a result (the character was originally intended to be fairly 'straight').

Kochanski actress Clare Grogan was lead singer with Altered Images, although the role was originally given to Brookside actress Alexandra Pigg (who was unavailable for new recording dates following an electrician's strike). Clare had to be credited as 'C.P.' to avoid confusion with existing Equity actress Claire Grogan - a problem which even fooled the make-up team, who had a picture of the wrong Grogan all ready for the first recording day!

The supporting cast of Red Dwarf's soon-to-be-killed-off crew was selected from familiar faces. Experienced comedy performer and actor Mac McDonald played Captain Hollister, warm-up artists Tony Hawks and John Lenahan took on dispensing machine and Talkie Toaster voices, with an additional machine (and a TV chef) played by actor and friend of Ed Bye, Rupert Bates.

Lister's drunken friends, Chen, Selby and Petersen, were played by Paul Bradley, David Gillespie and Mark Williams, all three talented comedy performers. Gillespie had originally auditioned for Lister, and took on the role of the 'Randy Rev' in EastEnders in the same year. Completing the ship's crew were actors Robert Bathurst as Todhunter and Robert McCulley as McIntyre. Although the character was intended to be Australian - to imply the international nature of the ship - McCulley chose to play McIntyre with a Welsh accent.

Guest appearances in the first series were few. Renowned actor Noel Coleman, the only other actor to date to play a cat character, appeared as the blind priest who raised the Cat. Comic actor Lee Cornes had auditioned for Rimmer, and eventually appeared as Paranoia to Craig Ferguson's Confidence.

Uncredited cast members include Remi Brocks and Jordan Russell as Lister's 'twin' sons and Risa Hall as the female voice in the vid watched in Confidence and Paranoia - the male voice, surprisingly, was provided by the show's own vocal talent, one Christopher Barrie.