Norman Lovett. The name may not mean that much to most people.
To others, he' ll always be associated with the ' alternative comedy' boom in the mid 1980' s.
To a lot more, he' ll always be the original Holly, the computer supposedly sporting an I.Q. of 6000,
but in reality after three million years alone in deep space the figure was actually closer to 6,
in the very successful sci-fi comedy Red Dwarf.

Ask all those above who know the name if they know much
about his own comedy series and to a man I guarantee they' ll say ' What?'

Norm's early life and career

Norman, who was born on 31st October 1946 in Windsor, but brought up in the seaside resort of Clacton in Essex, didn' t actually start performing until into his thirties . During this time, his deadpan standup comedy routine got him on the club circuit performing alongside some of the pop groups of the day including 999 and The Clash. His act transferred to the Comedy Store in London, which gave him a small but steady income.

His television career started with bit part appearances in shows such as The Young Ones, Happy Families, Dangerous Brothers Present: World Of Danger, Lenny Henry Tonite! and Hysteria, Hysteria, Hysteria! It wasn' t until he got a regular part in Ruby Wax' s first solo series Don' t Miss Wax on Channel 4 in 1987 that Norman really got noticed by anyone in television.

Although Don' t Miss Wax only lasted two series, and started Ruby' s career off on the course it currently follows today - the Hot Wax series of filmed travelogue / interviews being the latest incarnation - it didn' t really do much to raise Norman' s public profile. It did, however, get him in some useful doors.

"Awright, dudes?"

He already knew Red Dwarf writers Rob Grant and Doug Naylor from his standup work at the Comedy Store. When Red Dwarf was being cast, Nor man went up for the role of Rimmer, a part that eventually went to Chris Barrie. The producer and director of the show was Ed Bye, who happened to be Ruby Wax's husband. When he didn't get Rimmer, Ed offered him the role of Holly and Norman made the part his own. In fact, it was his creative input that actually made the production unit at BBC North West re-shoot all the Holly scenes for the first two episodes; he had been asked just to provide Holly' s presence as a voice-over, but pushed for a literal 'on-screen' presence as the face of the often cheeky, occasionally moaning and always endearing idiot of a computer.

However, after two series, Norman decided to quit the show. He had already moved from his London home to Edinburgh where he' d met his wife and for reasons of health; he had had a heart scare. Norman needed to cut down on the stress of travelling in order to record the series, which took place in Manchester, although for some strange reason the rehearsals were done in London. He was also required to go on location for some episodes which he resented when all his sections could have been shot in the studio with his other scenes - Holly always being recorded against a black background that could have been shot anywhere.

Executive Producer Paul Jackson thought Norman was being unreasonable, but nobody else thought that in the crew. In the end, Norman left and was replaced by Hattie Hayridge, who had been seen in his last episode as the female equivalent of Holly from a parallel universe.

New venture

At this time, Norman was writing his own pilot for a series; he had always written his own standup material, but this was a departure for him. BBC Scotland were running a series of six comedies under the title Comic Asides. This series was their own version of the hugely successful Comedy Playhouse strand that had been used in the Sixties and Seventies by the BBC to showcase single plays and potential pilots, with some of the series resulting from that including Steptoe and Son, Not In Front Of The Children, The Liver Birds and Are You Being Served.

BBC Scotland' s strand also produced a number of pilots over the three series of Comic Asides that were made and which went on to become fully-fledged series in their own right. They included Pulp Video from the 1995 series, The High Life from 1994 and from the original series in 1989, Tygo Road, Mornin' Sarge, the very successful KYTV and, of course, Norman' s show, I, Lovett.

Of all the pilots that were granted series, though, I, Lovett had the biggest uphill struggle to find an audience. Comic Asides was put together by the Scottish arm of the BBC, and unlike its English counterpart, it was seriously under-staffed, under-resourced and under-funded. It was already producing the pilot for Rab C. Nesbitt with Gregor Fisher, Rab C. Nesbitt' s Seasonal Greet, for Christmas 1989. The six Comic Asides were also potential pilots and when it came time select which ones would be made into series inside the budget the region had, I, Lovett drew the short straw and was shelved.

The official reason for the show being put on hold was that the pilot, written entirely by Norman, was felt to be too childish. However, with a premise like it had, it is arguable that the powers-that-be at the time just didn' t understand it as well as the other shows.

As written by Norman, he was playing himself in the guise of an amateur inventor who lives in a dream world and hopes that one day, one of his inventions will catch on. He lives on his own in a small, very ordinary house with his dog, a mongrel called Dirk. The house has no other occupants. Well, none apart from a picture of a horse and a spider. But that didn' t matter, because to Norman, Spider, Horse and Dirk could all talk to him. Yes, honestly.

Now you see why I could be right about the suits not understanding the show...

Comic Asides went out at 9pm Friday night on BBC2 in June. Not the most ideal time to get a good audience reaction. But, the ones mentioned previously did, and so did I, Lovett. It was, however as previously stated, shelved while the company got on with the more obvious pilots, and with Rab C. Nesbitt written by Ian Pattison.

Finally underway

It took until 1993 for I, Lovett to emerge again as a series. This time, it wasn' t just written by Norman. On the back of his success with Rab C. Nesbitt, Ian Pattison teamed up with Norman to write the full series of six episodes and do what was asked after the original pilot; to make it less childish. All the original elements were kept, although the humour was more surreal than before. Each also had more of an individual story to them as well, a structure that was added by Pattison with Norman providing more of the visual humour and quirky touches to the final scripts.

Joining Norman in the series as regulars were Dicken Ashworth and Sara Corper as his supposedly-normal neighbours, Darren and Una, who consider themselves the ' nouveau riche' . Darren isn' t that honest a guy, often involved in shady goings-on, while Una isn' t adverse to some fairly exotic pastimes herself; in the first episode, these supposedly-normal neighbours are shown indulge in the odd mild but kinky pastime. Just as well the series was post-watershed!

Ashworth, born the same year as Norman, had had a fairly widespread acting career prior to I, Lovett. Known mainly as a supporting actor, he had various roles in films such as Force 10 From Navarone, Tess and Krull, but was known more for his varied tv appearances including Juliet Bravo, Blake' s Seven, Brookside, Doctor Who, Lenny Henry Tonite! ( in the same episode as Norman ), Making Out, Boon, Inspector Morse, Heartbeat and Coronation Street. A lot of the characters he portrayed would be tough guys or heavies, but a lot would also be of the dense type associated with light comedy.

Sara Corper' s career, on the other hand, was limited to just a few roles, with I, Lovett being her last credited work. She got her break in television ten years earlier when she appeared with Robert Glenister and Peter Davison in the Alex Shearer sitcom Sink Or Swim. After three series, she went into Up The Elephant And Round The Castle with comedian Jim Davidson and Mann' s Best Friends with Fulton MacKay and Bernard Bresslaw. Only one further role between the Comic Asides pilot and I, Lovett proper is noted for Sara, in The Piglet Files again by Alex Shearer and with Nicholas Lyndhurst in the title role as hapless MI5 recruit Peter ' codename Piglet' Chapman.

Norman's 'real' friends

Darren and Una were altogether secondary characters compared to Norman' s 'friends' , Dirk, Horse and Spider. Spider, voiced by Mary Riggans, didn' t appear very much, only offering vague twittering comments now and again. Riggans had previously appeared in The Assassination Run thriller serial starring Malcolm Stoddard and Mary Tamm, and would go on to become regular Effie MacDonald in the Scottish soap opera Take The High Road ( or High Road as it is now known ).

Horse, the talking picture, was voiced by Leon Sinden in a similar manner to Donald Sinden, his brother. His career stretched back to the mid Sixties with the film The Counterfeit Constable. After the film Rentadick in 1972, with his brother, Leon continued to appear in minor roles on television including Upstairs Downstairs, Poldark, Rebecca and A Horseman Riding By. Leon had also appeared in The Assassination Run, and also went on to appear as a regular in Take The High Road as solicitor George Carradine. Both of these series / serials were produced by Scottish companies - High Road by ITV, ...Run by the BBC - so it was not unsurprising that both Sinden and Riggins would pop up together once again.

The main foil to Norman was his dog, Dirk, played by well-known and liked actor Geoffrey Hughes. Another well-known supporting player, he had first come to the notice of the profession after providing the voice of Paul McCartney for the Beatles' film Yellow Submarine. After that, his career continued in the main with supporting roles including Up, Pompeii, Dad's Army, Curry & Chips and Doctor Who. He is probably best known though for his long-running role in the soap opera Coronation Street as Eddie Yeats, and latterly for his role as the slob Onslow in the Roy Clarke sitcom Keeping Up Appearances with Patricia Routledge. As Dirk, Hughes played him as a wise-cracking Scouser - Hughes was born in Liverpool - who could be relied upon to bring Norman's daydreams back to earth with a bump through a piece of doggedly fatalistic and often coarse observation ( sorry! )

It's a mad, mad, mad, mad world...

The premise for each episode usually harked back to something that had happened in the life of Norman the character. For instance, the series started off with The Snowman , going back to his childhood and looking at the relationship he had with his parents. He hasn' t spoken to his father since years previously when the snowman he built is attacked by his father with a blowlamp - and the snowman runs away! This sends his father, an unemployed philosopher, over the edge and he never speaks to Norman again. Norman receives a rather damp letter saying his father is dying and to come home; he thinks his mother has been crying. He returns to the house, but his father has already gone. It turns out that the letter is from the snowman, who on fleeing took up refuge in an old fridge in the attic and is also about to die. He wished to thank Norman for believing in him, and for giving him the gift of life. Much to Una and Darren's disbelief, Norman returns home with his friend' s ashes to sprinkle over the garden; a snowman's ashes being, of course, a bowl of water!

This sort of surreal comedy continued throughout the series. In Crime & Punishment, Norman ends up being arrested for keeping hold of stolen goods that mysteriously turn up in his home - the thief accidentally delivers them to Norman' s house to be sold on instead of to Darren's. While in the cell, Norman's spirit side - the part with a nasty streak! - aims to teach Darren a lesson and frightens him into giving the goods away and throwing himself on the law, literally under a police car! Norman's release is good for him, but not for Dirk and Horse; they' ve been inviting friends round for wild parties in his absence!

In Baldy, one of Norman's inventions actually works after his ex-neighbour Elsie Mittens goes to Heaven and cons God - looking very like Norman and complete in heavenly-white duffel coat - into doing her a favour. Of course, he adopts the lifestyle of someone 'rich and famous' and God and Elsie aren't keen on this turn of events. His miracle hair restorer fails after six days and Norman ends up being tarred and feathered by all those who bought it from him!

In Romance, Norman tries to advance himself in relationships, but fails miserably when his dating agency date leaves him at a party and his childhood sweetheart - well, she let him carry her books home as well as her drunken father from the pub - writes in response to his newsagents ad. Unfortunately for Norman, it turns out that school bully Tommy Farenheit married his sweetheart - and yes, he saw the ad!

Norman's inventing went into overdrive in Imagine, when after yet another rejection from the Invention's Board he meets Sir Timothy Pitherington, the country's most famous inventor - and former schoolboy nemesis who used to steal Norman's best inventions from his desk. Pitherington suggests he enter in the Amateur section of the Inventor of the Year awards; they can always use somebody to laugh at. After Norman's rocket powered bird suit fails to make the grade, he and Darren submit his latest idea, based on what happened to another friend waiting for a bus. The centrally-heated bus stop is laughed off-stage, but Norman gets his own back on Pitherington, as does the smug egghead's chauffeur, Bingley.

The series came to a close with The Marrow. Norman and Darren's rivalry over the size of their entries for the competition comes to a head and Norman resorts to his Great Aunt Kylie's old recipe to boost the growth of his own marrow. But things go awry - or Norman thinks they have - when the bottle turns up empty after he tells Dirk he has to earn his keep by 'worrying' Darren. He has visions of 'Dirk Kong', a forty foot tall poetry-reading dog roaming the streets, tearing up anything in his path! In reality, Dirk has got stuck in Darren' s chimney. He's finally caught by Darren and thrown out - only to get stuck in Norman's! He's finally found when Norman goes to light the fire on the eve of the marrow contest. Next day, Darren enters his marrow and looks set to win first prize - before Norman appears with the monster marrow his own has grown into overnight with the aid of the recipe and the heat from the fire. Everything is not settled though, as on sticking the winner's pin in Norman's marrow, a giant bluebottle grub emerges and accuses Norman of killing his parents with a fly-swatter! Darren tries to claim the prize after all - but a forty foot tall Dirk appears on the scene and frightens him off. As Norman said, he may start slow, but like all Lovetts he gets there in the end!

Good guests, great effects, nice concept!

Despite being such an oddball show, I, Lovett did manage to attract some fairly notable guest stars, either in the flesh or as voice artists. One of the best, and most poignant performances, came from Bernard Cribbins as the voice of the dying Snowman in the first episode. Other appearances included Stephen Yardley, best known as forger Max in Secret Army, Lee Cornes, another well-known performer from the Comedy Store, Jean Alexander, Coronation Street' s Hilda Ogden, swimmer Duncan Goodhew - a cameo in in the Baldy episode! - and Geoffrey Hughes on-screen in the show for once as Norman's cigar-smoking agent in the same episode.

Special effects played a large part in the series, with Dirk, Horse and Spider all being realised through variations on puppet techniques. Other creatures required including large talking sunflowers, a huge Yeti-type blob, a mini cloud, Norman's letterbox and a red talking postbox that refused to take his letter of complaint to the Invention's Board. As far as stretching the resources was concerned, I, Lovett could probably be likened to The Goodies, which had also used a lot of effects for Bill, Tim and Graeme's adventures. I, Lovett's creations certainly stretched the facilities at BBC Scotland, many of which were designed by Colin Mapson, who was no stranger to the fantastical having worked on both Blake's Seven and Doctor Who.

So how can I, Lovett be best summed up? Well, it was certainly a very different comedy to most of those offered at the time, or since. It was of a more whimsical nature than anything else, although in some ways its style could be likened to series from the past such as The Small World Of Samuel Tweet, a children's comedy from the Seventies starring comedian Freddie 'Parrot Face' Davies, or even Clive Dunn's Grandad. It was, of course, much more surreal than that, and although it was very entertaining, it is doubtful that it could have gone on for a second series.

But it was a nice, comfortable surrealism, rather than the 'in your face' style of alternative comedy that had come in in the Eighties and progressed through the Nineties in shows such as Bottom or even Trigger Happy TV. Possibly even the Terry & June of its genre? Well, it's possible. It was a nice ride while it lasted anyway. Well done, Norm - and good to have you back again now on Red Dwarf!

article copyright PPS / M.Hearn 2001