History Creator / NormanLovett

His stand-up comedy career began when he was in his thirties. He joined the alternative comedy scene in TheEighties. After auditioning for the role of Rimmer on ''Red Dwarf'', Lovett [[CastTheRunnerUp was instead cast]] as Holly, the all-knowing AI of the titular ship who had succumbed to computer senility and become a little dim. Holly was originally only a voiceover role, but by the time of filming "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonIBalanceOfPower Balance of Power]]", Lovett had complained enough that Holly was reimagined as a disembodied head on a screen, with minor reshoots to the previous two episodes done to keep continuity.

Lovett left ''Red Dwarf'' after Series 2, as after moving to Edinburgh he had a longer commute to make it to filming in London and declined to return. The role of Holly was filled by Hattie Hayridge, who had played Holly's female opposite, Hilly, in the Series 2 finale "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonIIParallelUniverse Parallel Universe]]", while Lovett worked on a series of his own called ''I, Lovett'', which (after a pilot in 1989) aired for one series in 1993.

In 1996, he played [[TheDanza Dr. Lovett]] in ''Asylum'', and a year later returned to the role of Holly in the final episode of ''Red Dwarf'''s seventh series - "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonVIINanarchy Nanarchy]]". After playing Holly again throughout all of Series VIII, Lovett didn't return for the "[[Recap/RedDwarfBackToEarth Back to Earth]]" three-parter, despite being told to keep his schedule open. This led to a rift between Lovett and series co-creator Doug Naylor which has since been mended, with Lovett returning for a guest role in "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonXIISkipper Skipper]]" and once more joining the main cast for the ninety minute special "[[Recap/RedDwarfThePromisedLand The Promised Land]]".