Ask Hattie Hayridge Anything News Posted by Ian Symes on 10th April 2015, 19:46 Good news, everyone! We’re going to be interviewing Hattie Hayridge early next week, for a very special Dwarfcast. And we’re giving you the opportunity to ask her anything you like about Red Dwarf, her career, or anything else you feel she might want to talk about. Just leave a comment on this post, and we’ll put your question to Hattie. Unless it’s shit. You have until Monday morning.
I’d like to know whether Holly survived her computer rashes. Feel free to take the piss out of me for a few minutes rather than answering the question though.
Favourite stand ups, past & present? Best/worst stand up experiences? If many people had a crush on her who only knew her from Red Dwarf? (I’m saying I fancied her even though I only knew her from her chin upwards.) And if she would like to meet me for coffee, maybe more!!? (Full sexual intercourse. And a steak meal.)
This is wonderful news! I love you, G&T. Would she ever reprise her role if approached by Doug Naylor? Also, how would she feel if there was a brand new Holly and who would she like to see in the role?
A few questions… When you fully joined the show in Series 3 did you have much rehearsal time before filming started? Or were there many occasions when you had to read lines off the autocue without having much time to practise them first (as was perhaps the case with the introduction jokes that were cut)? Chris and Craig have been honest about the fact they hated each other during the early years of the show (and Doug has said that they wrote group scenes because of this). Did this ever make it awkward for the rest of the cast to work with them? It`s well known that Norman complained a lot during his first stint on the show which resulted in Holly being seen on screen. With the benefit of hindsight, does Hattie ever wish she had complained more and requested more material for Holly? How did she find out that Norman was returning to the role of Holly in Series VII? And was she disappointed that she was being replaced? Over the years how many times did she have fans asking her, `Will there be a Red Dwarf movie?` (even though she probably wouldn`t have been in it) and how irritating did this become?
I suppose a couple questions: 1) When you first took over the role of Holly, to what degree was your performance influenced by Norman Lovett? You definitely made the role your own; the female Holly is simultaneously wackier and yet more authoritative and informative than Norman’s version. Was that always the intention, for the female incarnation to be a totally different personality, or was the new Holly supposed to be an extension of Norman’s version that organically evolved into its own separate personality during the production process? 2) As much as I adore Series VI, I tend to disagree with the premise that Kryten’s growing role as an exposition character necessitated Holly’s exit. After all, even as Kryten was coming into his own in IV and V, Holly’s continued presence was always great and appreciated. To what extent do you agree or disagree that Holly’s exit was justified? What do you think the show would have looked like had Holly remained on the show? 3) While Norman Lovett’s Holly was overall pretty static, your version of Holly evolved greatly over time. In Series III, Holly’s lines are often absurd or unhelpful, whereas by Series V, Holly is more of an authoritative, highly competent badass who blows up squids and deploys tear gas. What version of your Holly is your favorite, and what do you consider to be the definitive version? 4) Especially during the earlier series, there seemed to be the implication that Holly wasn’t nearly as senile as he seemed to be and that every time he said or did something stupid, he was just taking the piss out of the Dwarfers. When you portrayed Holly’s dafter side, did you think of it as sincere computer senility or was the female version also just being coy and trolling the Dwarfers? 5) During the numerous series of Red Dwarf, most characters have had the chance to portray alternate characters due to sci-fi shenanigans. You obviously got to play the hyper-intelligent Holly in White Hole, Mellie in Dimension Jump, and also briefly the good and bad Hollies in Demons & Angels. Had Holly remained on the show for more series, what other alternate characters/versions would you have liked to have played? If there’s time, there’s these highly-important lingering questions: 6) Why do you think the Inquisitor didn’t put Holly on trial? Kryten’s fair game but Holly isn’t? Lame. 7) Where the hell was Holly when Rimmer had the holo-virus? Way to help out.
You’re spoiling us atm, G&T. Ask her about working on 15 Minutes of Misery with Sean Lock. What’s he like?
And I know I’m missing the deadline but if there’s somehow still time: what’s her favorite episode of Red Dwarf that she didn’t appear in?
