ROBERT LLEWELYN - "THE MAN IN THE RUBBER MASK" (PENGUIN)
Robert Llewelyn is not a name too many people know. Perhaps the name "Kryten" will cause a penny to drop - for it is indeed Robert Llewelyn who plays the part of the sympathetic robot in the cult UK hit TV scifi series "Red Dwarf".
In "The Man in the Rubber Mask" he tells the complete story behind the TV series - well, almost. The book is an easy read, filled with anecdotes, but only mildly funny really. The character Kryten, with lines devised by Grant Naylor, is more entertaining than the actor behind the rubber mask. Sure, the book is interesting to "Red Dwarf" afficionados alike, perhaps I'd even go as far as to say that it's mandatory reading fodder for people of this ilk, but of decidedly limited interest to the rest of humanity.
Most of all, the book is a collection of nice backgrouns tidbits, the story of the (almost) US version of the TV series, and especially life as a bit of a living hell in a sweatily claustrophobic rubber mask.
Released 1994, ISBN 0-14-023575-2
RK
Written September 1998