‘Red Dwarf’ bosses were worried Cat could be seen as racist.
The show’s producer Paul Jackson was concerned about the character – played by Danny John-Jules in the cult comedy – and he even turned to a young Craig Charles for his opinion.
However, the actor – who went onto play Lister on the show – told him: "No, it’s not racist – it’s just really cool."
Craig almost didn’t get the chance to play his iconic role, as director Ed Byre revealed Alan Rickman was approached for the part.
Speaking in new Dave show ‘Red Dwarf: The First Million Years’, Ed said: "[Alan] was interested but wasn’t particularly keen on it being performed in front of a studio audience."
In other casting news, there were even talks for Hugh Laurie to play Arnold Rimmer, although the character was eventually portrayed by Chris Barrie.
The revelations come after writer Doug Naylor – who created the sci-fi comedy with Rob Grant – suggested a revival could be on the cards.
He recently said: "There are still so many areas we can explore. Everyone wants to do more. UKTV wants to do more.
"I’m working on a couple of things right now, and hopefully, when we come on the other side of [the pandemic], we’ll start shooting it. The appetite is there so we’d like to keep going."
Chris has also admitted he’d love to star in more feature-length specials.
He commented: "When you do a special, it’s equivalent to three half-hours, whereas when you’re doing a series, it’s six half-hours and that does take it out of you.
"The shorter shoot time at the moment would suit me, so yeah, a special I think is preferable, and get to do a nice longer story again so you can explore more."