Petersen
There isn't that much known about Petersen, but he is mentioned frequently throughout the series. He would appear to be the closest thing Lister has to his best friend, and served aboard Red Dwarf as a catering officer. He was originally from Denmark, and seemed to have had a huge capacity for drinking. He, like most people, had no time for Rimmer, following the Lister philosophy of life: "Bum around, have a few laughs, drink a few cans."
Petersen is the first person (after Rimmer) that Lister meets on the way to join Red Dwarf, and it is he who shows him around, and their friendship grows. Many tales are told of Petersen, the best of these being the story of how he purchased the Smart Shoes, Artifically Intelligent footwear that would take their owner where he wanted to go, regardless of how drunk he got. Unfortunately they got bored, according to Lister, of just going from Petersen's home to his local every night and wanted to see the world. One night he got drunk in Oslo and woke up the next morning in Burma!
Other references to Petersen state that he purchased the Marilyn Monroe droid that Lister tried to put together as a farewell present for Kryten during the last day, and it is his arm that Holly mistakenly provided Rimmer with as part of his hologrammatic body: the arm promptly attacked Rimmer! When Lister and the Cat went back in time and Lister met Petersen, he was in the process of copping off with two beautiful girls, a plan scuppered as Lister, not having seen his friend for three million years, ran up and kissed him!
With the rest of the crew of Red Dwarf, Petersen was killed in the accident that unleashed a lethal dose of radiation throughout the ship, leaving Lister the only one alive, he being protected by being in stasis.
