Philip was a player-character from the artificial reality game "Gumshoe".
History[]
In the game, players could investigate crimes in a film noir setting. One of the playable characters was Philip, a private detective. He wore a suit under a brown overcoat and a fedora hat. He smoked cigarettes in keeping with the setting.
Lister liked to play Gumshoe as Philip, mostly because the game allowed him to have sex with the villain, a psychopathic murderess called Loretta. He was supposed to hand her over to the police and then end the game with the heroine, but Lister much preferred the dangerous Loretta. He spent a lot of time in the program with Loretta, using the groinal attachment to satiate his desires (to the point where the attachment, despite a supposed lifetime warranty, was almost worn out). Loretta returned his affection - up to a point. As soon as she saw Kryten as Sammy the Squib, she was ready to ditch Philip and let him die.