TRIP TO `BLACKPOOL' WELL WORTH IT.

Byline: David Kronke Television Critic

There's only one reason BBC America's ``Viva Blackpool'' didn't win an Emmy in August: Members of the voting panel were too lazy to sit through one of the most exhilaratingly entertaining productions of the year. It received a Golden Globe nomination and won a Peabody -- they're the folks who actually pay the closest attention to TV's most clever creators -- but didn't even land an Emmy nomination. (Hugh Jackman is trying to bring an American version to CBS.)

Quite thoughtfully, its creators have given Emmy a chance to redeem herself. ``Viva Blackpool: Ripley's Return'' may be less ambitious, but it's equally audacious, a rollicking tale of low-rent hucksters set to songs by Johnny Cash, Tom Jones, Queen, the Proclaimers and others.

This time around, big dreamer/low-rent scam artist Ripley Holden (David Morrissey) presides as the reverend at a Vegas-style wedding chapel in the fading British seaside resort of Blackpool. He stands at the ready of a big score -- a late friend landed a stolen World Cup trophy that he can recover, and he has two buyers engaged in an escalating bidding war.

He even has a compelling reason for pulling off the scam: Kitty (Megan Dodds), a beauteous ice dancer who seems to have fallen for him, has visions of mounting a production titled ```Paradise Lost' on Ice'': ``It's got sex, it's got religion, it's got skating,'' she says. ``I figure I've pretty much got all the bases covered.''

And yet, Ripley can't quite capture the Cup, as his friend's elderly mother (Annette Crosbie) is too sweet for him to steal from. ``It'd be like me robbing me own mum, and that was hard enough to do from time to time,'' he anguishes.

Moreover, Ripley's daughter, Shyanne (Georgia Taylor), distrusts Kitty, rightly so: She's seduced a number of Blackpool's denizens, including one whose lovemaking she likens to ``being ravaged by a nervous breakdown.''

Again, Morrissey throws himself into his role as a charismatic cretin, seducing the camera with any number of winks and smiles, and the rest of the cast follows him happily, with equally droll vigor.

And screenwriter Peter Bowker deftly blends his one-liners with an occasional moment of actual sentiment.

Not too much sentiment, though: This is a show that lionizes losers and louts, after all. ``We're all liars,'' Ripley philosophizes.

``Lyin' is what separates us from the beasts.''

David Kronke, [phone]

[e-mail]

VIVA BLACKPOOL: RIPLEY'S RETURN - Three and one half stars

What: Telefilmed sequel to the hilarious musical miniseries; this time, David Morrissey's beleaguered scam artist runs a tacky, Vegas-style wedding chapel and attempts to steal a World Cup.

Where: BBC America.

When: 8 tonight.

In a nutshell: About as much fun as TV allows.

CAPTION(S):

photo

Photo:

Megan Dodds and David Morrissey scheme together in a new ``Viva Blackpool.''