Robert Llewellyn
Encyclopedia
Robert Llewellyn is an English
actor, presenter, and writer. He is best known as the mechanoid Kryten
in the hit sitcom Red Dwarf
, and for his role as presenter of Scrapheap Challenge
.
in London. The shows were a great success and he eventually helped form an alternative comedy
theatre group called The Joeys. Within six months he had stopped working as a shoemaker and started performing professionally with the group alongside Bernie Evans, Nigel Ordish and Graham Allum. The group toured the UK and Europe in the early 1980s with an initial idea of exploring sexual politics between men . Llewellyn wrote much of the material, and also began writing novels. The group split in 1985, having toured for years and done thousands of shows.
, producer of Red Dwarf, and he was invited to audition for the role of Kryten.
Llewellyn joined the cast of Red Dwarf in 1989 at the start of Series 3 and continued in the role until the end of Series 8 in 1999. His skills as a physical performer encouraged Rob Grant
and Doug Naylor
to write him additional characters for the series, namely Jim Reaper ("The Last Day"), The Data Doctor ("Back in the Red"), Human Kryten ("DNA"), Bongo ("Dimension Jump") and Able ("Beyond A Joke"). Llewellyn co-wrote the Red Dwarf Series VII episode "Beyond A Joke" with Doug Naylor
.
He was also the only British cast member originally to participate in the American version of Red Dwarf, though other actors such as Craig Charles
and Chris Barrie
were also approached to reprise their roles.
He reprised his role, along with the rest of the cast, in the 2009 three-part story Red Dwarf: Back to Earth
.
produced by Channel 4
; the series sees teams of engineers competing to build machines to complete a given task from materials scavenged from a scrapheap. His other presenting roles include a version of Discovery Channel's How Do They Do It?
and Hollywood Science
, the latter being a joint production between the BBC and the Open University
.
In 1992, Llewellyn appeared in the third episode of series 2 of Bottom
, as a wounded Falklands conflict veteran named Mr. N. Stiles.
Llewellyn's project it2i2
, was released on DVD in March 2006. Since 2006 he has had a YouTube video blog called "Llewtube". His latest book "Sold Out: How I Survived a Year of Not Shopping" – based on his YouTube series "Making Do" – was published in October 2008.
On 10 February 2009 Llewellyn was featured as a guest on the popular technology related podcast
MacBreak Weekly with Leo Laporte
(episode 127).
Recently, Llewellyn has starred in the CBBC
show MI High as the Prime Minister, and become the presenter of Top Trumps
.
Llewellyn reviewed the world of science and technology in his popular Machine of the Week report (The MoWer).
Llewellyn also provides the voice of News Anchor Perry Flynn for PlayStation Home TV, a program that started in December 2009 and aires in the Home Theatre of the EU Version of PlayStation Home, which is a 3D community for PlayStation 3.
Llewellyn has worked as a voice actor
, providing the voices of the alien creatures in Skywhales
(1983), the voice of Feeble for The Feeble Files
(1997), and the perplexed 'Gryphon' in the film MirrorMask
(2005). He has described himself as "very much a 'don't want to do it now' kind of person" (Dwarfing USA documentary, Red Dwarf V DVD).
In November 2010, the Carpool
series began broadcasting on UKTV
channel, Dave, before having a months hiatus for Christmas
and New Year
, it then returned in January 2011. It is a spin-off from his web series, Carpool
. On 4 January 2011, he appeared on "Celebrity Mastermind" answering questions on the specialist subject of electric cars.
and four novels:
, who starred alongside him in the Red Dwarf episode "Camille", playing female android Camille.
Llewellyn learnt to drive at age 11 (having been taught by his older brother in a go-kart
); formerly a "petrol-head", he is now an electric car
advocate. As well as being frequently interviewed on the subject, he has a related video blog called Fully Charged.
On the evening of 1 July 2009 while Llewellyn was delivering Carpool
footage to his editor, another vehicle hit him side on at a junction in Gloucestershire
, writing off his Prius and rendering him unconscious for around ten minutes. The force of the impact was such that it bent his laptop "into a banana shape".
Llewellyn praised the honesty of the other driver for accepting full liability for the incident and for the hospital, police and other services for helping him. He also gave special praise to his "beloved Prius" for protecting him from the impact. He suffered minor whiplash and dizzy spells but escaped more serious injury.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
actor, presenter, and writer. He is best known as the mechanoid Kryten
Kryten
Kryten is a fictional character in the British science fiction situation comedy Red Dwarf. Kryten's registration code on Red Dwarf is "Kryten additional 001". The name Kryten is a reference to the head butler in the J.M...
in the hit sitcom Red Dwarf
Red Dwarf
Red Dwarf is a British comedy franchise which primarily comprises eight series of a television science fiction sitcom that aired on BBC Two between 1988 and 1999 and Dave from 2009–present. It gained cult following. It was created by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, who also wrote the first six series...
, and for his role as presenter of Scrapheap Challenge
Scrapheap Challenge
Scrapheap Challenge is an engineering game show produced by RDF Media and broadcast on Channel 4 in the UK. In the show, teams of contestants have 10 hours in which to build a working machine that can do a specific task, using materials available in a scrapheap. The format was exported to the...
.
Early career
Llewellyn's first foray into the world of show business started out as a hobby, organising a few amateur cabaret evenings in a riverside warehouse overlooking Tower BridgeTower Bridge
Tower Bridge is a combined bascule and suspension bridge in London, England, over the River Thames. It is close to the Tower of London, from which it takes its name...
in London. The shows were a great success and he eventually helped form an alternative comedy
Alternative comedy
Alternative comedy is a term that originated in the 1980s for a style of comedy that makes a conscious break with the mainstream comedic style of an era, and typically avoids relying on a standardised structure of a sequence of jokes with punch lines. Patton Oswalt defines it as "comedy where the...
theatre group called The Joeys. Within six months he had stopped working as a shoemaker and started performing professionally with the group alongside Bernie Evans, Nigel Ordish and Graham Allum. The group toured the UK and Europe in the early 1980s with an initial idea of exploring sexual politics between men . Llewellyn wrote much of the material, and also began writing novels. The group split in 1985, having toured for years and done thousands of shows.
Red Dwarf
Llewellyn's involvement with Red Dwarf came about as a result of his appearance at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, performing in his comedy, Mammon, Robot Born Of Woman. The story is about a robot who, as he becomes more human, begins to behave increasingly badly. This was seen by Paul JacksonPaul Jackson (producer)
Kevin Paul Jackson , credited as Paul Jackson; sometimes as K. Paul Jackson, is a British television director, producer and executive.-Career in television:...
, producer of Red Dwarf, and he was invited to audition for the role of Kryten.
Llewellyn joined the cast of Red Dwarf in 1989 at the start of Series 3 and continued in the role until the end of Series 8 in 1999. His skills as a physical performer encouraged Rob Grant
Rob Grant
Robert Grant is a British comedy writer and television producer, who was born in Salford and studied Psychology at Liverpool University for two years....
and Doug Naylor
Doug Naylor
Douglas R. Naylor is a British comedy writer, science fiction writer, director and television producer.Naylor was born in Manchester, England and studied at the University of Liverpool. In the mid-1980s, Naylor wrote two regular comedy sketch shows for BBC Radio 4 entitled Cliché and Son of Cliché...
to write him additional characters for the series, namely Jim Reaper ("The Last Day"), The Data Doctor ("Back in the Red"), Human Kryten ("DNA"), Bongo ("Dimension Jump") and Able ("Beyond A Joke"). Llewellyn co-wrote the Red Dwarf Series VII episode "Beyond A Joke" with Doug Naylor
Doug Naylor
Douglas R. Naylor is a British comedy writer, science fiction writer, director and television producer.Naylor was born in Manchester, England and studied at the University of Liverpool. In the mid-1980s, Naylor wrote two regular comedy sketch shows for BBC Radio 4 entitled Cliché and Son of Cliché...
.
He was also the only British cast member originally to participate in the American version of Red Dwarf, though other actors such as Craig Charles
Craig Charles
Craig Joseph Charles is an English actor, stand-up comedian, author, poet, radio and television presenter, best known for playing Dave Lister in the British cult-favourite science fiction sitcom Red Dwarf...
and Chris Barrie
Chris Barrie
Chris Barrie is a British actor. He first achieved success as a vocal impressionist, notably in the ITV sketch show Spitting Image...
were also approached to reprise their roles.
He reprised his role, along with the rest of the cast, in the 2009 three-part story Red Dwarf: Back to Earth
Red Dwarf: Back to Earth
Red Dwarf: Back to Earth is a three part TV miniseries continuation of the science fiction sitcom Red Dwarf, broadcast on the British television channel Dave between 10 April and 12 April 2009 and subsequently released on DVD on 15 June 2009 & on Blu-ray on 31 August 2009. It was the first...
.
Other TV work
Llewellyn has presented a number of programmes for UK television. His first outing as a presenter was on Scrapheap ChallengeScrapheap Challenge
Scrapheap Challenge is an engineering game show produced by RDF Media and broadcast on Channel 4 in the UK. In the show, teams of contestants have 10 hours in which to build a working machine that can do a specific task, using materials available in a scrapheap. The format was exported to the...
produced by Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
; the series sees teams of engineers competing to build machines to complete a given task from materials scavenged from a scrapheap. His other presenting roles include a version of Discovery Channel's How Do They Do It?
How Do They Do It?
How Do They Do It? is a television series produced by Wag TV for Discovery Channel. Each programme explores how 2 or 3 ordinary objects are made and used...
and Hollywood Science
Hollywood Science
Hollywood Science is a general term given to the phenomenon of scientific principles being misinterpreted, ignored or abused by the Hollywood film industry....
, the latter being a joint production between the BBC and the Open University
Open University
The Open University is a distance learning and research university founded by Royal Charter in the United Kingdom...
.
In 1992, Llewellyn appeared in the third episode of series 2 of Bottom
Bottom (TV series)
Bottom was a British sitcom television series that originally aired on BBC2 between 1991 and 1995. It was written by comic duo Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson who star as Richie and Eddie, two flatmates living on the dole in Hammersmith, London...
, as a wounded Falklands conflict veteran named Mr. N. Stiles.
Llewellyn's project it2i2
It2i2
it²i² is a 2006 independent mockumentary from comedian and former Red Dwarf actor Robert Llewellyn. A direct to DVD release, it was released in March, 2006. In the film, Llewellyn plays two roles. Himself, and "uber nerd" John Silverstine....
, was released on DVD in March 2006. Since 2006 he has had a YouTube video blog called "Llewtube". His latest book "Sold Out: How I Survived a Year of Not Shopping" – based on his YouTube series "Making Do" – was published in October 2008.
On 10 February 2009 Llewellyn was featured as a guest on the popular technology related podcast
Podcast
A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...
MacBreak Weekly with Leo Laporte
Leo Laporte
Léo Gordon Laporte is an Emmy Award winning, American technology broadcaster, author, and entrepreneur. A former resident of Providence, Rhode Island, he now lives in Petaluma, California with his wife Jennifer and two children, Abby and Henry....
(episode 127).
Recently, Llewellyn has starred in the CBBC
CBBC
CBBC is one of two brand names used for the BBC's children's television strands. Between 1985 and 2002, CBBC was the name given to all the BBC's programmes on TV for children aged under 14...
show MI High as the Prime Minister, and become the presenter of Top Trumps
Top Trumps (TV Programme)
Top Trumps was a 10-part British television series based on the famous card game. It aired on Five in 2008. It was produced by Lion Television and presented by Robert Llewellyn and Ashley Hames....
.
Llewellyn reviewed the world of science and technology in his popular Machine of the Week report (The MoWer).
Llewellyn also provides the voice of News Anchor Perry Flynn for PlayStation Home TV, a program that started in December 2009 and aires in the Home Theatre of the EU Version of PlayStation Home, which is a 3D community for PlayStation 3.
Llewellyn has worked as a voice actor
Voice acting
Voice acting is the art of providing voices for animated characters and radio and audio dramas and comedy, as well as doing voice-overs in radio and television commercials, audio dramas, dubbed foreign language films, video games, puppet shows, and amusement rides.Performers are called...
, providing the voices of the alien creatures in Skywhales
Skywhales
Skywhales is a 1983 animated short film that depicts a fictional society of alien creatures dwelling in the atmosphere of a gas giant. The film is notable for the completeness of its depiction of a fictitious society, including alien language, flora, fauna, and social structures and practices.It...
(1983), the voice of Feeble for The Feeble Files
The Feeble Files
The Feeble Files is an adventure game about the adventures of a rather ‘feeble’ alien called Feeble. The game is a science fiction comedy, with a similar style of British humour to that of Adventure Soft’s previous games, the Simon the Sorcerer series....
(1997), and the perplexed 'Gryphon' in the film MirrorMask
MirrorMask
Mirrormask is a 2005 fantasy film from Jim Henson Pictures, Samuel Goldwyn Films, and Destination Films. It stars Stephanie Leonidas, Jason Barry, Rob Brydon, and Gina McKee. It is designed and directed by Dave McKean, written by Neil Gaiman from a story they developed together...
(2005). He has described himself as "very much a 'don't want to do it now' kind of person" (Dwarfing USA documentary, Red Dwarf V DVD).
In November 2010, the Carpool
Carpool (TV series)
Carpool is a television spin-off of the web series of the same name. It is presented by English actor and comedian Robert Llewellyn. In each episode he interviews a guest while giving them a lift in his Toyota Prius. The guests are mainly Comedians/comedic actors that are well known in the UK...
series began broadcasting on UKTV
UKTV
UKTV is a digital cable and satellite television network, formed through a joint venture between BBC Worldwide, a commercial subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation, and Scripps Networks Interactive, spun off from The E.W Scripps Company in 2008...
channel, Dave, before having a months hiatus for Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
and New Year
New Year
The New Year is the day that marks the time of the beginning of a new calendar year, and is the day on which the year count of the specific calendar used is incremented. For many cultures, the event is celebrated in some manner....
, it then returned in January 2011. It is a spin-off from his web series, Carpool
Carpool (web series)
Carpool is a web series presented by English actor and comedian Robert Llewellyn. In each episode he interviews a guest while giving them a lift in an eco-friendly car . The guests are often well-known British television personalities such as Jonathan Ross or Ade Edmondson...
. On 4 January 2011, he appeared on "Celebrity Mastermind" answering questions on the specialist subject of electric cars.
Work as a writer
Llewellyn is also the author of nine books, including Sold Out! and Therapy And How To Avoid It with Nigel PlanerNigel Planer
Nigel George Planer is an English actor, comedian, novelist and playwright.Planer is perhaps best known for his role as Neil Pye in the cult BBC comedy The Young Ones. He has appeared in many West End musicals, including Evita, Chicago, We Will Rock You, Wicked and Hairspray...
and four novels:
- The Man On Platform 5 (1998);
- Punchbag (1999);
- Sudden Wealth (2000);
- Brother Nature (2001).
Personal life
Llewellyn is married to the novelist Judy Pascoe, author of Our Father Who Art in The TreeOur Father Who Art in The Tree
Our Father Who Art in The Tree is Judy Pascoe’s debut novel and is written from the perspective of a little girl who believes her late father is living on inside the tree in their backyard. The book was first published in the UK in 2002 but is now out of print. It is available in many languages...
, who starred alongside him in the Red Dwarf episode "Camille", playing female android Camille.
Llewellyn learnt to drive at age 11 (having been taught by his older brother in a go-kart
Go-kart
thumb|A [[Kart racing|racing kart]] at the [[Commission Internationale de Karting|CIK-FIA]] European Championship 2008A go-kart is a small four-wheeled vehicle...
); formerly a "petrol-head", he is now an electric car
Electric car
An electric car is an automobile which is propelled by electric motor, using electrical energy stored in batteries or another energy storage device. Electric cars were popular in the late-19th century and early 20th century, until advances in internal combustion engine technology and mass...
advocate. As well as being frequently interviewed on the subject, he has a related video blog called Fully Charged.
On the evening of 1 July 2009 while Llewellyn was delivering Carpool
Carpool (web series)
Carpool is a web series presented by English actor and comedian Robert Llewellyn. In each episode he interviews a guest while giving them a lift in an eco-friendly car . The guests are often well-known British television personalities such as Jonathan Ross or Ade Edmondson...
footage to his editor, another vehicle hit him side on at a junction in Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
, writing off his Prius and rendering him unconscious for around ten minutes. The force of the impact was such that it bent his laptop "into a banana shape".
Llewellyn praised the honesty of the other driver for accepting full liability for the incident and for the hospital, police and other services for helping him. He also gave special praise to his "beloved Prius" for protecting him from the impact. He suffered minor whiplash and dizzy spells but escaped more serious injury.
Books
- The Man in the Rubber Mask - Llewellyn's personal account of his career with Red Dwarf. Penguin Books Ltd (16 May 1994), ISBN 0-14023-575-2. Currently being recorded as an audiobook.
- Brother Nature - Novel
- Sudden Wealth - Novel
- The Man on Platform 5 - A modern gender-reversed re-telling of PygmalionPygmalion (play)Pygmalion: A Romance in Five Acts is a play by Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw. Professor of phonetics Henry Higgins makes a bet that he can train a bedraggled Cockney flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, to pass for a duchess at an ambassador's garden party by teaching her to assume a veneer of...
of which the film rights were sold - Punchbag
- Thin he was and filthy haired - Memoir
- Behind the Scenes at Scrapheap challenge
- Sold Out - How I survived a year of not shopping - Non-fiction
- Therapy and How to Avoid it. (with Nigel Planer)
- The Reconstructed Heart: How to Spot the Difference Between a Normal Man and One Who Does the Housework, is Great in Bed and Doesn't Get All Iffy When You Mention Words Like Love and Commitment
Video podcasts
- CarpoolCarpool (web series)Carpool is a web series presented by English actor and comedian Robert Llewellyn. In each episode he interviews a guest while giving them a lift in an eco-friendly car . The guests are often well-known British television personalities such as Jonathan Ross or Ade Edmondson...
- a regular video podcast, released every Friday, in which Llewellyn interviews other celebrities while driving them somewhere in a car. On the 30th June 2010 it was announced that new shows will appear on the UK TV channel Dave as well as still appearing online after broadcast. - Wet Liberal Whenever - an occasional video podcast where he does a monologue about subjects he is impassioned about, previously known as Wet Liberal Weekly
- Fully Charged - a video podcast on alternative technology vehicles, previously known as Gearless
Other
- Woman Wizard - DVD of his one-man show
- Blue Helmet - on-line science-fiction comedy novel