- "Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome the master of mayhem, Craig Charles!"
- — Stuart McDonald's standard introduction of Craig Charles from Extreme 1 onwards
Craig Charles (born July 11, 1964) is an English actor, stand-up comedian, author, poet, and radio and television presenter, best known for playing Dave Lister in the British cult-favourite sci-fi sitcom Red Dwarf. He hosted Robot Wars from Series 2 until its conclusion in Series 7. He also co-presented one episode of German Robot Wars.
Robot Wars
Taking over the show from Jeremy Clarkson, Charles was a lively host and had a good rapport with most of the contestants on the show, and was received far better by the audience than Clarkson. He opened the first battle of every show with the words "let the wars begin!". Charles was very enthusiastic about his role, warming up the audience with a monologue before handing over to Jonathan Pearce or one of the pit reporters. Charles would also speak to teams after significant battles, and got along well with the roboteers, most notably Joe and Ellie Watts from Team Big Brother and Amy Franklin from Team 101, who read a poem about him on one occasion. Charles would also announce the results of a judges' decision, and called out remarks about the end of a battle (he was particularly fond of saying "[Robot Name] goes marching on!"). At the conclusion of an episode, Charles usually recited a four line poem ending in the words "Robot Wars", with the second line rhyming with 'wars' or, in the case of Robot Wars Extreme, ending with 'extreme' with the second stanza rhyming with the same word.
- "We don't like losers. We don't like draws. We're winners here, on Robot Wars"
- — Craig Charles
Career outside of Robot Wars
Charles as Dave Lister in Red Dwarf
His entertainment career began as a poet on the British cabaret circuit, before moving into television and radio presenting in the late 1980s. In 1988 he was cast in the role of Dave Lister on the sci-fi comedy series Red Dwarf, appearing in the original BBC run until 1999, and reprising the role on two occasions in 2009 and 2012 when Red Dwarf was recommissioned by British TV channel Dave. He has therefore appeared in every episode of the series, achieving cult status amongst the show's fans.
Since then Charles has had various other acting roles, most notably as cab driver Lloyd Mullaney in the British soap opera Coronation Street, which is currently ongoing. He has also presented various television shows and since 2003 has presented his own radio show on BBC 6 Music called The Craig Charles Funk and Soul Show.