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King of the 'heap
Robert Llewellyn's career was kick-started when he was kicked out of school. His expulsion, he concedes, was partly his own fault. 'I was a ghastly, horrible kid at 16,' he says. 'But the teaching was pretty terrible too.' Realising he had to get his act together, Robert became a professional hippie.
The rest, as they say, is history. Today Robert not only presents the best programme on television, he is also a successful comedy actor, probably best known for his role as the rubber-faced robot Kryten in Red Dwarf.
Plug the product
Robert also spends a good deal of his time on literary activities. Last year he wrote the universally acclaimed Behind the Scenes at Scrapheap Challenge. His other factual books include The Man in the Rubber Mask, a comic memoir of his time in Red Dwarf, and Thin He Was and Filthy-Haired, about the first year he lived away from the parental home, when he was just 17, doing the washing-up for the future rulers of England at Oxford University.
His first novel, The Man on Platform Five, is now in paperback and is being developed into a film, set in New York. His second, Punchbag, received rave reviews. A third, Sudden Wealth, came out last year. It too will soon be made into a film. His new novel, Brother Nature, is set in the world of cybernetics and is published by Flame.
Robert is about to embark on a nationwide tour with his new solo show, a comedy software presentation. The show is called WomanWizard and focuses on a software product that helps men understand women. Yeah, right.
You can find out more about Robert's books and other projects at his own website: www.llew.co.uk.
So, plugs out of the way, let's get down to it. Or not, if you've had enough already.
The Big Questions
What is your favourite spread to have on toast?
It has to be marmalade. If it's one of the dark ones, I prefer Vegemite, the Australian version of Marmite.
Do you wear slippers round the house?
Never, always stout boots. I have a chronic lack of spatial awareness below my knees. I am a toe-stubber extraordinaire.
What's your favourite book at the moment?
No Logo by Naomi Klein.
Have you ever built anything Scrapheap style?
Yes, half my house.
Tell us an embarrassing secret about yourself.
I used to be six feet tall and have a full head of thick hair. I am now five foot eleven and three quarters and have less of the old thatch.
What was it like filming in the UK again after Scrapheap's American adventure last year?
Really good. Wonderful location for the builds, and I could drive home and sleep in my own bed after, which is always a big plus.
Did it ever come close to disaster on Scrapheap Challenge this year?
In the final. Disaster? I should say so. Very close to death I would say. Looking back, I think we must all be blessed that no one was hurt in the most catastrophtastic, smashcrunching bend-twist snappage marathon of metal mayhem that any of us have ever witnessed.
What is the most important attribute that teams need to succeed in Scrapheap Challenge?
To stick together when the going gets rough, which it always does, and to be able to change plans when the original ones go down the Swanee.
If Scrapheap was the World Cup, and regions were nations, which area of Britain would be Brazil?
Coventry.
How come Scrapheap is so totally puntastic?
I think it could be the original Ms Rogers and her clever, puntastic sense of humour, but it might not be. It's so not my fault.
Do you think they could build a machine on Scrapheap Challenge that could help make the world more beautiful?
Oh, yes please. That would satisfy the rural pony-tailed hippie in me.
Do you think they'll ever run out of challenges to make on Scrapheap?
I used to – after series one I thought: what on earth can we do now? I no longer think so. I still want to do a re-entry vehicle – I'm sure someone at NASA would be willing to help.
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