Red Dwarf cast now almost 40 years on from show's first episode as icon dies

Daily Mirror

a day ago

Following the death of cast member Charles Augins, we look at what happened to the originals from Red Dwarf after one of the UK's best loved comedy series came to an end
Fans of Red Dwarf have been left saddened by the death of Charles Augins, popular villain Queeg from the show's second series.
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Fans online have remembered the actor, who worked alongside Chris Barrie and Craig Charles on the long-running BBC programme following the news. It has been almost four decades since the sci-fi comedy first appeared on TV screens. The much-loved show aired on BBC Two between 1988 and 1999 before a reboot between 2009 and 2020.
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Red Dwarf centred around Scouse technician Dave Lister who wakes up following three million years in suspended animation to discover he is the last living human. He finds that he is on the mining spacecraft, joined by a hologram of his detested former bunkmate Arnold Rimmer and 'Cat,' a life form evolved from Lister's pregnant cat.
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The show gained a huge cult following and is remembered as one of the UK's best loved comedy series. The show went on to make household names of its cast, but where are they now? Here's what happened to the main cast, and their lives after the legendary programme.
Craig Charles - Dave Lister
Craig began his career as a performance poet, appearing on arts programme Riverside on BBC Two and Channel 4's Black on Black. However, it was his performance as Dave Lister in Red Dwarf that made Craig a household name. The actor appeared in all 12 series of the show.
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Craig joined the cast of Coronation Street in 2005 as taxi driver Lloyd Mullaney. He has also had acting roles in The Bill, Eastenders, Holby City, Doctors and Dream Team. Many will remember Craig for providing the English voice-over commentary on Takeshi's Castle for Challenge between 2002 and 2004.
The popular game show had more than 100 contestants face a series of unusual challenges to reach the Showdown in hopes of winning a huge cash prize. Craig also presented Robot Wars on BBC Two between 1998 and 2003, then Channel 5 between 2003 and 2004.
More recently, Craig has presented his weekday afternoon show on BBC Radio 6 Music since October 2021. He also regularly performs DJ sets as Craig Charles Funk and Soul.
Chris Barrie - Arnold J. Rimmer
Chris started his career with appearances on the BBC Radio 4 sketch show Son of Cliché and other various voice impersonation roles in the 1980s, including the original series of Spitting Image. He joined the cast of Red Dwarf in 1988 and played Arnold J. Rimmer in all 12 series.
The actor is also known for playing Gordon Brittas in BBC sitcom The Brittas Empire from 1991 to 1997. He reprised the role in 2014 in the music video for Little Mix's version of 'Word Up'.
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He played Lara Croft's butler Hillary in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider in 2001 and Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life in 2003. Chris has presented Britain's Greatest Machines with Chris Barrie since 2009 on the National Geographic channel.
He has also hosted the television series Chris Barrie's Massive Engines and Chris Barrie's Massive Machines on the Discovery Channel, which was later shown on Channel 5. From 2015 until 2018, he was the voice over of Channel 5's Car Crash TV and Idiot TV from 2018 until 2019.
Danny John-Jules - Cat
Danny has appeared in many films and television shows, but he is fondly remembered as Cat in all 12 series of Red Dwarf.
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Danny started his showbiz career as Baldy's Lookout in the 1979 film Scum starring a young Ray Winstone. He also lent his voice to two characters in the 1986 film Labyrinth, starring David Bowie.
His other film credits include Barfly Jack in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, and Asad in Blade II. He has had appearances on television shows The Bill, Casualty and Doctors, as well as children's series M.I High and Maid Marian. Danny was also Milton Wordsworth in 74 episodes of BBC children's show The Story Makers.
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Following the end of Red Dwarf in 2020, Danny has appeared on Shakespeare and Hathaway: private Investigators and the 2021 Alan McGee biopic Creation Stories. He was also an original cast member in Death in Paradise, playing policeman Dwayne Myers until 2018.
Robert Llewellyn - Kryten
Robert became involved in Red Dwarf after his one-man comedy, about a robot who becomes more human, was performed at Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
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It was watched by the producer of the show, Paul Jackson, who invited Robert to audition for the role of Kryten. He joined the cast of Red Dwarf in 1989 at the beginning of its third series.
Like his co-stars, Robert has had various television roles outside of Red Dwarf. He appeared as the Prime Minster in an episode of the CBBC series M.I. High in 2007 and was the narrator of the Channel 5 series The Boss is Coming to Dinner in 2010.
He was the original presenter of Scrapheap Challenge on Channel 4 alongside Dick Strawbridge as a judge, and hosted it for 10 series. He also presented the 2015 BBC Two show The World's Busiest Railway with Dan Snow and Anita Rani. He was a contestant with Craig Charles on BBC One's Antiques Road Trip.
Alongside his acting career, the star has written a total of fourteen books. He is also an electric car and sustainable technology advocate, regularly discussing the subject on his YouTube series Fully Charged and at conventions across the globe.