Robert Llewellyn

Robert Llewellyn (born March 10, 1956) is a British actor, novelist, and presenter, perhaps best known for his role as the mechanoid Kryten in the science-fiction sitcom series Red Dwarf. Additionally, he was the presenter of Scrapheap Challenge up until 2009, in which teams battled to construct various machines from discarded parts. Llewellyn has written four novels, and is also the star of three web series which he has created, named Wet Liberal Weekly, Carpool and Fully Charged. The first series mainly comprises Llewellyn talking to the camera about recent events, whilst the second is more of a talk show, released every week with a different guest occupying the passenger seat of a car wired up with cameras and microphones, with Llewellyn at the wheel. The third series focuses on hybrid and electric cars. In these series he reveals many of his opinions and beliefs, such as a strong support for renewable energy. He is sometimes affectionately referred to as 'Bobby Llew', a name he uses for his YouTube and Twitter accounts.

Red Dwarf

Llewellyn had been an actor, writer and comedian for many years prior, but his fame truly came with being cast in the role of Kryten in Red Dwarf. He joined the series for 1989's series three, taking up the character which had previously been played by David Ross for one episode. He has appeared in every single episode of Red Dwarf since, spanning six series and a three-part special, for a total of 43 episodes. Over the years the Kryten makeup has changed, as has the time that Robert needs to spend having it applied. During the making of series three, makeup application could take as much as nine hours; by 2009's 'Back to Earth', this had come down to almost two.