Bonus Scoop: Corrie's Craig Charles

At one point, Weatherfield resident Lloyd Mullaney - played by former Red Dwarf actor Craig Charles - was as ludicrously underused as the fabulous Eileen Grimshaw (Sue Cleaver). However, the producers saw the light at some point in the early part of this year and finally decided to involve Lloyd in mainstream plots. Eileen, however, is still waiting.

If I recall correctly, it was back in 2005-06 when we saw Lloyd become entangled in Steve's (Simon Gregson) romance with cabbie Ronnie Clayton (Emma Stansfield). If you cast your mind back, Lloyd rescued Ronnie and Steve from the clutches of Ronnie's evil gun-wielding husband Jimmy Clayton. Although a short-lived involvement, I think Lloyd has lived in Steve's shadow ever since. Don't get me wrong, though, they have a comical on-screen rapport.

However, 2009 will hopefully see Lloyd find his own feet as he goes it alone with his best mate's mum Liz (Bev Callard). Just what will Steve say?

To read the main and Corrie-centric part of my interview, click here. If, however, you're interested in what Craig has to say about his new Red Dwarf project or the absence of any new Takeshi's Castle episodes, then read on...

How much are you looking forward to hooking up with your fellow boys from the Dwarf for brand new episodes?
"It's all been signed off now and has been given the go-ahead. I'm really looking forward to doing it. I can't really give the storyline away but it's a fantastic one. It's really quite weird and sees me playing quite a few characters, some of them I've already played on television. That's all I can say…"

How close did the proposed Red Dwarf movie project come to being made?
"It came to be getting all my teeth knocked out and put back in with veneers on! It came to us going to the gym for six weeks and training with a personal trainer, getting ripped! Nah, I joke - it came really, really close. It's one of those things, though. It feels like it's another lifetime now. It's nice to be revisiting it for this special, though. Never say never. If this special goes well, you never know what could come of it."

Have there been any read-throughs or rehearsals yet? When do you begin filming?
"Yeah – it starts filming in January and the rest of them all look ancient! I'm the only one that doesn't look like they've aged. I'm actually playing their child now!"

I'm presuming you're going to have to take a break from Corrie?
"Yeah, they've given me a bit of time off. Not a lot, but they've worked it around holidays, too. It's very kind of them to have done it for me. It's one of those things that I'd have hated to have gone ahead without me."

And finally, whatever happened to Takeshi's Castle?
"Well, we did about 150 episodes of them but then we ran out of episodes. It took me months and months in a booth with a microphone and Japanese DVDs. It was very sad just looking at a television and talking into a mic. There were no scripts, no rehearsals – it was just say what you see TV. You cold get away with so many near-to-the-knuckle things, it was great."

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