DAVE LISTER: BUSTED AGAIN!!!

If you've ever seen the BBC televison series RED DWARF then you know Craig Charles, the Liverpudlian actor with a Scouse accent that could stop a truck. He plays Dave Lister, space/time traveler and last survivor of the human race — who also happens to be black, a very obvious fact that was never once brought up during the show's eight-year run, unlike it would have undoubtedly been had the series been made in the States. Anyway, incredibly talented cartoonist Chris Weston called me today from Eastbourne in the UK to alert me to the following bit of celebrity scandal, and so I pass it on to you.

Charles suspended from ITV soap after Mirror exposé

John Plunkett
Tuesday June 20, 2006

Coronation Street actor Craig Charles was today suspended from the ITV1 soap after he was pictured in the Daily Mirror apparently taking drugs.

The former Red Dwarf star was told of his suspension in a meeting today with the show's producer, Steve Frost.

The length of his suspension has been left open-ended while ITV bosses make further inquiries into the Mirror story, which claimed the actor smoked crack cocaine in the back of a car during a journey from London to Manchester.

"Following allegations in the press today actor Craig Charles has been suspended from his role in Coronation Street with immediate effect, pending further investigations by the company," ITV said today in a statement.

"Producer Steve Frost met with Craig this morning to discuss the press reports and to advise him of the suspension.

"No immediate decision has been taken on the length of the suspension as further inquiries need to be made.

"Craig has no comment to make to the press at this stage."

Charles also works as a DJ on the BBC's digital music station, 6Music. The Mirror claimed he was being driven back from his Friday night show to his Manchester flat when the pictures were taken.

A BBC spokeswoman said: "These are very serious allegations and we shall be talking to Craig Charles about them."

The Liverpool-born Charles made his name playing Dave Lister in Red Dwarf, and went on to present BBC2's Robot Wars and take part in Channel 4's The Games.

After several years out of the limelight, he returned to TV last year in his biggest role yet, playing cabbie Lloyd Mullaney on the ITV soap.

Another Coronation Street actor, Jimmi Harkishin, who plays Dev, was at the centre of tabloid drugs allegations two years ago. He remained in the show after agreeing to undertake rehab.

Charles was arrested in 1994 over accusations he raped a former girlfriend, but after spending several months in custody he was cleared following a trial at Southwark crown court in London.

The latest cocaine allegations against a celebrity come after the Metropolitan police was forced to drop its investigation into model Kate Moss's drug-taking because they were unable to identify which substance she was consuming in pictures published in the Daily Mirror.

The newspaper said today it would make available to police its "dossier of evidence" on Charles.