From Red Dwarf to The EV Revolution: In Conversation With Robert Llewellyn!

Everything Electric Podcast

The Fully Charged Show

News, Leisure, Tech News, Automotive

4.9 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 18 May 2026

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this special, and slightly sillier episode of the Everything Electric podcast, Imogen Bhogal turns the tables on our founder, Robert Llewellyn.

As Robert celebrates his 70th birthday, the pair look back on an extraordinary six-decade career spanning bespoke shoemaking, fringe comedy, cult sci-fi fame, and becoming one of the world's leading voices for electric vehicles and clean energy.

They chat about Robert's time on Red Dwarf and the show's enduring legacy as one of the BBC's most-watched programmes (outperforming Top Gear, dare we say it?). There are also fond memories of Scrapheap Challenge, the bizarre Mojave Desert story involving a children's deckchair and a 3,500-foot flight, the hidden psychology behind the Carpool series, and of course, Robert's slightly alarming habit of writing far too many books.

Enjoy!

Ghost Camera is available here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ghost-Camera-Robert-Llewellyn/dp/1789651816

Watch the episode here: https://youtu.be/edkwTFblDMA

00:00 – Introduction: A different kind of podcast

01:40 – Robert's 70th Birthday & The "Umarell" nickname

07:05 – The Geodesic Dome & School Expulsion

10:32 – Life as a Bespoke Shoemaker

13:00 – "The Joeys" and discovering the joy of comedy

18:50 – Becoming Kryten: The Red Dwarf years

24:10 – Red Dwarf vs. Blackadder & The BBC

28:30 – Scrapheap Challenge: 5mm aggregate and flying junk

37:20 – The birth of Carpool and "Suicide Cameras"

42:20 – Pitching Fully Charged to a confused BBC

46:10 – Ghost Camera: Writing, Optimism, and AI

54:00 – Conclusion: Humour as the "spoonful of sugar"

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to another episode of the Everything Electric podcast where today we have something slightly different.
0:17.2	Now for those of you who have been listening to the podcast for a little while, you will know that a few weeks ago we recorded two live podcasts, the first of which is already out in the open.
0:26.9	That was between myself, Robert, Greg Jackson and Rory Sutherland. So do make sure to listen to that episode after this one.
0:34.0	However, after we recorded that session, we also recorded a second slightly sillier,
0:39.9	slightly more lighthearted podcast, which you're about to listen to now. So, just before recording,
0:46.2	Robert and I popped out to Soho, had a pizza, had a little drink, reconvened and recorded
0:52.5	this session. And what it is, is an interview to go down memory lane
0:57.5	to put the big questions to Robert, the founder of course of the Everything Electric show.
1:04.0	And hopefully it serves as a little bit of audio deliciousness. Well, you will be the judge of that, I'm sure. So all of that to come,
1:14.2	but first, a very quick advert break. Our three free YouTube channels on EVs and clean energy
1:20.4	tech are funded by our fun-packed test-drive-tastic events in the North, West and Greater London,
1:27.2	and our events down under.
1:29.3	Next up, Everything Electric heads to Cheltenham and then Twickenham. All events include a B2B
1:34.9	EV day and commercial vehicles too. Many of you in the room are very familiar with Robert
1:41.1	Llewellyn and you'll also be aware that you don't really like talking about yourself.
1:45.3	Not really. You've got the smallest ego of any man I've ever met, I reckon.
1:49.0	I don't know. Yes. Oh, I don't know. No, I'm sure I haven't. But yes, I'm not used to it. It's not
1:56.3	overly comfortable, but I'll cope. This is deeply uncomfortable for Robert. He has been extremely coerced.
2:02.2	But Robert has celebrated a birthday recently.
2:07.0	True that.
2:08.0	Do you want to disclose for what it was?
2:09.4	70.
	...

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