Late last month, RetroGT exhibited at the Memorabilia convention in Birmingham. Two large halls of the NEC was filled with traders dealing in collectables like sports, sci-fi and movie memorabilia. There were sections dedicated to talks, movie showings, star photos and guest signings. Some of these star guests included the crew of Red Dwarf, and yes, Craig Charles was among them.

We didn’t venture away from our stall very often. Only food and toilet breaks were important enough to stop us playing Street Fighter, albeit briefly. So it wasn’t until the 2nd day when everyone was packing up that we decided to put down the joypads. It was at that moment when Craig Charles strolled past looking rather merry. We called out to him and beckoned him over. When asked if he liked videogames, his reply was a simple “yup”, it was instantly obvious that he had been drinking. It was our second encounter with the Red Dwarf legend, the first being in an old London pub a few years back. We offered to him a free T shirt of his choice so he gratefully picked our ‘Break the System’ one. During our chat we asked for a photo of him in front of our stall. He clocked on to our ruse for a free photo opportunity and humorously exclaimed “oooh, you don’t get something for nothing in this world, do you?” He remained merry and left with a smile on his face, after a quick photo of course.

So Craig, if you’re reading this, we apologise for duping you into the photo and hope you enjoy your T shirt. It was an Honour and a pleasure.