Red Dwarf Actor Tints Beard Blue

Ackerman sent to Middle-earth. Wordplay optional.

29 October, 2010

In an especially cool bit of Red Dwarf-related casting news, Graham McTavish, the man who played cycloptic prison warden Ackerman in Series VIII, has joined the cast of Peter Jackson's film version(s) of The Hobbit.

Graham will play Dwalin, one of twelves dwarves accompanying Martin Freeman's Bilbo Baggins on a quest to battle the demonic dragon Duncan Bannaty- sorry, that should say 'Smaug'.

Ignoring the irony of a man as massive as Graham playing a dwarf - he was, after all, huge enough to stand comfortably alongside Sly Stallone in the recent Rambo flick - this is a lovely bit of casting. Graham's combination of tough and funny seems an easy fit with Middle-earth's previous dwarf, John Rhys-Davies's Gimli.

Combine this with the rumour of former Doctor Sylvester McCoy appearing as Radagast the Brown - and the far more unlikely rumour that Danny John-Jules will appear as Derek the Beige - and we're all but geeked out! How will we last until the likely 2012 release?!

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