TV star is glad to gain a sense of belonging (From Penarth Times)

TV star is glad to gain a sense of belonging

10:04pm Thursday 20th April 2006 in Latest news

PENARTH-BASED actor Charles Dale - well known for his parts as Dennis in Coronation Street, the randy chef in The Lakes and Steve in BBC Wales drama Belonging - is fast establishing a big name for himself in British television.

This month he s off to Tunisia to start filming a new BBC documentary drama on the fall of the Roman empire in which he plays the emperor Maxentius.

Charles Dale, who has been living in Penarth for the past two and a half years with his wife and three-year-old son, said he thinks he deserves some Mediterranean sunshine after so much time spent on set in locations like windswept Whitley Bay, Manchester and South Wales.

Charles said: As you would expect from the BBC, this is excellent television and has been thoroughly researched.

I m going to be out in Tunisia for about three weeks which will make a nice change.

The actor has also just finished filming a drama series with Ray Winstone, called Vincent, in which he plays a Manchester councillor.

Recent roles like the part of Steve in Welsh valleys-based drama Belonging and Dennis in Coronation Street have required Charles to get a handle on a variety of regional accents.

Charles, who has virtually no trace of a regional accent, said: I am a bit of an accents specialist.

I find I start to pick up them up really quickly if I spend any length of time in a place.

My parents, both keen amateur actors, were really good at accents so perhaps that s where I get it from.

Charles Dale grew up in Tenby where his father ran a record shop in the town.

He was part of the National Youth Theatre between the ages of 14 and 17.

After occasional acting roles, he moved to London and trained at LAMDA.

He broke into television when he appeared in Morgan s Boy and also worked consistently for the English Shakespeare Company.

His big break came when he appeared as the chef in television series The Lakes.

He appeared in a couple of West End shows and then became known the length and breadth of the country when he played Dennis in Coronation Street for 18 months.

He later appeared as Clive in Paradise Heights for the BBC with Neil Morrissey and Ralf Little, as well as its spin-off The Eustace Brothers.

Last year, Charles also appeared in Rocket Man with Robson Green.

Charles said: Robson Green is a lovely guy. He makes sure the actors that work for his company are really well looked after - which is rare in our industry.

I really enjoyed playing Barney Scott, who is basically everybody s best mate.

He s very amiable, a gentle soul who s generally very happy with his lot.

Together with his wife Diane he is desperate to have a baby but keeps on failing.

There were some veryupsetting bits and as a dad in real-life you can really feel the emotion.

Charles says he is still recognised in public from his Coronation Street part and people often shout out Dennis to him.

Charles, who is currently appearing in the new series of Belonging, says he sees no reason why the series can t go on and on running.

He said: There was a great sense of frustration that Belonging was not shown across the UK.

It s strange - GMTV s Lorraine Kelly told me she was a big fan when I appeared on her show.

I still think it s the best programme made in Wales. It gets Baftas every year, and I think it s a better than an awful lot of stuff that is networked.