An endearing outlier, Brian lives alone in a Welsh valley, inventing oddball contraptions that seldom work. After finding a discarded mannequin head, Brian gets an idea. Three days, a washing machine, and sundry spare parts later, he’s invented Charles, an artificially intelligent robot who learns English from a dictionary and proves a charming, cheeky companion. Before long, however, Charles also develops autonomy. Intrigued by the wider world — or whatever lies beyond the cottage where Brian has hidden him away — Charles craves adventure.
A dying man's enigmatic last words send vicar's son, Bobby Jones, and his socialite friend, Lady Frankie Derwent, on a crime-solving adventure.
Nicholas Asbury (born 13 February 1971) is a British actor and author. He won an Olivier Award as part of the Royal Shakespeare Company's complete cycle of Shakespeare's history plays in 2009 and is known for television roles such as Winston Churchill in the BBC's 37 Days, Mr. Angel in Hugh Laurie's Why Didn't They Ask Evans?, and Jim in the BAFTA award-winning Alma's Not Normal. Asbury attended Hereford Cathedral School, then Dartington College of Arts. In 1998 he performed at The Watermill Theatre, before joining the ensemble of the Royal Shakespeare Company from 1999 until 2008. He subsequently acted in the all-male Shakespearean troupe Propeller, for whom he also composed music. A diary of his experiences acting in Propeller's 2011/12 productions of Henry V and The Winter's Tale was featured as a series in The Guardian. His first book, Exit Pursued by a Badger, is a record of his involvement in Michael Boyd's The Histories Cycle with the RSC. It won the Michael Meyer Award from The Society of Authors in 2011. He has since appeared in television series such as The Inbetweeners, Chewing Gum, Sherlock, and Alma's Not Normal. His second book, White Hart, Red Lion, is a work of travel literature revisiting the subject of Shakespeare's history plays through the locations that feature in them.