Craig Charles is very much a familiar face on British TV. From Red Dwarf to Robot Wars, Takeshi's Castle to Coronation Street, the 58-year-old Liverpool native has found success in acting, presenting, comedy and DJing, even hosting his own show on BBC Radio 6 Music.

In recent years, he's also become a gameshow host. High-octane Channel 4 quiz show Moneybags sees £1 million a week go down a conveyor belt, ready for the taking by clever contestants.

But success is always precarious on Moneybags: contestants could have their money stolen by savvy competitors, they could be forced to give a bag of cash away to their opponent after an incorrect answer, or they could even end up bankrupt if they make a mistake.

While the first series of Moneybags was broadcast in the mid-afternoon, the second run has clinched the coveted 5pm teatime slot, competing for viewers' attention with the likes of BBC's Pointless and ITV's The Chase.

So how does Charles feel about coming back to the role of quizmaster, and what does he love about hosting Moneybags?

CRAIG, WHAT DO YOU THINK MAKES YOU A GOOD QUIZMASTER?

I'm the new kid on the block when it comes to quizzing. I don't know!

I think people like the warmness of it. And the irreverence of it. I mean, just because you're playing for a lot of money doesn't mean you can't have fun while you're doing it. So I try to have fun with the contestants, I try to be warm and compassionate and considerate and kind. I care about them, I want them to win.

WHAT MAKES MONEYBAGS DIFFERENT FROM OTHER QUIZ SHOWS?

I think Moneybags... it's different in many ways.

I think the questions are really clever and perfectly constructed, I like that. And I like the sense of jeopardy, and the reversal of fortune. You could be playing for 160 grand in your bank account, something like that, and all of a sudden, you've got to give it to a competitor. So that reversal of fortune thing was quite good.

I also liked the sense of companionship and camaraderie that the show engenders, because you're with them for a few days, you know, it's a slower process, you get to know people, how much it means to them, you get to find out a bit about the personalities involved.

I'm not faking the excitement. It's really exciting, it's edge of your pants stuff. There's a million pounds a week coming down that conveyor belt, and it can be life changing sums for people.

I'm still in contact with people from the first series - we tweet each other, stuff like that, because you go through a life experience together. And it just makes you warm to people.

There's a lot up for grabs, and it's just exciting. And there's some jaw dropping reversals of fortune where you just think: 'Oh my God, how did it happen?' So it's a great game, really.

IN THIS NEW TIME SLOT, YOU'LL BE UP AGAINST POINTLESS AND THE CHASE. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THAT?

Some of the big boys now, isn't it? Trepidatious, to be honest.

I think we've got a chance because it is different, it is more exciting, it's more irreverent, more fun, some of the questions are quite silly. And there's an awful lot more money at stake on Moneybags than there is on Pointless.

I mean, I often turn around, you know, when someone wins £10,000: "You'd have to win Pointless 10 times to win that!" So we do have a bit of fun with the other game shows against us.

But yeah, I'm trepidatious. It's a big step up, really, from the three o'clock slot. But I do think Moneybags is more suited to that time than earlier on. I'm excited about it. I mean, you get into this thing to pit yourself against people like that, you know? You want the game to be taken seriously. And people to think: wow, it deserves its right to be at the slot. Because the teatime slot, it's the big game show slot, you know?

So yeah, it's good to have got there, it's just staying there now, isn't it?

SOME CELEBS ARE PLAYING MONEYBAGS THIS TIME AROUND, INCLUDING THE LIKES OF MR MOTIVATOR, CLAIRE FROM STEPS, EASTENDERS' NINA WADIA... WHAT WAS THAT LIKE?

They were really good actually. And doing it for charity, it's more personal than playing for themselves, you know? You're doing this for charity, and all of a sudden you've got £100,000 for that charity, and the next minute, you've just lost it, or you've gone bankrupt and had to give it away to somebody else. So it affects people quite emotionally. I know someone had a really big loss. I can't tell you who, in the celebs one, had a really big loss. They were in floods of tears.

I've been there myself. I did Celebrity Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, got to the £32,000 question, got it wrong, and had to leave with a grand. No-one had prepared me for how devastated I felt about that. I think people take it a lot more personally when they're playing for a charity.

WHAT DO YOU LOVE ABOUT BEING ON TV, AND NOW BEING A GAMESHOW HOST?

To be able to work in TV is an honour for me. And to be able to do shows that have lasted a long time.

Red Dwarf has lasted a long time. Robot Wars lasted forever, Takeshi's Castle, I mean, that voiceover that I got to do for a few years was brilliant, Coronation Street, being in what was then the nation's greatest soap - these are all honours, really.

And it just feels like an honour to do what I'm hoping will be a really well received, long-living game show that I, for one, am really excited about and find really exciting and fun.

Moneybags, Channel 4, 5pm on Monday.