Born on Sandwich Street in poverty in 1917, Charles was raised and went to school in King's Cross. He joined the BBC in 1933 as a junior in the record library and worked his way up to writer and producer, creating classic radio programmes like 'Journey into Space'. He retired in 1979, was awarded the MBE, and is also an accomplished local historian of the King's Cross area. Charles has an almost photographic memory of the King's Cross area from his childhood.