Chris Langham
Encyclopedia
Christopher "Chris" Langham (born 14 April 1949) is an English
writer
, actor
and comedian
. He is most famous for playing MP Hugh Abbot in BBC Four
sitcom
The Thick of It
and as presenter Roy Mallard in People Like Us
, first on BBC Radio 4
and later on its transfer to television on BBC Two
, where Mallard is almost entirely an unseen character
. He subsequently created several spoof adverts in the same vein. He also played similar unseen interviewers in an episode of the television series Happy Families and in the film The Big Tease
. He is also known for his roles in the TV series Not the Nine O'Clock News
, Help, Kiss Me Kate and as the gatehouse guard in Chelmsford 123
. In 2006, he won BAFTA awards for The Thick of It and Help.
On 2 August 2007 Langham was found guilty of downloading indecent images of children
from the Internet
, and not guilty of six counts of indecent assault. He was sentenced to ten months in prison on 14 September 2007. On 14 November 2007, he won an appeal
against the length of his sentence and was released after serving three and a half months.
and actress Helen Burns
, Langham read English and Drama at Bristol University
before dropping out.
.
One of his earliest breaks was as the sole British writer for The Muppet Show
. He also appeared as the "special guest star" in the thirteenth episode of the final season, when the scheduled guest, Richard Pryor
, was unable to make it to the recording; a script was hastily written in which "Chris the Delivery Boy" stood in for an absent celebrity. He received two awards from the Writers Guild of America
for his work on The Muppet Show.
Langham was part of the original cast for Not the Nine O'Clock News
pilot in 1979, written by Richard Curtis
. Positioned as a comedy series which was neither Monty Pythons Flying Circus or The Two Ronnies
, even after the original pilot was pulled from the schedules he was retained for the first full series, billed equally with the then unknown Mel Smith
, Pamela Stephenson
and Rowan Atkinson
. The first series did not rate as well as hoped, however, and it was felt that Langham was "too independent a spirit." Langham took a part in Monty Python's Life of Brian
as a centurion
, against the reaction of which Curtis had written a skit of the debate between John Cleese
and Malcolm Muggeridge
. Langham was upset at the inclusion of the sketch, which gave the team and producer John Lloyd
the excuse for his replacement by support player Griff Rhys Jones
. Langham did not learn of the switch until the last day of filming when he heard the crew discussing the second series. The show only achieved cult status during its later series and, in subsequent compilation repeats, most of Langham's contributions have been cut, giving the impression that he was never a main cast member.
Langham went on to appear on Smith and Jones' own programme, Alas Smith and Jones
, playing an ineffectual panel show host; this character apparently inspired John Morton
to create the character of Roy Mallard, later to feature in his show People Like Us
played both on radio and (offscreen) on television by Langham. Langham also played a fly-on-the-wall documentary interviewer very similar to Roy Mallard in Happy Families
in 1985.
Also in 1979, Langham played Arthur Dent
in the first professional stage version of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, directed by Ken Campbell
. He later returned to Hitchhiker's, appearing as Prak in Above The Title Production's Tertiary Phase
radio series in 2004.
Langham narrated the 1984 radio series The History of Rock with Chris Langham
, in which Langham gave a comedic, and somewhat fictitious, account of the history of rock music
. On 14 November 1985 Langham appeared as the narrator/reporter in "Roxanne", episode five of the BBC situation comedy
Happy Families, written by Ben Elton
. In 1992 he appeared in the film Carry On Columbus
.
In addition to several one-man shows, Langham counts among his stage credits Les Misérables
, in which he played Thénardier in 1996, Crazy for You
, for which he received an Olivier nomination, The Way of the World
, The Nerd
, Blondel
and The Pirates of Penzance
.
Langham wrote the BBC One
sitcom Kiss Me Kate, in which he also appeared along with Caroline Quentin
and Amanda Holden
. In 2002 he wrote and starred in Bradford in My Dreams, an adaptation of a short story by Lawrence Block
for the BBC. On Radio 4 he narrated the series The Rapid Eye Movement, which starred Martin Freeman
as Chester Bennington, in whose head the entire series took place. In 2003 he directed the comedy series Posh Nosh
.
In 2003 and 2005, respectively, he portrayed the authors George Orwell
and John Wyndham
in the BBC docudrama
George Orwell - A Life In Pictures and the BBC Four
documentary John Wyndham: the Invisible Man of Science Fiction. He also appeared in the radio magazine satire The Sunday Format
.
He starred alongside co-writer Paul Whitehouse
in Help on BBC Two in 2005, where he also appeared in the Armando Iannucci
comedy The Thick of It
in the same year. Langham was named Best Comedy Actor in the 2005 British Comedy Awards and won the 2006 BAFTA
Best Comedy Performance award for his role in The Thick Of It. In November 2005 Langham wrote and starred in ITV pilot Seven Second Delay.
He was a frequent guest on The Heaven and Earth Show and part of Bremner, Bird and Fortune
writing team. In this series he has occasionally appeared as a civil servant discussing things with Bremner's Tony Blair
. On radio, Langham has appeared as a panellist on the Radio 4 show Armando Iannucci's Charm Offensive
.
Langham starred in a feature-length comedy drama Black Pond, his first screen appearance since his release from prison.
, produced three children, but broke up on his own admission due to his alcoholism
. Langham had two children by his second wife, director Christine Cartwright.
Langham sought counselling for alcohol and cocaine
addiction, and still undergoes therapy
once a week. He used his experiences to co-write the BBC2 series Help, in which he portrayed a psychotherapist, with friend Paul Whitehouse
; and played a counsellor in sitcom Kiss Me Kate.
in connection with Operation Ore
, an ongoing investigation into internet child pornography
, and was released on bail. The arrest was first reported in the press on 16 December 2005 , in response to which Langham's lawyer read a statement in which he said that he was innocent, and pointed out that he had not been charged.
On 11 May 2006 he was charged with 15 counts of "making indecent
images" (a technical legal term actually meaning downloading of images as distinct from the act of photography) of children.
The trial took place during July and August 2007. Part of Langham's defence to these charges in court was that they were research on a paedophile
character "Pedro" for a television comedy
. Langham's former Help co-star/writer Paul Whitehouse
confirmed that the character was referred to as a "peeping tom
" who was prone to highly dubious sexual behaviour. "It was implied he had rubbed up against someone on a train" Whitehouse stated in court. Whitehouse stated that he was unaware that the character was intended to be a paedophile, nor was he personally aware of Langham obtaining such material for the development of the programme's script. However, a script was read out in which Pedro ogles young women and says: "God sent these young girls to me as temptation and I failed."
A selection of files and images found on Langham's laptop computer was shown to the jury on 25 July 2007. Langham stated under oath that he had been sexually abused by a stranger as a child, and admitted having pornography to help him "work through" his own psychological difficulties which resulted, but denied being himself a paedophile. He stated of one pornographic film downloaded
that "I talked to my wife about it. I’m one of the children in the photographs. That’s the problem I have with it. I don’t know how to react to it," adding:
On 2 August 2007 Langham was found guilty on charges of possessing child pornography and made to sign the sexual offenders register. He was remanded in custody pending sentencing on September 14. Langham was also charged with eight sexual offences against an unnamed woman who was below the age of 16 at the time the assaults supposedly happened. Langham was acquitted of all these charges in the same trial where the pornography offences were considered. He was sentenced to ten months in prison on 14 September 2007.
Langham stated throughout that he was determined to clear his name but withdrew from all BBC projects pending the outcome of the case. On 5 December 2006 it was reported that he was banned from attending the 2006 British Comedy Awards
despite his current show, The Thick of It
, being a contender for an award. Many industry commentators suggested that the gaoling of Langham would bring an abrupt halt to the actor and writer's 30-year comedy career, just as it was peaking.
He was released on 14 November 2007 after his sentence was reduced to six months on appeal. Dame Heather Steel, who gave the Appeal Court's
decision, said that the court viewed Langham's explanation as "highly improbable" but could not actually reject it, although he was still guilty of encouraging "despicable acts" through downloading the pornography. On his release, Langham stated "My life has been ruined but my conscience is clear" and complained that the media "completely ignored" the court's "acceptance based upon all the evidence and expert opinion that I have no sexual interest in children".
(née Stephenson), with whom he had worked on Not the Nine O'Clock News
, for her UK television series Shrink Rap where he discussed being abused as an eight-year-old child, the events that led up to his conviction and the subsequent trial. The interview was broadcast on More4
on 15 January 2008.
Langham was also invited to make a speech in front of the Oxford Union
on 29 May 2008, but the invitation was subsequently withdrawn.
In 2011, he was cast as the lead in Black Pond, a low-budget British film directed by Tom Kingsley and Will Sharpe
. In an interview with The Guardian in September 2011, Langham relates that many people have suggested to him that he should work again, but no-one wants to employ him. Reviewing his performance in Black Pond positively, The Independent comment, 'whether it will rehabilitate him among casting agents and comedy show commissioners is another question.'
Interviews
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
and comedian
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
. He is most famous for playing MP Hugh Abbot in BBC Four
BBC Four
BBC Four is a British television network operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation and available to digital television viewers on Freeview, IPTV, satellite and cable....
sitcom
Situation comedy
A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...
The Thick of It
The Thick of It
The Thick of It is a British comedy television series that satirises the inner workings of modern British government. It was first broadcast on BBC Four in 2005, and has so far completed fourteen half-hour episodes and two special hour-long episodes to coincide with Christmas and Gordon Brown's...
and as presenter Roy Mallard in People Like Us
People Like Us
People Like Us is a British comedy programme, a spoof on-location documentary written by John Morton, and starring Chris Langham as Roy Mallard, an inept interviewer...
, first on BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
and later on its transfer to television on BBC Two
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
, where Mallard is almost entirely an unseen character
Unseen character
In fiction, an unseen character is a character that is never directly observed by the audience but is only described by other characters. They are a common device in drama and have been called "triumphs of theatrical invention". They are continuing characters — characters who are currently in...
. He subsequently created several spoof adverts in the same vein. He also played similar unseen interviewers in an episode of the television series Happy Families and in the film The Big Tease
The Big Tease
The Big Tease is a 1999 comedy film starring Craig Ferguson, directed by Kevin Allen, and written by Ferguson and Sacha Gervasi.- Plot :Ferguson plays Crawford Mackenzie, a Scottish hairdresser who, while being filmed as part of a fly-on-the-wall documentary, is invited to the World Hairdresser...
. He is also known for his roles in the TV series Not the Nine O'Clock News
Not the Nine O'Clock News
Not the Nine O'Clock News is a television comedy sketch show which was broadcast on BBC 2 from 1979 to 1982.Originally shown as a comedy "alternative" to the BBC Nine O'Clock News on BBC 1, it featured satirical sketches on current news stories and popular culture, as well as parody songs, comedy...
, Help, Kiss Me Kate and as the gatehouse guard in Chelmsford 123
Chelmsford 123
Chelmsford 123 is a British television situation comedy produced for Channel 4 by Hat Trick Productions. It ran for two series, of six and seven episodes, in 1988 and 1990....
. In 2006, he won BAFTA awards for The Thick of It and Help.
On 2 August 2007 Langham was found guilty of downloading indecent images of children
Child pornography
Child pornography refers to images or films and, in some cases, writings depicting sexually explicit activities involving a child...
from the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
, and not guilty of six counts of indecent assault. He was sentenced to ten months in prison on 14 September 2007. On 14 November 2007, he won an appeal
Appeal
An appeal is a petition for review of a case that has been decided by a court of law. The petition is made to a higher court for the purpose of overturning the lower court's decision....
against the length of his sentence and was released after serving three and a half months.
Biography
The son of theatre director Michael LanghamMichael Langham
Michael Langham was an English actor and director, who spent much of his career living and working in Canada and the United States....
and actress Helen Burns
Helen Burns
Helen Burns is a British actress mostly known for playing comedic roles. Burns is best known for her performance in the 1994 production of The Last Yankee at the Duke of York's in Brighton, England, for which she won a Laurence Olivier Award, and for her role in the British television series And...
, Langham read English and Drama at Bristol University
University of Bristol
The University of Bristol is a public research university located in Bristol, United Kingdom. One of the so-called "red brick" universities, it received its Royal Charter in 1909, although its predecessor institution, University College, Bristol, had been in existence since 1876.The University is...
before dropping out.
Career
Langham began performing comedy, and writing for Spike MilliganSpike Milligan
Terence Alan Patrick Seán "Spike" Milligan Hon. KBE was a comedian, writer, musician, poet, playwright, soldier and actor. His early life was spent in India, where he was born, but the majority of his working life was spent in the United Kingdom. He became an Irish citizen in 1962 after the...
.
One of his earliest breaks was as the sole British writer for The Muppet Show
The Muppet Show
The Muppet Show is a British television programme produced by American puppeteer Jim Henson and featuring Muppets. After two pilot episodes were produced in 1974 and 1975, the show premiered on 5 September 1976 and five series were produced until 15 March 1981, lasting 120 episodes...
. He also appeared as the "special guest star" in the thirteenth episode of the final season, when the scheduled guest, Richard Pryor
Richard Pryor
Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor was an American stand-up comedian, actor, social critic, writer and MC. Pryor was known for uncompromising examinations of racism and topical contemporary issues, which employed colorful vulgarities, and profanity, as well as racial epithets...
, was unable to make it to the recording; a script was hastily written in which "Chris the Delivery Boy" stood in for an absent celebrity. He received two awards from the Writers Guild of America
Writers Guild of America Award
The Writers Guild of America Award for outstanding achievements in film, television, and radio has been presented annually by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America, West since 1949...
for his work on The Muppet Show.
Langham was part of the original cast for Not the Nine O'Clock News
Not the Nine O'Clock News
Not the Nine O'Clock News is a television comedy sketch show which was broadcast on BBC 2 from 1979 to 1982.Originally shown as a comedy "alternative" to the BBC Nine O'Clock News on BBC 1, it featured satirical sketches on current news stories and popular culture, as well as parody songs, comedy...
pilot in 1979, written by Richard Curtis
Richard Curtis
Richard Whalley Anthony Curtis, CBE is a New Zealand-born British screenwriter, music producer, actor and film director, known primarily for romantic comedy films such as Four Weddings and a Funeral, Bridget Jones's Diary, Notting Hill, Love Actually and The Girl in the Café, as well as the hit...
. Positioned as a comedy series which was neither Monty Pythons Flying Circus or The Two Ronnies
The Two Ronnies
The Two Ronnies is a British sketch show that aired on BBC1 from 1971 to 1987. It featured the double act of Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett, the "Two Ronnies" of the title.-Origins:...
, even after the original pilot was pulled from the schedules he was retained for the first full series, billed equally with the then unknown Mel Smith
Mel Smith
Melvin Kenneth "Mel" Smith is an English comedian, writer, film director, producer, and actor. He is most famous for his work on the sketch comedy shows Not the Nine O'Clock News and Alas Smith and Jones along with his comedy partner Griff Rhys Jones.- Early life :Smith's father, Kenneth, was born...
, Pamela Stephenson
Pamela Stephenson
Pamela Helen Stephenson Connolly is a New Zealand-born Australian clinical psychologist and writer now resident in the United Kingdom. She is best known for her work as an actress and comedian during the 1980s...
and Rowan Atkinson
Rowan Atkinson
Rowan Sebastian Atkinson is a British actor, comedian, and screenwriter. He is most famous for his work on the satirical sketch comedy show Not The Nine O'Clock News, and the sitcoms Blackadder, Mr. Bean and The Thin Blue Line...
. The first series did not rate as well as hoped, however, and it was felt that Langham was "too independent a spirit." Langham took a part in Monty Python's Life of Brian
Monty Python's Life of Brian
Monty Python's Life of Brian, also known as Life of Brian, is a 1979 British comedy film written, directed and largely performed by the Monty Python comedy team...
as a centurion
Centurion
A centurion was a professional officer of the Roman army .Centurion may also refer to:-Military:* Centurion tank, British battle tank* HMS Centurion, name of several ships and a shore base of the British Royal Navy...
, against the reaction of which Curtis had written a skit of the debate between John Cleese
John Cleese
John Marwood Cleese is an English actor, comedian, writer, and film producer. He achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and performer on The Frost Report...
and Malcolm Muggeridge
Malcolm Muggeridge
Thomas Malcolm Muggeridge was an English journalist, author, media personality, and satirist. During World War II, he was a soldier and a spy...
. Langham was upset at the inclusion of the sketch, which gave the team and producer John Lloyd
John Lloyd
John Lloyd may refer to:* John Lloyd Co-founder of design consultancy Lloyd Northover* John Lloyd , British tennis player* John Lloyd , former head coach to Wales national rugby union team...
the excuse for his replacement by support player Griff Rhys Jones
Griff Rhys Jones
Griffith "Griff" Rhys Jones is a Welsh comedian, writer, actor, television presenter and personality. Jones came to national attention in the early 1980s for his work in the BBC television comedy sketch shows Not the Nine O'Clock News and Alas Smith and Jones along with his comedy partner Mel Smith...
. Langham did not learn of the switch until the last day of filming when he heard the crew discussing the second series. The show only achieved cult status during its later series and, in subsequent compilation repeats, most of Langham's contributions have been cut, giving the impression that he was never a main cast member.
Langham went on to appear on Smith and Jones' own programme, Alas Smith and Jones
Alas Smith and Jones
Alas Smith and Jones is a British comedy sketch television series featuring Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones. It was broadcast on the BBC from 1984 to 1998...
, playing an ineffectual panel show host; this character apparently inspired John Morton
John Morton (writer)
John Morton is a British writer and director for television and radio, perhaps best known as the creator of People Like Us, which starred Chris Langham. which starred Chris Langham as the series as the hapless documentary maker Roy Mallard...
to create the character of Roy Mallard, later to feature in his show People Like Us
People Like Us
People Like Us is a British comedy programme, a spoof on-location documentary written by John Morton, and starring Chris Langham as Roy Mallard, an inept interviewer...
played both on radio and (offscreen) on television by Langham. Langham also played a fly-on-the-wall documentary interviewer very similar to Roy Mallard in Happy Families
Happy Families (TV series)
Happy Families was a rural comedy drama written by Ben Elton which appeared on the BBC in 1985 and told the story of the dysfunctional Fuddle family....
in 1985.
Also in 1979, Langham played Arthur Dent
Arthur Dent
Arthur Philip Dent is a fictional character, the hapless protagonist and anti-hero in the comic science fiction series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams....
in the first professional stage version of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, directed by Ken Campbell
Ken Campbell (actor)
Kenneth Victor Campbell was an English writer, actor, director and comedian known for his work in experimental theatre...
. He later returned to Hitchhiker's, appearing as Prak in Above The Title Production's Tertiary Phase
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Tertiary to Quintessential Phases
The Tertiary Phase, Quandary Phase and Quintessential Phase are radio adaptations of the books Life, the Universe and Everything, So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish and Mostly Harmless produced in 2003 and 2004 by Above the Title Productions for BBC Radio 4...
radio series in 2004.
Langham narrated the 1984 radio series The History of Rock with Chris Langham
The History of Rock with Chris Langham
The History of Rock with Chris Langham was a BBC radio comedy broadcast in the United Kingdom in 1984. It was narrated by Chris Langham, and was broadcast as three half-hour episodes....
, in which Langham gave a comedic, and somewhat fictitious, account of the history of rock music
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
. On 14 November 1985 Langham appeared as the narrator/reporter in "Roxanne", episode five of the BBC situation comedy
Situation comedy
A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...
Happy Families, written by Ben Elton
Ben Elton
Benjamin Charles "Ben" Elton is an English comedian, author, playwright and director. He was a leading figure in the British alternative comedy movement of the 1980s, as a writer on such cult series as The Young Ones and Blackadder, as well as also a successful stand-up comedian on stage and TV....
. In 1992 he appeared in the film Carry On Columbus
Carry On Columbus
Carry On Columbus is the 31st and last film in the Carry On series, following 1978's Carry On Emmannuelle. The only main series regulars present are Jim Dale , Bernard Cribbins , Leslie Phillips , Jon Pertwee and June Whitfield...
.
In addition to several one-man shows, Langham counts among his stage credits Les Misérables
Les Misérables (musical)
Les Misérables , colloquially known as Les Mis or Les Miz , is a musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg, based on the novel of the same name by Victor Hugo....
, in which he played Thénardier in 1996, Crazy for You
Crazy for You
Crazy for You is a musical with a book by Ken Ludwig, lyrics by Ira Gershwin, and music by George Gershwin. Billed as "The New Gershwin Musical Comedy", it is largely based on the songwriting team’s 1930 musical, Girl Crazy, but interpolates songs from several other productions as well...
, for which he received an Olivier nomination, The Way of the World
The Way of the World
The Way of the World is a play written by British playwright William Congreve. It premiered in 1700 in the theatre in Lincoln's Inn Fields in London...
, The Nerd
The Nerd
The Nerd is a two-act comedy written by American actor/playwright Larry Shue.-Plot:Set in Terre Haute, Indiana in late 1979, The Nerd presents the story of Willum Cubbert, an unassuming young architect, friends Tansy and Axel and unexpected houseguest Rick, who had saved Willum's life in Vietnam...
, Blondel
Blondel (musical)
Blondel, a rock opera musical by Tim Rice and Stephen Oliver , was inspired by, and very loosely based on, the life of the eponymous French troubadour...
and The Pirates of Penzance
The Pirates of Penzance
The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. The opera's official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 31 December 1879, where the show was well received by both audiences...
.
Langham wrote the BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
sitcom Kiss Me Kate, in which he also appeared along with Caroline Quentin
Caroline Quentin
Caroline Jones known by her stage name Caroline Quentin, is an English actress. Quentin became known for her television appearances in Men Behaving Badly, playing Dorothy, and playing Maddy Magellan in Jonathan Creek for three years.-Early life:...
and Amanda Holden
Amanda Holden
Amanda Louise Holden is an English actress and presenter. Among her roles are Mia Bevan in Cutting It, Sarah Trevanion in Wild at Heart, and the title role in Thoroughly Modern Millie, for which she was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Theatre Award...
. In 2002 he wrote and starred in Bradford in My Dreams, an adaptation of a short story by Lawrence Block
Lawrence Block
Lawrence Block is an acclaimed contemporary American crime writer best known for two long-running New York–set series, about the recovering alcoholic P.I. Matthew Scudder and gentleman burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr, respectively...
for the BBC. On Radio 4 he narrated the series The Rapid Eye Movement, which starred Martin Freeman
Martin Freeman
Martin John C. Freeman is an English actor. He is known for his roles as John in Love Actually, Tim Canterbury in the BBC's Golden Globe-winning comedy The Office, Arthur Dent in the film adaptation of Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Dr. John Watson in Sherlock and Mr. Madden...
as Chester Bennington, in whose head the entire series took place. In 2003 he directed the comedy series Posh Nosh
Posh Nosh
Posh Nosh is a 2003 BBC television programme parodying television chefs; the title and basic outline a reference to a cooking show pilot pitched by Neil Hamilton and Christine Hamilton. Written by Jon Canter and Arabella Weir from an idea by Weir, and directed and script edited by Chris Langham,...
.
In 2003 and 2005, respectively, he portrayed the authors George Orwell
George Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...
and John Wyndham
John Wyndham
John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris was an English science fiction writer who usually used the pen name John Wyndham, although he also used other combinations of his names, such as John Beynon and Lucas Parkes...
in the BBC docudrama
Docudrama
In film, television programming and staged theatre, docudrama is a documentary-style genre that features dramatized re-enactments of actual historical events. As a neologism, the term is often confused with docufiction....
George Orwell - A Life In Pictures and the BBC Four
BBC Four
BBC Four is a British television network operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation and available to digital television viewers on Freeview, IPTV, satellite and cable....
documentary John Wyndham: the Invisible Man of Science Fiction. He also appeared in the radio magazine satire The Sunday Format
The Sunday Format
The Sunday Format, "BBC Radio 4's first high-quality weekend broadsheet newspaper", is a British satirical radio comedy. The programme is a parody of British middle class newspapers, in particular the lifestyle supplements and glossy celebrity magazines that fill Sunday papers...
.
He starred alongside co-writer Paul Whitehouse
Paul Whitehouse
Paul Whitehouse is a Welsh actor, writer and comedian. He became known for his work with Harry Enfield and as one of the stars of the popular BBC sketch show, The Fast Show. In a 2005 poll to find The Comedian's Comedian, he was in the top 50 comedy acts voted for by comedians and comedy insiders...
in Help on BBC Two in 2005, where he also appeared in the Armando Iannucci
Armando Iannucci
Armando Giovanni Iannucci is a Scottish comedian, satirist, writer, director, performer and radio producer. Born in Glasgow, he studied at Oxford University and left graduate work on a PhD about John Milton to pursue a career in comedy....
comedy The Thick of It
The Thick of It
The Thick of It is a British comedy television series that satirises the inner workings of modern British government. It was first broadcast on BBC Four in 2005, and has so far completed fourteen half-hour episodes and two special hour-long episodes to coincide with Christmas and Gordon Brown's...
in the same year. Langham was named Best Comedy Actor in the 2005 British Comedy Awards and won the 2006 BAFTA
British Academy Television Awards 2006
The 2006 British Academy Television Awards were held on Sunday 7 May at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London. The ceremony was broadcast on the ITV Network, hosted by television presenter Davina McCall...
Best Comedy Performance award for his role in The Thick Of It. In November 2005 Langham wrote and starred in ITV pilot Seven Second Delay.
He was a frequent guest on The Heaven and Earth Show and part of Bremner, Bird and Fortune
Bremner, Bird and Fortune
Bremner, Bird and Fortune is an award-winning satirical British television programme produced by Vera Productions for Channel Four, uniting the longstanding satirical team of John Bird and John Fortune with the satirical impressionist Rory Bremner.The show started in 1999. The fourteenth series...
writing team. In this series he has occasionally appeared as a civil servant discussing things with Bremner's Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
. On radio, Langham has appeared as a panellist on the Radio 4 show Armando Iannucci's Charm Offensive
Armando Iannucci's Charm Offensive
Armando Iannucci's Charm Offensive is a British radio comedy programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in 2005 with a second series in 2006, a third in 2007 and a fourth in 2008. Series 2, 3 and 4 of the show were broadcast in the popular Friday evening slot, which it has shared with The...
.
Langham starred in a feature-length comedy drama Black Pond, his first screen appearance since his release from prison.
Personal life
Langham's first marriage, to actress/singer Sue Jones-DaviesSue Jones-Davies
Sue Jones-Davies is a Welsh actress and singer, who appeared as Judith in the 1979 film Monty Python's Life of Brian. Mayor of Aberystwyth from 2008–2009, she now serves as town councillor.-Early life and education:Sue Jones-Davies was born in Wales...
, produced three children, but broke up on his own admission due to his alcoholism
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
. Langham had two children by his second wife, director Christine Cartwright.
Langham sought counselling for alcohol and cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
addiction, and still undergoes therapy
Therapy
This is a list of types of therapy .* Adventure therapy* Animal-assisted therapy* Aquatic therapy* Aromatherapy* Art and dementia* Art therapy* Authentic Movement* Behavioral therapy* Bibliotherapy* Buteyko Method* Chemotherapy...
once a week. He used his experiences to co-write the BBC2 series Help, in which he portrayed a psychotherapist, with friend Paul Whitehouse
Paul Whitehouse
Paul Whitehouse is a Welsh actor, writer and comedian. He became known for his work with Harry Enfield and as one of the stars of the popular BBC sketch show, The Fast Show. In a 2005 poll to find The Comedian's Comedian, he was in the top 50 comedy acts voted for by comedians and comedy insiders...
; and played a counsellor in sitcom Kiss Me Kate.
Arrest and conviction
On 29 November 2005, Langham was arrested by Kent PoliceKent Police
Kent Police is the territorial police force for Kent in England, including the unitary authority of Medway.-Area and organisation:The force covers an area of with an approximate population of 1,660,588 . The Chief Constable is currently Ian Learmonth, who was appointed in 2010 and is the former...
in connection with Operation Ore
Operation Ore
Operation Ore was a British police operation that commenced in 1999 following information received from US law enforcement, which was intended to prosecute thousands of users of a website reportedly featuring child pornography...
, an ongoing investigation into internet child pornography
Child pornography
Child pornography refers to images or films and, in some cases, writings depicting sexually explicit activities involving a child...
, and was released on bail. The arrest was first reported in the press on 16 December 2005 , in response to which Langham's lawyer read a statement in which he said that he was innocent, and pointed out that he had not been charged.
On 11 May 2006 he was charged with 15 counts of "making indecent
Decency
Decency is the quality or state of conforming to social or moral standards of taste and propriety.-See also:*Taste *Communications Decency Act*Public indecency*Indecent exposure*Sodomy law*Norm *Grotesque body...
images" (a technical legal term actually meaning downloading of images as distinct from the act of photography) of children.
The trial took place during July and August 2007. Part of Langham's defence to these charges in court was that they were research on a paedophile
Pedophilia
As a medical diagnosis, pedophilia is defined as a psychiatric disorder in adults or late adolescents typically characterized by a primary or exclusive sexual interest in prepubescent children...
character "Pedro" for a television comedy
Television comedy
Television comedy had a presence from the earliest days of broadcasting. Among the earliest BBC television programmes in the 1930s was Starlight, which offered a series of guests from the music hall era — singers and comedians amongst them...
. Langham's former Help co-star/writer Paul Whitehouse
Paul Whitehouse
Paul Whitehouse is a Welsh actor, writer and comedian. He became known for his work with Harry Enfield and as one of the stars of the popular BBC sketch show, The Fast Show. In a 2005 poll to find The Comedian's Comedian, he was in the top 50 comedy acts voted for by comedians and comedy insiders...
confirmed that the character was referred to as a "peeping tom
Peeping Tom
Peeping Tom is a nickname commonly given to voyeurs, particularly males. It originated with the legend of Lady Godiva, when a man named Tom watched her during her nude ride and was struck blind or dead.It may also refer to:In music...
" who was prone to highly dubious sexual behaviour. "It was implied he had rubbed up against someone on a train" Whitehouse stated in court. Whitehouse stated that he was unaware that the character was intended to be a paedophile, nor was he personally aware of Langham obtaining such material for the development of the programme's script. However, a script was read out in which Pedro ogles young women and says: "God sent these young girls to me as temptation and I failed."
A selection of files and images found on Langham's laptop computer was shown to the jury on 25 July 2007. Langham stated under oath that he had been sexually abused by a stranger as a child, and admitted having pornography to help him "work through" his own psychological difficulties which resulted, but denied being himself a paedophile. He stated of one pornographic film downloaded
Uploading and downloading
In computer networks, to download means to receive data to a local system from a remote system, or to initiate such a data transfer. Examples of a remote system from which a download might be performed include a webserver, FTP server, email server, or other similar systems...
that "I talked to my wife about it. I’m one of the children in the photographs. That’s the problem I have with it. I don’t know how to react to it," adding:
On 2 August 2007 Langham was found guilty on charges of possessing child pornography and made to sign the sexual offenders register. He was remanded in custody pending sentencing on September 14. Langham was also charged with eight sexual offences against an unnamed woman who was below the age of 16 at the time the assaults supposedly happened. Langham was acquitted of all these charges in the same trial where the pornography offences were considered. He was sentenced to ten months in prison on 14 September 2007.
Langham stated throughout that he was determined to clear his name but withdrew from all BBC projects pending the outcome of the case. On 5 December 2006 it was reported that he was banned from attending the 2006 British Comedy Awards
British Comedy Awards
The British Comedy Awards is an annual awards ceremony in the United Kingdom celebrating notable comedians and entertainment performances of the previous year.-History:...
despite his current show, The Thick of It
The Thick of It
The Thick of It is a British comedy television series that satirises the inner workings of modern British government. It was first broadcast on BBC Four in 2005, and has so far completed fourteen half-hour episodes and two special hour-long episodes to coincide with Christmas and Gordon Brown's...
, being a contender for an award. Many industry commentators suggested that the gaoling of Langham would bring an abrupt halt to the actor and writer's 30-year comedy career, just as it was peaking.
He was released on 14 November 2007 after his sentence was reduced to six months on appeal. Dame Heather Steel, who gave the Appeal Court's
Court of Appeal of England and Wales
The Court of Appeal of England and Wales is the second most senior court in the English legal system, with only the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom above it...
decision, said that the court viewed Langham's explanation as "highly improbable" but could not actually reject it, although he was still guilty of encouraging "despicable acts" through downloading the pornography. On his release, Langham stated "My life has been ruined but my conscience is clear" and complained that the media "completely ignored" the court's "acceptance based upon all the evidence and expert opinion that I have no sexual interest in children".
Post-release
Only a few days after his release from prison, Langham was interviewed by celebrity psychologist Dr Pamela ConnollyPamela Stephenson
Pamela Helen Stephenson Connolly is a New Zealand-born Australian clinical psychologist and writer now resident in the United Kingdom. She is best known for her work as an actress and comedian during the 1980s...
(née Stephenson), with whom he had worked on Not the Nine O'Clock News
Not the Nine O'Clock News
Not the Nine O'Clock News is a television comedy sketch show which was broadcast on BBC 2 from 1979 to 1982.Originally shown as a comedy "alternative" to the BBC Nine O'Clock News on BBC 1, it featured satirical sketches on current news stories and popular culture, as well as parody songs, comedy...
, for her UK television series Shrink Rap where he discussed being abused as an eight-year-old child, the events that led up to his conviction and the subsequent trial. The interview was broadcast on More4
More4
More4 is a digital television channel, run by British broadcaster Channel 4, that launched on 10 October 2005. It is carried on Freeview, on satellite broadcasters Freesat and Sky, UK IPTV broadcaster TalkTalk TV and on UK cable network Virgin Media and in the Republic of Ireland cable networks...
on 15 January 2008.
Langham was also invited to make a speech in front of the Oxford Union
Oxford Union
The Oxford Union Society, commonly referred to simply as the Oxford Union, is a debating society in the city of Oxford, Britain, whose membership is drawn primarily but not exclusively from the University of Oxford...
on 29 May 2008, but the invitation was subsequently withdrawn.
In 2011, he was cast as the lead in Black Pond, a low-budget British film directed by Tom Kingsley and Will Sharpe
Will Sharpe
Will Sharpe is a British-Japanese actor, writer and director:-Background:Sharpe read Classics at the University of Cambridge, where he was the president of the Footlights Revue. He graduated in 2008 and joined the Royal Shakespeare Company for their 2008/2009 season...
. In an interview with The Guardian in September 2011, Langham relates that many people have suggested to him that he should work again, but no-one wants to employ him. Reviewing his performance in Black Pond positively, The Independent comment, 'whether it will rehabilitate him among casting agents and comedy show commissioners is another question.'
External links
- Chris Langham at the British Film InstituteBritish Film InstituteThe British Film Institute is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to:-Cinemas:The BFI runs the BFI Southbank and IMAX theatre, both located on the south bank of the River Thames in London...
- Chris Langham at the bbc.co.ukBbc.co.ukBBC Online is the brand name and home for the BBC's UK online service. It is a large network of websites including such high profile sites as BBC News and Sport, the on-demand video and radio services co-branded BBC iPlayer, the pre-school site Cbeebies, and learning services such as Bitesize...
Guide to Comedy, archived at the Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
Interviews
- "My top TV: Chris Langham" at BBC News Online (May 2001)
- "'Just to be OK is something I crave'" at The Guardian (May 2006)