Chris Langham (born 14 April 1949) is a British writer and comedian. He is most famous for playing 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 the similar unseen interviewer Martin Samuels in the film The Big Tease. He is also well known for his roles in the TV series Help, Kiss Me Kate and The Thick of It.

Career

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Langham read English and Drama at Bristol University before moving into a career in comedy. He had a small part in Monty Python's Life of Brian as a centurion. 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 (1980-81), when 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. The Writer's Guild of America twice awarded him for his work on The Muppet Show.

Langham was part of the original team for Not The Nine O'clock News in 1979, and 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" so he was replaced 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. This impression was not helped by the fact that the first series of the show has not been repeated, due to a belief in the BBC that the material was of a topical nature and would therefore not be suitable for transmission so long after the event. Langham already had problems with addiction to cocaine and alcohol and his sacking worsened this situation. However, he has since overcome these problems.

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