Chris Langham

Acting

Chris Langham

Born — Died

1949-04-14 — 2026-06-24

Place of birth

London, England, UK

Known for

Acting

Credits

67 titles

Christopher Langham (1949-2026) was an English writer, actor, and comedian. He is known for playing the cabinet minister Hugh Abbot in the 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. Langham 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 television series Not the Nine O'Clock News, Help, Kiss Me Kate, and as the gatehouse guard in Chelmsford 123. In 200…

Known for

Film credits

2010s · 4 titles

Black Pond poster
6.2

The Thompson family is accused of murder when a stranger dies at their dinner table. Six months later, family friend Tim visits freelance therapist Dr. Eric Sacks and the story finds it's way to the press. The facts are bent and the details spun as the Thompsons become known to the public as 'The Family of Killers'.

Black Pond

2011

The Darkest Universe poster
5.8

A romantic comedy set in space, or - to be more specific - planet Earth which follows world-weary banker Zac on his search for his eccentric sister, Alice, who goes missing while on a narrowboat trip with her new boyfriend.

The Darkest Universe

2016

No artwork available
NR

Michael returns to his childhood home in the north of England to accompany his father to one last trip to the football. Michael, a successful photographer in London, no longer feels at home in the parochial environment of his upbringing. With little interest in football and almost no emotional connection with his father, Michael struggles through the game as a bored spectator whilst his father is both irritable and irritating. As time passes, though, Michael soon realizes that his father's bad-tempered quirks could be the signs of something graver. Full Time examines the fragile connections that bind love, memory and the gaps in between

Full Time

2013

The Factory poster
NR

Gene has the world - he's a successful entrepreneur, beautiful home, beautiful car, everything he could ask for except for one thing. Then he meets Gilda and the two fall in love and marry. They travel the world and live a life of pure happiness until tragedy strikes...

The Factory

2013

2000s · 10 titles

My Family and Other Animals poster
6.4

Escaping the dreary wet weather of 1930s England, an eccentric family uproot and ship themselves to the sunnier climes of the Greek island of Corfu.

My Family and Other Animals

2005

The Emperor's New Clothes poster
6.8

Napoleon, exiled, devises a plan to retake the throne. He'll swap places with commoner Eugene Lenormand, sneak into Paris, then Lenormand will reveal himself and Napoleon will regain his throne. Things don't go at all well; first, the journey proves more difficult than expected, but more disastrously, Lenormand enjoys himself too much to reveal the deception. Napoleon adjusts somewhat uneasily to the life of a commoner while waiting, while Lenormand gorges on rich food.

The Emperor's New Clothes

2001

Room to Rent poster
6.0

Ali is a young Egyptian screenwriter determined to succeed in London, where he has been a student. He loves the artistic and political freedom, the colours, the music, the individualism. But he has little money, his student visa is about to expire and he has been thrown out of his lodgings. And so Ali moves in with a succession of eccentric and colourful London flatmates: Mark, a photographer with a very individual style, Linda, a young, blonde, very sexy model and Marilyn Monroe impersonator, and Miss Stevenson who is convinced that Ali is the reincarnation of her long dead Egyptian lover.

Room to Rent

2001

The Legend of the Tamworth Two poster
5.0

Based on a true story, the movie tells the story of two pigs, named Butch and Sundance, who staged a dramatic escape from an abattoir in January 1998 and remained at large for a week ...

The Legend of the Tamworth Two

2004

I Love Muppets poster
6.3

Gonzo the Great talks about the Muppets creator Jim Henson and what he did before the television show was made in 1976.

I Love Muppets

2002

Not Again: Not the Nine O'Clock News poster
6.0

A look behind the scenes of satirical sketch show Not the Nine O'Clock News.

Not Again: Not the Nine O'Clock News

2009

Spin by David Shrigley poster
NR

Shrigley puts his personal spin on news stories and big events every day for a week by creating seven pieces of thought-provoking and entertaining artwork which offer an alternative, very personal interpretation on a topical news story. In the week-long public art project he expresses his idiosyncratic, wry humour in a variety of surprising media. Among his creations, there's been a cartoon on a building banner for Manchester about bullying, saying: "The bully has a brain the size of a pea"; a horde of people with sandwich boards about Tony Blair's current political issues which gathered outside the Guildhall in London, where the Prime Minister was making a speech; a giant mobile billboard parked at the Tory hustings in Leicester with the rallying cry "Legalise pottery"; and a giant wearing the slogan "Binge drinking is our heritage" visited bars in Nottingham.

Spin by David Shrigley

2005

George Orwell: A Life In Pictures poster
8.5

Dramatised biography of writer George Orwell.

George Orwell: A Life In Pictures

2003

The Best of Not the Nine O'Clock News Volume One poster
6.5

Attention, comedy fans: NOT THE NINE O'CLOCK NEWS is the real thing. This is scathing, no-holds-barred Brit humor at its best. Rapid-fire skits starring Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean) are as politically incorrect as they are side-bustingly funny, sparing no one as they take on the British Royal Family, Margaret Thatcher, Scotland Yard, country music, Christianity, devil worship, punk rock and bathroom etiquette. NOT THE NINE O'CLOCK NEWS is so irreverent that when the pilot was due to air in April 1979, the BBC cancelled it due to its incendiary political content. When at last it aired, the greatest comedy group to hit England since Monty Python's Flying Circus stormed the airwaves and revolutionized British and American television alike. Discover the show that set the standard for the anarchic cynicism that defined the alternative comedy of the 80's.

The Best of Not the Nine O'Clock News Volume One

2003

John Wyndham: The Invisible Man of Science Fiction poster
NR

Endeavors to reveal who the reclusive writer John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris was, through interviews with colleagues, flatmates, family friends and scientists. His life, as can best be constructed, is revealed and his body of work, once settling on the name John Wyndham, is analyzed and discussed. An actor portrays him by quoting things he wrote that have survived, and the only piece of footage ever recorded of him is examined. The emphasis is on what his personality may have been, the scientific ramifications of his themes, and the influence of his writings and the film adaptations of those, on later generations.

John Wyndham: The Invisible Man of Science Fiction

2005

1990s · 5 titles

1980s · 8 titles

Silas Marner poster
5.9

Adaption of George Eliot's novel. When a respectable weaver is wrongfully accused of theft, he becomes a virtual hermit until his own fortune is stolen and an orphaned child is found on his doorstep.

Silas Marner

1985

The Secret Policeman's Other Ball poster
6.3

Following the success of the 1979 show and the financial benefits accruing to Amnesty from the spin-off movie, TV special and record albums – Cleese, Lewis and Walker planned the next show to be a more spectacular event. Cleese focused on broadening the comedic talent to be presented at the show. In addition to the Amnesty show stalwarts drawn from the Oxbridge/Monty Python/Beyond The Fringe orbit, he invited newcomers such as Rowan Atkinson’s colleagues from the BBC TV show Not the Nine O'Clock News including Pamela Stephenson and Griff Rhys Jones; comedian Victoria Wood and regional comic Jasper Carrott. Lewis secured a return appearance by Billy Connolly and a debut appearance by "alternative" comedian Alexei Sayle who Lewis had recently discovered and was managing. Building on the success of Pete Townshend's 1979 appearance Lewis recruited other rock musicians to perform at the 1981 show including Sting, Phil Collins, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Donovan and Bob Geldof.

The Secret Policeman's Other Ball

1982

The McGuffin poster
6.5

Paul Hatcher has a habit of spying on the neighbors across the way, something that gets him into deep trouble. Hatcher is a movie critic, and for awhile it looks like his main problem is keeping reality and the silver screen separate. But then a double murder occurs across the street after some mobsters cannot find an incriminating negative. After Hatcher discovers where the negative is hidden, he is bumped to the top on the assassins' hit list.

The McGuffin

1986

Soft Targets poster
10.0

Stephen Poliakoff's parody of the spy-thriller genre. A Russian diplomat becomes convinced that he is at the centre of a Foreign Office plot.

Soft Targets

1982

Teams from Hell poster
NR

John Cleese training video about teams.

Teams from Hell

1989

Private Enterprise poster
NR

Whilst delivering toilet rolls to a recording studio, small-time crook Keith pockets a demo tape by the newly disbanded group Toy Department, which he takes to a promoter, Brian. Together they have a chart hit with the 'mystery' group but complications arise when Brian wants a live tour.

Private Enterprise

1986

The Secret Policeman’s Biggest Ball poster
7.7

After the criticisms of the 1987 show’s disproportionate focus on music - and the financial disaster of its music-only Festival Of Youth weekend concert in 1988, Amnesty returned to the original formula that had been so successful in the 1976-1981 era with a primary focus on comedy. Pat Duffy was dropped from organising any further benefit events for Amnesty and for the 1989 show, Amnesty hired producer Judith Holder.

The Secret Policeman’s Biggest Ball

1989

Of Muppets & Men poster
6.6

Documentary about the work of puppeteer Jim Henson and his team in creating The Muppet Show.

Of Muppets & Men

1981

1970s · 5 titles

Series credits

Have I Got News for You poster
7.1

Hilarious, totally-irreverent, near-slanderous political quiz show, based mainly on news stories from the last week or so, that leaves no party, personality or action unscathed in pursuit of laughs.

Have I Got News for You

1990

Have I Got News for You poster
7.1

Hilarious, totally-irreverent, near-slanderous political quiz show, based mainly on news stories from the last week or so, that leaves no party, personality or action unscathed in pursuit of laughs.

Have I Got News for You

1990

The Comic Strip Presents... poster
7.4

The Comic Strip is a group of British comedians, who do parodies of films, literature and sometimes major events.

The Comic Strip Presents...

1982

The Muppet Show poster
8.0

Go behind the curtains as Kermit the Frog and his muppet friends struggle to put on a weekly variety show.

The Muppet Show

1976

Whose Line Is It Anyway? poster
7.7

An un-scripted comedy show in which four guest performers improvise their way through a series of games, many of which rely on audience suggestions.

Whose Line Is It Anyway?

1988

Murder Most Horrid poster
6.9

Comedienne Dawn French tackles dark, tongue-in-cheek thrillers as her various characters embark on a different mystery every episode. In one way or another, she is involved with murder — either committing the crime or even getting bumped off herself!

Murder Most Horrid

1991

The Thick of It poster
8.1

Set in the corridors of power and spin, the Minister for Social Affairs is continually harassed by Number 10's policy enforcer and dependent on his not-so-reliable team of civil servants.

The Thick of It

2005

Not the Nine O'Clock News poster
7.3

Classic sketch comedy show satirising the news and culture of the late 70s and early 80s which introduced Rowan Atkinson, Mel Smith, Griff Rhys Jones and Pamela Stephenson.

Not the Nine O'Clock News

1979

The Jim Henson Hour poster
9.0

An hour-long anthology series hosted by Jim Henson and generally included two segments. The first, MuppeTelevision, features comedy skits starring the Muppets, as well as frequent guest appearances by popular entertainers. The second often rebroadcasts original productions, primarily The StoryTeller.

The Jim Henson Hour

1989

The Jim Henson Hour poster
9.0

An hour-long anthology series hosted by Jim Henson and generally included two segments. The first, MuppeTelevision, features comedy skits starring the Muppets, as well as frequent guest appearances by popular entertainers. The second often rebroadcasts original productions, primarily The StoryTeller.

The Jim Henson Hour

1989

Alas Smith and Jones poster
7.3

A British comedy sketch television series featuring Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones that ran on BBC One and BBC Two from 31 January 1984 to 14 October 1998. From series 5 in 1989 the 'Alas' title was dropped and became simply Smith and Jones.

Alas Smith and Jones

1984

Bottom poster
7.9

Richie Richard (socially awkward, sexually inexperienced) and Eddie Hitler (carefree alcoholic ) are two social outcasts living on the dole. Trapped together in a squalid flat in Hammersmith, London they are perpetually skint, bored and sexually frustrated. They spend their days scheming, bickering, and being nasty and sadistic to each other.

Bottom

1991

The Secret Policeman's Ball poster
5.0

A series of benefit shows staged initially in the United Kingdom to raise funds for the human rights organisation Amnesty International. The shows started in 1976 featuring popular British comedians but later included leading musicians and actors. The Secret Policeman's Ball shows are credited by many prominent entertainers with having galvanised them to become involved with Amnesty and other social and political causes in succeeding years.

The Secret Policeman's Ball

1976

The Worst Week of My Life poster
8.2

Mel and Howard's wedding is one week away. Howard experiences a series of humiliating disasters in the week leading up to the ceremony.

The Worst Week of My Life

2004

Gimme Gimme Gimme poster
7.1

Linda La Hughes shares a flat with Tom Farrell. Linda is overweight, loudmouthed and not particularly attractive. She thinks she's gorgeous and irrestible, however. She's also sex mad and obsessed with men. Tom is an aspiring actor. He's got an agent, but finds it difficult to get parts. He doesn't like Linda much, in spite of (or perhaps because of) the fact that they share a flat. She isn't completely comfortable with his homosexuality, perhaps because she finds it difficult to live with a man who doesn't find her sexually attractive.

Gimme Gimme Gimme

1999

People Like Us poster
8.2

People Like Us was a British radio and TV comedy programme, a spoof on-location documentary written by John Morton, and starring Chris Langham as Roy Mallard, an inept interviewer. Originally a radio show for BBC Radio 4 in three series from 1995 to 1997, it was made into a television series for BBC Two that aired from September 1999 to June 2000.

People Like Us

1999

Kiss Me Kate poster
7.8

A look into the everyday life of a counsellor, Kate, who must not only manage her clients' problems, but must also help her neighbours and unsuccessful business partner, Douglas.

Kiss Me Kate

1998

Chelmsford 123 poster
7.4

Chelmsford, Britain in the year AD 123; there is a power struggle between Roman governor Aulus Paulinus and the British chieftain, Badvoc. Britain is a miserable place, cold and wet – just the place to exile Aulus for accidentally insulting the Emperor's horse, but also give him something useful to do. Aulus, probably a play on Aulus Platorius Nepos, the governor of Roman Britain between 122 and 125, was a rather delicate Roman, who was usually outwitted by the scheming Badvoc, who hadn't had a haircut for twenty-five years.

Chelmsford 123

1988

Happy Families poster
7.2

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. It starred Jennifer Saunders as Granny Fuddle, Dawn French as the Cook and Adrian Edmondson as her imbecilic grandson Guy. The plot centred around Guy's attempts to find his four sisters - also played by Saunders, for a family reunion.

Happy Families

1985

Shrink Rap poster
7.0

Actress and writer Pamela Stephenson is now a successful therapist – Dr Pamela Connolly – with a private practice in Los Angeles. She draws upon her professional training when interviewing A-list celebrities.

Shrink Rap

2007

No artwork available
NR

A satirical comedy-drama exploring the absurdities of modern life, politics, and society through a series of sketches and parodies.

Look at the State We're In!

1995

No artwork available
10.0

London is a 2004 three-part BBC history documentary series about the history of London, presented by Peter Ackroyd.

London

2004

No artwork available
4.2

Margi Clarke presented the show which was broadcast on late nights on ITV. The show ran for three series. The Good Sex Guide which gained unheard-of audience figures of 13 million for a show that aired at 10.35pm. She was rewarded with a win at the RTS Awards for "Best Female Presenter" in 1994. A second series was equally successful, and a third, The Good Sex Guide Abroad, soon followed. Clarke turned down an offer to take the series into a late night chat show format, the host eventually being Toyah Wilcox.

The Good Sex Guide

1993

Help poster
5.4

Help is a BBC television comedy series first screened on BBC Two in 2005. Written by and starring Paul Whitehouse and Chris Langham, it concerns a psychotherapist and his therapy sessions with a variety of patients almost all played by Whitehouse.

Help

2005

The Gaffer poster
7.1

The Gaffer is an ITV situation comedy series of the early 1980s starring Bill Maynard and written by businessman Graham White. 20 episodes were shown between 1981 and 1983. It was made for the ITV network by Yorkshire Television

The Gaffer

1981

Behind the camera

Muppet Treasures poster
7.2

Fozzie and Kermit have come across a priceless collection of great moments in the career of the Muppets. This collection features many Muppet TV segments, including episodes of "Pigs in Space," and "Veterinarian's Hospital."

Muppet Treasures

1985

Gonzo Presents Muppet Weird Stuff poster
8.5

Gonzo hosts this collection of some of the weirdest moments from The Muppet Show at his trailer home, assisted by Camilia and visited by Kermit The Frog.

Gonzo Presents Muppet Weird Stuff

1985

The Muppets Go to the Movies poster
7.0

In this one-hour special taped between March 9-17, 1981, Lily Tomlin and Dudley Moore join the Muppets in a tribute to film classics. Kermit the Frog hosts the program, which begins with an all-cast rendition of "Hey a Movie!" from The Great Muppet Caper.

The Muppets Go to the Movies

1981

The Very Best of the Muppet Show poster
7.0

Play the music! Light the lights! The Best of the Muppet Show is now available on DVD--and what a show it is! All non-human life is here in a muppet-fest of music and comedy: from pigs in space to talking rats, singing chickens to a chocolate "moose". The initial 50-minute feature has all the best bits from this inspirational, celebrational 1970s show including Kermit's sensitive rendering of "It's Not Easy Being Green" and Miss Piggy's less sensitive take on Wonder Woman.

The Very Best of the Muppet Show

1999

The Art of Football from A to Z poster
4.8

Funnyman John Cleese leads viewers through an exhaustive -- and hilarious -- tour of the world of soccer, complete with the sport's most memorable goals, kicks, saves, goofs and penalties. Also included are reflections on soccer's impact on culture, including the Monty Python sketch "Philosophy Football," and interviews with celebrities Dave Stewart, Dennis Hopper and Henry Kissinger, as well as soccer icons Pelé, Mia Hamm and Thierry Henry.

The Art of Football from A to Z

2006

The Very Best of the Muppet Show: Volume 3 poster
NR

This third edition of 'The Very Best of the Muppet Show' is a collection of three Muppet Show episodes. In the 'Linda Carter Episode', Wonder Woman inspires Fozzie, Scooter and other cast members to become apprentice heroes. In the 'Diana Ross Episode', the soul diva helps Kermit win over a tough crowd, shows Fozzie how to tell a joke and performs 'Love Hangover' and 'Reach Out and Touch'. Finally in the 'Johnny Cash Episode', the country singer joins Kermit and friends for a live radio show on Muppet station WHOG and sings some favourites like 'Orange Blossom Special' and 'Ghost Riders in the Sky'.

The Very Best of the Muppet Show: Volume 3

2001

The Very Best of the Muppet Show: Volume 2 poster
6.7

Highlights from the sensational, muppetational seventies series. Kermit the Frog hosts a selection of top clips, including episodes of the classic sci-fi saga 'Pigs in Space' and surgical soap 'Veterinarian's Hospital'.

The Very Best of the Muppet Show: Volume 2

1999

Call from Space poster
8.5

A movie director and his wanna-be actor/eccentric inventor nephew are filming a low-budget sci-fi movie. Things get interesting when the nephews' bizarro invention starts bringing visitors from other times, including Napoleon, Archimedes, and people from the future and cavemen from the past. Just when they are filming what they are convinced will be one of the greatest movies ever, the same machine sends an alien visitor to their set. Also includes a last-minute cameo from James Coburn, as the infuriated head of the studio.

Call from Space

1989

Sardines poster
NR

Davy Kotowski is a petty officer aboard submarine HMS Wolverine. Following a rigged arm-wrestling contest, half the crew are in slings. Kotowski is then brought before the Captain, Alec McCleod for the ninth time. He is sentenced to denial of shore leave and 20 hours laundry duty, most of which he delegates to his bunkmate Chris Cheese. Kotowski then plots his revenge on Lionel Pinner and Cheese ends up having a £100 grudge darts match with Pinner on Kotowski's behalf. Meanwhile McCleod's watch has gone missing.

Sardines

1995