Langham attempts TV comeback

45-minute interview with Pamela Stephenson

Chris Langham is to attempt a TV comeback following his conviction for downloading child pornography, starting with a 45-minute interview.

The Thick Of It star will be interviewed by Pamela Stephenson on More4's Shrink Rap next week, talking about his crime, trial and jail sentence.

Langham worked with Stephenson on the first series of Not The Nine O'Clock News in 1979 – before he was dropped in favour of Griff Rhys Jones and she abandoned comedy to become a psychologist.

Langham will also talk of the sexual abuse he said he suffered as an eight-year-old. He mentioned the incident in mitigation at his trial.

In the programme, Stephenson, whose husband Billy Connolly also suffered childhood abuse, challenges Langham over whether he is telling the truth in their session, after he he tells her: 'I am a compulsive liar.'

A More4 spokesman said: 'Langham describes a painful past, speaking openly about the abuse he endured as a child, his addictions, his trial and subsequent imprisonment. Describing his reasoning behind the actions which led to his conviction, Langham reflects on what it feels like to be convicted of a crime considered "a worse taboo than murder".’

The programme is part of Langham's attempt at a public rehabilitation He has previously given an interview to Sky News, and another appears in The Observer today.

He said: ‘I'm absolutely clear that what I did was wrong. It never occurred to me that what I was doing was in any way offensive to other victims of sexual abuse. But it has been made clear to me that I have been, and I am sorry for that.

'I'm aware that it's selfish of me to talk about my own experiences, because what about those kids who were abused just by my looking at them?'

And he said of his interview with Stephenson, for which he received no fee ‘'I'm rather embarrassed by it now. I did it two days after my release and was very emotional.'