Jack Whitehall

Jack Whitehall was born to play Paul Pennyfeather in this Evelyn Waugh adaptation. In a lively opener, Pennyfeather is expelled from Oxford for "running the length of the quadrangle without his trousers" so is forced to take a job as a teacher in Wales. There he meets a kidnapper (Stephen Graham) and headmaster Dr Fagan (David Suchet). Life gets more interesting when his eyes meet those of wealthy widow Margot (Eva Longoria) over a foie gras sandwich. What larks.

Preview: Decline and Fall

Famed for his posh boy humour in Fresh Meat and Bad Education, will Whitehall shine to a new role in which he must become less upfront and more of a push over?

TV preview: Decline And Fall, BBC1

Well we've gone back to the 1970s this week, we might as well go the whole hog and go back to the 1920s with this three-part television adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's classic novel. And talking of hogs, we've barely been a minute into the action when the chumps from Oxford's riotous Bollinger Club have lobbed a pig's head out of the window into the quad.

Decline and Fall's Jack Whitehall interview

The stand-up and comic actor stars in the first ever screen adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's comedy classic Decline And Fall which has been scripted by Rev creator James Wood.

Oh! What a lovely Waugh!

Razor-sharp wit, a wickedly entertaining plot - and a stellar cast including David Suchet, Eva Longoria and Jack Whitehall. The Daily Mail raises a glass to the BBC's sparkling new adaptation of the Brideshead author's satire on Champagne-swilling society.

Jack Whitehall on comedy meritocracy, growing up posh

He has found that a sense of emptiness generally follows the buzz of being on stage each night, bringing the chance to reflect on the more embarrassing moments.

Jack Whitehall on 'Decline and Fall'

Jack Whitehall had hoped that his period drama debut might start with something a bit more distinguished than this. But no, in the very first sequence of BBC1's Decline and Fall, his character, the hapless theology student Paul Pennyfeather, is stripped of all his clothes by marauding members of the Bollinger Club.

Jack Whitehall interview

"The idea that I got to where I am because of my dad is the one that hurts the most."

Jack Whitehall interview

"In the early days I knew I was funny, but I just couldn't work out who I was. I was trying everything. I started doing routines in a really thick cockney accent. No idea why. I dressed as a rapper. I wore eye liner at one point. I was all over the place."