Lenny Henry

Lenny Henry's long road to a PhD

There can't be many academic careers that have been inspired by a Cannon and Ball seaside show.

Lenny Henry telly swear row

Lenny Henry sparked a storm of protest yesterday - by saying 'b*******' three times live on Channel 4.

Dawn French & Lenny Henry attend comedy event together

Separated spouses Dawn French, 52, and Lenny Henry, 51, arrived at the Great British Comedy Event together where Dawn was being honoured for her partnership with Jennifer Saunders.

Lenny Henry and Omid Djalili plan stage return

Comedians Lenny Henry and Omid Djalili are both planning returns to the West End stage following their respective theatre debuts last year.

Divorced Dawn French & Lenny Henry return from holiday

Dawn French and Lenny Henry cheerfully return from holiday together despite their divorce.

The phrase "celebrity roast" sounds like either an inspired idea for a bonfire, a romantic date with a footballer and his friends or some nightmare series, no doubt soon to be commissioned, in which minor soap stars share their favourite recipes. In fact, it refers to the practice whereby a group of comedians takes turns putting down a well-known entertainer as well as each other.

That's what the roast became in America, where it was popularised by Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. Last week, we got the British version, A Comedy Roast (C4), in honour of, respectively, Bruce Forsyth, Sharon Osbourne and Chris Tarrant. For reasons of national morale, it doesn't do to dwell on the difference between those two sets of names.

However, the thinking appears to be that what the show lacks in personalities, it can make up for in vulgarities. Sometimes, that tactic worked under the caustic stewardship of Jimmy Carr, who looked as demonically thrilled as a class clown given permission to swear at his teachers. Carr was responsible for most of the moments of comedy that produced not a laugh, but a gasp, including a joke about Tiswas being the second biggest thing that Lenny Henry had ever been in.

More often, the coarseness was cover for an overreliance on the autocue. As much as he sometimes struggled with reading lines, Dean Martin was never known to resort to the c-word on US TV and nor, come to that, did anyone ever accuse Sinatra of mistaking breast milk for "man gravy". A dry roast this wasn't.

Yet the biggest failing was that no matter how crude the insults served by Jonathan Ross, Jack Dee and a variety of comedians, no one, including the guest of honour, had heard of, none could match the flame-grilled indignity of taking part in the show. A roast that was all sauce and nothing to savour.

Dawn and Lenny: Just good friends - or just good actors?

The 'amicable' split to which Dawn French and Lenny Henry aspire is more common than we might imagine.

The woman who stayed in a hotel room with Lenny Henry

The woman who stayed in a hotel room with comedian 11 years ago breaks silence on Lenny Henry and Dawn French divorce.

The REAL reason it's all over for Lenny and Dawn

Dawn French's biographer reveals the truth behind the split between French and Lenny Henry.