Lenny Henry's Race Through Comedy
- TV documentary
- Gold
- 2019
- 3 episodes (1 series)
Documentary exploring British comedy representing various diverse races and cultures. Features Lenny Henry, Robert Beckford, Trevor Phillips, Michael Grade, Ayesha Hazarika and more.
Press clippings
Lenny Henry's Race Through Comedy review
Henry revisits half a century of multicultural sitcoms, from the good to the bad and the truly stomach-churning.
The Guardian, 16th October 2019TV review: Lenny Henry's Race Through Comedy - Sitcoms
Lenny Henry is definitely the best person to front this examination of race in television comedy.
Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 16th October 2019Lenny Henry has experienced the marginalised and often-forgotten role of people of colour throughout his lengthy career. In this series, he examines Britain's history of multicultural comedy, beginning with sitcoms. Taking aim at Spike Milligan's deeply offensive 1969 blackface show Curry & Chips, Henry goes on to show how representation slowly increased to include his own show The Fosters before ending with Michaela Coel's recent hit, Chewing Gum.
Ammar Kalia, The Guardian, 15th October 2019Lenny Henry's Race Through Comedy review
Despite a small handful of high-profile exceptions, black and Asian characters tend to be under-represented in TV comedy. But this fascinating new series demonstrates just how far we've come in a generation, while also giving an insight into Britain's social history as reflected through the screen.
Steve Bennett, Chortle, 15th October 2019Lenny Henry's Race Through Comedy review
A flabbergasting look at our cultural climate 50 years ago.
Adam Sweeting, i Newspaper, 15th October 2019Lenny Henry's Race Through Comedy review
An illuminating account of TV's struggle to become multicultural.
Adam Sweeting, The Arts Desk, 15th October 2019Lenny Henry to front Gold series about comedy and race
Gold has commissioned a three-part series about different races and cultures in British comedy, to be presented by Sir Lenny Henry.
British Comedy Guide, 1st July 2019