Reputations: Frankie Howerd

A profile of the comedian whose life was marred by depression, financial worries and sexual insecurities.

Thanks to his role as Lurcio in Up Pompeii!, Frankie Howerd became one of Britain's most popular and distinctive comedians. But behind the titters there were secrets - things he was desperate to keep from the public, and truths so painful he tried to keep them even from himself.

The programme explores Howerd's turbulent life from his early days in South London and his efforts at serious acting through his radio stardom in the 1950s to his TV triumphs of the 60s and 70s. His closest friends and colleagues talk about his depression, his money troubles and his complex and hidden sex life. And we hear for the first time about his LSD-assisted psychotherapy and the shocking experiences it uncovered.

With contributions from Howerd's biographer Graham McCann, army colleague Tom Dwyer, agent Beryl Vertue (between 1961 and 1976), Eric Sykes, Alan Simpson, Jonathan Ross, producer Bill Lyon-Shaw, Ian Carmichael, Jeanne Mockford, Kerry Gardner, Griff Rhys Jones, Ned Sherrin, John Howard Davies, David Croft, Paul Smith, and Trevor McCallum.