The Thick of It Star Chris Langham dies aged 77 after career destroyed by child abuse images conviction
The award-winning British comedy actor died from pancreatic cancer after spending his later years largely outside mainstream television following his conviction.
Chris Langham, the award-winning actor and writer whose acclaimed performance in The Thick of It was followed by a child sexual abuse material conviction that effectively ended his mainstream career, has died aged 77.
The comedy star died from pancreatic cancer on June 24, according to an obituary published by The Times, with news of his death emerging on Thursday (03.09.26), more than two months after his passing.
Chris was best known for playing hapless government minister Hugh Abbott in the first two series of the BBC political satire The Thick of It, as well as starring alongside Paul Whitehouse in the comedy Help.
Chris’ career collapsed after his arrest in 2005 and subsequent conviction in 2007 on 15 counts of making indecent photographs of children after child sexual abuse material was discovered on his computers.
He was initially sentenced to 10 months in prison at Maidstone Crown Court.
The court heard one victim was about eight years old, while others were aged between 11 and 13.
Chris maintained during his trial he had viewed the material while researching a character for Help and while trying to understand sexual abuse he had suffered himself as a child.
His sentence was subsequently reduced from 10 months to six months by the Court of Appeal in London.
His conviction brought an abrupt end to a career that had reached one of its highest points with The Thick of It.
Chris played Hugh, an accident-prone government minister struggling with political crises and the brutal pressures of Westminster.
The Armando Iannucci-created series became one of the BBC’s most celebrated political comedies and subsequently spawned the film In the Loop.
Chris was removed from The Thick of It following his arrest, with Hugh disappearing from the programme before its third series.
He had received major recognition for the role, including the British Comedy Award for best television comedy actor in 2005 and a Bafta for best comedy performance in 2006.
His work stretched considerably further back.
He wrote for The Muppet Show, appeared in Monty Python’s Life of Brian and became a writer and performer on Not the Nine O’Clock News.
Chris also wrote for the political satire Bremner, Bird and Fortune.
He attempted to return to acting following his release from prison but never regained his previous mainstream television career.
Speaking to The Guardian in 2011 about his actions, Chris acknowledged he knew viewing the material was outlawed.
He said he was wrong to think he was “above the law because I’m an artist”.
Explaining what he had believed would happen after his research, he added: “I thought after (Help) I’ll reveal I’d researched it, and people would say gosh, you’ve taken this really difficult subject and done something amazing. I’ll do this thing, and everyone will think I’m wonderful. I thought if I pulled it off, everyone would admire me. And I’m a slut for approval.”
His later screen work was largely confined to smaller independent productions, with The Independent reporting his final screen project was released in 2020.
Chris is survived by his wife Chrissie and his five children, including Emily and James, his two children with Chrissie, and three children from his previous marriage to Sue Jones-Davies.
