Reputations: Frankie Howerd. Frankie Howerd. Copyright: BBC
Reputations: Frankie Howerd

Reputations: Frankie Howerd

  • TV documentary
  • BBC Two
  • 2002
  • 1 episode

Profile of much-loved comic Frankie Howerd. Features Eric Sykes, Alan Simpson, Graham McCann, Tom Dwyer, Bill Lyon-Shaw and more.

Key details

Genre
Documentary
Broadcast
2002
Channel
BBC Two
Episodes
1
Features
Eric Sykes, Alan Simpson, Graham McCann, Tom Dwyer, Bill Lyon-Shaw, Ian Carmichael, Jeanne Mockford, Kerry Gardner and more
Directors
David F Turnbull
Producers
Jenny Abbott and David F Turnbull
Company

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.

Additional details

Production
Studio
Picture
Colour

Website links

Broadcast details

First broadcast
Saturday 15th June 2002 at 9:10pm on BBC Two
Episode length
55 minutes
All previous repeats
  • Monday 11th March 2013 at 9:00pm on BBC4
  • Sunday 12th August 2012 at 8:05pm on BBC4

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