As a teenager Stephen K Amos' family left London for Nigeria. There, for the first time, he saw television situation comedies, imported from America, about black families whose lives he recognised. Here were shows where the ethnicity of the lead characters was not central to the story or the punchline to a joke. One of his favourite shows was Sanford & Son and for his essay Stephen has chosen one particular episode and its star, Redd Foxx, who took the lead part of Sanford. As he came to know more about Foxx's life Stephen began to see the possibility of a life of his own in comedy.