People Like Chris Langham

I'm deeply saddened by the case against Chris Langham and its outcome. I have been a fan of this talented actor, comedian and writer for many years. His was a face than would often crop up in comedy shows and his deadpan demeanour stole many a scene from under the noses of the stars of those shows. He was brilliant in People Like Us (as the incompetent off-screen interviewer Roy Mallard), Help (with Paul Whitehouse) and, most recently, The Thick Of It.

Although acquitted of sexual abuse charges he was found guilty of making indecent images of of children being sexually abused. The argument that he bought and downloaded these images for "research" is disingenuous as is the notion that only looking at such images doesn't hurt anyone. If you purchase images of children being raped then you are complicit in the act by virtue of rewarding the abuser's efforts and providing the demand for such material. The purchasing of such images is illegal and Langham was well aware of that; having been found guilty he deserves to be punished.

Despite this, I won't be joining the "let the pervert rot in prison forever" brigade. In situations like this it is all too easy to succumb to simplistic knee-jerk moral indignation. I don't believe Langham to be bad person, a monster who gets his kicks from watching child porn but rather a man with long standing mental problems and a history of substance abuse who needs help.

Langham claims to have been abused as a child and an experience like that stays with you forever. You may eventually learn to cope with it and lead a "normal" life or it may overwhelm you entirely and drive you to insanity or suicide; or you may become obsessed with trying to understand how anybody could do such an horrific thing. That desire to understand may be what led Langham to buy those images of child abuse, to try and get inside the head of his abuser, to confront the memory and work out why it happened to him.

While this may explain his actions it does not excuse them. He crossed a line that he knew he should not have crossed and he will have to face the consequences. I only hope that he is given the help he needs and not simply left to rot.

Having said all that, I wonder at my ability to disassociate the art from the artist. Despite empathising with Langham, will I ever be able to watch People Like Us or those early episodes of The Thick Of It again without feeling slightly queasy? It's sad to think that all his great work will now be tarnished in the eyes of many by what he has done.