Story by Holly Bishop
Chris Langham, best known for his role in The Thick of It and Help, has died at the age of 77.
The actor, whose career ended when he was jailed for child sex offences in 2006, has died of pancreatic cancer.
The 77-year-old died on June 24, 2026, The Times has confirmed via an obituary.
He is survived by his second wife, Chrissie and their two children, Emily and James, as well as his three children he shared with first wife Sue Jones-Davies.
Langham played unlucky government minister Hugh Abbott in the first two series of the hit BBC sitcom. In 2005, he was named comedy actor of the year at the British Comedy Awards.
However, just two days later, it was revealed that Langham had been arrested for downloading indecent images of children on the internet two weeks earlier.
He was subsequently charged with 15 counts of downloading indecent images of children, including clips that showed the rape of a teenager and the sexual abuse of an eight-year-old.
Chris Langham poses in the Awards Room with the Comedy Performance Award for his role in ‘The Thick Of It’ (Getty)
Langham was sentenced to ten months in jail and was ordered to be placed on the sexual offenders register for a decade.
His sentence was later reduced to six months on appeal, partially motivated by the actor’s claim that he had viewed the imagery for research purposes for a role.
Some of the videos and photographs found on Langham’s computer contained images of sadism and non-consensual sex between adults and children, the Crown Prosecution Service said.
Outside the court, Kent Police’s Detective Inspector Derek Cuff, of Kent police, said: “Viewing such images simply perpetuates child abuse. Our thoughts are with all victims of child abuse, which has such a devastating effect on young people’s lives.”
The Thick of It cast (Getty)
Following his arrest, Langham was dropped from The Thick of It, with his character written out off-screen between seasons two and three.
This is a breaking news story and is being updated…
