Imagine: Lenny Henry: Young, Gifted and Black – BBC1

Lenny Henry and Alan Yentob Imagine: Lenny Henry: Young, Gifted and Black

Programme Name: imagine...Lenny Henry - TX: n/a - Episode: Imagine - Lenny Henry (No. n/a) - Picture Shows: Lenny Henry, Alan Yentob - (C) BBC - Photographer: Loriam Reed-Drake (Image credit: BBC/Loriam Reed-Drake)

Alan Yentob helps Sir Lenny Henry look back at his life and career in Imagine: Lenny Henry: Young, Gifted and Black on BBC1

Following the release of his highly praised autobiography, Who Am I Again?, Lenny Henry chats to Alan Yentob (both pictured above) about his early life and dramatic rise to fame aged just 16 after his appearance on TV talent show New Faces in Imagine: Lenny Henry: Young, Gifted and Black on BBC1.

He meets up with some of his closest friends, family and colleagues, and looks back at his early roles on Tiswas and sketch show Three of a Kind.

A young Lenny early on in his career, as seen in in Imagine: Lenny Henry: Young, Gifted and Black on BBC1

He discusses how the industry has changed since the late 1970s and about his career now, especially the joy he’s found working as a serious actor on stage and screen.

He also talks about the importance of his campaigning to ensure the entertainment industry embraces diversity.

This will be shown in Scotland at midnight.

For full Christmas and New Year listings, see our TV Guide.

TV Times rating: ****

Joanne Lowles has been writing about TV since 2002. After graduating from Cardiff University with a Postgraduate Diploma in Magazine Journalism, she worked for All About Soap magazine covering the ups and downs of life on the cobbles, the square and the Dales.

Next came nearly 10 years at TV Times magazine as a writer and then deputy features editor. Here she spent many happy days interviewing the biggest names in entertainment and visiting the sets of some of our most popular shows including Downton Abbey, Call the Midwife and Strictly Come Dancing.

With a love of nature and wildlife she’s also interviewed the leading experts in this area including David Attenborough, Chris Packham and Steve Backshall. She’s also travelled the world visiting Mongolia, Canada and South Africa to see how the best in the business make the most brilliant natural history documentaries.

Freelance since 2013, she is now is a digital writer and editor for What to Watch, previews the best on the box for TV Times mag each week and loves being constantly surprised, entertained and informed by the amazing TV that she is lucky enough to watch.