''Lenny Henry in Pieces'' is a British

stand-up Stand-up comedy is a comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of one-liners, stories, ...

and sketch show by comedians

Lenny Henry Sir Lenworth George Henry (born 29 August 1958) is a British actor, comedian, singer, television presenter and writer. Henry gained success as a stand-up comedian and impressionist in the late 1970s and early 1980s, culminating in '' The Le ...

and

Gina Yashere Regina Obedapo "Gina" Iyashere is a British comedian who has made many appearances on British and American television. Early life Yashere was born and raised in Bethnal Green London to Nigerian parents. Before becoming a comedian, she worked ...

. It aired on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

between 2000 and 2003. The show began with two

Christmas special Christmas themes have long been an inspiration to artists and writers. A prominent aspect of Christian media, the topic first appeared in in literature and Christmas music. Filmmakers have picked up on this wealth of material, with both adaptatio ...

s in 2000 and 2001. The 2000 show won the

Golden Rose of Montreux The Rose d'Or ('Golden Rose') is an international awards festival in entertainment broadcasting and programming. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) first acquired the Rose d’Or in 1961, when it was created by Swiss Television in the lakes ...

award. This was followed up by a six-part series in March 2002. A second and final series consisting of seven episodes began in March 2003. It was followed by ''

The Lenny Henry Show ''The Lenny Henry Show'' is a comedy sketch show (and in its 1987–1988 incarnation, a sitcom) featuring Lenny Henry. It was originally broadcast between 1984 and 1988, and was later revived twice, in 1995 and 2004–2005. History Original vers ...

'' (2004), which also featured sketches. The primary feature of the show is the sketches, although Henry has a brief stand-up section in each episode.

Characters

''Lenny Henry in Pieces'' introduced many new characters, the more notable examples being Donovan Bogarde, a randy OAP who is attracted to and pursues Mrs Johnson. He uses a series of sexual

innuendo An innuendo is a hint, insinuation or intimation about a person or thing, especially of a denigrating or derogatory nature. It can also be a remark or question, typically disparaging (also called insinuation), that works obliquely by allusion ...

s in each sentence. Gloria is a petrol station cashier who spends her time reading cheap novels, and is annoyed whenever someone requires service. Big Tramp is a homeless man who tries to get money out of people by any means necessary. Weekend Dad is a man called Clive, who only gets to see his son Curtis on the weekend, and is still bitter about it towards his estranged wife. Unsuitable Bloke applies for jobs he is unqualified for and has no hope of getting. He believes the only reason for his rejection is because he's a black man, so he ends up getting the job anyway. Uncle Lucas, a friendly pensioner who is everyone's friend, but has a seemingly endless supply of compromising stories about people's childhoods (though he believes them innocent enough), which leads to (among other things), a politician getting run out of town; a high-ranking policeman being arrested for kidnap; a respected judge being exposed as a former teenage prostitute; an undercover detective being executed by a drugs baron; and an illustrious psychologist being driven to insanity. There is also Didi le Gateau, a French footballer. At the end shows Lenny with a partner (

Omid Djalili Omid Djalili ( fa, امید جلیلی; born 30 September 1965) is a British actor, comedian and writer. Early life and education Djalili was born on 30 September 1965 in Chelsea, London, to Iranian Baháʼí parents. He attended Holland Park ...

) trying to be absolutely discreet to avoid certain death (often being shot) until Omid farts and Lenny bursts into peals of laughter (often trying to muffle in between laughs by putting a garment in his mouth) and they end up dead anyway. An example of this is when Lenny and Omid are P.O.W.s doing the Great Escape under the noses of the Nazis while a curfew is going on. The second series introduced new characters including Blaxploitation

Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

, who is Lucius T. Kool III, a ghetto brother and leader of the Catholic Church; President Umbukele, who is an expert in diplomacy and acquiring foreign aid, but then spends it all on silly things; bad influence Granddad; and a family of animated polar bears with

Brummie The Brummie dialect, or more formally the Birmingham dialect, is spoken by many people in Birmingham, England, and some of its surrounding areas. "Brummie" is also a demonym for people from Birmingham. It is often erroneously used in referring to ...

accents, who live at

Dudley Zoo Dudley Zoological Gardens is a zoo located within the grounds of Dudley Castle in the town of Dudley, in the Black Country region of the West Midlands, England. The Zoo opened to the public on 18 May 1937. It contains 12 modernist animal encl ...

Transmissions

Series

Specials

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, id=0272697, title=Lenny Henry in Pieces 2000 British television series debuts 2003 British television series endings 2000s British comedy television series BBC television sketch shows Television series produced at Pinewood Studios Television series by Endemol Television series by Tiger Aspect Productions English-language television shows