The actor and writer Chris Langham, who has died of pancreatic cancer aged 77, starred as the inept government minister Hugh Abbot in The Thick of It, the BBC television political satire created by Armando Iannucci. During its first two series, he was at the centre of chaos as the secretary of state in the fictional Department of Social Affairs, finding himself outmanoeuvred by his own political advisers and civil servants.
“Chris Langham is a master at acting the guy missing the point, out of his depth and striving to keep his head above water while sharks nibble his nether regions,” wrote the Sunday Times in 2005.
