Humphrey Barclay

"Humphrey cant be left to do it on his own. Its not enough for the industry to say: "Of course, were doing out bit for racial equality — weve got Humphrey Barclay, havent we?"

"It seems we make sitcoms work by luck rather than design. [The American method] They fund a sitcom expensively right up front because they know if they get it right itll make everybodys fortune."

"[On pitching ideas to programme commissioners] When I am turned down, my first thought may be that the person concerned is an idiot. But perhaps he isnt. Perhaps what I am offering has simply got to be better."

"I feel there is terrible prejudice [...] I think its to do with laziness and preconceptions principally laziness and fear on the part of the establishment. I have a reasonably wide knowledge of the black talent available on paper and on stage and am constantly amazed by it. I have a feeling that people in the seats of power in television entertainment dont know about it because they havent bothered to explore it."