Letter: Benjamin Whitrow in After Henry

Benjamin Whitrow as Mr Bennet with his screen family in the BBC’s Pride And Predjudice.
Benjamin Whitrow as Mr Bennet with his screen family in the BBC’s Pride And Predjudice. Photograph: Forster/ANL/Rex/Shutterstock

In addition to his stage, TV and film work, Benjamin Whitrow made a significant contribution to the popular BBC Radio 4 sitcom After Henry, written by Simon Brett. Running for 34 episodes between 1984 and 1989, it starred Prunella Scales as Sarah, a widow facing life after the sudden death of her husband, Henry. Whitrow played Russell, the gay owner of the secondhand bookshop where Sarah works. He proves to be a sympathetic and wise friend as he listens to Sarah’s accounts of her problems with her mother and her daughter, who both live in the family home. The series has recently resurfaced on Radio 4 Extra.