Don Warrington Philip Smith in "Rising Damp", from 1974 to 1978, alongside Leonard Rossiter, Richard Beckinsale, and Frances de la Tour. Warrington also appeared as series regular in the crime drama "C.A.T.S. Eyes", as government contact Nigel Beaumont (1985–1987); in "Impact Earth" (2007) playing General Harris; and in "New Street Law" as Judge Ken Winyard. In 1993 Warrington played television reporter Graham Gaunt in "To Play The King", the second part of the BBC's "House of Cards" trilogy. He has had smaller roles in many programmes including "Red Dwarf", "Lovejoy", "Manchild", and "Diamond Geezer". Warrington portrayed the villainous founder of Time Lord
British African-Caribbean people (Rudolph Walker) and "Rising Damp" (Don Warrington) when their role was often to act simply as either the butt of, or foil to, racist jokes made by White characters. The most influential programme in moving away from this formula was the 1989–94 Channel Four barbershop sitcom "Desmond's", starring Norman Beaton and Carmen Munroe. One of the biggest African-Caribbean names in comedy is Lenny Henry, who began his career as a stand-up comedian but whose television sketch shows, where he often caricatured Caribbean émigrés, made him popular enough to headline numerous primetime comedy shows from, for instance, "Lenny Henry" in 1984