Norman Beaton in London's West End. In 1970 he played the role of Ariel in Shakespeare's "The Tempest", which he described in his autobiography as "the most important role of my acting career", and also played a small role in the Frankie Howerd comedy film "Up the Chastity Belt" the following year. In 1975, he helped to establish the Black Theatre of Brixton. In 1975 Beaton played Nanki-Poo in "The Black Mikado", a modern version of Gilbert and Sullivan's "The Mikado". In 1976, Beaton broke into television in the series "The Fosters", which also featured a young Lenny Henry, and the following
Richard Beckinsale spawned a film version. Soon after, he appeared in two of British TV's most successful sitcoms at the same time. On ITV, he was playing naive medical student Alan Moore in "Rising Damp" (voted ITV's best-ever sitcom in the "Britain's Best Sitcom" poll in 2004) while also starring alongside Ronnie Barker in the BBC sitcom "Porridge" as prison inmate Lennie Godber. He also appeared in the films "Rentadick" (1972) and "Three for All" (1975) and made appearances in several other television series such as the "ITV Playhouse" episode "Last Summer" in 1976. Shortly after his 30th birthday, Beckinsale was the