Humphrey Barclay became Head of Comedy at LWT in 1977 and supervised various successful series including "No, Honestly", "A Fine Romance" (1981–84). In May 1980 he unveiled "Metal Mickey" as a show "with the appeal of "Star Wars", the Daleks and "Mork and Mindy"" Following criticism at the Edinburgh International Television Festival of what was seen as casual racism the LWT series "Mind Your Language" (1977–79; 1986), Barclay commissioned "No Problem!", transmitted by Channel 4 during 1983–85, the first original black-made sitcom for British TV (an earlier series featuring a black family, "The Fosters" (ITV, 1976–77), had been a remake of a
Norman Beaton He played the lead role of Willie Boy in the 1987 TV comedy "Playing Away" (directed by Horace Ové, from a screenplay by Caryl Phillips), about a West Indian cricket team invited to play a rural white team. Beaton also appeared in several movies, including "The Mighty Quinn" (1989). He appeared as a guest on "The Cosby Show" in 1991 (episode: "There's Still No Joy in Mudville"), and in the 1994 television serial "Little Napoleons". His autobiography, "Beaton But Unbowed", was published in 1986. After years of hard living began taking its toll on his health, in 1994 Beaton retired