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Sean Lock (22 April 1963 – 16 August 2021) was an English comedian and actor. He began his comedy career as a stand-up comedy. In 2000, Lock won the British Comedy Award, in the category of Best Live Comic, and was nominated for the Perrier Comedy Award. He was a team captain on the Channel 4 comedy panel show 8 Out of 10 Cats from 2005 to 2015, and on 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown from 2012 until his death in 2021.
Lock frequently appeared on stage, television and radio. His routines were often surreal and delivered in a deadpan style. He also wrote material for Bill Bailey, Lee Evans and Mark Lamarr. Lock was voted the 55th-greatest stand-up comic on Channel 4's 100 Greatest Stand-Ups in 2007, and he was upgraded to 19th in the updated 2010 list. He was a frequent guest on other panel shows, including BBC's Have I Got News for You, QI and They Think It's All Over.
During Lock's teenage years, he watched art film on BBC Two, and named Andrei Tarkovsky's 1979 science-fiction film Stalker as one that affected him greatly. In 1981, he left education with a grade E in A-level English studies. Afterwards, his father got him a job stripping concrete panels off buildings. After spending seven years as a labourer, he travelled, taking on different jobs. For six weeks, he worked on a French farm as a goatherd and worked on a kibbutz in Israel. During this period, he also worked as a toilet cleaner and a Department of Health and Social Security office worker. During his work as a labourer, he developed skin cancer.
He then decided to pursue acting and enrolled at the Drama Centre London, though he soon realised he had made an error. He quit and returned to being a labourer. After Lock saw comedians like Alexei Sayle and Paul Merton performing in comedy clubs, he decided to pursue comedy. Throughout this time, he visited comedy shows in London pubs and started doing open-mic spots as a hobby. In 1988, Lock had his first official gig at a pub in Stoke Newington, London. After being paid £15 for his 20minutes, he realised he could pursue being a comedian as a career.
In 1999, 15 Minutes of Misery was expanded into the half-hour series 15 Storeys High, co-written by Lock and Martin Trenaman. From ostensibly the same tower block, Lock's character was now given a flatmate (the hapless Errol) and a job at the local swimming baths, as well as a somewhat dour and intolerant demeanour. The bugging device was no longer used, but the antics of Lock's neighbours still featured heavily in the show. The plots for this series were more linear in a "traditional" sitcom style, although they still showed Lock's brand of dark, surreal humour. 15 Storeys High would transfer to television after two radio series, with Lock's character renamed 'Vince', for a further two series in 2002 and 2004. Initially aired on BBC Choice, it follows a cynical Vince and his naive flatmate Errol (Benedict Wong). It attracted a cult following after its release as a VHS box set and on DVD.
In 2005, he became a regular team captain on the Channel 4 Panel show 8 Out of 10 Cats. In an article at the time of his death, The Guardian said Lock "will be best remembered as a team captain for the first 18 series of... 8 Out of 10 Cats... and he quickly emerged as its biggest star". He was a team captain on 8 Out of 10 Cats between 2005 and 2015, and on its spin-off 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown between 2012 and 2021.
In spring 2006, he hosted his own entertainment show on Channel 4 called TV Heaven, Telly Hell. Lock narrated the BBC production World Cup Goals Galore in 2006. In 2008, he appeared on The Big Fat Quiz of the Year, on a team with James Corden. Lock also appeared on many popular British TV panel shows, including Have I Got News for You, QI and They Think It's All Over. He was also a celebrity guest in The Last Leg. Lock became "The Curator" for the second radio series of The Museum of Curiosity, in 2009, taking over from Bill Bailey.
In 2010, Lock took part in Channel 4's Comedy Gala, a Benefit concert held in aid of Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital, filmed live at The O2 Arena. He also appeared in a spoof video produced by Shelter, the housing charity, to highlight the problem of rogue landlords. In 2011, he took over from John Sergeant as the host of the Dave comedy panel show Argumental. In 2019, Lock featured in episode 4 of the BBC comedy series Mandy.
Ed Power of The Daily Telegraph described his persona as "studiedly obtuse". He said Lock's topics included political correctness, "Existentialism woe", and the difficulties of being a football supporter which gave him "irresistible everyman quality". Power described him as "a Samuel Beckett trapped inside a Tommy Cooper punchline". Power also suggested that his persona was so convincing because it matched his off-stage persona. Fellow comedian Harry Hill said, "People are tempted to pigeonhole him as dark or surreal but he was more than that. He had a playful side; a wide-eyed wonder at the world".
During an interview with Bill Bailey on the Channel 4 show Comic's Choice, Lock listed Sam Kinison and Lenny Bruce as his main comedy influences. On the BBC Radio 2 show Talking Comedy, he listed Paul Merton, Steven Wright, Jasper Carrott, Les Dawson, Jerry Sadowitz, Kenneth Williams and Hylda Baker as his favourite comedians.
Lock was diagnosed with skin cancer in 1990, attributing the condition to overexposure to the sun while working as a builder in the early 1980s. After seeing his doctor, he was referred to a dermatology at Guy's Hospital, London, and made a full recovery. In May 2012, he gave his support to a Sun Awareness event at the hospital.
Lock was a supporter of Chelsea and was an active supporter of the Muswell Hill soup kitchen. In December 2020, Lock made a video to help raise funds for Edible London, a charity that aimed to provide ingredients for a million meals to help those struggling in lockdown. In the clip, he quipped, "I'm Sean Lock. You may know me as that bloke off the Television whose name you can't remember."
On 19 August 2021, Channel 4 aired a tribute to Lock, showing his stand-up show Keep It Light along with an episode of 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown. Chelsea Football Club paid tribute to Lock on 11 September during their fixture against Aston Villa with a one-minute applause during the 58th (the age at which he died) minute of the match. In addition, the tribute night of programming prompted fans and friends, including Kathy Burke, to call for the BBC to add 15 Storeys High to its online service. Following this, the BBC released both series of the show onto its iPlayer service on 27 August 2021.
Fans of Lock called for his book The Tiger Who Came for a Pint to be published, with some fans suggesting the proceeds should go to cancer research in his honour. The book is a parody on the children's book The Tiger Who Came to Tea, and was read on 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown. In August 2022, Bill Bailey, joined by family and friends of Lock, completed a charity walk in memory of Lock, raising more than £110,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support. In 2023, Channel 4 announced the creation of the Sean Lock Comedy Award, an award intended to showcase "talented new writers and performers who embody the alternative comedic spirit of Sean and Channel 4."
| 2000 | British Comedy Awards | Best Live Comic | ||
| Perrier Comedy Award |
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