Obituary: Sean Lock, comedian

He also wrote and starred in the popular BBC sitcom 15 Storeys High.

Born in Woking, Surrey, he left school in the early 1980s and began working on building sites but developed skin cancer, which he blamed on over-exposure to the sun. He made a full recovery and focused on a career in comedy.

One of his first professional TV appearances was in 1993, starring alongside Rob Newman and David Baddiel on their signature TV show, Newman And Baddiel In Pieces. The following year he was among the comedians featured on Yorkshire TV’s Something For The Weekend.

He script-edited the 1998 BBC Two series, Is It Bill Bailey? and had his own show on BBC Radio 4 called 15 Minutes Of Misery, which was later adapted for TV. Set in a tower block, the show centred on a pessimistic character called Vince (played by Lock) and his flatmate Errol, played by Benedict Wong.

In 2005 Lock became a regular team captain on 8 Out Of 10 Cats, a role he held for 18 series.

Between 2006 and 2007 he hosted the Channel 4 series, TV Heaven, Telly Hell, in which he invited celebrities to share their own selection of TV’s triumphs and tragedies.

Guests on the show included Alan Davies, Johnny Vaughan, David Mitchell, Bill Bailey, Johnny Vegas and Nick Hancock.

He also appeared on Have I Got News for You, QI, and They Think It’s All Over.

In 2000 he won the gong for the best live stand-up at the British Comedy Awards.

He and his wife, Anoushka Nara Giltsoff, had two daughters.