House of pain

Alan Davies stars as a comedian trapped in his home in the tense one-off drama A Knock At The Door

- WORDS: JO BERRY

Alan Davies plays a successful comic with an inflated ego and secrets to hide in the latest Play For Today, but he promises his role isn't based on anyone we know.

"I didn't base him on anyone in particular, but it doesn't take me long to think of people in the business I've encountered who have been sly," he says of his character Lenny Bray. "Lenny is a man who's had things his own way. He's a very famous comedian, and I think success, fame and money can distort a person.

There's often a lot of ego involved in stand-up comedy - how could there not be if you're the only person talking for an hour in a room filled with 2,000 people?"

It's clear from the outset that there is more to Lenny than meets the eye.

"You do get the feeling that something's not right here," says Alan. "You learn early on that he has been deploying lawyers quite a lot to deal with people, who are 'just after his money', or so he says. He shuts down a lot of conversations. But it leaves you thinking there must be more to this, and you wonder if he has something to hide."