Professor Richard Whittingham

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Professor Richard Whittingham is a fictional character from the BBC Radio 4 comedy series Old Harry's Game by Andy Hamilton who is portrayed by James Grout.

The Professor was a scientist who was killed in a car crash by Thomas Quentin Crimp. He led a reasonably blameless life, but was sent to Hell because he did not believe in God. To begin with, the Professor believed that everything he saw in Hell was an illusion that he was experiencing due to being in a coma following the car crash. He strikes up a relationship with Satan which approached friendship, insisting that humanity is not fundamentally evil. This relationship made Satan reconsider his eternal existence and led to a brooding introspection.

Despite being in Hell, the Professor remained obstinately cheerful even when confronted with the lowest examples of humanity, especially Thomas who was also in Hell following the car crash. Satan continuously tried to prove to him that humanity was base at heart. He introduced the Professor to various historical figures such as Karl Marx and a foul-mouthed Jane Austen to demonstrate to him what human beings were really like.

The only times that Satan was able to make the Professor miserable was when he talked about the Professor's wife Deborah, who was still alive. One time he created the illusion of Deborah having a relationship with the Professor's scientific rival to upset him, and at other times took the Professor to the land of the living to observe her, first sabotaging and then repairing her second marriage.

It was Satan's belief that the Professor should not be in Hell due to his relatively blameless life, and even interceded with God to allow him to go to heaven. However God would only allow the Professor to leave Hell if he believed in God and bowed down and worshipped him. The Professor was forced to admit that God did indeed exist, as he was there before him! However, the Professor refused to bow down and worship him as the one true God, and caused God to fly into a rage by asking if there were other gods. As a punishment, God caused Hell to freeze over and the Professor was forced to stay there. In series 5, God had apparently relented and allowed the Professor to enter heaven, a device developed to cover Grout's absence. To allow for the possibility of Grout's return, Satan and Scumspawn thought it prudent to keep the Professor's cell warm, as the Prof. was likely to inadvertently remind God of his religious views.