Chris Langham returns to our screens to discuss his child porn conviction and be publicly analysed

The disgraced actor who is now a registered sex offender will be interviewed by former co-star and Billy Connolly's psychologist wife Dr Pamela Connolly for an episode of Shrink Rap, in which celebrities are psychoanalysed, on Channel 4's digital service More4.

Langham was released in November after an appeal judge cut his ten-month sentence for accessing internet images of child abuse. He claimed he studied the images as research for a role in a comedy show and to confront his own ordeal of abuse as a child.

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Last night child protection groups attacked his decision to remain in the public eye. Michele Elliott, director of the charity Kidscape, said: "He would have been far better off keeping quiet and going off to do some work for charity.

"He sounds like he is trying to justify what he did. It is pathetic and will encourage other people who will feel they can use the same excuses as him."

Langham, 58, from Cranbrook, Kent, continued to defend his motives at the weekend in an interview with The Observer, insisting he was a "lovely guy".

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His wife Christine, 54, also spoke to the newspaper, revealing that the couple face losing their home because Langham has not worked for two years.

Langham said: "There are some things that it's very important that I clearly say, and one of them is that I'm absolutely clear that what I did was wrong. It never occurred to me that what I was doing was in any way offensive to other victims of sexual abuse. But it has been made clear to me that I have been and I am sorry for that.

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"I never had anything other than a sense of respect or compassion for the children in the images. I wanted to be able to tell their story and experience my own problems with it.

"For every unfortunate child whose image is on the internet, thousands are being abused within their own homes who we know nothing about.

"If you look at a photograph of Holocaust victims, as we were encouraged to do at school, that wasn't because they wanted us to go out and be anti-Semitic."

Mrs Langham chipped in: "It's to have compassion."

Langham made his name writing and acting in popular sitcoms such as BBC's The Thick Of It. He is attempting to reclaim his career after the BBC dropped him after he was convicted.

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During the trial the court heard Langham had watched video clips, ranging in length from three seconds to six minutes, including the torture and rape of a teenage girl, the sexual abuse of a seven-year-old and an assault on a bound-and-gagged child aged about 12.

When Kent Police raided his home in November 2005, they found 15 video clips, some Level Five, the most extreme type of paedophile pornography.

Questioned on whether she still loved her husband and father of their two children Harry, 11, and Emily, 13, Langham's wife said: "We've got a lot of adjustment to do. Clearly, I wouldn't still be here if I thought there was any risk to my children. I am incredibly protective of them."

On his upcoming TV appearance, Langham said: "I'm rather embarrassed by it now. I did it two days after my release and was very emotional."

A spokesman for More4 said: "Shrink Rap is a very serious and responsible programme which provides a good forum for tackling these kind of issues.

"It is trying to offer an insight into the mind of a prominent figure whose conviction is of huge public concern. He was not paid for taking part."