Speaking to Sky News about his new post-Windrush drama Three Little Birds, the comedian-turned-writer reflected on the importance of the month - but said there needs to be education outside of it, too.

"Black History Month is great for kids in school in this country, you know, it's a ring space where they absolutely have to focus on all of these things," he said.

"But I'm black all year round, black kids are black all year round, they need to have a sense of what's been going on running as a seam all the way through their education, not just one month a year."

Changing how we think about our shared history is about acknowledging how Britain has changed, Sir Lenny said.

"Everybody has contributed to this country and making it what it is. Our favourite dish in Britain? Chicken tikka masala. Second favourite? Curry goat and rice. Third? Kebabs. Come on, you can't tell me that migration hasn't contributed to this country."

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Set in 1957, Three Little Birds takes viewers on a journey from the Caribbean to the West Midlands, following three women who decide to make the epic move to start a new life overseas. While the drama, according to Sir Lenny, was inspired by some of the tales his mother used to tell him, he's keen to stress the characters themselves are made up.

"This isn't my mother's story, okay? Because my family is very litigious," he jokes. "They will come and they will sue my backside.

"This is lots of people's stories... if you move from over here to get away from poverty and starvation and war or whatever, to come somewhere safe and hoping to be accepted, then you will relate to this story. It's not just for five Jamaican people in the Midlands, it's for all of us."

From talent contest winner to Tiswas, primetime comedy regular to Comic Relief founder, Sir Lenny's hugely popular career in entertainment has seen him cemented as a national treasure. And for decades, he has pushed for greater diversity behind the cameras.

"When my first production company happened I was able to say to my managing director, 'It'd be really good if this was a diverse crew, wouldn't it?', and she'd look at me and go, 'Okay darling, I'll try'. And then you show up at work on the Monday and there's people there who look like you... it comes from the top.

"If it's not diverse people at the top, nothing is going to trickle down... they always say that we're, you know, a little bit behind America and we've still got a lot of catching up to do... and it will happen, you know."

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While Sir Lenny hopes in this latest work to bring to life both the struggles and the joy experienced by the generation who raised him after they came to Britain - it's best not to get him started on politics nowadays.

When the subject of Home Secretary Suella Braverman's decision to ditch key commitments made during the wake of the Windrush scandal, he emits a noise akin to a human car alarm going off mid-question.

"You're not allowed to talk about her!" he shouts, cutting off a second attempt at the subject of politics by launching into Whitney Houston's Greatest Love Of All, singing: "I believe the children are our future…"

While Sir Lenny Henry is now a serious writer, that trademark sense of humour is clearly never too far away.

Three Little Birds starts on Sunday 22 October on ITV1 at 8pm and ITVX