David Baddiel has said his father is not “an object of pity” for suffering from dementia, ahead of the broadcast of his documentary, The Trouble with Dad, next week.

Colin Baddiel, 82, has Pick’s Disease, a form of dementia which has affected his personality and behaviour.

In a blog post for the Alzheimers Research UK website, the comedian wrote: “What happened when my dad got Pick’s disease was a kind of cartooning of self, an exaggeration of who he’d always been.

"And, to some extent, this was why I thought it was OK to put him on film. Because he’s not the empty object of pity that documentaries and movies about people with dementia can sometimes make them out to be.

“He’s not just sitting in a wheelchair covered in a tartan blanket staring into space. He’s not only vulnerable. Quite the opposite, for much of the time.

“This doesn’t make him easy. It doesn’t make the tragedy of an intelligent man having dementia any less. But it does, at least, change the narrative. It makes him a star.”

The documentary, filmed over the course of a year, focuses on the efforts of David and his brother Ivor, a film and TV writer, to care for their father.

Tim Parry, of Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: “This revealing approach to dementia awareness will hopefully encourage wider dialogue about the condition, and educate around the impacts of a lesser-understood form of dementia."

The Trouble with Dad is due to be broadcast on Channel 4 at 9pm on Monday.