His first big break in acting was as a minder to
Robert Lindsay's character Michael Murray in the acclaimed
Channel 4 series
G.B.H.. He had roles in the
Steve Coogan film
The Parole Officer and in the
BBC Three sitcom
The Visit, first shown in July 2007. In 2002 he appeared in the
Scottish Gaelic drama
Anna Bheag (
Wee Anna), although not as a Gaelic-speaking character. Other credits include
Nice Guy Eddie,
When Saturday Comes plus appearances in
The Royle Family,
Last of the Summer Wine,
Life on Mars and the comedy series Early Doors. In September 2007, at
the Lowry in
Salford, he starred in the world premier of the play
King Cotton. He played the role of Ken, the deputy manager in the
Post Office adverts, in 2007 and 2008. March 2008 saw Henshaw return to the Manchester area playing the lead in
Jim Cartwright's play
Road at the
Octagon Theatre in
Bolton. Summer 2009 saw Henshaw play Meatballs in the film
Looking for Eric, directed by
Ken Loach and starring
Eric Cantona. The character was a workmate and friend of the lead character Eric Bishop played by
Steve Evets. In 2008, he played Albert Ross in "The Heart of a Man", the 12th episode of the 17th series of
Heartbeat. In 2010, he played Mr Pony in ''
Terry Pratchett's Going Postal and in 2011 he portrayed the character of John Holt, one of the original founding fathers of the Co-operative movement, in a feature film The Rochdale Pioneers. In 2012, he appeared in Downton Abbey
as shopkeeper Jos Tufton. In 2013, he played Arthur Potts in Series 15 Episode 5 ("The Sicilian Defence") of Midsomer Murders''. He also played the role of Harry, a mentor and friend to the main character, in
Ken Loach's 2012 Scottish comedy-drama ''
The Angels' Share'' and Danny in
Chris Shepherd's 2013 film
The Ringer. In 2013, he played Stan Bond in
By Any Means and in 2014 played the judge in
Closer to the Moon. In 2015, he played Murphy in "Charlie's Plan", directed by John McCormack. In 2017, he appeared in the BBC series
Father Brown as Barney Butterfield in episode 5.12, "The Theatre of the Invisible", and returned to playing Ken the landlord in the
Early Doors stage show. He had a small role in the 2018 film
Stan & Ollie as Nobby Cook, a British comedian who briefly stands in for
Oliver Hardy when Hardy is taken ill. He also appeared as Disco Des in the 10,000th episode of
Coronation Street. ==Personal life==