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White wine Army left. 
Five, five. 

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Six. 
That's that. 

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Then lets me blasted off the 
boat for the third game running 

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by the Allied Forces of mini 
crunch. 

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Father, 
Hello and welcome to goon pod. 

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Now Andy Warhol once said that 
in the future, everyone would be

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famous for 15 minutes. 
Well the Futures here and his 

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prophecy is not yet quite come 
to pass my wife's uncle. 

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Ted is one of the least famous 
people you could ever meet. 

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But where he around today, mr. 
Warhol might have observed that 

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most middle-aged men would have 
a podcast raises hand. 

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Regular listeners will have 
noticed that this show has been 

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off the Pod waves for a few 
weeks and if you haven't why the

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hell not, the fact is that my 
father suddenly passed away in 

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January and I had to return to 
the old country for a while. 

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It was a very reflective time 
for me and yeah, quite emotional

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as well. 
And I've often talked about my 

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dad on this podcast, he was the 
person who really instilled 

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within me, a love of Comedy, 
especially British comedy. 

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And of course it was, it was 
through him. 

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That I first heard gags from the
Goon show, as he would often, 

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you know Quote lines around the 
house when I was still in short,

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trousers. 
And I want to dedicate this 

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episode to him. 
My guest is one of this 

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country's greatest comedy 
creators, who in a way 

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straddled, the worlds of 
so-called mainstream comedy and 

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New Wave or alternative, comedy,
David Renwick was equally at 

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home writing for the likes of 
The Two Ronnies as he was 

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Alexei, sayle. 
But it was for the miniseries on

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radio and television. 
He co-created in the 70s and 80s

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with longtime collaborator 
Andrew Marshall, and 

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subsequently is a solar writer 
that he's better. 

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On shows such as the burkas way 
end of part one. 

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Whoops, apocalypse hot metal and
of course, one foot in the grave

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and Jonathan Craig I'm a massive
fan of of one foot in the grave 

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and could easily have spent, I 
don't know. 

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Several days talking to David 
about that program alone. 

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But but this being goon pod. 
I first of all focused on the 

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brief period he and Andrew spent
working with Spike Milligan in 

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the early 80s on the series. 
There's a lot of it about Q10 

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and all but name. 
David had a lot to say about 

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Spike as well as working with 
The Two Ronnies with people like

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David Jason and even whisper, it
Bill Cosby, And yes, we did talk

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rather a lot about one foot 
because as I always say 

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listeners to this podcast, a 
comedy fans in general and and 

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don't expect me to stick a 
rigidly to the topic of the 

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goons when in conversation with 
such August talents. 

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So anyway, enough blathering 
enjoy the show. 

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Obviously, I want to talk about,
you know, Spike but I appreciate

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that was only a small part of 
your career working on. 

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There's a lot of it about. 
So I appreciate you won't 

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necessarily. 
I suppose have a huge amount to 

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talk about on that but well 
there's a mean there's always a 

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huge amount to talk about with 
Spike. 

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I mean, it, yes, of course, it 
was a tiny portion of Andrews 

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Andrew marvell's and my output, 
but A huge element in our lives.

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I mean, you know how could work?
It was Spike Milligan, not be, 

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you know, it wasn't something to
be taken lightly. 

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Yes, you know, I mean spike it 
was a never not in the sort of 

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comedic firmament ever since I 
can remember from childhood and 

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I was born in 1951 and you know,
just kind of on just just, just 

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post good, you know, for ideal 
for listening to begins on the 

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radio. 
Kind of really didn't start 

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start listening or watching 
Goonies tilt elegans came along 

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slightly dear to that'll give 
you nightmares. 

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Yeah, well, no, no because I'm 
you know, to this day I was kind

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of still see them you know. 
See the characters a bit like 

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that. 
I didn't think they were a bad 

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realization, you know if you 
gonna try and you know, 

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introduce some physicality to 
what I basically abstract you 

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know, characters on the Audio. 
We can almost never want to see 

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what they look like, but I 
didn't think they did a bad job,

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but it no. 
I mean, I was obviously, I was 

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aware of the radio versions and 
the width of a bit though I 

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think was one particular fellow 
pupil at school, who had had 

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several of the LPS, because 
that's the only way you'd, you 

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know, it's the only form of 
recorded version that you get at

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anything in those days was a 
long-playing records and we used

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to, quote, all the jokes to each
other as a Scarlet capsule, I 

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remember was one of them. 
I think it was on it was on disk

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that time and yeah that that was
the that was the second question

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asking you, was it? 
Yeah, I don't remember what the 

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others were from a long long 
while ago but you know and then 

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when I started organizing school
trips to the radio and 

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television shows one of those 
was welded Beachcomber. 

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One that we went, we went went 
to I think was even before I 

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think we're their actual color 
monitors hanging around the 

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studio. 
You know, we've been seeing the 

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frost report or still 
exclusively black and white but 

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and seeing Milligan still to 
this day, just see him sitting 

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there in his sort of castled 
hat. 

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On the right hand side of the of
the of the studio before us. 

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You know all these that's a 
magical environment is like 

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Aladdin's. 
Came to me all the light and 

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suspended and cameras and 
equipment. 

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Everything you think God 
wouldn't it be wonderful if you 

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know Jenner to work in the 
environment you know, and 

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getting paid for it, you know? 
So that was the first time I 

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ever saw him and but very well 
known to me by that stage 

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anyway. 
Sort of spool forward, a long 

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time into the presence of the 
very early 80s 18:1 or 

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something, Andrew Marshall and I
have been writing for radio and 

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circled the burkas way and kind 
of semi spin offer, run the 

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weekend called end of part one. 
And I gather that these were 

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shows he had, you know, been 
interested in and obviously 

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heard appealed to him somewhere 
because we got the call one day 

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from our agents, we walk it will
sitting working on which 

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apocalypse that he wanted to 
take us to dinner. 

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So that very night we were at 
the track to in Kensington and 

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having dinner with Spike and 
Neil sham who I didn't know that

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I'd worked on and that was his 
favorite restaurant. 

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Yeah. 
Yeah. 

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Yes, it was. 
That was the legend, you know, 

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obviously, very well, know where
and I mean I decided Andrew came

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out and saying it being like a 
hallucinogenic experience. 

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The first time you've been able 
to break bread with Spike 

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Milligan. 
What are you gonna do? 

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You know, I mean, I wasn't 
certain whether we were there 

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meant to be auditioning, you 
know. 

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Let's see how funny we were, 
which we weren't or he was 

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trying to impress us or bit of 
both, but, I mean, nothing 

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whatsoever was said about the 
television series the next Q 

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Series, which we were supposedly
there to talk about and he just 

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went off into his various 
flights of fantasy and God 

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Where's Martin was I would guess
in sort of equal measure 

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hysterically. 
Funny and battling you know, but

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more back, more baffling than 
funny probably as the wine went 

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home, you know that tended to be
the case with oh it'd be like 

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two red wine. 
Very much. 

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Do you want it was with great. 
You know those are there was a 

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great sort of classiness to them
in a sort of a Elegance to his 

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in a very refined. 
Just remember he wants 

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castigated me for picking the 
wine bottle up by its neck neck,

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that was really not, you know, 
that was not the thing to do 

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right now and it's his taste 
will quite elevated and 

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sophisticated in that way. 
And so we came away with no, no 

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indication whether we were going
to be recruited for this series 

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or not, but quickly found out 
that he didn't want us to write 

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for it. 
And that not only did one of the

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right by that wanted. 
To write all of it, he didn't 

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want to do any more Lighting on 
this one. 

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So John, how David quite 
thankfully? 

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So well he wasn't going to be 
interested in that Milligan 

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series of people have minimum 
wasn't doing the bulk of the 

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writing. 
Thank God. 

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You know, them the idea of Neil 
and Andrew and myself writing 

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all the stuff was just remove 
stuff of nightmares. 

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But yeah. 
So that you know, that sort of 

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rumbled on this that we were 
expected to And to contribute to

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the show, One Spike, knuckle 
down and agreed, right? 

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Yeah, I don't think there's ever
any indication that ever 

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suggestion, should say that he 
was with not actually write 

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anymore anymore, the Q show 
himself and and as it happened 

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the contribution of a house that
made it to the end was really 

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quite tiny in the end. 
And you know, we I mean we 

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actually challenged it 11 
points, if you know, you You 

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keep saying all our stuff is 
wonderful and marvelous, but 

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you're not using any of it. 
We just rather we, you know, 

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just left you to it and he was, 
he was mortified and kite went 

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almost pale at the idea that we 
were, you know, going to quit 

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the show, not seeing any change 
shape. 

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So we you so you wrote sketches 
like you say, that it leveled 

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and maybe didn't end up hitting 
the screen. 

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But did you try to ape Milligan 
style? 

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Or we that that That was the 
idea. 

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I mean we went around I'm not 
long after the try to kneel, we 

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went to his house and Barnett 
and you know I just we sort of 

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mellowed out a bit limp because 
we've seen a little bit more 

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comfortable with them in the 
daytime with less alcohol 

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flowing. 
Yeah he said just go right away 

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and write anything you want to 
ride whatever makes you laugh 

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up. 
Your deists foot is basically 

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that's what he said. 
Yeah, we didn't And Van Gogh, 

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00:11:49,900 --> 00:11:52,000
and his lifetime. 
So, I'm in good company, I'm 

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used to be fond of quoting Van 
Gogh, your, the van graffs of 

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chromodoris kind of stuff. 
So yeah, we did that, but with 

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an eye to, you know, trying out 
of the best, we could to 

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replicate the spike style. 
I mean being big fans of that, 

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it's the realest kind of Comedy,
we were wasn't entirely foreign 

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to us but you know, spike is One
off and and how the things and 

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just stay in his mind other than
the evident time to just stay up

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and it's just a flow of 
Consciousness, you know, all the

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wonderful things that emerged. 
I mean, when we first went with 

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was a very another, very early 
meeting where you can't even the

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in just read out all the stuff 
is written so far, which was 

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00:12:40,000 --> 00:12:44,200
mostly in a just hysterical and 
just just mind-bogglingly 

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invented. 
Well, as you may have heard on 

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00:12:46,600 --> 00:12:49,500
the news earlier this evening, 
the comedian and writer, Writers

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00:12:49,500 --> 00:12:53,700
Spike Milligan died at his home 
in Barnet aged 104. 

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Widely regarded as one of the 
country's true comic Geniuses 

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00:12:59,000 --> 00:13:01,100
the late mr. 
Milligan had only just completed

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00:13:01,100 --> 00:13:05,200
recording a new series offers 
zany wacky, half-hour shows for 

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00:13:05,200 --> 00:13:07,000
the BBC. 
That's BBC. 

194
00:13:07,000 --> 00:13:10,100
Two of course not BBC one who 
tended to regard him as 

195
00:13:10,100 --> 00:13:13,100
something of a light 
entertainment leper and though 

196
00:13:13,100 --> 00:13:15,700
Millions will mourn the tragic 
passing of mr. 

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00:13:15,700 --> 00:13:17,800
Milligan's unique and eccentric 
Talent. 

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We have been asked by the 
trustee of his estate and Miss 

199
00:13:21,000 --> 00:13:25,000
Glenda plunge of latex dungeons,
Soho to honor his memory. 

200
00:13:25,400 --> 00:13:27,500
In the way that he would surely 
have wished. 

201
00:13:28,500 --> 00:13:34,000
BBC Two is now proud to present,
George Formby in spare a copper.

202
00:13:41,800 --> 00:13:54,500
I go into cleaning. 
One of the great problems was 

203
00:13:54,500 --> 00:13:58,900
that it didn't stop there. 
And by the time we got to the 

204
00:13:58,900 --> 00:14:04,400
studio floor, we had been so 
many extra set of embellishment 

205
00:14:05,500 --> 00:14:08,200
Sara Lee helped, the original 
concept, which you thought, my 

206
00:14:08,200 --> 00:14:14,100
God, that's like, very, very 
startling call me by Dax come up

207
00:14:14,100 --> 00:14:17,100
with their, but then you would 
have Vaughn was a joke. 

208
00:14:17,100 --> 00:14:18,700
There was a Sketchbook Joker 
NeNe. 

209
00:14:18,700 --> 00:14:25,500
I remember was one member ended 
up with David Lloyd. 

210
00:14:25,500 --> 00:14:29,300
You saw me dressed as Max, and 
maroon Spike manipulating, a 

211
00:14:29,900 --> 00:14:33,300
dummy of David dimbleby from 
underneath the desk and then the

212
00:14:33,300 --> 00:14:35,400
Neal Schon. 
Those are standing with standing

213
00:14:35,700 --> 00:14:36,800
next to each other and the 
skills. 

214
00:14:36,800 --> 00:14:40,200
I wish this wasn't happening in 
all of those sketches. 

215
00:14:40,200 --> 00:14:42,900
Actually, is it happened for 
that final C of N Things. 

216
00:14:42,900 --> 00:14:45,800
The patient with previous few 
shows were all rehearse record. 

217
00:14:46,300 --> 00:14:51,700
There's a lot of pre filming was
done an evening and the studio 

218
00:14:52,100 --> 00:14:56,200
video sketches were all rehearse
recording, you know, Nicole 

219
00:14:56,200 --> 00:14:59,400
Studio. 
Then the holes with all the 

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00:14:59,400 --> 00:15:03,100
shows are taken away edited 
together and shown to an 

221
00:15:03,100 --> 00:15:07,400
audience to, right? 
So again while audience on those

222
00:15:07,400 --> 00:15:11,000
shows at all quarters, which I 
think kind of suited him more 

223
00:15:11,000 --> 00:15:13,800
because of that you need to go 
off and moan about things. 

224
00:15:14,200 --> 00:15:18,400
You know, underrate the Cruller 
At the director and he had such 

225
00:15:18,400 --> 00:15:24,400
a caustic corrosion way with 
people who got on the wrong side

226
00:15:24,400 --> 00:15:25,200
of him. 
Yeah. 

227
00:15:25,300 --> 00:15:28,400
Well thankfully and and I never 
did. 

228
00:15:28,400 --> 00:15:31,100
We were always we live this 
Charmed Life before being his 

229
00:15:31,100 --> 00:15:38,600
good book but you could be 
devastatingly abusive and to 

230
00:15:38,600 --> 00:15:40,400
dismiss of yeah. 
Yeah. 

231
00:15:40,400 --> 00:15:42,900
When people would come up to him
and, you know, either and make 

232
00:15:42,900 --> 00:15:46,000
some whatever comment either 
ingest or in, it was part of an 

233
00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:50,200
old. 
That was just an instant reply 

234
00:15:50,200 --> 00:15:54,600
response of some sort without, 
you know, almost having to think

235
00:15:54,600 --> 00:15:58,100
about, you know, which was, you 
know, what? 

236
00:15:58,100 --> 00:16:01,200
He was going to say. 
I think in his mind he knew what

237
00:16:01,200 --> 00:16:04,100
he wanted and it was very 
difficult to translate what was 

238
00:16:04,100 --> 00:16:09,900
in his mind on to it, you know, 
the floor or radiant, I mean, he

239
00:16:09,900 --> 00:16:13,400
Brooks no argument. 
This was the point, I mean, I 

240
00:16:13,400 --> 00:16:19,000
think on on several occasions He
had that out came that staccato 

241
00:16:19,200 --> 00:16:22,500
declaration. 
I was right, and you were wrong.

242
00:16:24,000 --> 00:16:29,000
I remember him say that in a, I 
think an animal rights rally in 

243
00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:33,000
Trafalgar Square in her work. 
Probably had more weight. 

244
00:16:33,000 --> 00:16:36,400
But, you know, if he was talking
about some joke to do with a 

245
00:16:36,700 --> 00:16:41,300
Julia Breck's Breyer or you 
know, still really crap sort of 

246
00:16:41,300 --> 00:16:44,000
peanuts but he would still 
approach it as if it was 

247
00:16:44,000 --> 00:16:47,800
something of great. 
Wait, wait, yes. 

248
00:16:48,500 --> 00:16:53,000
And and and I won't have it. 
Try to make it out with. 

249
00:16:53,000 --> 00:16:56,900
I was wrong when I was right and
everyone else was wrong and 

250
00:16:56,900 --> 00:17:00,200
there's total no discussion at 
the storm off in a half. 

251
00:17:00,200 --> 00:17:03,100
And go I have to be coaxed back 
into the studio, things like 

252
00:17:03,100 --> 00:17:06,200
that, that wouldn't have 
happened in front of a live 

253
00:17:06,200 --> 00:17:09,500
audience, but when we did show 
it to a live audience and he was

254
00:17:09,500 --> 00:17:14,700
there in person, presumably to 
try and G them up and secures 

255
00:17:15,200 --> 00:17:19,000
his personality And with it came
out because all the public 

256
00:17:19,000 --> 00:17:21,700
schedule, Justin shown on 
monitors and cooled, and so 

257
00:17:21,700 --> 00:17:25,099
thankful to recall their laughs,
it's your hands up. 

258
00:17:25,099 --> 00:17:29,000
All those who dig my humor, you 
know, the voice that suggested 

259
00:17:29,000 --> 00:17:32,200
that anyone who dissented in 
might be injected from the 

260
00:17:32,200 --> 00:17:35,500
studio and very strange. 
And then he went on to say you 

261
00:17:36,800 --> 00:17:41,900
to talk about the that how easy 
it was to get people to love 

262
00:17:42,500 --> 00:17:46,100
jokes about women, with big tits
and men's trousers falling. 

263
00:17:46,200 --> 00:17:47,900
Down. 
But we're above all that. 

264
00:17:47,900 --> 00:17:51,200
And and they proceeded to show 
them six shows, which were 

265
00:17:51,200 --> 00:17:54,100
packed with all of those 
elements. 

266
00:17:54,100 --> 00:17:59,300
And that sort of, that 
contradiction was always lost on

267
00:17:59,300 --> 00:18:03,300
them. 
And here's the news with 

268
00:18:03,300 --> 00:18:10,800
Reginald, pieczonka there was a 
collision today on the M1 

269
00:18:10,800 --> 00:18:14,000
between a lorry load of 
marmalade and a Truck filled 

270
00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:18,800
with dancing Preserve. 
They accidentally used by the to

271
00:18:18,800 --> 00:18:22,400
run these later tonight's when I
joke about traffic jams and big 

272
00:18:22,400 --> 00:18:29,500
knockers, you know, overall he 
was there was so much in those 

273
00:18:29,500 --> 00:18:33,100
shows and movies body of work. 
Generally, work is just 

274
00:18:33,100 --> 00:18:37,700
Peerless, Li fun, but I guess 
you make those allowances. 

275
00:18:37,700 --> 00:18:43,900
I mean, we kept in touch with 
him for several years after 

276
00:18:43,900 --> 00:18:47,300
week, after week, you should 
switch on. accountably, he 

277
00:18:47,300 --> 00:18:50,100
decided to name, there's a lot 
of it about was never explain 

278
00:18:50,100 --> 00:18:56,200
why but I think I understand the
BBC didn't like hadn't liked 

279
00:18:56,200 --> 00:18:58,600
the, the Q name for the longest 
time. 

280
00:19:00,400 --> 00:19:13,000
Well, this is Q 10 10. 
Yeah, no, I think as well, by 

281
00:19:13,000 --> 00:19:15,500
the, by the time there's a lot 
of about comes along, which is 

282
00:19:15,500 --> 00:19:18,500
the early 80s. 
The comedy landscape has changed

283
00:19:18,600 --> 00:19:21,800
as altered quite significantly 
in the in the last, in the 

284
00:19:22,600 --> 00:19:26,200
previous sort of for five years 
and I don't and I think Spike 

285
00:19:26,200 --> 00:19:30,800
was looking askance at okay, A 
little large, but still 

286
00:19:31,600 --> 00:19:34,500
Primetime and and Cannonball, 
and all the rest of it, but 

287
00:19:34,500 --> 00:19:36,800
there was alternative, comedy 
creeping in there was not the 

288
00:19:36,800 --> 00:19:42,200
nine o'clock news, there was 
even end of part 1 and and stuff

289
00:19:42,200 --> 00:19:50,000
that was Different to perhaps 
what Spike was used to, and, and

290
00:19:50,000 --> 00:19:55,300
I think he was trying to stay 
relevant, but still doing the 

291
00:19:55,300 --> 00:19:59,500
same old stick because I've have
you, have you seen any episodes 

292
00:19:59,500 --> 00:20:01,700
of? 
There's a lot of it about 

293
00:20:02,100 --> 00:20:07,600
recently, or we try to avoid. 
Well, I mean, it's not easy to 

294
00:20:07,608 --> 00:20:09,700
find the menu. 
I might have some recording on 

295
00:20:09,700 --> 00:20:13,900
VHS somewhere, but yeah, it's on
YouTube on them. 

296
00:20:14,700 --> 00:20:17,800
Now there is all six episodes 
are available, but they're not 

297
00:20:17,800 --> 00:20:22,300
very good quality transfers and 
it's very difficult to make out.

298
00:20:22,300 --> 00:20:25,500
It looks like this high 
production values then on 

299
00:20:25,500 --> 00:20:27,600
previous Q Series. 
And it looks like there's a lot 

300
00:20:27,600 --> 00:20:33,500
of knots there's VT but there's 
also a lot of film as well. 

301
00:20:33,500 --> 00:20:39,300
I'm always was filming. 
This was one of the reasons why 

302
00:20:39,300 --> 00:20:43,300
I'm doing, I always wanted to 
submit our projects to the BBC, 

303
00:20:43,300 --> 00:20:46,000
which we did. 
To the occasion, the return down

304
00:20:46,000 --> 00:20:48,700
name of that, well-known TV. 
That the BBC was always had, 

305
00:20:48,700 --> 00:20:53,900
those Superior production 
quality and I remember the first

306
00:20:53,900 --> 00:20:57,100
day that I went along to him 
Studios when they were filming 

307
00:20:57,100 --> 00:20:59,700
the first quick. 
It's, I mean, most of which were

308
00:21:00,300 --> 00:21:06,600
mean, Mary even are time, but 
the BBC, It's So Gone to town on

309
00:21:06,600 --> 00:21:11,000
the design. 
Requirement terms of sex that we

310
00:21:11,000 --> 00:21:14,300
were building for, you know, 
some 10 second piece. 

311
00:21:14,400 --> 00:21:17,100
Of rubbish that that Spike will 
just come up with. 

312
00:21:17,800 --> 00:21:20,900
So it always look fantastic. 
And that was one of the things 

313
00:21:20,900 --> 00:21:23,600
about these are in those days 
before they sold off. 

314
00:21:23,600 --> 00:21:29,300
All their unit was also even 
assuming they spent. 

315
00:21:29,300 --> 00:21:30,800
Yeah. 
They spent a lot of money to 

316
00:21:30,800 --> 00:21:34,100
make something look quite cheap.
Well, yeah. 

317
00:21:34,100 --> 00:21:36,600
I mean, I, well, I suppose it's,
yes, it's arguable. 

318
00:21:36,600 --> 00:21:38,700
Whether it looked any cheaper 
than, I mean, I love the 

319
00:21:38,700 --> 00:21:40,500
weekend. 
Didn't do a bad job of design. 

320
00:21:40,500 --> 00:21:45,900
Warmth ends was of Korra. 
Smoke constantly changing 

321
00:21:46,100 --> 00:21:50,000
because I've re-watched, there's
a lot of it about preparing for 

322
00:21:50,000 --> 00:21:53,000
this, and it's, there's some 
good stuff, of course. 

323
00:21:53,000 --> 00:21:56,600
There's there's a lot of, I 
mean, there's a hell of a lot of

324
00:21:56,800 --> 00:21:59,900
as you touched upon before, 
there's a lot of female nudity. 

325
00:21:59,900 --> 00:22:07,400
And, and also black face, which 
by 1980, what 23, was that boat 

326
00:22:07,400 --> 00:22:12,100
has sailed. 
But there's a lot, just so much 

327
00:22:12,100 --> 00:22:16,400
going on, like, you say, This is
quickies as lots of, lots of 

328
00:22:16,400 --> 00:22:18,900
extended sketches and it's very 
difficult to. 

329
00:22:18,900 --> 00:22:23,900
I tried, I tried to sort of 
pinpoint or try to sort of guess

330
00:22:24,300 --> 00:22:27,100
what sketches were written by 
you and Andrew. 

331
00:22:27,700 --> 00:22:28,800
I tried work. 
I do. 

332
00:22:28,800 --> 00:22:31,200
Well, you would fail miserably 
on that because I mean the 

333
00:22:31,200 --> 00:22:32,700
things were kind of 
cannibalized. 

334
00:22:32,700 --> 00:22:42,900
And yeah, am I right in saying, 
you may not remember? 

335
00:22:42,900 --> 00:22:46,800
Of course, there was A sketch, a
GLC sketch. 

336
00:22:47,800 --> 00:22:51,400
And there was someone in that 
sketch, like an extra sitting at

337
00:22:51,400 --> 00:22:55,100
a table, and that looked like it
could have been you. 

338
00:22:56,300 --> 00:23:00,400
No, I don't try the only time I 
remember actually sitting in on 

339
00:23:00,400 --> 00:23:07,900
Earth gets his sin, some his 
front room, I think it was a 

340
00:23:07,900 --> 00:23:11,700
quickie about then watching 
television and Spike is probably

341
00:23:11,700 --> 00:23:15,400
sitting next to me or two away 
from me, controlling things. 

342
00:23:15,700 --> 00:23:19,500
The real with a remote control 
to remote control. 

343
00:23:20,100 --> 00:23:23,500
That was it that was it. 
I think that one is I think I 

344
00:23:23,508 --> 00:23:26,400
remember something naughty. 
We watching something new 

345
00:23:26,600 --> 00:23:29,800
musical. 
So we were sort of nodding our 

346
00:23:29,800 --> 00:23:34,100
heads away to that. 
And, but that's the only time I 

347
00:23:34,100 --> 00:23:37,000
remember actually stepping in 
front of the camera that the 

348
00:23:37,000 --> 00:23:39,100
Andrew do. 
With any reason, I thought it 

349
00:23:39,108 --> 00:23:42,900
was you and it look with the 
greatest respect David. 

350
00:23:42,900 --> 00:23:45,700
You know, you're a writer, 
you're not, you have appeared on

351
00:23:45,700 --> 00:23:48,700
television, of course, but 
you're not household face. 

352
00:23:49,100 --> 00:23:53,100
So shall we say? 
But the reason I recognized the 

353
00:23:53,100 --> 00:23:55,900
reason I recognized or thought I
recognized you was because I I'd

354
00:23:55,900 --> 00:24:01,300
also watched don't know if you 
remember there was a 1982 81-82 

355
00:24:01,300 --> 00:24:03,300
documentary about Mikey our 
wood. 

356
00:24:04,100 --> 00:24:07,100
Hmm. 
And it's I think it's called 

357
00:24:07,100 --> 00:24:12,100
something like and this is me 
something like that and early on

358
00:24:12,100 --> 00:24:19,000
in that documentary I just uh 
sitting John Adams in the yeah. 

359
00:24:19,700 --> 00:24:25,300
Chewing with Mike playing up the
impersonations far more than you

360
00:24:25,300 --> 00:24:28,100
would have done. 
Normally if we were actually 

361
00:24:28,100 --> 00:24:30,000
sitting discussing the show 
because obviously need the 

362
00:24:30,008 --> 00:24:32,100
cameras were on. 
Yeah. 

363
00:24:32,100 --> 00:24:34,300
Well as I do, I think I got, I 
think I am. 

364
00:24:34,400 --> 00:24:38,500
I was allowed to words in that 
sketch because that's a point or

365
00:24:38,500 --> 00:24:40,600
something. 
I think I said well, he's 

366
00:24:40,600 --> 00:24:43,800
because you've got a sketch idea
for top of the pops a proposed 

367
00:24:43,800 --> 00:24:46,600
top Of the pop sketch with 
members of the shadow shadow 

368
00:24:46,600 --> 00:24:48,000
cabinet. 
Yeah. 

369
00:24:48,900 --> 00:24:55,400
And that being a ball Pope, but 
yes, well, there's yes made 

370
00:24:55,400 --> 00:24:57,000
order. 
Hold little guest appearances 

371
00:24:57,000 --> 00:24:58,300
like that. 
And one way never very 

372
00:24:58,300 --> 00:25:01,500
comfortably admittedly. 
We just want the vehicle for 

373
00:25:01,500 --> 00:25:05,600
introducing what three Acts or 
four acts who are where they're 

374
00:25:05,600 --> 00:25:09,100
politicians Michael foot, or? 
Yeah, well it for yes, if you 

375
00:25:09,100 --> 00:25:12,600
don't, if we didn't do the video
recording showcase or whatever, 

376
00:25:12,600 --> 00:25:15,700
couldn't you artist, you the We 
have the Bob Hope Cabaret. 

377
00:25:15,700 --> 00:25:18,900
Mmm. 
Come on Janice is so good. 

378
00:25:19,300 --> 00:25:25,500
But anyway, let's get all of got
- good thought all the non 

379
00:25:25,500 --> 00:25:27,600
recently. 
A lot of trouble trying to get 

380
00:25:27,600 --> 00:25:31,200
show business people as extra. 
I got my little foot to 

381
00:25:31,200 --> 00:25:33,600
entertain you right here, but 
I'll come. 

382
00:25:34,200 --> 00:25:36,800
And he doesn't answer them. 
Great, that's nice sort of Hotel

383
00:25:36,800 --> 00:25:39,600
situation. 
Yeah, we come back to spike in a

384
00:25:39,600 --> 00:25:40,300
little bit. 
That's okay. 

385
00:25:40,300 --> 00:25:42,900
I just wanted to talk about a 
few other things in terms of 

386
00:25:42,900 --> 00:25:46,600
your earlier career. 
And also inevitably, I do want 

387
00:25:46,600 --> 00:25:49,400
to talk a little bit about one 
foot in the grave. 

388
00:25:50,600 --> 00:25:53,500
I gather you mentioned early on 
when you said about going to 

389
00:25:53,508 --> 00:25:58,300
watch Beachcomber and I gather 
that you'd been to see filming 

390
00:25:58,300 --> 00:26:01,700
of python. 
So was that quite early? 

391
00:26:01,700 --> 00:26:04,100
It was that what was that? 
What series 2 Series 3? 

392
00:26:04,100 --> 00:26:06,400
Can remember what was the first 
year? 

393
00:26:06,400 --> 00:26:07,900
Is it was The Lumberjack 
episode? 

394
00:26:08,700 --> 00:26:13,900
Oh okay, I mean, you know python
when it first came to the 

395
00:26:14,000 --> 00:26:19,400
English was not something 
unusual to myself, and mind, 

396
00:26:19,400 --> 00:26:23,800
circle of Comedy, loving 
friends, because we kind of 

397
00:26:24,300 --> 00:26:26,600
weed, all discovered. 
I'm sorry that game that was the

398
00:26:26,600 --> 00:26:29,400
very first thing. 
I think I might claim to be some

399
00:26:29,400 --> 00:26:37,600
sort of the Oxbridge review, 
Jean and I will shows like 

400
00:26:37,600 --> 00:26:38,900
completing of history of 
Britain. 

401
00:26:39,600 --> 00:26:45,600
Yep, piece of three twice a 
fortnight and I All those that 

402
00:26:46,000 --> 00:26:49,400
do not adjust your set 
principle, which contain 

403
00:26:49,400 --> 00:26:50,300
various. 
But so when they were all, 

404
00:26:50,300 --> 00:26:54,600
brought our or permutation of 
those performers working 

405
00:26:54,600 --> 00:27:00,500
together to, to do python, that 
was just the latest in that line

406
00:27:00,500 --> 00:27:07,000
that whole lineage of review 
performance and well TV work. 

407
00:27:07,400 --> 00:27:12,300
So when it started out Didn't 
think what this is going to be 

408
00:27:12,300 --> 00:27:17,700
the real ground breaker, and I 
think we'd watched maybe three 

409
00:27:17,700 --> 00:27:20,100
or four because that in those 
days it was more 13 weeks of 

410
00:27:20,100 --> 00:27:21,100
years or something. 
Yeah. 

411
00:27:22,800 --> 00:27:27,700
As the first ones are going out.
So we are going to struggle for 

412
00:27:27,700 --> 00:27:30,800
tickets and got coach parties, 
mask or went up there and 

413
00:27:31,500 --> 00:27:33,000
sacking. 
I mean, you know, the audience 

414
00:27:33,000 --> 00:27:36,600
laughter was not great, you 
know, we weren't it wasn't 

415
00:27:36,800 --> 00:27:39,800
having become the cult and it 
may be because we were about, I 

416
00:27:39,800 --> 00:27:41,600
can choose to Weeks later, I 
wrote office. 

417
00:27:41,600 --> 00:27:43,700
If we get some more and they 
would you just couldn't get a 

418
00:27:43,700 --> 00:27:46,300
number like them. 
But I think that was probably 

419
00:27:46,300 --> 00:27:49,800
about maybe about whole way 
through the was. 

420
00:27:49,800 --> 00:27:53,000
It wasn't? 
It wasn't the first few episodes

421
00:27:53,000 --> 00:27:58,100
of Flying Circus was some the 
audience sort of must in groups 

422
00:27:58,100 --> 00:28:01,700
of women's Institute members and
the like that all applaud was 

423
00:28:02,200 --> 00:28:04,300
that shot? 
They always show them clapping. 

424
00:28:04,400 --> 00:28:09,100
Yes, it was certainly, I mean, 
as a legendary, everything's in 

425
00:28:09,100 --> 00:28:11,000
the very first thought. 
Details. 

426
00:28:11,000 --> 00:28:12,200
Wasn't it where they felt we 
did? 

427
00:28:12,200 --> 00:28:13,500
Not wonder why they weren't 
laughing. 

428
00:28:13,500 --> 00:28:15,800
They're actually a group of 
poles or something. 

429
00:28:16,500 --> 00:28:21,500
It was sitting in the front row 
but no, I know who did that. 

430
00:28:21,500 --> 00:28:24,700
Like, I'm trying to mend the 
weather Barry. 

431
00:28:24,700 --> 00:28:27,600
Cryer Barry took was doing a 
warm-up then he might have been 

432
00:28:27,600 --> 00:28:29,500
either things. 
I think we both didn't like very

433
00:28:29,500 --> 00:28:33,400
took was the sort of sort of 
Midwife to the series, which 

434
00:28:33,400 --> 00:28:37,800
right? 
Yeah so I can remember that but 

435
00:28:38,300 --> 00:28:40,400
it wasn't what I mean we were 
laughing. 

436
00:28:40,600 --> 00:28:45,400
Couple more slim Shore. 
But that was that was the nature

437
00:28:45,400 --> 00:28:52,900
of the BBC ticket unit, which we
kind of had our own ups and 

438
00:28:52,900 --> 00:28:56,900
downs with over the years. 
And that they would send out 

439
00:28:56,900 --> 00:29:02,600
invitations to people who had 
shown interest in TV shows and 

440
00:29:02,700 --> 00:29:05,700
radio shows and offer them 
tickets for this for that. 

441
00:29:06,700 --> 00:29:09,300
It wasn't always. 
There's a cerebral is something 

442
00:29:09,300 --> 00:29:16,700
that was I love well suited to 
the to the audience arrival or 

443
00:29:16,700 --> 00:29:20,100
the audience wasn't most senior 
vice versa but they seem very 

444
00:29:20,100 --> 00:29:25,400
often in that with I guess while
the quiet mystified Coach Park 

445
00:29:25,400 --> 00:29:30,000
is turning up and it was only 
really when something got going 

446
00:29:30,000 --> 00:29:35,100
on in the air and people were 
specifically requested tickets 

447
00:29:35,100 --> 00:29:39,900
for that show that you even got 
loan will sort of compliments of

448
00:29:39,900 --> 00:29:43,900
sense of Thinking of humor and 
we have that on the burgers 

449
00:29:43,900 --> 00:29:48,200
where you work, the first verse 
7 of the series, the first half 

450
00:29:48,200 --> 00:29:50,700
dozen of us second series where 
we just got this. 

451
00:29:50,800 --> 00:29:55,900
You say, struggles regulation, I
think when coach parties with 

452
00:29:55,900 --> 00:29:59,000
people who would come along just
get out of the cold but when you

453
00:29:59,008 --> 00:30:03,900
sit down in the past and there's
only one John Lloyd thought. 

454
00:30:05,000 --> 00:30:06,800
Hang on. 
Why don't we put out an 

455
00:30:06,800 --> 00:30:08,500
announcement at the end of the 
program. 

456
00:30:08,500 --> 00:30:10,400
When it goes out on the are 
saying, if you would like to 

457
00:30:10,400 --> 00:30:15,500
gets to see this and blah blah 
blah, and the next week there 

458
00:30:15,500 --> 00:30:18,000
were queues around the block, we
suddenly found the was actually 

459
00:30:18,000 --> 00:30:22,500
an audience out there listening.
You know, once they knew that 

460
00:30:22,500 --> 00:30:25,300
they were entitled to come along
and watch the recording, so 

461
00:30:25,300 --> 00:30:28,500
we're all so will flock flock to
us do. 

462
00:30:28,800 --> 00:30:30,800
But, you know, you have to 
ticket unit. 

463
00:30:30,800 --> 00:30:34,700
We're not terribly proactive. 
In that respect soap, Python 

464
00:30:34,700 --> 00:30:37,600
have to find its own audience. 
And as I say, then, you know, 

465
00:30:37,600 --> 00:30:41,000
once once it had taken off you, 
and put the book tickets for 

466
00:30:41,000 --> 00:30:45,000
love nor money, but but at that 
point, it was, there was, as, 

467
00:30:45,000 --> 00:30:48,300
you know, the first, those First
episodes do have a slightly 

468
00:30:48,300 --> 00:30:52,300
colder feel too in terms of the 
reaction and I know that you 

469
00:30:52,300 --> 00:30:56,500
were working as a journalist on 
a local newspaper, in the early 

470
00:30:56,500 --> 00:31:00,200
70s, the Luton news. 
Is that right? 

471
00:31:01,100 --> 00:31:04,100
Yes. 
At the time when I joined the 

472
00:31:04,108 --> 00:31:06,700
loop, 1970. 
There was a while Thompson paper

473
00:31:06,700 --> 00:31:09,500
called The Evening Post which 
was a name suggest came out 

474
00:31:09,500 --> 00:31:13,600
every evening. 
We were a weekly and so they 

475
00:31:14,100 --> 00:31:18,000
kind of got first dibs on all 
stories and we had to try and 

476
00:31:18,000 --> 00:31:20,600
find a new angle. 
By the time, our paper came out 

477
00:31:20,600 --> 00:31:24,100
on a Thursday, the identity. 
I don't ask me why, but in the 

478
00:31:24,100 --> 00:31:28,500
years as the years went by that 
paper folded but that was, you 

479
00:31:28,500 --> 00:31:32,800
know, I kind of joined that on 
the mistaken assumption that 

480
00:31:32,800 --> 00:31:36,600
because I quite enjoyed Writing.
That would be the career for me 

481
00:31:36,600 --> 00:31:39,000
that, you know, you soon find 
out. 

482
00:31:39,000 --> 00:31:41,900
It's about ringing people up and
trying to talk to people don't 

483
00:31:41,900 --> 00:31:43,700
want to talk to you soon. 
Yeah. 

484
00:31:44,100 --> 00:31:46,500
Have streets and knocking on 
doors. 

485
00:31:46,500 --> 00:31:52,400
And, um, so at simultaneously I 
was getting my first sketches on

486
00:31:52,400 --> 00:31:56,200
radio and in my spare time. 
So after four years of that, I 

487
00:31:56,200 --> 00:32:01,100
decided it was, it was now or 
never true to see if I can make 

488
00:32:01,100 --> 00:32:03,700
a living doing what I really 
wanted to do. 

489
00:32:04,400 --> 00:32:07,300
And you'd met Andrew Marshall on
was at week ending. 

490
00:32:07,900 --> 00:32:12,000
Yes, we were doing that both 
both contributing beginning, so 

491
00:32:12,600 --> 00:32:16,600
we, we all met up in the 
conference room, in those days, 

492
00:32:16,600 --> 00:32:20,100
in ionian Hall, which was a new 
Bond Street, which is the 

493
00:32:20,100 --> 00:32:24,800
headquarters of in d.c. 
Ellie and little people, like 

494
00:32:25,300 --> 00:32:28,300
John Lloyd and Douglas Adams or 
combo. 

495
00:32:28,300 --> 00:32:31,100
Stop smoking. 
Trust me. 

496
00:32:31,100 --> 00:32:35,200
I did spend soon they were 
writing far more the shown. 

497
00:32:36,000 --> 00:32:39,800
We just kind of just just 
contributing on bits and pieces 

498
00:32:39,800 --> 00:32:42,600
where I wasn't getting very much
on a talk that I had a full-time

499
00:32:42,600 --> 00:32:44,600
job obviously. 
But um, but you know that's 

500
00:32:44,600 --> 00:32:49,200
where you just the camera dries 
kind of kicked in. 

501
00:32:49,200 --> 00:32:55,300
And we went around to Yates his 
wine bar for lunch time to get 

502
00:32:55,300 --> 00:32:56,500
some shepherd's pie or 
something. 

503
00:32:56,500 --> 00:32:58,800
So, you know, you kind of just 
muck I mean there's I just went 

504
00:32:58,800 --> 00:33:02,100
there on my My one day off, you 
know, but whenever I got any 

505
00:33:02,100 --> 00:33:06,000
time off at all, from from the 
job, I would very keen to go 

506
00:33:06,000 --> 00:33:10,400
there and get my face known. 
I'm just mixing with them all, 

507
00:33:10,400 --> 00:33:14,100
go to the studio recording in 
pp1 on Friday morning. 

508
00:33:14,100 --> 00:33:16,200
Week ending this. 
It will talk about. 

509
00:33:16,200 --> 00:33:19,900
Yeah. 
So yeah, that's that's sort of 

510
00:33:19,900 --> 00:33:24,800
Where it All Began on there. 
And by the time I left the 

511
00:33:24,800 --> 00:33:28,300
newspaper, I had actually got to
the stage where they were 

512
00:33:28,300 --> 00:33:30,700
commissioned. 
You need to A certain number of 

513
00:33:30,700 --> 00:33:37,200
minutes material week myself and
Colleen and I masturbate and so 

514
00:33:38,200 --> 00:33:40,200
that means of course that they 
keep me know when you get them 

515
00:33:41,100 --> 00:33:42,900
scheduled on or not, you still 
get paid. 

516
00:33:42,900 --> 00:33:47,700
So it's showed me degree of 
confidence in my abilities. 

517
00:33:47,700 --> 00:33:50,400
So and I'm still living at home 
at that time, my parents. 

518
00:33:50,400 --> 00:33:53,200
It was no big wrists, you know, 
Financial Risk for me too. 

519
00:33:53,200 --> 00:33:55,400
But I mean, as it happened, I 
manage digital. 

520
00:33:55,400 --> 00:33:59,400
Keep my head above water room 
and bits and pieces. 

521
00:34:01,000 --> 00:34:04,700
Yeah, because I know there's a 
few, there's a couple of things.

522
00:34:04,700 --> 00:34:07,200
I've trusted names of shows, 
I've dropped jotted down here, 

523
00:34:07,200 --> 00:34:10,800
which for example, Bruce Forsyth
big night, which was a bit of a 

524
00:34:10,808 --> 00:34:17,800
disaster, not for you but what 
will it was like most disasters 

525
00:34:17,800 --> 00:34:20,400
that were gone. 
It was huge fun to do because 

526
00:34:28,199 --> 00:34:30,000
big night out with Bruce 
tonight. 

527
00:34:30,900 --> 00:34:35,699
Procedural thinking stop the 
middle of Jimmy Edwards is live 

528
00:34:35,699 --> 00:34:38,500
at Patricia. 
Break is the return of the Glam 

529
00:34:39,600 --> 00:34:45,100
surprises and prizes. 
And we played tennis with Rod 

530
00:34:45,100 --> 00:34:56,900
home and be with our whole fancy
dresses. 

531
00:35:08,400 --> 00:35:12,600
Bruce was wonderful to work with
in a you had the experience of 

532
00:35:12,600 --> 00:35:17,400
sitting in the conference room 
with Bruce and all these other 

533
00:35:17,400 --> 00:35:20,900
writers. 
You know, every every day we 

534
00:35:20,900 --> 00:35:24,000
used to go in there and do some 
work on the jokes and the ideas 

535
00:35:24,000 --> 00:35:26,200
and most of us are fell flat on 
their face. 

536
00:35:26,200 --> 00:35:30,500
But but it was then, you know, 
got to the restaurant about 

537
00:35:30,500 --> 00:35:35,100
lunches together and meet all 
these stars that come on, 

538
00:35:35,100 --> 00:35:40,400
doggie, more and people. 
You know, and it was just great 

539
00:35:40,400 --> 00:35:46,000
fun that was at the show land 
about fourteen episodes. 

540
00:35:46,000 --> 00:35:51,800
I think, I mean, it began as 
this great sprawling entity over

541
00:35:51,800 --> 00:35:55,400
about three hours or something. 
This Saturday night was after he

542
00:35:55,400 --> 00:36:00,200
left the BBC in generation 
going, seven years and they had 

543
00:36:00,200 --> 00:36:04,300
all these inserts of Charlie 
Drake and the glum Zorba 

544
00:36:04,300 --> 00:36:08,600
clumsier Is what and it was 
gradually. 

545
00:36:08,600 --> 00:36:14,300
As the series progressed, David 
Belle's had Department that 

546
00:36:14,300 --> 00:36:18,900
stained and Michael Graves 
controlling realized that really

547
00:36:18,900 --> 00:36:24,300
what they need to do is trim it 
right back to what was its basic

548
00:36:24,300 --> 00:36:27,800
strength, which was Bruce and 
who are acting in the public 

549
00:36:27,800 --> 00:36:31,400
and, and that song and dancing 
some comedy. 

550
00:36:31,400 --> 00:36:33,600
And, you know, getting rid of 
all those other extreme in 

551
00:36:33,600 --> 00:36:34,900
Seminole. 
So that's what happened. 

552
00:36:34,900 --> 00:36:38,600
But I don't and I guess We have 
meaning that for another live 

553
00:36:38,700 --> 00:36:42,300
report of being a success. 
But but what was bizarre was 

554
00:36:42,300 --> 00:36:44,800
that Larry Grayson who just 
appeared to be completely 

555
00:36:44,800 --> 00:36:48,000
hopeless. 
On the generation game was taken

556
00:36:48,000 --> 00:36:52,700
to the country's heart and you 
know that ratings back to 

557
00:36:52,700 --> 00:36:54,100
Skyrocket. 
They won't ya. 

558
00:36:54,700 --> 00:36:57,600
Yes. 
Yeah. 

559
00:36:58,000 --> 00:37:03,100
And also another show which you 
worked on not Andrew. 

560
00:37:03,200 --> 00:37:05,800
I believe it was you working on 
The Two? 

561
00:37:05,800 --> 00:37:10,800
Ronnies that At. 
Kept you busy for what, what was

562
00:37:10,808 --> 00:37:13,700
the best part of 78 years? 
Something like that. 

563
00:37:13,700 --> 00:37:18,000
And when I wrote One sketch 
together on that, but the rest 

564
00:37:18,000 --> 00:37:19,100
was me. 
Yes. 

565
00:37:19,100 --> 00:37:21,000
I mean, I still was just like 
this built. 

566
00:37:21,600 --> 00:37:26,800
Built my contributions up from 
newsdesk lines and it was a bit 

567
00:37:26,800 --> 00:37:30,700
like week ending, really? 
I just made a point of going in 

568
00:37:30,900 --> 00:37:35,300
to the studio, every Sunday 
afternoon, and just, you know, 

569
00:37:35,300 --> 00:37:40,500
make up these sounds, you know, 
quite Quite quite courageous 

570
00:37:40,500 --> 00:37:42,500
Army. 
Not in the, how I had the nerve 

571
00:37:42,500 --> 00:37:45,000
to do it. 
Considering our unknown and 

572
00:37:45,700 --> 00:37:49,900
putting significant, I was as a 
person in writer that I kind of 

573
00:37:49,900 --> 00:37:52,000
got on quite well, with Peter 
Vincent who was the script 

574
00:37:52,000 --> 00:37:55,800
everything. 
And so I just used to go in and 

575
00:37:56,200 --> 00:38:01,300
meet everybody and and I'd take 
in news lines with me very often

576
00:38:01,300 --> 00:38:06,800
and They would obviously give 
the new signs and dry run, you 

577
00:38:06,800 --> 00:38:09,400
know, afternoon and they felt 
little one or two, or two or 

578
00:38:09,400 --> 00:38:13,500
three, that weren't as funny as 
they thought, they were getting 

579
00:38:13,500 --> 00:38:16,800
the elbow at the last minute and
look for Alternatives. 

580
00:38:17,200 --> 00:38:20,700
Yeah, I'd come in with a sheet. 
Maybe there was something on 

581
00:38:20,700 --> 00:38:23,200
there that was completely fresh 
and it made them laugh. 

582
00:38:23,600 --> 00:38:25,600
It would go straight into that 
night show. 

583
00:38:25,900 --> 00:38:30,600
So so that happened several 
times and then I got 

584
00:38:30,600 --> 00:38:37,100
commissioned for some sketches. 
And I don't know why was at one 

585
00:38:37,100 --> 00:38:41,500
particular point. 
So I think I kind of barely met 

586
00:38:42,000 --> 00:38:46,800
to on his during that time. 
I've said hello Tony but then 

587
00:38:46,800 --> 00:38:51,300
one day I got a 1976, I just out
of the blue waffle maker from 

588
00:38:51,300 --> 00:38:55,200
the one called it saying, would 
I like to be the script 

589
00:38:55,200 --> 00:38:57,300
associate on his next varieties 
here? 

590
00:38:59,500 --> 00:39:02,300
Which, of course, I jumped at 
that chance, of course and 

591
00:39:02,300 --> 00:39:05,100
ground. 
So, that was the beginning of my

592
00:39:05,100 --> 00:39:10,300
closer relationship with the 
Corbett and when spiking without

593
00:39:10,300 --> 00:39:13,900
Mullins stopped biting each 
other spots right up over. 

594
00:39:14,700 --> 00:39:18,100
So yeah. 
So all in all it was 1974, I 

595
00:39:18,100 --> 00:39:22,300
think began on used as going 
last show of think with mine. 

596
00:39:28,000 --> 00:39:30,800
Tony thinking. 
Okay, your mom but didn't 

597
00:39:30,800 --> 00:39:35,100
realize it was it was that 
length of time a couple of years

598
00:39:35,100 --> 00:39:38,300
where they took time out from 
its, you know, but they neither 

599
00:39:38,300 --> 00:39:40,500
a lot of shows that I wrote 
about 50 monologues for 

600
00:39:40,500 --> 00:39:44,300
wheelchair thing and yet of 
course you get you had the honor

601
00:39:44,300 --> 00:39:47,300
of as part of the rate of 
obviously you wrote Raiders of 

602
00:39:47,300 --> 00:39:53,800
the last talk and was it runny? 
Be that included the line or the

603
00:39:53,800 --> 00:39:56,700
the piece that said it's a David
O Renwick production? 

604
00:39:57,200 --> 00:40:03,300
Well, I've been through this 
before but my script as 

605
00:40:03,300 --> 00:40:09,800
submitted began with the 
voiceover which said 1860 

606
00:40:10,300 --> 00:40:13,500
whatever. 
The last known, example of the 

607
00:40:13,800 --> 00:40:19,400
great auk was found dead in 
March and neutrons and whatever,

608
00:40:19,400 --> 00:40:23,200
whatever the Local Natives, 
believing it to have special 

609
00:40:23,200 --> 00:40:27,700
powers fashioned of golden. 
Effigy Of it, turned its 

610
00:40:28,000 --> 00:40:31,400
Believed to have magical powers,
men have died trying to seek it 

611
00:40:31,400 --> 00:40:35,300
and harness its power by the 
story. 

612
00:40:35,400 --> 00:40:39,600
Then up comes this terrible pun 
in Indiana Jones, writing letter

613
00:40:39,600 --> 00:40:40,300
e. 
Yep. 

614
00:40:40,500 --> 00:40:42,200
It was in the last orc, you 
know. 

615
00:40:42,200 --> 00:40:45,800
So at the very least, you think 
you would get ingrown instead of

616
00:40:46,800 --> 00:40:52,000
when I went to the studio that 
day and I think it was marked as

617
00:40:52,000 --> 00:40:55,300
planting who was a director and 
producer them, so they'll wait 

618
00:40:55,300 --> 00:40:57,800
till you see the opening of your
film tonight. 

619
00:40:57,900 --> 00:41:01,400
Right. 
And I assume that he did you 

620
00:41:01,400 --> 00:41:04,200
know with a sort of an 
unoriginal wink as if it was 

621
00:41:04,200 --> 00:41:08,300
good it's going to be something 
really, really going to blow my 

622
00:41:08,300 --> 00:41:11,400
socks off. 
In terms of action values, he 

623
00:41:11,400 --> 00:41:15,400
was alluding to the fact, this 
book open with my name, you 

624
00:41:15,400 --> 00:41:18,400
know, the daily dosing. 
You have to know David Selznick?

625
00:41:18,500 --> 00:41:20,100
Yeah, I used to get that 
reference. 

626
00:41:20,100 --> 00:41:23,100
Yeah. 
And then up comes ready to the 

627
00:41:23,100 --> 00:41:26,900
last all and then you get to the
voiceover. 

628
00:41:26,900 --> 00:41:31,100
So you've got No joke and pay 
off completely changes proposed.

629
00:41:31,600 --> 00:41:35,900
Yeah, I wasn't best pleased by 
the, by the way, that that that 

630
00:41:35,900 --> 00:41:40,500
sketch started really. 
It was curse of discontent. 

631
00:41:40,800 --> 00:41:47,400
I'm sorry to reopen that wound. 
Oh no, beeping wound in the 

632
00:41:47,400 --> 00:41:50,400
clutches of the Nazis. 
There is only one man in England

633
00:41:50,400 --> 00:41:54,800
equipped to rescuer. 
Littlehampton Jones, famous 

634
00:41:54,800 --> 00:41:57,400
troubleshooter, and the only man
owned were failed. 

635
00:41:57,400 --> 00:42:02,900
The medical for the oval teams. 
I was a big fan of Alexei 

636
00:42:02,900 --> 00:42:07,900
sayles, stuff, and in you, and 
Andre would very much the 

637
00:42:07,900 --> 00:42:10,500
driving force forces behind the 
writing on that. 

638
00:42:10,500 --> 00:42:12,300
When you. 
Yeah, but we did make some 

639
00:42:12,300 --> 00:42:15,000
appearances in that one or two 
occasions. 

640
00:42:15,200 --> 00:42:17,500
They were actually sitting there
as the Riders within the ones. 

641
00:42:17,500 --> 00:42:23,700
Get yes, well that all that 
began began life in Miami. 

642
00:42:23,700 --> 00:42:28,100
Actually, when we had a part in 
groups apocalypse, television 

643
00:42:28,100 --> 00:42:31,900
series and then subsequently in 
the film, And we're all sitting 

644
00:42:31,900 --> 00:42:36,100
on sitting on the beach there. 
One day, we said we should get 

645
00:42:36,100 --> 00:42:41,200
together and try and submit 
something for telling and so and

646
00:42:41,200 --> 00:42:44,100
we got that we did because get 
together one. 

647
00:42:45,700 --> 00:42:49,400
And submitted it to Jim Moya. 
Yep. 

648
00:42:49,800 --> 00:42:56,500
If you come across. 
Yeah, it's a peculiar sense of 

649
00:42:56,500 --> 00:42:58,000
humor. 
And then when we went in to talk

650
00:42:58,000 --> 00:43:01,200
to him about it, if I wasn't 
sitting on the other side of 

651
00:43:01,200 --> 00:43:03,600
this, yes, the me over there 
with my tongue down, the back of

652
00:43:03,600 --> 00:43:07,600
your throat saying that he 
thought it was a good idea. 

653
00:43:07,700 --> 00:43:12,400
Yes, it took a long while to get
through the system. 

654
00:43:14,900 --> 00:43:19,200
These channels are feeling and 
do and then that me, it's always

655
00:43:19,200 --> 00:43:25,500
about money and I think they 
recognize that Lexie was all he 

656
00:43:25,500 --> 00:43:30,300
was entitled to his own vehicle.
That's going to end up doing 

657
00:43:30,300 --> 00:43:32,400
three shows of that. 
And then of course he went on to

658
00:43:32,400 --> 00:43:39,000
do some more Without us great 
grandma in her mouth and I feel 

659
00:43:39,000 --> 00:43:40,400
sore throat. 
Yeah. 

660
00:43:40,900 --> 00:43:44,800
Because well, it wasn't on 
whoops apocalypse because Alexi 

661
00:43:44,800 --> 00:43:49,800
played that soldier in its in 
its character relation the 

662
00:43:49,800 --> 00:43:52,400
relation. 
But wasn't it on the set of 

663
00:43:52,700 --> 00:43:54,800
whoops apocalypse. 
That Lenny Henry met Dawn, 

664
00:43:54,800 --> 00:43:56,900
French. 
They started going out. 

665
00:43:57,100 --> 00:43:58,300
That's the story. 
Yes. 

666
00:43:58,300 --> 00:44:01,800
That first step is so good. 
So he did he knew Lenny from 

667
00:44:02,400 --> 00:44:05,600
what was it Ott was? 
Yeah. 

668
00:44:08,700 --> 00:44:12,500
And he invited me along and of 
course Tony knew from the 

669
00:44:12,800 --> 00:44:16,400
Thunder From The Comedy Store. 
And I think I think that's where

670
00:44:16,400 --> 00:44:19,300
they both but you're not 
actually let me see told me that

671
00:44:19,300 --> 00:44:20,700
once I don't know why I'm 
saying. 

672
00:44:20,700 --> 00:44:23,300
I think because he said it was 
due to you on that my wife. 

673
00:44:25,000 --> 00:44:27,100
That's not apply when she was 
completely one. 

674
00:44:28,100 --> 00:44:30,600
Yes. 
Yeah just on spot getting back 

675
00:44:30,600 --> 00:44:33,000
to spike. 
So he approached you. 

676
00:44:33,700 --> 00:44:35,300
Is that right? 
He approached you and Andrew. do

677
00:44:36,500 --> 00:44:41,100
not say we we got that call to 
say from I guess Norma farms and

678
00:44:41,100 --> 00:44:45,600
rung up our agents showing them 
and said you know can you make 

679
00:44:45,600 --> 00:44:48,800
it to the track to deny that was
that was really we had had some 

680
00:44:48,800 --> 00:44:53,500
it we'd heard Rumblings earlier 
that he might be coming along to

681
00:44:53,500 --> 00:44:56,800
a Berkus recording which 
obviously okay because down our 

682
00:44:56,800 --> 00:45:01,600
spine I gathered or not entirely
certain of the sort of the 

683
00:45:01,600 --> 00:45:06,000
chronology of it that it was at 
a time when His previous wife. 

684
00:45:06,000 --> 00:45:09,600
Patti was was done. 
Yes, it was a very difficult 

685
00:45:09,600 --> 00:45:11,900
time in partly. 
Why he didn't get a longer term?

686
00:45:12,400 --> 00:45:15,100
Yeah, it was. 
So we've had some indications, 

687
00:45:15,100 --> 00:45:17,300
was some suggestion in the air 
that teak. 

688
00:45:17,400 --> 00:45:20,300
Spike Milligan likes your work. 
You know, which is a great sort 

689
00:45:20,300 --> 00:45:25,600
of Accolade wasn't 100% out of 
the blue but it was still 

690
00:45:25,600 --> 00:45:28,600
pretty. 
Pretty surprising. 

691
00:45:29,000 --> 00:45:31,900
Did you keeping kind of keeping 
contact I suppose working 

692
00:45:31,900 --> 00:45:35,900
Within? 
The BBC in comedy in general you

693
00:45:35,900 --> 00:45:40,100
would probably meet him at 
parties whatever over the years.

694
00:45:40,100 --> 00:45:42,200
But did you keep in direct 
contact with Spike? 

695
00:45:42,700 --> 00:45:43,400
You know? 
Yes. 

696
00:45:43,400 --> 00:45:48,100
Yes. 
Okay, we well we were various 

697
00:45:48,100 --> 00:45:50,200
other Ventures that we were 
going to, I mean there's going 

698
00:45:50,200 --> 00:45:53,900
to be another Q series for one 
thing with that was nixed by the

699
00:45:53,908 --> 00:45:55,800
BBC in the end. 
Hmm. 

700
00:45:56,500 --> 00:45:58,400
And which we would have been 
involved in. 

701
00:45:58,400 --> 00:46:01,600
I mean he always every time he 
had some new idea for something 

702
00:46:01,600 --> 00:46:03,700
you know, he was on the phone to
her. 

703
00:46:03,800 --> 00:46:06,700
He's wanting us to get involved.
And then we have meetings, you 

704
00:46:06,707 --> 00:46:08,200
know, it's really never got 
anywhere. 

705
00:46:08,200 --> 00:46:11,400
I'm just became social 
occasions, and we just ended up 

706
00:46:11,408 --> 00:46:15,200
going for careers in Barnet or 
two with local Italian. 

707
00:46:15,200 --> 00:46:19,800
And the number of times we'd 
come call around his house and 

708
00:46:19,800 --> 00:46:26,200
being, you know, this sort of 
Aging shrunken, man would come 

709
00:46:26,200 --> 00:46:30,800
to the door. 
You know, just so sad and like 

710
00:46:30,800 --> 00:46:34,100
an invalid. 
And by the end of In the 

711
00:46:34,100 --> 00:46:37,100
intervening but usually within 
an hour or so. 

712
00:46:37,100 --> 00:46:41,300
He would begin a just curled up 
with Mother Earth, you know. 

713
00:46:41,300 --> 00:46:44,800
And it was one of the one of the
great greatest Pleasures in life

714
00:46:44,800 --> 00:46:51,500
was to see spike in in for full 
flow of laughter to either 

715
00:46:51,500 --> 00:46:54,500
something weird said, but which 
probably didn't amuse us 

716
00:46:54,500 --> 00:46:58,000
remotely or something. 
He'd said he was the only person

717
00:46:58,000 --> 00:47:02,500
I think I've ever just cause me 
to be in pain from laughing, you

718
00:47:02,500 --> 00:47:03,800
know. 
I can't even tell you. 

719
00:47:03,800 --> 00:47:06,800
You why a lot of the time? 
I mean, there was one occasion 

720
00:47:06,800 --> 00:47:09,800
when he she said he was working 
on the latest volume of his War 

721
00:47:09,800 --> 00:47:12,200
Memoirs. 
And he said that he just 

722
00:47:12,200 --> 00:47:15,700
discovered that he one of his 
oldest friends from the military

723
00:47:15,700 --> 00:47:20,600
at told him, that he was 
actually quite offended by all 

724
00:47:20,600 --> 00:47:23,100
the jokes. 
That fight was writing is 

725
00:47:23,100 --> 00:47:26,700
expense in these books. 
Yeah. 

726
00:47:26,700 --> 00:47:30,800
So I rang around and ran around 
all the other, my other mates 

727
00:47:31,400 --> 00:47:32,900
and they said they were all 
offended by it. 

728
00:47:33,700 --> 00:47:37,100
I can tell this is a joke. 
It was used obviously quite 

729
00:47:37,100 --> 00:47:41,600
wounded by it, but of course we 
were, is he has a lot of I mean,

730
00:47:41,700 --> 00:47:44,600
that's the sort of mean he just 
could make you laugh even for 

731
00:47:44,600 --> 00:47:50,500
even in his suffering, you know,
you couldn't help but sort of 

732
00:47:50,500 --> 00:47:54,600
loving, even though, you know, 
you saw the sort of darker side 

733
00:47:54,600 --> 00:47:59,100
of it because he knew that he 
was still just beset by all 

734
00:47:59,100 --> 00:48:03,700
these demons insecurities and 
you know, that's all a part. 

735
00:48:03,800 --> 00:48:06,800
What about, you know, cause 
obviously over the mental pain 

736
00:48:06,800 --> 00:48:11,200
that he went through and, and 
mental health problems that he 

737
00:48:11,200 --> 00:48:16,600
had over the years, you know, 
taking their toll plus and I 

738
00:48:16,600 --> 00:48:20,600
mean no one of our generation 
and possibly understand what it 

739
00:48:20,900 --> 00:48:23,700
would have been like to go 
through those War experiences. 

740
00:48:24,300 --> 00:48:25,200
Know. 
Exactly. 

741
00:48:25,200 --> 00:48:28,500
Absolutely. 
And I believe correct me if I'm 

742
00:48:28,500 --> 00:48:31,700
wrong but my understanding is 
that for the final ever 

743
00:48:32,000 --> 00:48:34,900
on-screen appearance of Victim 
algae. 

744
00:48:34,900 --> 00:48:38,000
Which was the comic relief 
special in 2001 called visiting 

745
00:48:38,000 --> 00:48:40,900
Uncle dick. 
You wanted you wanted Spike to 

746
00:48:40,900 --> 00:48:45,500
play Uncle dick and realize. 
Yeah, well, not long before 

747
00:48:45,500 --> 00:48:51,400
that, I think maybe it was when 
we were making the last series 

748
00:48:51,400 --> 00:48:55,800
of somewhere around. 
Probably the late 90s after he 

749
00:48:55,800 --> 00:48:58,600
knew that to rise. 
So I kind of a kind of lost 

750
00:48:58,700 --> 00:49:01,300
touch a bit by that stage. 
I mean prior to that, when you 

751
00:49:01,300 --> 00:49:03,600
stand in Barnet, we should 
always be winning UPS. 

752
00:49:03,700 --> 00:49:05,600
Sometimes about 1:00 in the 
morning or something. 

753
00:49:05,600 --> 00:49:09,900
That's the idea, is that the 
late David Renwick? 

754
00:49:10,100 --> 00:49:14,500
I mean, there was a, there was 
a, there was a play that my, 

755
00:49:14,500 --> 00:49:17,500
well, I ended up writing on my 
own but but to begin with, I was

756
00:49:17,500 --> 00:49:19,900
discussing it with Andrew 
Marshall, which is called angry 

757
00:49:19,900 --> 00:49:26,100
old men. 
And it was about four characters

758
00:49:26,100 --> 00:49:28,800
who were kind of Base to her 
sort of meant to be a 

759
00:49:29,200 --> 00:49:32,200
fictitious. 
Seminole comedy troupe, who are 

760
00:49:32,200 --> 00:49:38,100
sort of an amalgam of Goons 
Beyond The Fringe python had 

761
00:49:38,100 --> 00:49:42,100
these sort of for archetypes, 
who, hopefully sort of 

762
00:49:42,100 --> 00:49:47,000
recognizable, cannibalization 
Zone these different characters,

763
00:49:47,000 --> 00:49:50,200
one of whom was the spike stroke
Peter Cook. 

764
00:49:50,200 --> 00:49:52,700
And to the sort of way with 
genius, who never became quite 

765
00:49:52,700 --> 00:49:58,600
as successful as all the others.
The the one who kind of lost his

766
00:49:58,600 --> 00:50:02,800
Commerce through through too 
much, self-analysis who's had a 

767
00:50:03,900 --> 00:50:08,000
kind of Jonathan Miller John. 
Yeah and there was it was an 

768
00:50:08,000 --> 00:50:10,200
obvious parallel between Dudley 
Moore and Peter Sellers. 

769
00:50:10,200 --> 00:50:13,400
You know, personally I'm still 
in this sort of London you know,

770
00:50:13,400 --> 00:50:18,800
roots and and went off to become
an international major movie 

771
00:50:18,800 --> 00:50:22,700
star sex symbol more question. 
And it was, it was quite an 

772
00:50:22,700 --> 00:50:25,200
interesting concept, but of 
course the it's and the fourth 

773
00:50:25,200 --> 00:50:26,800
one. 
So I say, well, then there was 

774
00:50:26,800 --> 00:50:29,500
actually the only one. 
Yes, that was the David Frost 

775
00:50:29,500 --> 00:50:32,400
character. 
Who was just basically in it for

776
00:50:32,400 --> 00:50:35,800
the money. 
But and they. 

777
00:50:35,800 --> 00:50:40,900
So we're talking a lot about 
the, this character who we named

778
00:50:40,900 --> 00:50:43,100
Felix, folks, who was a spike 
million. 

779
00:50:43,100 --> 00:50:45,400
Carats and I came home from 
Andrew's house a day in the 

780
00:50:45,400 --> 00:50:48,100
first message on my art. 
And also phone was. 

781
00:50:48,300 --> 00:50:50,600
All I do is talk to fucking 
machines. 

782
00:50:51,200 --> 00:50:55,400
I'm this is Spike ring, it just 
seemed almost unknown and but, 

783
00:50:55,400 --> 00:50:57,000
you know, you'd be bringing out 
that day. 

784
00:50:57,100 --> 00:51:01,300
Yeah, this was what he did. 
Anyway, I'm kind of rambling all

785
00:51:01,300 --> 00:51:04,500
around the your answer to your 
question because he He had rung 

786
00:51:04,500 --> 00:51:08,400
me up in the late 90s towards 
the end of one point. 

787
00:51:08,400 --> 00:51:11,000
We're great. 
When in order to ask me if I 

788
00:51:11,000 --> 00:51:13,300
have a part for you, for God's 
sake. 

789
00:51:14,300 --> 00:51:17,000
I'm very good actor, David. 
You know, I'm not doing 

790
00:51:17,000 --> 00:51:17,800
anything. 
You think? 

791
00:51:17,800 --> 00:51:20,000
Well, yeah, he died thinking 
just gonna pop. 

792
00:51:20,000 --> 00:51:22,200
I Just Wanna Party. 
I'm going downstairs. 

793
00:51:22,200 --> 00:51:24,000
Yes. 
Yeah. 

794
00:51:24,700 --> 00:51:28,700
And it's around that time and I 
didn't have anything. 

795
00:51:28,700 --> 00:51:30,700
There was nothing that I 
couldn't you know, so well, yes,

796
00:51:30,700 --> 00:51:33,300
absolutely keep you in mind. 
So we had a chat and talked 

797
00:51:33,300 --> 00:51:38,000
about old times And then fast 
forward to the when the series 

798
00:51:38,000 --> 00:51:42,100
had finished and we dig that 
hospital bed seeing I thought. 

799
00:51:42,300 --> 00:51:46,100
Well here now is the fight is 
the ideal thing for Spike to, 

800
00:51:46,100 --> 00:51:48,600
you know, come and do. 
It's not going to be very 

801
00:51:48,600 --> 00:51:52,500
demanding because I knew he 
wasn't that well by then but 

802
00:51:52,500 --> 00:51:56,400
word came back that he was. 
He was too ill even to lie in a 

803
00:51:56,400 --> 00:52:00,800
bed and, you know, on camera 
heart. 

804
00:52:00,800 --> 00:52:04,100
So there we've got Eric site. 
Okay. 

805
00:52:04,300 --> 00:52:08,100
And I mean that was the client 
with you mean, it's parallels. 

806
00:52:08,100 --> 00:52:12,500
Of course, that keep going don't
need between yes, like, Eric 

807
00:52:12,500 --> 00:52:14,300
Sykes. 
I mean, I was another parallel 

808
00:52:14,900 --> 00:52:18,600
or just parenthetically on the 
angry old men project which was 

809
00:52:18,600 --> 00:52:20,500
one time it was going to be 
directed by dick. 

810
00:52:20,500 --> 00:52:23,300
Lester. 
You know, I had a lot of 

811
00:52:23,308 --> 00:52:26,400
meetings with dick which are in 
he was kind of bumped off the 

812
00:52:26,400 --> 00:52:28,200
project in the end I think 
because of the use of thought I 

813
00:52:28,207 --> 00:52:31,200
was going to make it too 
expensive, but he was seen and I

814
00:52:31,200 --> 00:52:36,900
had a great time. 
He's a chance of things but and 

815
00:52:37,400 --> 00:52:40,500
he had Uncle Dick, had one line.
I think in it. 

816
00:52:40,500 --> 00:52:43,400
Know how did it go? 
It was something like it was 

817
00:52:45,300 --> 00:52:47,500
something to do with some soup 
or something. 

818
00:52:47,500 --> 00:52:52,900
Wasn't because of that, I think 
Margaret has a line that she was

819
00:52:52,900 --> 00:52:55,600
too cold or some. 
She says something like that. 

820
00:52:56,200 --> 00:53:02,700
Imagine having to drink this and
Uncle dick says I did. 

821
00:53:04,800 --> 00:53:09,100
And that was the line. 
And of course, Eric sites cannot

822
00:53:09,100 --> 00:53:11,100
hear couldn't hear this, right? 
Yeah. 

823
00:53:11,200 --> 00:53:14,900
Really death. 
And he's lying with his eyes 

824
00:53:14,900 --> 00:53:17,300
closed because the whole point 
was there wondering who's dead 

825
00:53:17,300 --> 00:53:21,100
or not. 
And so how are excites managed 

826
00:53:21,100 --> 00:53:24,900
to come in on cue at that point?
I was didn't Motors David in a 

827
00:53:24,908 --> 00:53:28,700
minute. 
So so that was quite sweet. 

828
00:53:28,700 --> 00:53:33,700
Yes, but yes, I'm as I say we 
just it with our contact with 

829
00:53:33,900 --> 00:53:39,800
With spikes for them, dribbled 
away into 1916, which was a 

830
00:53:39,800 --> 00:53:44,900
great shame, because obviously 
he's the most wonderful company.

831
00:53:44,900 --> 00:53:50,600
And so verse those evenings that
we'd be sick by observing 

832
00:53:50,600 --> 00:53:56,500
roaring fire in his house. 
And I've often teen There was an

833
00:53:56,500 --> 00:54:00,100
occasion where he was just 
really so fired up. 

834
00:54:00,100 --> 00:54:09,100
And I've had one award in this 
business over all my years, one,

835
00:54:09,100 --> 00:54:12,200
single award, I'm going, I'm 
going to show it to you and he 

836
00:54:12,200 --> 00:54:16,300
went off in the universe or 
chuckling in anticipation of his

837
00:54:16,300 --> 00:54:21,400
going to come down and show us. 
So we kind of made conversation 

838
00:54:22,800 --> 00:54:25,000
between that sells because you 
seem to be a way. 

839
00:54:25,100 --> 00:54:28,600
Wait, longer than we were 
expecting and when he came back 

840
00:54:28,600 --> 00:54:31,900
into their rooms. 
Now he's suddenly his face was 

841
00:54:31,900 --> 00:54:35,800
Ashen and all the humored 
evaporated. 

842
00:54:35,900 --> 00:54:39,800
He says, great and go out of the
room, you have to show some 

843
00:54:39,800 --> 00:54:42,000
change. 
Some funny and everything up to 

844
00:54:42,000 --> 00:54:46,600
tell me, Diana dors is dead. 
And so this was the, you know, 

845
00:54:46,700 --> 00:54:51,500
some journalist and running up. 
Do we then so this the whole 

846
00:54:51,500 --> 00:54:55,800
mood of the, of the meaning of 
changed as we've discussed Those

847
00:54:55,800 --> 00:54:58,800
with whom we worked on the sound
Bruce Forsyth and he obviously 

848
00:54:58,800 --> 00:55:00,700
knew very well. 
He said he'd been to visit only 

849
00:55:00,700 --> 00:55:04,200
recently and okay, I didn't 
realize, I didn't realize he had

850
00:55:05,100 --> 00:55:10,000
a friendship with her, right? 
How are you? 

851
00:55:10,000 --> 00:55:14,400
And she said, well Spike, you 
know, and she says she knew. 

852
00:55:14,400 --> 00:55:23,300
She knew, of course that and 
there was a long silence and 

853
00:55:23,800 --> 00:55:27,200
Andrew said, So did you give the
pressure quote? 

854
00:55:27,400 --> 00:55:32,500
Yes, four pounds, 10, many 
probably just dissolves into 

855
00:55:32,500 --> 00:55:35,300
larger, going to happen to that,
fetal position. 

856
00:55:35,500 --> 00:55:38,400
But that was spiked, you know, 
that sort of summed up Spike to 

857
00:55:38,400 --> 00:55:41,200
me, the net comedy was never far
away from them, you know? 

858
00:55:41,800 --> 00:55:48,900
Absolutely, absolutely. 
Do you mind if we just I just 

859
00:55:48,900 --> 00:55:52,000
want to want to know, I've got 
your, I would like just to talk 

860
00:55:52,000 --> 00:55:55,000
a little bit about one foot in 
the grave if you've gone, hmm. 

861
00:55:55,100 --> 00:56:00,500
Five ten minutes because it is 
genuinely, one of my favorite 

862
00:56:00,600 --> 00:56:05,600
sitcoms of all time, and it just
terms of the so tiny plotted. 

863
00:56:05,600 --> 00:56:09,600
It's so funny. 
And it's got such, we watch 

864
00:56:09,600 --> 00:56:13,900
ability about it. 
And, and then, you know, 

865
00:56:14,000 --> 00:56:17,600
obviously the phrase, you know, 
he's a victim Elder, it's become

866
00:56:17,600 --> 00:56:23,400
part of The character has become
part of the countries like 

867
00:56:23,400 --> 00:56:28,900
cultural fabric although a lot 
of people I think unfairly just 

868
00:56:29,600 --> 00:56:33,400
denote anybody who moans or 
complains as a Victor meldrew 

869
00:56:33,400 --> 00:56:34,700
character, where where's the 
characters? 

870
00:56:34,700 --> 00:56:40,600
A lot more nuanced than that. 
And and I just wondered, was he 

871
00:56:40,600 --> 00:56:44,400
was, was Victor. 
I know that you'd said, after 

872
00:56:44,400 --> 00:56:49,100
you've said elsewhere, that he 
was partly influenced by Walter 

873
00:56:49,100 --> 00:56:53,000
Matthau hmm, drum, Neil Simon's,
plaza suite. 

874
00:56:53,600 --> 00:56:55,100
But what other info? 
What? 

875
00:56:55,100 --> 00:56:58,300
Other sort of influences did you
bring into the creation of that 

876
00:56:58,300 --> 00:56:59,800
character? 
Yes. 

877
00:56:59,800 --> 00:57:03,400
Like what you put that over a 
succinctly and obviously done 

878
00:57:03,400 --> 00:57:07,400
your research. 
Yeah, I think well, that, that 

879
00:57:07,400 --> 00:57:11,300
was the, the Walter Matthau mr. 
Hubley character was was, 

880
00:57:11,300 --> 00:57:14,600
certainly, the was probably the 
closest sort of paralyzed. 

881
00:57:14,600 --> 00:57:23,200
I also said that the new Neil 
Simon Jewish angst, which is 

882
00:57:23,200 --> 00:57:27,700
really what I suppose I've tried
to capture in British form. 

883
00:57:27,700 --> 00:57:29,300
Hmm. 
So it was another hit. 

884
00:57:29,300 --> 00:57:33,800
That was a huge influence. 
I made up my mind, the minute, I

885
00:57:33,800 --> 00:57:36,300
get my hands on her. 
I'm gonna kill her. 

886
00:57:37,000 --> 00:57:39,400
Once I show them the wedding 
bills. 

887
00:57:39,400 --> 00:57:42,300
No jewelry on. 
It, will convict me. 

888
00:57:44,300 --> 00:57:47,200
No, no, no. 
I changed my mind. 

889
00:57:47,500 --> 00:57:50,900
Killings too good for her. 
She can go into a Convent, let 

890
00:57:50,900 --> 00:57:54,300
it become a librarian with thick
glasses and a pencil in her 

891
00:57:54,300 --> 00:57:55,800
hair. 
Let her become the first 

892
00:57:55,800 --> 00:57:58,500
spinster on the moon. 
I'm not paying for any more 

893
00:57:58,500 --> 00:58:00,800
cancelled weddings. 
Tell her, go ahead, tell her 

894
00:58:00,800 --> 00:58:06,200
never mind, I'll tell him 
myself, watching The Prisoner of

895
00:58:06,200 --> 00:58:10,300
Second Avenue, back many years 
later and indeed seeing on 

896
00:58:10,300 --> 00:58:13,200
stage, I think Richard Dreyfuss 
paint in the film's gentlemen. 

897
00:58:14,300 --> 00:58:17,500
Yeah, it's almost verged on 
plagiarism or think like when it

898
00:58:18,200 --> 00:58:20,400
hits the character's name was 
even now. 

899
00:58:21,800 --> 00:58:25,700
There's no bill no connection 
there between now and meldrew 

900
00:58:25,700 --> 00:58:29,700
but I, you know, it was so that 
was that was yes. 

901
00:58:29,700 --> 00:58:35,200
A big influence but, you know 
I've I've stumbled recently on 

902
00:58:35,200 --> 00:58:39,700
odd Snippets of Afghan it and 
realized yes. 

903
00:58:39,700 --> 00:58:43,300
There's a lot in this sort of 
dynamic between him and dandy 

904
00:58:43,300 --> 00:58:48,500
Nichols and And these together 
and all of those sort of shows 

905
00:58:48,500 --> 00:58:54,300
and characters. 
And yeah which I grew up with 

906
00:58:54,700 --> 00:58:56,500
and got to be in there 
somewhere. 

907
00:58:57,400 --> 00:59:03,200
I drew a parallel with The 
characters who live opposite 

908
00:59:04,400 --> 00:59:07,400
Samantha on Bewitched, who I 
think what in the what was it? 

909
00:59:07,408 --> 00:59:09,700
The wife who's always looking 
through the portals and seeing 

910
00:59:09,700 --> 00:59:15,800
something strange going on? 
Oh yeah, you know, I've grown up

911
00:59:15,800 --> 00:59:18,400
with them, they're in whether 
consciously or not. 

912
00:59:18,400 --> 00:59:20,700
I know. 
I know that they will have, they

913
00:59:20,700 --> 00:59:25,200
will have colored the Patrick 
and paper either reacting to the

914
00:59:25,200 --> 00:59:28,400
strangeness that we understand. 
We know why it's happening. 

915
00:59:28,400 --> 00:59:30,900
Yes. 
They put a different spin on it 

916
00:59:31,200 --> 00:59:34,700
and Patrick in particular. 
That's the most malevolent 

917
00:59:34,700 --> 00:59:40,500
Spirit, man, possible. 
Possibly, so that, you know, I'm

918
00:59:40,500 --> 00:59:43,100
sure if you went through the 
fine tooth comb, you could find 

919
00:59:43,100 --> 00:59:46,300
on everybody's I would guess 
comedy. 

920
00:59:46,300 --> 00:59:51,500
Is is influenced by you know 
some precursor or rather. 

921
00:59:51,500 --> 00:59:55,300
I'm not quite sure where all of 
spikes come came from but 

922
00:59:55,900 --> 00:59:58,400
probably quite a bit from the 
Marx Brothers and think. 

923
00:59:58,600 --> 01:00:01,100
Yes. 
He would be prone to saying 

924
01:00:01,100 --> 01:00:03,800
things like than that. 
I remember him saying that Jack 

925
01:00:03,800 --> 01:00:07,900
Benny was never funny and you 
sort of sit there, they both 

926
01:00:08,700 --> 01:00:11,400
might be out on a limb there, 
spiked with that one. 

927
01:00:12,300 --> 01:00:15,000
But, you know, that wasn't. 
But then the next day, he might 

928
01:00:15,000 --> 01:00:17,800
say, was the funniest man alive 
because he was so full of those 

929
01:00:17,800 --> 01:00:20,100
contradictions. 
But anyway, getting back to, 

930
01:00:21,100 --> 01:00:28,400
yes, Victor, I had written a 
pilot for Tim's back in the 70s,

931
01:00:28,400 --> 01:00:33,300
which Which again, Drew on that 
characterization. 

932
01:00:33,300 --> 01:00:36,800
Think quite heavily and that 
never got anywhere. 

933
01:00:36,800 --> 01:00:40,700
That was stored sort of still 
stalled in my Consciousness. 

934
01:00:40,700 --> 01:00:45,700
When I came to do have a go at 
this Sons, one thing the great 

935
01:00:45,700 --> 01:00:51,300
pile up to ended in 1989. 
When everyone's, I mean, I guess

936
01:00:51,300 --> 01:00:57,400
you're right in your earlier 
premise though that Victor tends

937
01:00:57,500 --> 01:01:01,400
to be so too. 
Nationalized in that respect 

938
01:01:01,400 --> 01:01:06,600
tongue and that's what's made it
seem dear during during. 

939
01:01:07,700 --> 01:01:10,500
And I think I think didn't Conan
Doyle's there once about 

940
01:01:10,600 --> 01:01:12,900
Sherlock Holmes. 
I mean Watson is by far were 

941
01:01:13,000 --> 01:01:17,200
richer character in many ways 
and cousins real, but the homes.

942
01:01:17,300 --> 01:01:20,500
You know is just it's like a lot
of the dickensian characters. 

943
01:01:20,500 --> 01:01:24,100
You know, the really strange 
eccentric ones that are in many 

944
01:01:24,100 --> 01:01:26,600
ways. 
Kind of cartoons are the ones 

945
01:01:26,600 --> 01:01:30,200
everybody remembers and like 
it's sort of The same that's 

946
01:01:30,200 --> 01:01:32,900
it's for the same reason that 
people remember victim because 

947
01:01:32,900 --> 01:01:37,200
they don't really have the time 
or inclination to sort of probe 

948
01:01:37,200 --> 01:01:40,800
any deeper than that. 
And you got even even though in 

949
01:01:40,800 --> 01:01:44,200
the BBC one day there was a an 
inquiry came in. 

950
01:01:44,200 --> 01:01:47,900
From some one of the things he's
many departments, they making a 

951
01:01:48,800 --> 01:01:54,100
promo about encouraging people 
to pay their license fee and 

952
01:01:54,100 --> 01:01:58,400
wanted a clip that showed Victor
being mean. 

953
01:01:59,500 --> 01:02:03,400
In order to weigh in the 
straight, to the point that you 

954
01:02:03,400 --> 01:02:09,200
know, you've got to try not be 
mean and pay your do BBC, 

955
01:02:09,200 --> 01:02:14,200
license fee and and to which our
response was how do you know? 

956
01:02:14,200 --> 01:02:16,700
He's mean, you might be a big 
supporter of Public Service 

957
01:02:16,700 --> 01:02:18,700
television. 
I think he would be, I think it 

958
01:02:18,700 --> 01:02:19,800
would be. 
Yeah. 

959
01:02:20,100 --> 01:02:25,800
So you know, you're the whole 
premise is, is, is is judged in 

960
01:02:25,800 --> 01:02:30,400
the first place, go away. 
There aren't any Clips are in 

961
01:02:30,400 --> 01:02:32,700
being mean, we can show you a 
clip of him helping out at a 

962
01:02:32,707 --> 01:02:38,300
soup kitchen Christmas day, you 
know, just do your research 

963
01:02:39,000 --> 01:02:42,500
fellows, and but that's how 
people sort of semen people. 

964
01:02:42,500 --> 01:02:45,100
The number of people that are 
just like my dad, just like my 

965
01:02:45,100 --> 01:02:47,800
thought. 
I'd never say just like me now, 

966
01:02:48,800 --> 01:02:54,000
you know, which is going, how 
icily, of course was and he 

967
01:02:54,000 --> 01:02:55,900
responds. 
You know, he's a responded to 

968
01:02:55,900 --> 01:02:59,700
react or reactive character to 
all stuff that I, because, God 

969
01:02:59,700 --> 01:03:01,700
knows every week. 
Like I had to sit in there and 

970
01:03:01,900 --> 01:03:04,500
try and think of the thing not 
work on the basis that he would 

971
01:03:04,500 --> 01:03:06,300
start each day, feeling 
cheerful. 

972
01:03:06,600 --> 01:03:11,000
And I have to devise all of the 
various elements that conspire 

973
01:03:11,000 --> 01:03:16,500
to reduce into a gibbering 
wreck, you know, which one hopes

974
01:03:16,500 --> 01:03:23,100
the laughs will flow, but 
absolutely, you're talking about

975
01:03:23,400 --> 01:03:30,900
the Great British public last 
and And look, I haven't, this 

976
01:03:30,900 --> 01:03:33,700
resentment hasn't been simmering
for 30 years and I didn't invite

977
01:03:33,700 --> 01:03:38,200
you on to criticize your work at
all, David lat. 

978
01:03:38,600 --> 01:03:43,100
But I've had a, there's a, 
there's a, there's something, 

979
01:03:43,100 --> 01:03:45,000
there's a little thing in one 
foot in the grave. 

980
01:03:45,000 --> 01:03:49,000
That is always slightly annoyed 
me and and it's totally 

981
01:03:49,000 --> 01:03:51,900
irrational, okay? 
But I want to are it now, that's

982
01:03:51,900 --> 01:03:54,500
okay. 
The episode. 

983
01:03:54,500 --> 01:03:56,300
I think it's the episode who's 
listening. 

984
01:03:56,300 --> 01:04:02,000
So we're talking 1991. 
Was that some And that where 

985
01:04:02,000 --> 01:04:04,800
Victor is playing. 
I think it's battleships and 

986
01:04:04,800 --> 01:04:09,100
Margaret's mum is on the phone, 
she's playing along and she's 

987
01:04:09,100 --> 01:04:13,100
always just hidden, throw two 
fives and she'd throw two sixes 

988
01:04:13,100 --> 01:04:17,600
or whatever. 
And at one point he refers to 

989
01:04:17,600 --> 01:04:20,100
her as many crumb. 
Oh, yeah. 

990
01:04:21,000 --> 01:04:22,800
And that was just didn't want 
because the character was mini 

991
01:04:22,800 --> 01:04:28,400
Banister in the Goon show, but 
she was like, well she wasn't. 

992
01:04:28,400 --> 01:04:31,000
She was the she was The 
companion of henrique run. 

993
01:04:31,200 --> 01:04:39,900
Yeah. 
Well well spotted but well 

994
01:04:41,900 --> 01:04:44,700
defensively. 
One can argue that Victor, got 

995
01:04:44,700 --> 01:04:47,400
it wrong, you know true human 
like the rest of us. 

996
01:04:47,900 --> 01:04:51,300
Obviously if I mean many 
Banister in any case it's got a 

997
01:04:51,308 --> 01:04:54,700
better Rhythm to. 
It will be why it was minivans 

998
01:04:54,700 --> 01:05:00,500
doing Henry Grand. 
But so Needless to say, if you 

999
01:05:00,508 --> 01:05:03,000
know, that I've been pointed out
to me before we recorded it, I 

1000
01:05:03,000 --> 01:05:06,500
would have changed it, but 
you're absolutely right here 

1001
01:05:06,500 --> 01:05:10,200
Henry kind of mini Venison and 
as we know there's plenty of 

1002
01:05:10,200 --> 01:05:12,300
course, but and people and cause
people laughing. 

1003
01:05:12,300 --> 01:05:15,800
You get the laugh of and make 
most of our audience, probably 

1004
01:05:16,200 --> 01:05:19,400
dare I say wouldn't know who 
chronicled Banners To Wear 

1005
01:05:19,400 --> 01:05:23,500
anyway, but but but Victor's. 
We know that Victor is more of a

1006
01:05:23,500 --> 01:05:28,800
python fan anyway. 
Well, I yeah. 

1007
01:05:28,800 --> 01:05:32,700
I mean I get knows, it's does it
occur in any other episode? 

1008
01:05:32,700 --> 01:05:34,800
I want that one. 
Spam spam. 

1009
01:05:35,400 --> 01:05:39,000
Hmm. 
Don't know that. 

1010
01:05:39,000 --> 01:05:41,600
She's it's just an indication of
his sense of humor. 

1011
01:05:41,600 --> 01:05:43,200
I suppose. 
Yes. 

1012
01:05:43,300 --> 01:05:45,300
Yes. 
Who knows? 

1013
01:05:45,300 --> 01:05:47,500
What was on that sitcom script 
that he was knighted. 

1014
01:05:47,500 --> 01:05:50,300
Oh, yeah, absolutely. 
The one, the one that Margaret. 

1015
01:05:50,300 --> 01:05:52,700
Just she crushed him. 
Yeah. 

1016
01:05:52,700 --> 01:05:55,000
Time tears in them. 
Yeah. 

1017
01:05:55,000 --> 01:05:56,600
Well, those are the moments of 
poignancy. 

1018
01:05:56,600 --> 01:06:00,900
I mean Victor lat. 
Should laughing. 

1019
01:06:01,400 --> 01:06:03,600
It's always young people go and 
let you know when he's 

1020
01:06:03,600 --> 01:06:07,200
fulminating and exploding and 
you know, grouchiness and that's

1021
01:06:07,300 --> 01:06:09,200
kind of what with characters all
about. 

1022
01:06:09,500 --> 01:06:12,500
But some of the funniest seems 
to be a when Richard is doing 

1023
01:06:12,500 --> 01:06:16,400
his laughter. 
Like, for instance, when he's 

1024
01:06:16,400 --> 01:06:21,100
watching the, the all the chaos 
in the theater, which he think 

1025
01:06:21,400 --> 01:06:22,600
I'm a fast. 
Yes. 

1026
01:06:22,800 --> 01:06:26,200
And he's sitting there in the 
audience and all of which was, 

1027
01:06:26,200 --> 01:06:30,700
as you would guess recorded 
filmed Without anything going on

1028
01:06:30,700 --> 01:06:33,800
on the stage of those say. 
I mean Suzi. 

1029
01:06:33,900 --> 01:06:36,400
K was just talking him through 
the action so you're just 

1030
01:06:36,400 --> 01:06:39,100
reacting to nothing. 
And then he gets his M&M's out 

1031
01:06:39,100 --> 01:06:41,400
of his pocket. 
I mean just but those reactions 

1032
01:06:41,400 --> 01:06:44,200
are just Priceless and the way 
then all spliced into it. 

1033
01:06:44,500 --> 01:06:49,500
Yeah, is one of my favorite ever
sequences but also when you, 

1034
01:06:49,500 --> 01:06:53,600
when he's just reading to 
himself that, you really believe

1035
01:06:53,600 --> 01:06:56,700
he's reading something that he's
just written ship conscripting 

1036
01:06:56,700 --> 01:06:59,800
bed. 
Then just Was it? 

1037
01:06:59,800 --> 01:07:02,500
This is just can't stop 
chuckling away at it. 

1038
01:07:02,700 --> 01:07:04,100
What's it about? 
I'll tell you when I've 

1039
01:07:04,100 --> 01:07:08,700
finished, that's Richie that is 
equal best. 

1040
01:07:08,700 --> 01:07:13,200
I think when the sun is going on
some stuff but yes, well thank 

1041
01:07:13,200 --> 01:07:16,600
you for pointing out the many 
crimes actually risk. 

1042
01:07:16,600 --> 01:07:24,300
They were playing risk them, but
all these years and that's never

1043
01:07:24,300 --> 01:07:27,600
been pointed out. 
Well, I'm glad that I have this 

1044
01:07:27,600 --> 01:07:33,200
would be the podcast to do that.
And before we started recording,

1045
01:07:33,800 --> 01:07:38,700
for various reasons, we 
mentioned, Ryan Murphy. 

1046
01:07:39,100 --> 01:07:41,500
Yes. 
Yes, staring at me. 

1047
01:07:41,900 --> 01:07:44,600
Yes. 
Because he is my zoom Avatar 

1048
01:07:44,600 --> 01:07:49,200
picture at the moment. 
And, and just for the record, 

1049
01:07:49,300 --> 01:07:52,300
the man who blew away is my 
favorite one foot in the grave 

1050
01:07:52,300 --> 01:07:54,900
episode with Brian. 
Murphy is mr. 

1051
01:07:54,900 --> 01:07:56,500
Foskett. 
Ya. 

1052
01:07:57,700 --> 01:08:03,700
Miserable Christmas Day? 
Of a trend, but the story behind

1053
01:08:03,700 --> 01:08:07,200
that, of course, if anyone wants
to hear it is that it wasn't 

1054
01:08:07,200 --> 01:08:09,000
written. 
I'm probably won't surprise you 

1055
01:08:09,000 --> 01:08:10,300
to know. 
It wasn't written as a Christmas

1056
01:08:10,300 --> 01:08:13,100
special in Unwritten six 
episodes and they wanted a 

1057
01:08:13,107 --> 01:08:16,700
Christmas special. 
Again that's why I tell, you 

1058
01:08:16,700 --> 01:08:19,300
know, haven't got it in my room 
got time, you know? 

1059
01:08:19,399 --> 01:08:23,000
No, I don't think it's possible.
And in the end, after a lot of 

1060
01:08:23,000 --> 01:08:28,300
arm-twisting, I just decide 
agreed to extend the first 

1061
01:08:28,300 --> 01:08:32,100
episode. 
To 40 minutes and we've make 

1062
01:08:32,100 --> 01:08:37,200
sure was a lot of snow in it and
the Christmas episode, which 

1063
01:08:37,200 --> 01:08:41,600
then went out on Christmas day, 
but I think that well I'm I know

1064
01:08:41,600 --> 01:08:44,200
that writing specifically the 
Christmas Day. 

1065
01:08:44,200 --> 01:08:49,500
I didn't think he would have had
a man committing suicide but 

1066
01:08:49,500 --> 01:08:54,500
anyway on to your question which
was well no just that step. 

1067
01:08:54,500 --> 01:08:56,100
That was my favorite app. 
That's my favorite episode. 

1068
01:08:56,100 --> 01:09:01,000
Although there's many many that 
I love I Realized quite recently

1069
01:09:01,000 --> 01:09:04,500
that I haven't given series 1 
enough, attention of watched 

1070
01:09:04,800 --> 01:09:08,600
Series 2 onwards, multiple times
many, many, many times, but I'm 

1071
01:09:08,600 --> 01:09:12,300
not watch series one very much. 
And I don't know why that is, 

1072
01:09:12,899 --> 01:09:16,800
but I guess it's slightly. 
It's finding its way, isn't it? 

1073
01:09:16,800 --> 01:09:19,700
It's a bit more muted. 
It seems to be as well. 

1074
01:09:19,700 --> 01:09:24,200
I mean, the scene, it's can't 
make the assumption that having 

1075
01:09:24,200 --> 01:09:26,800
watched. 
You know what, one foot in the 

1076
01:09:26,800 --> 01:09:29,200
grave became over the course of 
episode. 

1077
01:09:29,300 --> 01:09:34,800
Series 2, 3 4 5 6 and specials 
that you know series one would 

1078
01:09:34,800 --> 01:09:38,100
therefore need to be consistent 
with all of that because none of

1079
01:09:38,100 --> 01:09:42,000
that had existed. 
Now when we were I was writing 

1080
01:09:42,000 --> 01:09:45,899
we were making serious one. 
Yeah, by the time I was writing 

1081
01:09:45,899 --> 01:09:50,500
episode 3, you know, for I was 
probably still had Les Dawson in

1082
01:09:50,500 --> 01:09:53,800
my head is the character you 
know, because we shouldn't turn 

1083
01:09:53,800 --> 01:09:58,100
this down that and so things 
were very very different than 

1084
01:09:58,100 --> 01:10:02,300
the yes course with We're under 
a lot of Margaret's dialogue in 

1085
01:10:02,300 --> 01:10:07,800
the I don't think we would have 
ever appeared in nature shows. 

1086
01:10:08,300 --> 01:10:13,200
I mean I I was really it was all
Insurance just trying to write 

1087
01:10:13,200 --> 01:10:20,400
as much cram in as many silly 
lines and jackknife Nivea tanker

1088
01:10:20,400 --> 01:10:23,900
and just stuff like that. 
They're just there for Pure 

1089
01:10:23,900 --> 01:10:28,000
silliness and you know if you 
try and be strictly a bit more 

1090
01:10:28,000 --> 01:10:32,900
naturalistic of I did, Did later
on for all of the madness and 

1091
01:10:32,900 --> 01:10:36,100
surrealism markers. 
I'm trying to kind of keep the 

1092
01:10:36,300 --> 01:10:40,600
dialogue and little bit more 
less gratuitous than that. 

1093
01:10:41,300 --> 01:10:44,000
So, there's bits of that. 
And indeed, and its performance 

1094
01:10:44,000 --> 01:10:50,200
in that first series is is still
finding its way as you say, I 

1095
01:10:50,200 --> 01:10:54,700
think Richard is he kind of 
Springs into it, fully formed. 

1096
01:10:54,700 --> 01:10:57,500
I mean, you look at him in 
episode 1 and there's not very 

1097
01:10:57,500 --> 01:10:59,200
much tonight. 
That's right. 

1098
01:10:59,700 --> 01:11:03,000
Became but she's Keys playing it
bigger. 

1099
01:11:03,900 --> 01:11:07,300
Yeah confession she thought it 
was very, very uncomfortable 

1100
01:11:07,300 --> 01:11:08,600
experience. 
You never done it before 

1101
01:11:08,600 --> 01:11:11,600
performing in front of. 
And also, I don't know who I'm 

1102
01:11:11,600 --> 01:11:13,700
going on with, for me to the 
audience, they are to the 

1103
01:11:13,700 --> 01:11:15,400
cameras. 
He before into the camera, 

1104
01:11:16,400 --> 01:11:19,100
always performing to the cameras
but you are aware of the 

1105
01:11:19,100 --> 01:11:22,900
audience and obviously there's 
big laughs coming in but the sun

1106
01:11:22,900 --> 01:11:25,500
now trying to resolve that long 
way. 

1107
01:11:25,500 --> 01:11:29,000
The wrong is did to Perfection 
with their sort of pretending to

1108
01:11:29,000 --> 01:11:30,900
take. 
A sip from a glass and then, you

1109
01:11:30,900 --> 01:11:34,200
know, oh yes, absolutely not. 
I mean they were Masters all 

1110
01:11:34,200 --> 01:11:35,300
that. 
Yes. 

1111
01:11:36,200 --> 01:11:39,100
You know, and that is an art in 
itself, which she was only 

1112
01:11:39,100 --> 01:11:43,600
gradually sort of come to terms 
with and learning that she never

1113
01:11:43,600 --> 01:11:45,100
found these. 
Going to pretend she found that 

1114
01:11:45,100 --> 01:11:48,800
a comfortable experience that 
use, always felt better doing 

1115
01:11:49,600 --> 01:11:53,000
stuff on film. 
Yeah. 

1116
01:11:53,200 --> 01:11:57,900
Which as she mentioned him 
current or before the series, 1 

1117
01:11:57,900 --> 01:11:59,200
episode Return of the Speckled 
Band. 

1118
01:11:59,300 --> 01:12:02,800
And yes, did you get any grief 
at all? 

1119
01:12:02,800 --> 01:12:05,500
Because surely to God you must 
have from the Athens tourism 

1120
01:12:05,500 --> 01:12:09,400
board. 
The amount of Athens taught so 

1121
01:12:09,800 --> 01:12:13,000
happens, we were talking about I
thought you thought there was, 

1122
01:12:13,000 --> 01:12:16,200
this was a question about about 
Sherlock, Holmes copyright, 

1123
01:12:16,500 --> 01:12:18,700
because also the value of Thiele
was another one which, of 

1124
01:12:18,700 --> 01:12:23,300
course, yes, and then it moved 
on doing realm and later and 

1125
01:12:23,300 --> 01:12:27,300
later. 
So, but no. 

1126
01:12:27,300 --> 01:12:31,800
And in fact that cutting, Being 
that This Is War boys reads out.

1127
01:12:31,800 --> 01:12:36,100
I think there's actual cutting 
from a color supplement at the 

1128
01:12:36,100 --> 01:12:39,800
time business because that 
phrase is extremely dangerous 

1129
01:12:39,800 --> 01:12:42,600
overrun. 
I know is something, I don't 

1130
01:12:42,600 --> 01:12:47,500
think would ever have come from 
my brain from something, right? 

1131
01:12:47,500 --> 01:12:49,600
Well, the report was accurate is
another matter. 

1132
01:12:49,600 --> 01:12:52,900
But excuse, if they had done, I 
suppose, they will take it up 

1133
01:12:52,900 --> 01:12:55,200
with the Observer or whoever 
printed that. 

1134
01:12:55,200 --> 01:12:58,500
But that was, I mean, I've had a
today's special, I thought it 

1135
01:12:58,500 --> 01:13:01,800
was quite a nice So the twist 
that, you know, people go on 

1136
01:13:01,800 --> 01:13:04,600
holiday to Greece, there's no 
way that wouldn't be seen 

1137
01:13:04,600 --> 01:13:08,700
traditionally in a comedy or any
drama as an exciting, you know, 

1138
01:13:08,700 --> 01:13:12,700
nice thing to be doing, so to 
have it as, you know, your 

1139
01:13:12,700 --> 01:13:16,400
prayers are asked, for they on a
fortnight sort of agrees. 

1140
01:13:16,800 --> 01:13:20,700
Was I thought was quite a nice. 
So, yeah, I'm going to take on 

1141
01:13:20,700 --> 01:13:22,800
and those were things. 
I was always searching for you. 

1142
01:13:29,700 --> 01:13:33,400
Let's see. 
Oh yes, Athens airport is a 

1143
01:13:33,400 --> 01:13:36,500
particularly hazardous one do 
too slippery. 

1144
01:13:36,500 --> 01:13:41,700
Runway poor markings, extremely 
bad air, traffic, control and a 

1145
01:13:41,700 --> 01:13:44,900
highly dangerous overrun. 
Thank you. 

1146
01:13:45,700 --> 01:13:47,400
Give us something to read on the
plane. 

1147
01:13:49,000 --> 01:13:52,800
No, we never had anyone ever 
had, but I mean we had we had an

1148
01:13:53,500 --> 01:13:57,800
objection to book title in 
episode 2. 

1149
01:13:57,800 --> 01:14:00,400
I remember Is it coping with all
danger? 

1150
01:14:00,400 --> 01:14:02,900
Think it was cool. 
It was occurrence. 

1151
01:14:02,900 --> 01:14:05,500
Of course something else before 
that I can't remember but I know

1152
01:14:05,500 --> 01:14:08,900
the was that it needs to say a 
book with that title. 

1153
01:14:08,900 --> 01:14:14,400
Someone's concerned that lemur. 
Using laughs. 

1154
01:14:14,600 --> 01:14:18,600
Right? 
Yeah it wasn't a simple search 

1155
01:14:18,600 --> 01:14:20,300
online. 
You know these things could be 

1156
01:14:20,300 --> 01:14:23,800
missed not going on of course. 
Yeah yeah. 

1157
01:14:27,000 --> 01:14:28,000
Yeah. 
When these days our mobile 

1158
01:14:28,000 --> 01:14:33,000
phones no one needs to remember 
phone numbers anymore but you 

1159
01:14:33,000 --> 01:14:36,600
know, but there's this these 
three numbers that I burned into

1160
01:14:36,600 --> 01:14:39,600
my memory. 
One is my childhood childhood 

1161
01:14:40,300 --> 01:14:43,700
phone number when I was growing 
up my Uncle's phone number in 

1162
01:14:43,700 --> 01:14:50,200
Belfast and 4291 which, which is
the military's number. 

1163
01:14:50,400 --> 01:14:52,900
How did you did you take ages of
agonizing over? 

1164
01:14:53,400 --> 01:14:55,900
No, I mean, it's such an 
unnatural number anyway. 

1165
01:14:55,900 --> 01:14:59,000
I mean, who has a four digit 
number anymore, I do and even 

1166
01:14:59,000 --> 01:15:01,100
then who had a boy's eyes, I had
three digits. 

1167
01:15:01,100 --> 01:15:03,300
I treated you because I was in 
New Zealand. 

1168
01:15:03,400 --> 01:15:05,800
Yeah. 
But all right, well yes, well, 

1169
01:15:05,800 --> 01:15:09,200
he wasn't music, it's no excuse 
there. 

1170
01:15:09,400 --> 01:15:16,300
But yeah, I suppose. 
In some, some Quirk of the Don 

1171
01:15:16,300 --> 01:15:18,500
River dining dining code or 
something. 

1172
01:15:18,700 --> 01:15:20,500
I don't know. 
I mean obviously you had to get 

1173
01:15:20,500 --> 01:15:26,800
get there was a different number
in the first series and it is to

1174
01:15:26,800 --> 01:15:29,600
this day. 
I don't know why that has become

1175
01:15:30,100 --> 01:15:33,000
such a thing as 49 ones. 
Obviously something to do with 

1176
01:15:33,000 --> 01:15:39,100
the river moment and there was a
day on a kind of John critical 

1177
01:15:39,100 --> 01:15:43,900
of suit when we when The Clapper
loader came. up to me with much 

1178
01:15:44,200 --> 01:15:48,800
joy and really the point out 
that this was taped, this was 

1179
01:15:49,700 --> 01:15:55,100
taped, but this plate number 49 
one, you know, it's what you do 

1180
01:15:55,400 --> 01:16:00,300
wasn't this amusing, even as I'm
talking to you now I'm sort of 

1181
01:16:00,300 --> 01:16:05,400
conflating various other Using 
my head one of which is the 

1182
01:16:05,400 --> 01:16:07,000
story. 
Another story. 

1183
01:16:07,000 --> 01:16:14,200
I've always told about when I'm 
on swallows of the Douglas 

1184
01:16:14,200 --> 01:16:15,600
Adams. 
Back in the seventies, we did a 

1185
01:16:15,600 --> 01:16:22,400
review to go and he was quoting 
an interview that he had seen 

1186
01:16:22,400 --> 01:16:24,200
with John Cleese with John 
Cleese. 

1187
01:16:24,200 --> 01:16:26,600
Will ask what's the funniest 
number young? 

1188
01:16:27,300 --> 01:16:33,000
And he said without thinking, 42
can buy this. 

1189
01:16:33,200 --> 01:16:36,200
Year or two before he started 
liking mmm-hmm. 

1190
01:16:38,100 --> 01:16:41,200
There's no there's no linkage 
between the fact that your lips 

1191
01:16:41,200 --> 01:16:43,700
first. 
Two digits of 4291 record of 

1192
01:16:43,700 --> 01:16:45,300
never never even occurred to me 
before. 

1193
01:16:46,500 --> 01:16:50,600
Is this something quite sort of 
transitioned anything? 

1194
01:16:51,200 --> 01:16:52,600
Yeah. 
I don't know. 

1195
01:16:53,300 --> 01:16:59,000
Possibly look. 
We haven't got tagged. 

1196
01:16:59,000 --> 01:17:01,100
You mentioned touching on. 
Then Jonathan, we haven't got 

1197
01:17:01,100 --> 01:17:02,900
time to talk about Jonathan 
Creek or hot metal. 

1198
01:17:03,000 --> 01:17:07,900
Which I loved as well with 
Twiggy Rathbone. 

1199
01:17:09,400 --> 01:17:18,300
And yes and Richard of course 
which was quite a good 

1200
01:17:18,300 --> 01:17:23,800
relationship with him, but a lot
of that were obviously was 

1201
01:17:23,900 --> 01:17:28,500
spawned by my well, the, the 
accuracy of it, I would hope so.

1202
01:17:28,500 --> 01:17:32,300
We some accuracy because it was 
quite a broad show that and what

1203
01:17:32,300 --> 01:17:36,400
get stem from And newspaper 
background, but that the plots 

1204
01:17:36,400 --> 01:17:40,700
were more, just picking up the 
Sun every morning, and just 

1205
01:17:40,700 --> 01:17:43,200
adding a slight twist to it. 
And that was, that was another 

1206
01:17:43,200 --> 01:17:46,700
episode, that was in the kennel,
in the kings of the universe. 

1207
01:17:46,800 --> 01:17:48,000
Yes. 
Yeah. 

1208
01:17:49,500 --> 01:17:52,900
Did you ever meet Bill Cosby? 
I certainly did. 

1209
01:17:53,300 --> 01:17:56,000
Mmm Eli's. 
Another whole story? 

1210
01:17:56,000 --> 01:17:57,800
Yes. 
I mean that was another cause a 

1211
01:17:57,808 --> 01:18:02,300
bit in very similar to the spike
story actually because that was 

1212
01:18:02,500 --> 01:18:05,600
normal The these things you get 
inquiries and then you know, 

1213
01:18:05,600 --> 01:18:08,800
they sort of Peter out gradually
over a long period of time. 

1214
01:18:08,800 --> 01:18:15,100
This was a call from my agent 
again saying Cassie werner's an 

1215
01:18:15,100 --> 01:18:17,900
American production company are 
interested in American rights to

1216
01:18:17,900 --> 01:18:23,700
a in the grave. 
They like to fly you out to New 

1217
01:18:23,700 --> 01:18:28,200
York to have a meeting about it.
So next thing, I almost a day 

1218
01:18:28,200 --> 01:18:31,400
later on the plane to New York, 
meet them at the Carlyle Hotel, 

1219
01:18:31,400 --> 01:18:36,800
which was As intimidating as you
can imagine, it would be three 

1220
01:18:36,800 --> 01:18:42,200
Hotshot bigger users and they 
said, how do you feel about Bill

1221
01:18:42,200 --> 01:18:46,400
Cosby in this role? 
And I remembered not to the 

1222
01:18:46,400 --> 01:18:48,400
plaza suite by the California 
Suite. 

1223
01:18:48,400 --> 01:18:51,700
Which one of the segment's in 
that involved, I think it would 

1224
01:18:52,900 --> 01:18:58,100
cause me, and he was quite a 
quite a grouchy character in 

1225
01:18:58,100 --> 01:19:01,000
that. 
And I said, yes, sir, yes, sir. 

1226
01:19:01,400 --> 01:19:02,900
Are you going to be quite good? 
So good. 

1227
01:19:03,000 --> 01:19:04,800
Because we're having dinner with
him tonight. 

1228
01:19:05,200 --> 01:19:12,900
So, without having time to catch
my breath or his house in Upper 

1229
01:19:12,900 --> 01:19:20,900
East Side, and it's sort of 
Cosby Cosby caught, and he, I 

1230
01:19:20,900 --> 01:19:22,600
think he'd watched a few 
episodes. 

1231
01:19:22,600 --> 01:19:27,600
I don't quite know how how into 
the show he was, but it had that

1232
01:19:27,700 --> 01:19:32,000
as a premise, it was obviously 
something that he felt could 

1233
01:19:32,000 --> 01:19:37,600
tempt him back into. 
Into the TV sitcom land and 

1234
01:19:38,700 --> 01:19:41,500
which it did. 
So, it's just bizarre, really? 

1235
01:19:41,500 --> 01:19:44,000
When you think how much of an 
idea one thing, the baby is 

1236
01:19:44,000 --> 01:19:47,500
which is nothing, you know. 
Yeah, man. 

1237
01:19:47,500 --> 01:19:52,800
Really, we can throw all these 
strange events at every week and

1238
01:19:52,800 --> 01:19:57,600
yet I in managed to sell it, you
know, Besides the sum of money 

1239
01:19:57,600 --> 01:20:00,700
and get an executive producers 
the each week for nice. 

1240
01:20:01,000 --> 01:20:03,100
Yeah, nothing. 
I mean, they wanted me to be 

1241
01:20:03,100 --> 01:20:07,100
over there, running the show, 
the show running outside of 

1242
01:20:07,100 --> 01:20:13,000
being a lunatic asylum room or 
can't get more going into so but

1243
01:20:13,000 --> 01:20:18,100
we did go over and my wife and I
and went to the last week of the

1244
01:20:18,108 --> 01:20:21,600
first soon as you sat in on the 
writers room, which was all of 

1245
01:20:21,600 --> 01:20:25,700
which was Far funnier than 
anything in that one screen and 

1246
01:20:26,200 --> 01:20:31,700
And it was the very week that 
five start the week before cause

1247
01:20:31,700 --> 01:20:34,900
with something murder wouldn't 
be God. 

1248
01:20:36,000 --> 01:20:42,700
Because we shop the day of 
recording was the day that was 

1249
01:20:42,700 --> 01:20:46,200
the news, which is completely 
full of the fact that they had 

1250
01:20:46,300 --> 01:20:50,900
caught this guy and arrested him
and we were sitting in the 

1251
01:20:50,900 --> 01:20:55,700
Stalls at the Catherine story 
Studios over in Queens and just 

1252
01:20:55,900 --> 01:20:58,600
The morning seemed to be no 
sense of urgency or anything 

1253
01:20:58,600 --> 01:21:02,900
going on because we just 
wandered over and made some 

1254
01:21:02,900 --> 01:21:05,100
comment to the effect. 
That would soon as you guys come

1255
01:21:05,100 --> 01:21:08,900
over here from England, so they 
catch him and they didn't think 

1256
01:21:08,900 --> 01:21:13,100
they thought he might be in some
way preoccupied or, you know, I 

1257
01:21:13,100 --> 01:21:17,200
mean clearly I mean his love for
his son was unquestionable but 

1258
01:21:17,200 --> 01:21:21,300
he was it was more a case of 
just real relief and Delight 

1259
01:21:21,300 --> 01:21:23,800
that they got this guy so I 
don't think he's going to 

1260
01:21:23,808 --> 01:21:27,000
survive in prison. 
And I remember him saying that I

1261
01:21:27,008 --> 01:21:31,500
don't know what meant by but but
that wasn't here. 

1262
01:21:31,500 --> 01:21:34,900
And then either then went on 
into his usual performance on 

1263
01:21:34,900 --> 01:21:39,700
the night which was almost 
entirely improvised and you 

1264
01:21:39,700 --> 01:21:42,900
think what his anyone providing 
him with a script because he 

1265
01:21:42,907 --> 01:21:45,400
just makes it up because the 
long and then they have to 

1266
01:21:45,400 --> 01:21:48,200
struggle in the edit to pull 
something together. 

1267
01:21:48,800 --> 01:21:55,100
Nevertheless it ran for about 90
90 episodes and fair to say 

1268
01:21:55,100 --> 01:21:58,000
bought me this House. 
I don't get it. 

1269
01:21:58,100 --> 01:22:03,100
Um so thank God, it all happened
when he did not. 

1270
01:22:03,100 --> 01:22:07,100
So 20 years later I probably 
wouldn't be sitting here I guess

1271
01:22:07,100 --> 01:22:08,300
it. 
I'm guessing you don't still 

1272
01:22:08,300 --> 01:22:17,200
exchange Christmas cards with 
Bill Cosby a couple of times 

1273
01:22:17,200 --> 01:22:22,900
live and just wonderfully 
wonderfully funny I mean that 

1274
01:22:22,900 --> 01:22:28,200
much can't be taken away. 
But it was just the most curious

1275
01:22:28,200 --> 01:22:32,600
thing that, that should have 
should have taken off the way it

1276
01:22:32,600 --> 01:22:35,700
did, you know, with with with 
him in the role because it had 

1277
01:22:35,700 --> 01:22:39,900
bore no resemblance to my show 
whatsoever but terms such as the

1278
01:22:39,900 --> 01:22:42,100
way. 
Absolutely. 

1279
01:22:42,200 --> 01:22:43,900
And and look David, thank you so
much. 

1280
01:22:44,400 --> 01:22:46,500
We've been talking for so long, 
I've taken up so much of your 

1281
01:22:46,500 --> 01:22:49,000
time, I really do appreciate, 
but we've covered a lot of 

1282
01:22:49,000 --> 01:22:51,600
things I wanted to cover 
particularly Spike obviously, 

1283
01:22:51,600 --> 01:22:54,900
and I did want to talk about one
foot of course. 

1284
01:22:55,900 --> 01:22:59,400
Look, I'm going to gloss over 
the mini crumb blunder. 

1285
01:23:01,600 --> 01:23:06,200
I wanted to also just, it just 
didn't give a plug to my soon. 

1286
01:23:06,200 --> 01:23:09,700
I won't even come across that 
the Desolation jest, which was a

1287
01:23:09,700 --> 01:23:13,500
radio series. 
I wrote for David Jason in 2016,

1288
01:23:13,500 --> 01:23:15,100
the last thing I didn't know, 
I'm retired. 

1289
01:23:15,300 --> 01:23:17,700
Okay. 
Which was about as the name 

1290
01:23:17,700 --> 01:23:21,900
suggests, it was a, it was a 
kind of Pastiche of desert 

1291
01:23:21,900 --> 01:23:25,000
island discs. 
And the premise was that each 

1292
01:23:25,000 --> 01:23:28,100
week of Tional. 
Fictitious guests came on and 

1293
01:23:28,100 --> 01:23:32,700
chose a number of Comedy skits 
that they would take with them 

1294
01:23:32,700 --> 01:23:36,000
if they were the last person on 
Earth after some apocalyptic 

1295
01:23:36,200 --> 01:23:38,900
event and wiped out 
civilization. 

1296
01:23:39,400 --> 01:23:41,000
So that was the premise own each
week. 

1297
01:23:41,000 --> 01:23:43,700
John Bird would be the sort of 
way Plumlee character 

1298
01:23:43,700 --> 01:23:45,000
interviewing these different 
characters. 

1299
01:23:45,000 --> 01:23:49,900
Played by David Jason and into 
that mix were all these 

1300
01:23:49,900 --> 01:23:52,900
different sketches. 
One of it was I was quite 

1301
01:23:52,900 --> 01:23:57,900
pleased with it was a gun show 
parody which I had Fungi to a 

1302
01:23:57,907 --> 01:24:04,600
group that I referred to, as the
D mod, and, and it is called the

1303
01:24:04,600 --> 01:24:07,300
intercontinental ballistic, non 
sequitur. 

1304
01:24:08,000 --> 01:24:11,300
And so, if anyone puts the 
scratched, I think, I think, 

1305
01:24:11,300 --> 01:24:14,000
definitely congestion still on 
BBC sounds. 

1306
01:24:15,100 --> 01:24:17,700
So we had Rory Bremner in, 
they're doing and with another 

1307
01:24:17,700 --> 01:24:20,500
nice little nod to the original 
crystal of Timothy. 

1308
01:24:20,700 --> 01:24:29,100
Played the mountain, very nice. 
Carpet bomb, London. 

1309
01:24:29,100 --> 01:24:35,100
Great companies, Great staring 
organ chords who are done for 

1310
01:24:35,100 --> 01:24:37,800
well fear. 
Not Gentlemen, We has a plan. 

1311
01:24:37,900 --> 01:24:40,100
Hello me to present this 
Bakelite. 

1312
01:24:40,100 --> 01:24:44,200
Replica of dr. 
Robert Oppenheimer to explain to

1313
01:24:44,200 --> 01:24:47,600
you the details of the nerd at a
project. 

1314
01:24:50,300 --> 01:24:54,200
Sadly, I couldn't be here in 
person tonight at due to a prior

1315
01:24:54,200 --> 01:24:55,600
engagement. 
Real copy. 

1316
01:24:55,700 --> 01:25:01,000
It goes to our prior, there are 
settlement Enough cast your eyes

1317
01:25:01,000 --> 01:25:04,200
gentleman over this. 
Multiple re-entry missile. 

1318
01:25:04,600 --> 01:25:07,900
As you see. 
It carries 10 Warheads each one 

1319
01:25:07,900 --> 01:25:11,000
armed with a deadly, 
non-sequitur of truly. 

1320
01:25:11,000 --> 01:25:15,500
Frightening power are non 
sequitur, I don't follow then 

1321
01:25:15,500 --> 01:25:18,700
allow me to demonstrate. 
Does anyone have a small 

1322
01:25:18,800 --> 01:25:21,200
Expendable half-wit about their 
person? 

1323
01:25:21,200 --> 01:25:23,300
I never leave home without one 
here. 

1324
01:25:23,700 --> 01:25:28,800
Gonna be nothing, he climbs out 
at the end of mr. 

1325
01:25:28,800 --> 01:25:31,200
Bucket. 
Then salute Superior officer. 

1326
01:25:31,800 --> 01:25:34,900
If you're looking for a guinea 
pig, look no further nidhi. 

1327
01:25:36,000 --> 01:25:39,900
And before we go on, I would 
like to know what Shams of do 

1328
01:25:39,900 --> 01:25:42,600
shame to be paid for this highly
Dangerous Mission. 

1329
01:25:42,700 --> 01:25:45,900
For what I am about to be older 
than volunteer. 

1330
01:25:46,100 --> 01:25:50,700
Of course, how does a tennis 
sound thinks there is very 

1331
01:25:50,700 --> 01:25:53,500
obvious payoff to that joke, 
which are not falling. 

1332
01:25:53,600 --> 01:25:57,300
Before my turns are five. 
Liquorice allsorts, plus 

1333
01:25:57,400 --> 01:26:00,500
expenses, purely recreational 
shops, and a Burial at Sea with 

1334
01:26:00,500 --> 01:26:03,800
full, military honors, Dan. 
And, of course, David yet, David

1335
01:26:03,800 --> 01:26:06,400
Jason was a huge. 
Goons is a futurist that 

1336
01:26:06,700 --> 01:26:07,300
totally. 
Yes. 

1337
01:26:07,300 --> 01:26:08,900
Well, I think it go to goon 
record. 

1338
01:26:08,900 --> 01:26:13,300
Some goon recordings in his 
little bit older than me is day.

1339
01:26:13,700 --> 01:26:16,500
Yeah, and I've got a nice blue 
bottle. 

1340
01:26:18,400 --> 01:26:21,100
I think we already did the 
nickels and but anyway, it was 

1341
01:26:21,100 --> 01:26:22,600
that was so that was a lot of 
fun. 

1342
01:26:23,700 --> 01:26:26,300
And I had some fun, so putting 
that together but I just thought

1343
01:26:26,300 --> 01:26:29,300
I'd know, appreciate your 
listeners might be. 

1344
01:26:29,700 --> 01:26:31,800
Absolutely, I was going to ask 
you if there was anything, he 

1345
01:26:31,800 --> 01:26:34,400
wanted to plug anything you 
working on but you just enjoying

1346
01:26:34,400 --> 01:26:36,200
retirement then you know. 
Yes. 

1347
01:26:36,200 --> 01:26:39,200
Yes I am and also there's a 
series Andrew and idea called 

1348
01:26:39,200 --> 01:26:42,700
the steam video company which 
was not one of our best. 

1349
01:26:42,700 --> 01:26:46,200
Every member that was us that 
was a bit of an attempt to sort 

1350
01:26:46,200 --> 01:26:51,400
of merge I suppose some sort of 
Goonies humor with with Benny. 

1351
01:26:51,700 --> 01:26:54,600
Well I suppose because it was 
picked, I'm 10 That was a bit of

1352
01:26:54,600 --> 01:26:58,300
a bit of a strange mix really. 
But there were, you know, titles

1353
01:26:58,300 --> 01:27:00,900
like the Seeker that plank that 
the mystery of Plankton launch. 

1354
01:27:00,900 --> 01:27:05,700
And I was Hitler's a bookie. 
And things are obviously really 

1355
01:27:05,700 --> 01:27:10,600
influence events titles and 70s 
it has. 

1356
01:27:10,600 --> 01:27:13,400
It's been, you know, it's never 
really left my system. 

1357
01:27:13,400 --> 01:27:18,500
I suppose I do thanks again to 
David just a quick word for I 

1358
01:27:18,508 --> 01:27:21,800
go, this podcast will in a 
couple of months have reached 

1359
01:27:21,800 --> 01:27:26,200
its 100th episode. 
Their God and friend of the 

1360
01:27:26,200 --> 01:27:29,900
show, Mark cousins had 
previously suggested that I do a

1361
01:27:29,900 --> 01:27:33,300
special mailbag show to mark 
this Milestone. 

1362
01:27:34,300 --> 01:27:38,500
This would be where listeners 
sending questions about the Goon

1363
01:27:38,500 --> 01:27:43,000
show or the goons individually 
and myself and perhaps people 

1364
01:27:43,000 --> 01:27:46,900
like Mark like Andrew Pixley 
we'll try to answer some of them

1365
01:27:47,800 --> 01:27:50,400
or you could simply message me 
with suggestions on how to 

1366
01:27:50,400 --> 01:27:52,800
improve the podcast what you 
like. 

1367
01:27:54,200 --> 01:27:59,000
And even what you don't like, go
easy about the podcast or maybe 

1368
01:27:59,000 --> 01:28:02,500
questions about about the making
of the podcast, basically. 

1369
01:28:02,500 --> 01:28:06,100
Anything to do with goon pod, 
which you feel is relevant, or 

1370
01:28:06,100 --> 01:28:09,500
you can just send a voice note 
about pretty much anything you 

1371
01:28:09,500 --> 01:28:14,400
like no filth please. 
I'd like to ask people to start 

1372
01:28:14,400 --> 01:28:17,500
thinking about this, and please 
do start sending in questions, 

1373
01:28:17,500 --> 01:28:22,400
comments and whatnot, which I 
can read out and or play on the 

1374
01:28:22,400 --> 01:28:26,500
show. 
I can be emailed at Tyler dot 

1375
01:28:26,500 --> 01:28:34,600
Adams, 1974, at gmail.com or via
Twitter at goon show pod or 

1376
01:28:34,600 --> 01:28:38,200
indeed seek out the gun pod, 
Facebook group, simply search 

1377
01:28:38,200 --> 01:28:42,700
for goon pod and follow anyway. 
Everything let me know. 

1378
01:28:42,900 --> 01:28:45,900
I look forward to receiving your
feedback and until next week. 

1379
01:28:46,200 --> 01:28:46,900
Bye.
