Peter Cook. Unsurpassed. Britains finest comedian by miles. A complete genius. There will never be another to match him. He should have won numerous awards for his performances here.
I remember this going out. His other character was the nerdy metal detector. What a show! I was at college with a guy like Peter, comic repartee and improv skills but this talent comes with an eventual price for them
He was a good monologuist but a poor actor bc he could not bear to share the spotlight. Even with Dud you could see Cook asserting his superiority, treading on the little bloke's line and trying to make him crack up. He was fine with a partner as inert as Anderson is here (all Anderson does is nod and say 'yes... yes') but with real actors Cook was at sea. That is why he failed in movies and sitcoms. Very funny in flashes, but no stamina and little capacity for self-criticism. Peter Sellers was like him as a cartoonish portrayer of characters, but Sellers could sustain a caricaturish impression longer, and could react as well as act. Cook always seemed to be in a bubble. And boy did he recycle his material; in his 40s he was still reusing stuff he had dreamed up as a schoolboy.
I disagree - his quick interjections hold the moment - otherwise Peter would die a death on stage. There's a hidden art to a great set up that still mystifies me. In my next book called "The Art of the Set Up" we try explore this but not very well.
