Spike and Co: Spike, Eric and the Golden Age of British Comedy

by Graham McCann

Format: Hardback 448 pages

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Synopsis

This is the story of how four people, grouped together inside a set of offices five floors above a greengrocer's shop on Shepherd's Bush Green in West London, launched a golden age of British comedy. On any weekday morning, if you dared to clamber over the crates of fruit and veg outside on the pavement, and climb the five flights of stairs to Associated London Scripts, you would find Milligan, Sykes, Galton & Simpson, shaping the latest shows, swapping the odd story and searching for a funnier line. Together, this eclectic bunch, and their bizarre office block, were responsible for a golden age in British comedy, which included "The Goons", "Hancock's Half Hour", "Sykes", "Steptoe and Son", "Comedy Playhouse", "The Frankie Howerd Show", "Beyond Our Ken", "Round the Horn", "The Arthur Haynes Show", "The Army Game", "Bootsie and Snudge", "That Was The Week That Was", and "Till Death Us Do Part". SPIKE & CO is their incredible story.

Book details

Published
19/10/2006

Publisher
Hodder & Stoughton Ltd

ISBN
9780340898086



Publisher and industry reviews

Jacket review

"'Never has the sheer awkwardness of the human condition been so comically, or beautifully, conveyed.' - Daily Mail * 'As with his masterly account of Dad's Army, this is an objective and scrupulously researched study, unlikely to be superseded.' - Roger Lewis, Spectator * 'McCann's lively biography is rooted in those post-music-hall days, his portrait of the period is vivid.' - Alex Clark, Sunday Times"

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