Tributes to that class act, actor Ian Carmichael, who starred in a handful of Robert’s favourite films of the 1950s and 1960s: ‘I’m Alright, Jack’, ‘Double Bunk’, Private’s Progress’, ‘Light Up the Sky!’ and ‘Heavens Above!’. Later he was the definitive Bertie Wooster and Lord Peter Wimsey, and chalked up notable film appearances in ‘From Beyond the Grave’ and Hammer’s remake of ‘The Lady Vanishes’. He died at the age of 89.

A hectic month of research is happily halted with a fun and boozy lunch with good pals Alan Coles and Henry Holland and new friend George Innes. Life would be intolerable without London-based show-biz lunches, Amelia 😉

The New Year looks set to be a busy one with an ongoing script project with Paul Cole, two major comedy biographies and a couple of reference works in the pipeline.

Hanging out with Sixth Doctor, Colin Baker, during his pantomime role as Fleshcreep in ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’. All together now: “Let’s do the Time Warp again!”.

The final farewell to David Tennant’s Time Lord in ‘Doctor Who’. A touching, rollicking, heart-pounding and beautifully acted television treat. John Simm turns in a nicely controlled turn as the Master but all honours are stolen by Bernard Cribbins as Wilf. An amazing performance. Give that man a Knighthood.

Christmas Eve kicks of superbly with a repeat of ‘The Two Ronnies Christmas Sketchbook’. Re-runs of the Rons and Eric and Ern are as much part of the seasonal tradition as ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ and turkey sandwiches.

Another dead comedian brought beautifully back to life – Amanda Lawrence as Charles Hawtrey in ‘Jiggery Pokery’ at the Battersea Arts Centre. An amazing piece of theatre with everybody from Sid James to Barbara Windsor played by Amanda, it’s a boozey trawl through Hawtrey’s life in the theatre, in the studio and in the pub. A touching, funny and powerful salute to a true British eccentric. It runs at the BAC until 19th December.

The opening night for ‘Morecambe’ at the Duchess theatre; a wonderful West End debut for the hit of this year’s Edinburgh Festival. Robert’s good friends, actor Bob Golding and writer Tim Whitnall, enjoyed a triumphant evening with members of Eric’s families and a gaggle of star guests: Dave Gorman, Hattie Hayridge, Kevin Day, Alistair McGowan, Reece Shearsmith and Sean Hughes. The show runs until 17th January 2010.

Christmas lunch in Browns with some wonderful friends culminates with an impromptu drink with actor George Innes. All together now, “well, look happy you miserable bastards. We won, didn’t we?”.

Robert’s usual festive trawl through the BBC regional radio stations starts with a day of plugging the ‘Classic Comedy’ range of CDs. ‘Unique Hancock’, Frankie Howerd in ‘Please Yourselves’, ‘Fawlty Towers’, ‘Willo the Wisp’ and ‘The Galton and Simpson Half Hour’ are all perfectly sized for the Christmas stocking of the archive comedy lover in your family.