Robert began recovering from the hectic charity weekend that was the Telly Nation event at the Swindon Hilton.  He interviewed comic favourites Burt Kwouk, Brian Murphy and Linda Regan.  The Sunday cabaret showcased Ian Watt’s superb one-man show, John Laurie: Fraser and I.  Huge congratulations to H, Paul, Les, Anne-Marie and the rest of the gang for a great event.  And hope to do it all again in 2008!

Sad to hear that John Junkin has died at the age of 75.  Very much an unsung comic hero, he penned literally hundreds of comedy scripts for the best of post-war British comics.  Often working with Tim Brooke-Taylor, notably in Hello, Cheeky and the Marty Feldman shows, John was one of those great British faces that assured a good time whether it be on stage, on radio, on television or in films.  His movie career ranged from Norman Rossington’s side-kick in A Hard Day’s Night when he was memorably taught how to shave by George Harrison, to the glorious sexual excess of Confessions From a Holiday Camp, making life a bleeding misery for Robin Askwith and Anthony Booth.  Rest in Peace John.

Another year and another series of Last of the Summer Wine.  The first series kicked off this evening with a rather jolly episode involving the ‘lads’ chasing a message in a bottle.  Good to fully welcome June Whitfield to the squad and nice to see relative ‘new boys’ Brian Murphy and Burt Kwouk injecting some new blood in to the fun.

It was a red letter day for classic comedy lovers today as, at 7:10pm on BBC2, a complete episode of The Goodies was repeated; the first time on the BBC for 20 years, since Kitten Kong was screened to mark 50 years of the corporation in 1986.  On Saturday it was the Winter Olympics episode guest starring Peter Jones and, if the ratings dictate, this will be the first of many Goodies repeats picked to reflect a current news story or cultural trend.  Can’t wait!

In a week dominated by goodbyes to comic heroes, Robert attended the grand memorial service to Ronnie Barker at Westminister Abbey.  A who’s who of light entertainment attended, including Ronnie’s chief cohorts Ronnie Corbett and David Jason, as well as Kathy Staff, Terry Wogen, Graeme Garden, Leslie Phillips, Richard Briers, Josephine Tewson, Michael Palin, Barry Cryer, Peter Kay and Porridge co-stars Sam Kelly, Christopher Biggins and ‘Orrible Ives himself, Ken Jones.

Robert attended the joyous funeral service of Dennis Kirkland at St. James’ Church, Hampton Hill.  Den’s last performance was, suitably enough, to a packed audience.  It was standing room only at the church and the friends and family that attended were all invited to wear something pink in Den’s memory.  Jon Jon Keefe, one of Benny Hill’s beloved stooges, provided happy memories of the Thames years, while Chas ‘n’ Dave sang Den’s favourite song, Ain’t No Pleasing You.  But, it was Den’s wife, Mary, and daughter, Jo, that gave the bravest tributes.  A suitably upbeat, hilarious and moving farewell to a lovely chap.

It’s been a very sad year for fans of The Benny Hill Show.  Just weeks after the death of Henry McGee, Robert was shocked to learn of the sad passing of Benny’s close friend and favourite director/producer Dennis Kirkland at the age of 63.  Robert has fond memories of many pints over many hours chatting with Dennis about working with the greats of post-war light entertainment, from Tommy Cooper and Eric Sykes to Freddie Starr and Frankie Howerd.  Deeply affectionate and proud of his long association with Benny Hill, Dennis produced the show from 1979 until the end in 1989 and would happily defend the show against the backlash of political correctness.  His blunt attitude could be misunderstood.  For Robert, Dennis was a thoroughly likeable, dedicated chap and one of the world’s most influential comedy directors.  Robert joined forces with Dennis for the radio 2 tribute There’ll Never Be Another: Benny Hill and, once again, marked the occasion with several pints over several hours!  Dennis was clear, stating that: “I’ll go to my grave knowing my shows will be screened all over again…when they’re all watching The Benny Hill Show on kid’s television in 2090.”

Robert can be heard celebrating the ‘Golden Age’ of British film-making on the Radio 1 documentary Carry On Filming which will be broadcast from 11:30pm on Monday 27th February.  Robert’s good pal David Benson does a rather excellent job of linking the interviews, playing Kenneth Williams as the doctor and Frankie Howerd as the patient: the British film industry today!  Fab stuff.

Robert attended the West End press night for the new play Steptoe and Son in Murder at Oil Drum Lane.  Series creators Ray Galton and Alan Simpson were again in attendance, along with a starry guest list including Barbara Windsor, Paul Merton, Dudley Sutton, June Whitfield and William Gaunt.  The show is running for a limited season as the Comedy Theatre, Panton Street, and is HIGHLY recommended.

Carry On Cowboy is today’s dvd give away in The Sun.  Robert had a small hand in putting this six film collection together and in yesterday’s paper producer Peter Rogers was pictured clutching an original edition of The Carry On Companion.