DOUBLE ACT: A History of British Comedy Duos

From music hall and Variety of the 1920s and 30s came Will Collinson and Alfie Dean, Bud in a raccoon coat and old straw hat and Ches, dapper and deadpan, emphasising the words in a mellow croak. Gert and Daisy favoured Norman Hartnell gowns and resided in a villa in Sussex, with no hint of caricature with their creations on stage, far removed from Stratford and Leyton as William Hay, the Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society was from his fraudulent schoolmaster. The double act has been at the heart of British entertainment for over 150 years through music halls and radio shows such as Hancock's Half Hour. On TV there was Crackerjack's Don Maclean and Peter Glaze and Hattie Jacques and Eric Sykes on Sykes, Terry and June in the 80s to Armstrong and Miller in the 2000s. Not a definitive guide but a tribute to the great talents and writers of John Fisher, Benny Green, Roy Hudd, Andy Medhurst, Eric Midwinter, Roger Wilmut, we recall fondly Morecambe and Wise, Flanders and Swann, the subtle act of the straight man, the Two Ronnies, George and Mildred and Captain George Mainwaring and Basil Fawlty screaming about 'proles!' in cod-David Niven tones. Stylistically, Hancock and Sid James were firmly placed in the tradition of Laurel and Hardy, Arthur Askey and Richard Murdoch or Old Mother Riley and Kitty McShane. Masses of nostalgia, 288pp in large softback, photos.