After Peter Cook and Dudley Moore parted company, Peter Cook appeared in this one off special for London Weekend Television. It was quite a departure from his usual humour. Whilst 'Not Only...But Also' was relatively safe, 'Peter Cook & Co' was more nearer the knuckle, no bad thing I must admit.
With no Dud, Pete needed someone else to bounce off of. John Cleese, fresh from 'Fawlty Towers', proved the perfect equivalent. Also appearing as support were post 'Man About The House' Paula Wilcox, Beryl Reid, a pre 'Blackadder' Rowan Atkinson, Robert Longden and Cleese's 'Monty Python' co-star Terry Jones.
Being the start of a new era, public tastes had changed so Pete's stuff had to move with the times, meaning the language had to be more colourful and comedy had to be broader. Among the best sketches were a 'Tales Of The Unexpected' spoof entitled 'Tales Of The As Much As Expected' in which Roald Dahl, too caught up in his story, fails to notice the flames from his coal fire getting out of hand and 'My Daddy's Dying Words', a spoof of Kenny Rodgers' 'Coward Of The County' which had the memorable lyric: ''I was through with all his trashy advice so I shot the bastard!''.
'Peter Cook & Co' would have made a fine series but as it is it never got past being a stand alone show. It has not been seen since its original broadcast and, apart from a poor quality bootleg copy online, it has never been made available officially. A pity as well as a mystery given the talent involved behind it.
With no Dud, Pete needed someone else to bounce off of. John Cleese, fresh from 'Fawlty Towers', proved the perfect equivalent. Also appearing as support were post 'Man About The House' Paula Wilcox, Beryl Reid, a pre 'Blackadder' Rowan Atkinson, Robert Longden and Cleese's 'Monty Python' co-star Terry Jones.
Being the start of a new era, public tastes had changed so Pete's stuff had to move with the times, meaning the language had to be more colourful and comedy had to be broader. Among the best sketches were a 'Tales Of The Unexpected' spoof entitled 'Tales Of The As Much As Expected' in which Roald Dahl, too caught up in his story, fails to notice the flames from his coal fire getting out of hand and 'My Daddy's Dying Words', a spoof of Kenny Rodgers' 'Coward Of The County' which had the memorable lyric: ''I was through with all his trashy advice so I shot the bastard!''.
'Peter Cook & Co' would have made a fine series but as it is it never got past being a stand alone show. It has not been seen since its original broadcast and, apart from a poor quality bootleg copy online, it has never been made available officially. A pity as well as a mystery given the talent involved behind it.