William Cook

Comics & free speech: Do they practise what they teach?

As some of Britain's best comedians prepare for a benefit in aid of free speech, William Cook asks them about their own experiences of standing up to censorship.

First look at the new Dad's Army

Like millions of couch potatoes, I'm a diehard Dad's Army fan - so why, when I heard about this big screen remake, did I feel my heart sink?

Richard Briers, Thatcherite hero

I met Richard Briers twice and he was charming, but also far brighter than you might imagine.

A good actor is a bore, but a bad actor is hilarious, and Count Arthur Strong is the most useless luvvie in the land. A petty snob with an inflated sense of his own importance, he can't work out why he isn't far more famous: Why do you people always have to go through this pathetic ritual of pretending not to know who I am?

Ross Noble reckons he's the funniest comic character around, and now you can buy his first radio series on CD. Hear him audition for the role of James Bond (narrowly losing out to a muscular milkman from Edinburgh) and holding a shambolic book signing in his local butchers. The brilliant creation of actor Steve Delaney, it must be just a matter of time before this master of malapropism transfers to TV.

Stand-up sobriety

What is the relationship between stand-up and boozing? And is there life after drink? Veteran comic Arthur Smith tells William Cook all about comedy on the wagon.

Danny Wallace bet Dave Gorman he couldn't find 54 other people called Dave Gorman. Dave bet Danny he could. The resultant trek takes them as far afield as the USA (where they get caught in a tornado), Israel (where they cause a security alert at the airport) and Norway (where they lose their shoes). A life-affirming tale of English eccentricity about nothing in particular apart from having a good time all the time.