Spike & Co - Softcover

'A story of collaboration, of ideas generously supported, and criticised without mercy' * The Sunday Herald * 'McCann summons up ALS's unique atmosphere ... The joy of the book lies in the incisive contributions from comedy legends on everything from the second world war to class war.. It's exhilarating to read top-rank craftesmen discussing what they love doing' * The Guardian * 'You will laugh, you will learn, and you will, undoubtedly, start speaking in a silly voice.' * Word * 'A tragi-comedy of creative tension, personality conflict, endearing characters and enduring catch phrases' * The Times *

This is the story of how four people, grouped together inside a set of offices five floors above a greengrocer's shop on Shepherd's Bush Green in West London, launched a golden age of British comedy. On any weekday morning, if you dared to clamber over the crates of fruit and veg outside on the pavement, and climb the five flights of stairs to Associated London Scripts, you would find Milligan, Sykes, Galton & Simpson, shaping the latest shows, swapping the odd story and searching for a funnier line. Together, this eclectic bunch, and their bizarre office block, were responsible for a golden age in British comedy, which included The Goons, Hancock's Half Hour, Sykes, Steptoe and Son, Comedy Playhouse, The Frankie Howerd Show, Beyond Our Ken, Round the Horn, The Arthur Haynes Show, The Army Game, Bootsie and Snudge, That Was The Week That Was, and Till Death Us Do Part. SPIKE & CO is their incredible story.