0:00:14 > 0:00:18The New York Times once called Peter Sellers,
0:00:18 > 0:00:21"Britain's Prime Minister of Mirth."
0:00:21 > 0:00:25Spike Milligan said, "He'd be Britain's greatest actor,
0:00:25 > 0:00:28"if someone would only let him act."
0:00:28 > 0:00:31An unusually-gifted comic and impressionist,
0:00:31 > 0:00:34Sellers' extraordinary talents saw him move
0:00:34 > 0:00:36from radio star of the 1950s
0:00:36 > 0:00:40to international film star of the '60s.
0:00:40 > 0:00:45From The Goon Show's Bluebottle, to Hollywood's Pink Panther,
0:00:45 > 0:00:47at every stage of his career,
0:00:47 > 0:00:50he excelled in funny voices and flights of fancy
0:00:50 > 0:00:52and, as he demonstrates here,
0:00:52 > 0:00:55he never got tired of fooling around.
0:00:58 > 0:01:01GERMAN ACCENT: Kindly observe, ladies and gentlemen,
0:01:01 > 0:01:04that the handkerchief, there is nothing in it, ja?
0:01:04 > 0:01:06No? Look.
0:01:12 > 0:01:14My head is in ze handkerchief.
0:01:14 > 0:01:17LAUGHTER
0:01:17 > 0:01:18My head has gone!
0:01:18 > 0:01:21LAUGHTER
0:01:21 > 0:01:23After that little trick came an anecdote
0:01:23 > 0:01:27stemming from Sellers' experiences working as a drummer.
0:01:28 > 0:01:29It's a very dreary business,
0:01:29 > 0:01:34being a drummer or any musician doing gigs, really, round the country...
0:01:34 > 0:01:35Right.
0:01:35 > 0:01:36..or in one set place,
0:01:36 > 0:01:40because you get a lot of Hooray Harrys who come up to you
0:01:40 > 0:01:43and ask you for songs, to play songs for them.
0:01:43 > 0:01:45I mean, a typical musician's story -
0:01:45 > 0:01:48and this is probably true, it's probably based on fact -
0:01:48 > 0:01:53is about a fellow who came up to a very well-known friend of ours,
0:01:53 > 0:01:56- Alan Clare, the pianist.- Marvellous pianist, yeah.- ..and said,
0:01:56 > 0:02:02POSH VOICE: "I say, would you play That's What You Are?"
0:02:02 > 0:02:05So, Alan said, "I'm sorry,
0:02:05 > 0:02:07"I don't know That's What You Are, I haven't...
0:02:07 > 0:02:08"I'll have a look through the book."
0:02:08 > 0:02:11So he had a look through the book quickly and this chap was, sort of,
0:02:11 > 0:02:13dancing around, you know...
0:02:13 > 0:02:16Terribly like that...
0:02:16 > 0:02:17and he came back and he said,
0:02:17 > 0:02:19"I say, there's a drinky-poo in it for you, you know."
0:02:19 > 0:02:21LAUGHTER
0:02:25 > 0:02:26And he came back...
0:02:28 > 0:02:32..and he said, "Piano player, piano player,
0:02:32 > 0:02:35"and kettle drummer," I was known as the kettle drummer.
0:02:35 > 0:02:39I don't know why - you never used to play a kettle, but...
0:02:39 > 0:02:41it comes from timpani, you see.
0:02:41 > 0:02:44He said, "Aren't you going to play That's What You Are?
0:02:44 > 0:02:47Alan said, "I'd love to play That's What You Are,
0:02:47 > 0:02:50"but I don't know how it goes." He said, "Good God," he said,
0:02:50 > 0:02:53"What is the country coming to?
0:02:53 > 0:02:55"I never thought I'd reach the day
0:02:55 > 0:02:57"when somebody didn't know That's What You Are."
0:02:57 > 0:02:59He said, "Well, if you sing it, I'll try."
0:02:59 > 0:03:01He said, "It goes like this..."
0:03:01 > 0:03:02# Unforgettable... #
0:03:02 > 0:03:03LAUGHTER
0:03:03 > 0:03:06# That's what you are... #
0:03:06 > 0:03:09And then, Sellers told of how he began his career
0:03:09 > 0:03:12by tricking his way in to the BBC.
0:03:12 > 0:03:14I was getting nowhere fast, you know,
0:03:14 > 0:03:18and I noticed that Roy Speer was doing a show at the time
0:03:18 > 0:03:21called Show Time, yes,
0:03:21 > 0:03:25and the compere was Dick Bentley and there were lots of new acts, you see?
0:03:25 > 0:03:28I'd written in, I don't know how many times, to try and get on,
0:03:28 > 0:03:32no reply, the secretary said, "Mr Speer, blah-blah-blah..."
0:03:32 > 0:03:35I thought, I've got nothing to lose, I thought, well, I'll phone up...
0:03:35 > 0:03:37Cos I used to be doing these impersonations
0:03:37 > 0:03:40and one of the big shows was Much Binding In The Marsh,
0:03:40 > 0:03:42- with Kenneth Horne and Dickie Murdoch...- Right, right.
0:03:42 > 0:03:45..and I just thought I'd do it, you know.
0:03:45 > 0:03:47You do things at certain times, you know, in life -
0:03:47 > 0:03:49you've got to get ahead...
0:03:49 > 0:03:51So, I thought, "If I stay here, I'm dead," you know?
0:03:51 > 0:03:54Even if he kicks my arse out of there, it doesn't matter,
0:03:54 > 0:03:56as long as I make some impression.
0:03:56 > 0:03:57Right.
0:03:57 > 0:04:00So, I phoned up and I thought being a senior producer,
0:04:00 > 0:04:03Speer would probably know Horne and Murdoch, you see,
0:04:03 > 0:04:04- who were very big then.- Mmm.
0:04:04 > 0:04:06I thought, "If I click with the secretary,
0:04:06 > 0:04:08"I'll get through," right? So, I said,
0:04:08 > 0:04:11DEEP VOICE: "Oh, hello. This is Ken Horne here. Is Roy there?"
0:04:11 > 0:04:14Now, once she said, "Oh, yes, he is, Kenneth. I'll..."
0:04:14 > 0:04:16I knew I was right - shu-lah-bah-lum.
0:04:16 > 0:04:20So, got on there and Roy said, "Hello, Ken, how are you?"
0:04:20 > 0:04:23I said, "Listen, Roy, I'm phoning up because I know that new show
0:04:23 > 0:04:25"you've got on - what is it, Show Time or something...
0:04:25 > 0:04:27"Dickie and I were at a cabaret the other night,
0:04:27 > 0:04:29"saw an amazing young fellow called Peter, Peter...
0:04:29 > 0:04:30"What was his name?"
0:04:30 > 0:04:33HIGH VOICE: "Peter Sellers, Peter Sellers or something..."
0:04:33 > 0:04:35"Sellers, Sellers. Anyway, I think it would be very good
0:04:35 > 0:04:37"if you probably had him in the show, you know.
0:04:37 > 0:04:40"Just a little tip, little tip. We just go round looking, you know."
0:04:40 > 0:04:42He said, "Well, that's very nice of you."
0:04:42 > 0:04:45And then it came to the crunch and I said, "Er...
0:04:45 > 0:04:48"I... It's me."
0:04:48 > 0:04:49He said, "What?" I said,
0:04:49 > 0:04:52"It's me, Peter Sellers talking and it's the only way I could get to you
0:04:52 > 0:04:55"and would you give me a date on your show?"
0:04:55 > 0:04:58And he said, "You cheeky young sod," he said.
0:04:58 > 0:05:00LAUGHTER
0:05:00 > 0:05:01He said, "What do you do?"
0:05:01 > 0:05:04I said, "Well, I obviously do impersonations, don't I?"
0:05:04 > 0:05:06LAUGHTER
0:05:06 > 0:05:09- I was 22 at the time.- Yeah. Erm...
0:05:09 > 0:05:10- Sorry, go on.- Sorry.
0:05:10 > 0:05:13And anyway, I went up there and I got a date on the spot
0:05:13 > 0:05:14and I got a good write-up,
0:05:14 > 0:05:16- first write-up I've ever had in my life, you know.- Yeah.
0:05:16 > 0:05:17It's really nice.
0:05:21 > 0:05:22In the 1960s,
0:05:22 > 0:05:26Swinging London was the most fashionable place on the planet
0:05:26 > 0:05:29and Peter Sellers was one of the many big names in show business
0:05:29 > 0:05:31making the most of the fact.
0:05:31 > 0:05:33For those golden years, Sellers was to comedy
0:05:33 > 0:05:36what James Bond was to cinema
0:05:36 > 0:05:38and The Beatles were to music.
0:05:38 > 0:05:40And speaking of the Fab Four,
0:05:40 > 0:05:42here's Sellers' unique take on them,
0:05:42 > 0:05:46with a nod to Laurence Olivier's interpretation of Richard III.
0:05:46 > 0:05:48COURTLY MUSIC
0:06:04 > 0:06:06It has been...
0:06:06 > 0:06:10a hard day's night
0:06:10 > 0:06:13and I have been working like a dog.
0:06:13 > 0:06:15It's been a hard day's night,
0:06:15 > 0:06:18I'll soon be sleeping like a log,
0:06:18 > 0:06:20but when I get home to you,
0:06:20 > 0:06:23I find the things that YOU do...
0:06:23 > 0:06:26will make me feel...
0:06:26 > 0:06:27all right.
0:06:29 > 0:06:30You know, I work all day,
0:06:30 > 0:06:33to get you money, to buy you things
0:06:33 > 0:06:35and it's worth it just to hear you say,
0:06:35 > 0:06:37you'll give me everything.
0:06:37 > 0:06:39That's why I love to come home,
0:06:39 > 0:06:43cos when I get you alone,
0:06:43 > 0:06:46you know I feel...
0:06:46 > 0:06:47OK.
0:06:47 > 0:06:49LAUGHTER
0:06:49 > 0:06:54A recording of that performance made the Top 20 in the UK charts -
0:06:54 > 0:06:57a testament to Sellers' wide appeal.
0:06:57 > 0:07:00People loved seeing him immerse himself in characters like
0:07:00 > 0:07:03I'm All Right Jack's Fred Kite
0:07:03 > 0:07:05and Dr Strangelove.
0:07:05 > 0:07:09Famously, Sellers would say that he wouldn't know what to do,
0:07:09 > 0:07:11if asked to play himself.
0:07:11 > 0:07:14"There is no me," he said. "I do not exist.
0:07:14 > 0:07:17"There used to be a me, but I had it surgically removed."
0:07:18 > 0:07:22I'm not the real Peter Sellers. I am, in fact, erm,
0:07:22 > 0:07:25a mock-up, a plastic mock-up.
0:07:25 > 0:07:27I'm beginning to think that increasingly every day,
0:07:27 > 0:07:30as I look at myself in what I laughingly call the mirror.
0:07:30 > 0:07:32It is another copy of myself that I leave at home
0:07:32 > 0:07:35to do the housework, because I can't get any servants.
0:07:35 > 0:07:37Coronation Street. Is it Coronation Street?
0:07:37 > 0:07:41No, this is called The Life And Times Of...
0:07:41 > 0:07:44- Peter Sellers, or something like that.- Oh, him. Him?- Yes.
0:07:44 > 0:07:46The only problem is that we can't find him.
0:07:46 > 0:07:49I've tried looking around all over the place.
0:07:49 > 0:07:50That microphone moved then.
0:07:50 > 0:07:53That wouldn't be him, would it? Down there. That big one down there.
0:07:53 > 0:07:56Just a moment, I'm not sure.
0:07:56 > 0:07:59Come on out of there! We know you're in there!
0:07:59 > 0:08:02No, no, no. He's not in there, no.
0:08:02 > 0:08:05- That's, erm, stretching it a bit far for him.- You think so?
0:08:05 > 0:08:08- I mean, in the nicest possible way.- Oh, shit!
0:08:08 > 0:08:09HE CHUCKLES
0:08:09 > 0:08:13Hiding away was the last thing Peter was doing in the mid '60s.
0:08:13 > 0:08:17Marrying Swedish actress Britt Ekland ten days after meeting her
0:08:17 > 0:08:21had him plastered over the front pages of the newspapers.
0:08:21 > 0:08:24He also found the character that would become his most celebrated -
0:08:24 > 0:08:26Inspector Clouseau.
0:08:28 > 0:08:31Clouseau was a character who famously got everything wrong,
0:08:31 > 0:08:35but when making the Pink Panther films, directed by Blake Edwards,
0:08:35 > 0:08:38it was Sellers and the cast who struggled to get things right,
0:08:38 > 0:08:42as some clips shown by Michael Parkinson clearly demonstrated.
0:08:45 > 0:08:47I put it to you directly, Monsieur Ballon,
0:08:47 > 0:08:50that it was you who murdered Miguel Ostos.
0:08:53 > 0:08:56Don't be ridiculous.
0:08:56 > 0:08:58Oh... AUDIENCE LAUGHS
0:08:58 > 0:09:00..I dropped that thing again, I'm sorry. Look, erm...
0:09:00 > 0:09:01GEORGE MUMBLES
0:09:04 > 0:09:06SMATTERING OF LAUGHTER
0:09:09 > 0:09:11- I didn't like... - AUDIENCE LAUGHS
0:09:16 > 0:09:20SOFT KNOCKING AT DOOR
0:09:20 > 0:09:22Right...
0:09:22 > 0:09:24AUDIENCE LAUGHS
0:09:28 > 0:09:30AUDIENCE LAUGHS
0:09:30 > 0:09:32And I submit, Monsieur Ballon,
0:09:32 > 0:09:36that you arrived home, found Maria Gambrelli with Miguel Ostos,
0:09:36 > 0:09:39and filled him in a rit of fealous jage.
0:09:39 > 0:09:41AUDIENCE LAUGHS
0:09:46 > 0:09:49LOUD FOOTSTEPS
0:09:49 > 0:09:50Inspector!
0:09:54 > 0:09:57It was the... THEY LAUGH
0:10:05 > 0:10:06Inspector! This way.
0:10:09 > 0:10:11Very interesting museum you have here.
0:10:13 > 0:10:16- Inspector!- Yes...? Oh.
0:10:16 > 0:10:18AUDIENCE LAUGHS
0:10:21 > 0:10:23Would you think it naughty of me if I were to buy you a drink?
0:10:23 > 0:10:25You already have.
0:10:25 > 0:10:28Yes. Heh-heh.
0:10:28 > 0:10:32Well, how about I buy myself one and we share it together, eh?
0:10:32 > 0:10:34- All right.- Heh-heh.
0:10:34 > 0:10:35Waiter! HE CLICKS HIS FINGERS
0:10:35 > 0:10:38Another coo... AUDIENCE LAUGHS
0:10:40 > 0:10:41Waiter!
0:10:42 > 0:10:45Hoo-hoo. LAUGHTER
0:10:45 > 0:10:47HE MUMBLES
0:10:52 > 0:10:55I have fixed your doorbell from the...
0:10:55 > 0:10:57AUDIENCE LAUGHS
0:11:01 > 0:11:02- MAN:- How can you be sure?
0:11:02 > 0:11:06Because I am an expert and trouble shitter...
0:11:06 > 0:11:08UPROARIOUS LAUGHTER
0:11:12 > 0:11:15If you require anything...
0:11:15 > 0:11:17Monsieur, all I require
0:11:17 > 0:11:19is a little privacy in which to work,
0:11:19 > 0:11:20my bag of tools.
0:11:23 > 0:11:25Anything... HE LAUGHS
0:11:25 > 0:11:26AUDIENCE LAUGHS
0:11:30 > 0:11:32It is my business to know.
0:11:32 > 0:11:35He is Sir Charles Phantom, the notorious... No.
0:11:35 > 0:11:37AUDIENCE LAUGHS
0:11:37 > 0:11:40APPLAUSE
0:11:43 > 0:11:44INAUDIBLE
0:11:47 > 0:11:49They are funny, aren't they?
0:11:49 > 0:11:51It's amazing, actually, when you watch them.
0:11:51 > 0:11:53Blake Edwards has got about 200,000 feet of you doing that.
0:11:53 > 0:11:56It's amazing you ever finish a film with him.
0:11:56 > 0:11:59- We always have two weeks extra for laughs, you know.- For giggling?
0:11:59 > 0:12:02- Yeah.- Yeah.- It's great working with Blake. It's fantastic.- Yeah.
0:12:04 > 0:12:07The Inspector Clouseau character comes up again
0:12:07 > 0:12:10in this appearance on the live discussion programme, Film Night,
0:12:10 > 0:12:13which begins with some trademark fooling about.
0:12:14 > 0:12:16Ladies and gentlemen, Peter Sellers.
0:12:16 > 0:12:19APPLAUSE
0:12:21 > 0:12:24CHEERING
0:12:38 > 0:12:41PETER MUMBLES
0:12:41 > 0:12:42Yes...
0:12:43 > 0:12:45AUDIENCE LAUGHS
0:12:47 > 0:12:49HE TRUMPETS
0:12:49 > 0:12:50Ah.
0:12:50 > 0:12:53Hello, hello, testing, testing, one, two, three, four.
0:12:53 > 0:12:54That's all right, yeah.
0:12:54 > 0:12:56HE BLOWS INTO MIC Hello? That's all right, yeah.
0:12:56 > 0:12:59- Is it working all right? - Yes, it's working now, yes.
0:12:59 > 0:13:01- Hello, hello. Yes. - HE CLEARS HIS THROAT
0:13:01 > 0:13:04HE AFFECTS RP ACCENT: Well, I must say that I liked it.
0:13:04 > 0:13:06LAUGHTER
0:13:06 > 0:13:08APPLAUSE
0:13:09 > 0:13:12HE AFFECTS EXAGGERATED RP ACCENT: I found its comedy...
0:13:12 > 0:13:14intrinsically funny.
0:13:14 > 0:13:16LAUGHTER
0:13:16 > 0:13:19The cutting, I think, from the grandfather's...
0:13:19 > 0:13:23rather prominent member...
0:13:23 > 0:13:26to the brush on the wall.
0:13:26 > 0:13:30It's quite exquisitely... I do really think the...
0:13:30 > 0:13:32HE SPEAKS GIBBERISH
0:13:35 > 0:13:38Well, then, we seem to be divided only on a minor points.
0:13:38 > 0:13:41Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh. Erm...
0:13:41 > 0:13:43Let's press on to the book we have all been reading.
0:13:43 > 0:13:45HE CLEAR HIS THROAT
0:13:45 > 0:13:47And I thought by separating them at the beginning
0:13:47 > 0:13:49that this was the sort of thing I'd prevent.
0:13:49 > 0:13:51LAUGHTER
0:13:51 > 0:13:55Now, I'd like to ask Peter Sellers first if he remembers an occasion...
0:13:55 > 0:13:57He really doesn't know about this. In 1951...
0:13:57 > 0:14:01Because I found a report in The Times in 1951 -
0:14:01 > 0:14:03I swear this is true -
0:14:03 > 0:14:07about a new variety bill at the Prince of Wales
0:14:07 > 0:14:09and "Mr Peter Sellers", as they say,
0:14:09 > 0:14:13"was in company with Nino,
0:14:13 > 0:14:16"the little dog who trots about the stage
0:14:16 > 0:14:19"on enormous inflated rubber balls."
0:14:19 > 0:14:21AUDIENCE LAUGHS
0:14:24 > 0:14:26Now, the question I want to ask Mr Sellers is,
0:14:26 > 0:14:29does he remember anything about that fantastic dog?
0:14:29 > 0:14:33Yes. Somebody pricked one of the balls, I remember...
0:14:33 > 0:14:36and the dog went... HE BLOWS RASPBERRIES
0:14:36 > 0:14:38AUDIENCE LAUGHS
0:14:40 > 0:14:43I used to do impersonations in those days, or impressions, yes.
0:14:43 > 0:14:47Tommy Handley, lots of people, you know. Those ones.
0:14:47 > 0:14:50I didn't used to do Alec Guinness... I beg your pardon.
0:14:50 > 0:14:52Um...
0:14:52 > 0:14:54These days, you know, party things,
0:14:54 > 0:14:57I trot one.... I trot a few out of those...
0:14:57 > 0:14:59well-known stars of stage, screen and Labour Exchange.
0:14:59 > 0:15:01And, um...
0:15:01 > 0:15:04One of my ones is of Alec Guinness.
0:15:04 > 0:15:07I do that one quite often,
0:15:07 > 0:15:10especially one speech from Kind Hearts And Coronets,
0:15:10 > 0:15:14when he was showing Dennis Price around the old church.
0:15:14 > 0:15:17He said, "My west window
0:15:17 > 0:15:20"has all the elegance of Chaucer
0:15:20 > 0:15:24"with none of the concomitant crudities of the period."
0:15:24 > 0:15:27LAUGHTER
0:15:27 > 0:15:29Thank you. APPLAUSE
0:15:31 > 0:15:34Which film did you most enjoy doing, Peter Sellers?
0:15:34 > 0:15:37And is it now, looking back, the same film?
0:15:37 > 0:15:42Well, I enjoyed playing very much, I enjoyed very much playing
0:15:42 > 0:15:45Clare Quilty in Lolita...
0:15:45 > 0:15:48um...a long way back now.
0:15:48 > 0:15:49Just...
0:15:49 > 0:15:52the first five minutes of that film, I enjoyed very much.
0:15:52 > 0:15:54I like to do...
0:15:54 > 0:15:58I like that. I think it looks good when you watch it on the screen.
0:15:58 > 0:16:02Dr Strangelove was a fascinating experience,
0:16:02 > 0:16:06again with Stanley Kubrick. Erm...
0:16:06 > 0:16:09Trying to find out what made Dr Strangelove tick over
0:16:09 > 0:16:11and why he wore a black glove,
0:16:11 > 0:16:14and why one hand was a Nazi and the other hand wasn't.
0:16:14 > 0:16:18And the way we got to that is a whole interesting story.
0:16:18 > 0:16:20- Ah.- Ah...those were the days. LAUGHTER
0:16:20 > 0:16:23They don't write hands like that any more.
0:16:23 > 0:16:24LAUGHTER
0:16:24 > 0:16:27Uh... And I think I will always like,
0:16:27 > 0:16:31you know, the memory of playing Inspector Clouseau.
0:16:31 > 0:16:33Clouseau is a special, sort of, character.
0:16:33 > 0:16:37There are people like Clouseau around all over the world.
0:16:37 > 0:16:40He's the sort of man with great in-built dignity, you see,
0:16:40 > 0:16:41great, great dignity.
0:16:41 > 0:16:44He's an idiot, but he knows that,
0:16:44 > 0:16:46but he wouldn't let anyone else know that, you see.
0:16:46 > 0:16:50He's very, very keen. So if something goes wrong, you see,
0:16:50 > 0:16:53if he falls over, or something awful happens,
0:16:53 > 0:16:58he immediately suspect that someone said, "Bleeding idiot."
0:16:58 > 0:17:00But, you see, he wouldn't let that disturb him.
0:17:00 > 0:17:03He'd say, "What was that? What is that you say? What was that?"
0:17:03 > 0:17:07And someone, you know, some shlapper, would say, "Nothing, sir."
0:17:07 > 0:17:09He'd say, "Yes, of course, nothing. Yes, yes."
0:17:09 > 0:17:11Like if there's a phone call and they say,
0:17:11 > 0:17:13"There's a phone call for you, Inspector.
0:17:13 > 0:17:15He'd say, "Ah, that will be for me." Because, you know...
0:17:15 > 0:17:17LAUGHTER
0:17:17 > 0:17:20..he wants to be one-up all the time, you see.
0:17:20 > 0:17:22An awful lot of people like that about, you see.
0:17:25 > 0:17:28Clouseau took Sellers to a whole new level of fame
0:17:28 > 0:17:32and earned him a Golden Globe nomination in America.
0:17:32 > 0:17:37But international stardom didn't mean leaving old colleagues behind.
0:17:37 > 0:17:40Here he is, joining his fellow Goon, Harry Secombe,
0:17:40 > 0:17:44for a 1972 appearance on Parkinson
0:17:44 > 0:17:48and showing, again, that he knew how to make a big entrance.
0:17:48 > 0:17:50APPLAUSE
0:17:50 > 0:17:53SLOW GUITAR VERSION OF RIDE OF THE VALKYRIES PLAYS
0:18:07 > 0:18:09THEY SPEAK GIBBERISH
0:18:09 > 0:18:11LAUGHTER
0:18:11 > 0:18:13PETER KNOCKS HIS MIC Wargh!
0:18:13 > 0:18:15HARRY CHORTLES
0:18:15 > 0:18:17PETER "DOOF DOOFs"
0:18:17 > 0:18:20There's a lot of machines here.
0:18:20 > 0:18:22It is Peter Sellers, isn't it?
0:18:22 > 0:18:24Yes. Yes. Mm.
0:18:24 > 0:18:27- Do you...?- I only dress up like this during the mating pogrom.
0:18:27 > 0:18:30LAUGHTER
0:18:30 > 0:18:31MICHAEL CHORTLES
0:18:31 > 0:18:34I, in Deutschland, threw a...
0:18:34 > 0:18:37- What did you...? - I'm a yankee doodle da...
0:18:37 > 0:18:38LAUGHTER
0:18:38 > 0:18:41- Where did you get that hat from, Peter?- That's a real...
0:18:41 > 0:18:43This is an...
0:18:43 > 0:18:46This is a real German hel... PETER CHORTLES
0:18:46 > 0:18:48What is all that lot down there?
0:18:48 > 0:18:50Oh, just some little extras we have down there.
0:18:50 > 0:18:51Oh-ho. Hello.
0:18:51 > 0:18:54HARRY CHORTLES
0:18:56 > 0:18:58I just saw it. I saw it.
0:18:58 > 0:19:00I saw it, I saw it...
0:19:00 > 0:19:03I did a film in Guernsey...
0:19:03 > 0:19:07and we were working underground in an actual German hospital
0:19:07 > 0:19:10and I found this. It was all rusting away in the corner...
0:19:10 > 0:19:13HE AFFECTS GERMAN ACCENT: But you know what really the truth about this whole thing?
0:19:13 > 0:19:15I am sick of this business about Churchill.
0:19:15 > 0:19:18The young Churchill, the old Churchill...
0:19:18 > 0:19:20LAUGHTER
0:19:20 > 0:19:23..the weak Churchill, the thin Churchill, the fat Churchill.
0:19:23 > 0:19:26Why doesn't say the truth about Churchill?
0:19:27 > 0:19:30Not many people know or listen.
0:19:30 > 0:19:33A painter? His rotten paintings. Rotten.
0:19:33 > 0:19:36LAUGHTER
0:19:36 > 0:19:39Hitler, there was a painter for you. LAUGHTER
0:19:39 > 0:19:42He'd paint an entire apartment. Two coats, one afternoon.
0:19:42 > 0:19:44LAUGHTER
0:19:45 > 0:19:47APPLAUSE
0:19:51 > 0:19:53You are listening to this one, now you are getting the truth.
0:19:55 > 0:19:58Hitler had more hair than Churchill,
0:19:58 > 0:20:02he told funnier jokes than Churchill... LAUGHTER
0:20:02 > 0:20:05And he could dance the pants off old Churchill. LAUGHTER
0:20:05 > 0:20:07Churchill couldn't even say Nazi.
0:20:07 > 0:20:10He was like, "Nah. Nah."
0:20:10 > 0:20:13That is my favourite bit of dialogue from, um -
0:20:13 > 0:20:16and a plug for good old Mel Brooks and The Producers -
0:20:16 > 0:20:18# Springtime For Hitler And Germany. #
0:20:18 > 0:20:21- I...- Can I take this off? - Yeah, please do, Peter.
0:20:21 > 0:20:23I hope I don't take my head with it.
0:20:25 > 0:20:27PETER SPEAKS GIBBERISH
0:20:27 > 0:20:30Let's have a look at this for a moment.
0:20:30 > 0:20:32Now thinly disguised as Paul McCartney.
0:20:34 > 0:20:37I share your admiration for that film.
0:20:37 > 0:20:39It's a great film. Very underrated.
0:20:39 > 0:20:41- I don't know why people didn't push it.- Yeah.
0:20:41 > 0:20:44Why they didn't push it is what's wrong with the movie industry.
0:20:44 > 0:20:47- Absolutely right.- I might talk a bit more about that later.- Yeah.
0:20:47 > 0:20:50It occurs to me that the art of impersonation is sort of...
0:20:50 > 0:20:53LAUGHTER
0:20:53 > 0:20:55..it's carrying it through, isn't it?
0:20:55 > 0:20:58It's going out there and carrying through with it, no matter what.
0:20:58 > 0:21:00Have you ever chickened out of one, Peter, at any time?
0:21:00 > 0:21:03- Have you ever gone halfway through with one and then...?- On what?
0:21:03 > 0:21:06On an impersonation. You're going down the street in disguise
0:21:06 > 0:21:08and suddenly thought, well...
0:21:08 > 0:21:10Well, I went out with Milligan the other night.
0:21:10 > 0:21:13Milligan gets down a bit, as you well know,
0:21:13 > 0:21:16as his favourite friend here.
0:21:16 > 0:21:17He has, er...
0:21:17 > 0:21:20barneys with a certain corporations,
0:21:20 > 0:21:23whether it be this one or ITV
0:21:23 > 0:21:26and phones up in the middle of the night, usually,
0:21:26 > 0:21:27or at about eight, and says,
0:21:27 > 0:21:30"Get us drunk, because I feel a bit down."
0:21:30 > 0:21:34So we went out - this is about five weeks ago -
0:21:34 > 0:21:37and we had some wine
0:21:37 > 0:21:39at a place we always go to.
0:21:39 > 0:21:41And, erm,
0:21:41 > 0:21:44I was telling Spike about finding this hat in this German hospital,
0:21:44 > 0:21:46he was very taken with it, you see.
0:21:46 > 0:21:49The whole Hitler thing and his book, you know, about Hitler,
0:21:49 > 0:21:52which they're now filming, incidentally.
0:21:52 > 0:21:55I ended up driving this Mercedes I've got in the front
0:21:55 > 0:21:57with Milligan shrieking in the back.
0:21:57 > 0:22:01It was about three in the morning, orders in fake German
0:22:01 > 0:22:03and this hunchback with a helmet on...
0:22:03 > 0:22:05LAUGHTER
0:22:05 > 0:22:08..putting the right indicator out when it was going left...
0:22:08 > 0:22:10LAUGHTER
0:22:10 > 0:22:13People would drive up at the lights and think,
0:22:13 > 0:22:16"God...
0:22:16 > 0:22:18"what's that?"
0:22:18 > 0:22:22We ended up at some Greek restaurant at about three in the morning there,
0:22:22 > 0:22:25that Milligan knew around at the back of Bayswater
0:22:25 > 0:22:28and it was all rather like something out of the French Connection.
0:22:28 > 0:22:31I don't know what happened, because I don't even remember getting home.
0:22:31 > 0:22:34I thought to myself, "My God, if anyone stops me like this,
0:22:34 > 0:22:36"what am I going to say?"
0:22:36 > 0:22:40If the old fuzz come up, what are you going to say about it, really?
0:22:40 > 0:22:42Because I was as high as a kite.
0:22:42 > 0:22:45"I wasn't really, Fuzz, I was as low as a kite." LAUGHTER
0:22:45 > 0:22:47What about this gift, though, Peter,
0:22:47 > 0:22:49of picking up a person's voice, imitating it?
0:22:49 > 0:22:52Do you have to listen to it for a long time or do you...?
0:22:52 > 0:22:54Is it like an instant feedback with you?
0:22:54 > 0:22:57Somebody says something to you and you pick it up immediately?
0:22:57 > 0:23:01Do you know about that? Oh. Because not many people know that.
0:23:01 > 0:23:03- Do you know...?- What's that there?
0:23:03 > 0:23:07This is my Michael Caine impression. LAUGHTER
0:23:07 > 0:23:09APPLAUSE
0:23:09 > 0:23:12"Do you know that it takes a man...
0:23:13 > 0:23:15"..to fall from the top of Big Ben..."
0:23:15 > 0:23:18See, Mike's always quoting from the Guinness Book Of Records.
0:23:18 > 0:23:20LAUGHTER
0:23:20 > 0:23:23Heh-heh. At the drop of a hat, he'll trot one out, you see.
0:23:24 > 0:23:27"It takes a man in a tweed suit
0:23:27 > 0:23:31"five-and-a-half seconds to fall from the top Big Ben to the ground.
0:23:31 > 0:23:33"Now, there's not many people know that."
0:23:33 > 0:23:36LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE
0:23:40 > 0:23:44The celebrity friends didn't end with Michael Caine.
0:23:44 > 0:23:47Here is Sellers messing about with Ringo Starr
0:23:47 > 0:23:50in between takes on their 1969 film,
0:23:50 > 0:23:53The Magic Christian.
0:23:53 > 0:23:55Good afternoon and welcome to my shoot.
0:23:55 > 0:23:57Cockroaches are pretty good right now.
0:23:57 > 0:24:00It's a very good season for them.
0:24:00 > 0:24:03We had a cockroach out there right now.
0:24:03 > 0:24:05The Duke of Norfolk and one or two other people
0:24:05 > 0:24:07who are hot after the cockroaches,
0:24:07 > 0:24:09where they burn them out, actually, that's the idea.
0:24:09 > 0:24:12But, erm... PLANE FLIES OVERHEAD
0:24:12 > 0:24:14It's all right. BA. No, it's OK.
0:24:14 > 0:24:17I thought it was one of those jobs with hair under the wings.
0:24:17 > 0:24:20As you can see, this end is made of wood and this end is made of metal,
0:24:20 > 0:24:23mainly because if you fired out of that end, it would splinter.
0:24:23 > 0:24:27And this end, you see, if you used it like this,
0:24:27 > 0:24:29it'll go straight into your arm and cripple you for...
0:24:29 > 0:24:32well, probably the rest of your life.
0:24:32 > 0:24:35So that's why most people shoot this way around, you see.
0:24:35 > 0:24:37And when the bird goes out this way,
0:24:37 > 0:24:39therefore, the bird gets the full benefit of the blast
0:24:39 > 0:24:42and not your, um,
0:24:42 > 0:24:44elbow and shoulder and things.
0:24:44 > 0:24:46That's why the man from Laramie
0:24:46 > 0:24:50had an elbow on his arm and one upon his shoulder.
0:24:50 > 0:24:52Brooke Bond was that man's special tea.
0:24:52 > 0:24:54Uh-huh-hum...
0:24:56 > 0:24:59Our final clip is a musical number.
0:24:59 > 0:25:01Here's Sellers performing the old crowd pleaser,
0:25:01 > 0:25:03When I'm Cleaning Windows,
0:25:03 > 0:25:06in the style of one of his own comic heroes,
0:25:06 > 0:25:08George Formby.
0:25:08 > 0:25:11Heh-heh. Turned out nice again, hasn't it?
0:25:11 > 0:25:14One, two, three, heh-four.
0:25:14 > 0:25:17MUSIC: When I'm Cleaning Windows by Cliff, Gifford and Formby
0:25:22 > 0:25:24# Now I go cleanin' windows
0:25:24 > 0:25:27# To earn an honest bob
0:25:27 > 0:25:28# For a nosy parker
0:25:28 > 0:25:31# It's an interestin' job
0:25:31 > 0:25:34# Now it's a job that just suits me
0:25:34 > 0:25:36# A window cleaner you would be
0:25:36 > 0:25:38# If you can see what I can see
0:25:38 > 0:25:41When I'm cleanin' windows
0:25:41 > 0:25:43# Honeymoonin' couples, too
0:25:43 > 0:25:45# You should see them bill 'n coo
0:25:45 > 0:25:47# You'd be surprised at things they do
0:25:47 > 0:25:49# When I'm cleanin' windows
0:25:49 > 0:25:52# In my profession, I work hard
0:25:52 > 0:25:54# But I'll never stop
0:25:54 > 0:25:56# I'll climb this blinkin' ladder
0:25:56 > 0:25:59# Till I get right to the top
0:25:59 > 0:26:01# Now the blushin' bride, she looks divine
0:26:01 > 0:26:03# The bridegroom, he is doin' fine
0:26:03 > 0:26:06# I'd rather have his job than mine
0:26:06 > 0:26:08# When I'm cleanin' windows
0:26:08 > 0:26:11# The chambermaids' sweet names I call
0:26:11 > 0:26:13# It's a wonder I don't fall
0:26:13 > 0:26:15# My mind's not on my work at all
0:26:15 > 0:26:17# When I'm cleanin' windows
0:26:17 > 0:26:20# I know a fella, such a swell
0:26:20 > 0:26:22# He has a thirst, that's plain to tell
0:26:22 > 0:26:24# I've seen him drink his bath as well
0:26:24 > 0:26:26# When I'm cleanin' windows
0:26:26 > 0:26:29# In my profession I work hard
0:26:29 > 0:26:32# But I'll never stop, hee-hee
0:26:32 > 0:26:34# I'll climb this blinkin' ladder
0:26:34 > 0:26:36# Till I get right to the top
0:26:36 > 0:26:38# Pyjamas lyin' side by side
0:26:38 > 0:26:41# Ladies nighties, I have spied
0:26:41 > 0:26:43# I've often seen what goes inside
0:26:43 > 0:26:46# When I'm cleanin' windows. #
0:26:46 > 0:26:47HE CHUCKLES
0:26:56 > 0:26:59APPLAUSE
0:27:00 > 0:27:05Peter Sellers saved his last-ever joke for after his death,
0:27:05 > 0:27:08which came in 1980, after a heart attack.
0:27:08 > 0:27:11He was 54.
0:27:11 > 0:27:14The eulogies described him as the greatest comic talent
0:27:14 > 0:27:19of his generation and a genius on a level with Charlie Chaplin.
0:27:19 > 0:27:23For his funeral, he had insisted that Glenn Miller's In The Mood
0:27:23 > 0:27:26played as his coffin was cremated.
0:27:26 > 0:27:27Why?
0:27:27 > 0:27:30Because he absolutely hated the song
0:27:30 > 0:27:33and knew it would give all his friends
0:27:33 > 0:27:34one very last laugh.