To be made by Victor Lewis-Smith

Rare footage from Peter Cook's home archive will feature in what's being billed as the 'definitive' documentary about the comic's life.

The programme is being made for the BBC by Victor Lewis-Smith, the critic and filmmaker, with the help of Cook's widow, Lin.

Lewis-Smith tweeted that the film will air on BBC Two and Four and be a 'companion' to his Bafta-winning BBC film from 2000, Dudley Moore: After The Laughter, which featured Moore's final interview.

'Now just that little matter of going through 1000+ of Peter's home movies, audio tapes.. etc,' he wrote. 'Tough life.'

Lewis-Smith relaunched Cook's legendary comedy club The Establishment in London's Soho in 2012 with Keith Allen and Mike O'Brien of comedy audio label Laughing Stock, after Lin revealed to him that her husband had planned to revive the club before he died in 1995 at the age of 57.

A BBC spokesman said of the new project: 'We're having conversations with Victor but it's too early to go into detail.'

Cook has been a popular subject for documentarians since his death, including the 2002 film At A Slight Angle To The Universe – and at least three biographies about his life have been published.

As recently as July, Gold compiled archive footage of his and Moore's chatshow appearances for their series, The Interviews.

Last year, Lin Cook refused to participate in Channel 4's The Real Derek and Clive, which featured previously unbroadcast excerpts from Derek and Clive Get The Horn. It focused on the deterioration of the double-act's relationship and Cook's collapsing marriage to his second wife, Judy Huxtable

-by Jay Richardson

Published: 29 Oct 2015