New material published today

Previously unseen Peter Cook material has today been published in a new book.

Tragically I Was An Only Twin contains a wide-ranging collection of Cook's work, from a schoolboy poem written in 1956 to scripts of Why Bother, the Radio 3 series he performed with Chris Morris in1994, just months before his death.

Among the extracts are transcripts from his collaboration with Dudley Moore, Not Only But Also.

As the BBC wiped most of the tapes of the show, and even destroyed the scripts, some of this material does not exist in any other format.

The book, titled after one of Cook's own unfinished projects, includes items from Private Eye, Beyond The Fringe and more obscure material, such as his Daily Mail column.

In the introduction, editor William Cook said: " My main problem wasn't what to include, but what to leave out.

"I was pleasantly surprised at how comfortably Cook's humour translated to the page."

William, who has previously written a history of the Comedy Store, added: "This is a book for people who don't know so much about Cook's comedy as well as those who already do.

The book is published by Random House, priced £17.99. Click here to buy it from Amazon for £12.59

Published: 3 Oct 2002