Radio tributes to Spike, Pete and Dud

Radio 2 is to pay tribute to Spike Milligan, Peter Cook and Dudley Moore this Christmas.

Dennis Norden will host the salute to Spike, which will feature recordings and correspondence from the BBC archives.

Vivat Milligna, celebrating the well-known typing error, as Milligan used to refer to himself, will be broadcast on Christmas Eve and was written by Russell Davies, the author who edited Kenneth Williams's diaries.

Pete and Dud are remembered in two one-hour documentaries following their rise from Oxbridge revues to Not Only But Also.

As well as tributes from fellow comedians, the show features archive footage, including some recently discovered audio recordings from the second, 1966 series of Not Only..But Also. The BBC wiped most of the tapes, making any such material rare.

The two-part tribute goes out on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.

Radio 2 is also celebrating Round The Horne, in tribute to writer Barry Took, who died at the age of 73 in March.

Star Bill Pertwee, who was to go on to further fame in Dad's Army, introduces three editions of the groundbreaking Sixties comedy show.

Other comedy highlights of BBC radio's Christmas schedules include Barry Cryer and Graeme Garden in the I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue spin-off You'll Have Had Your Tea: The Doings OF Hamish And Dougal

There are also festive specials of the Shuttleworths (R4, 6.30pm, Dec 24), The Arthur Smith Lectures (R2, 12.30pm, Dec 26), Parsons and Naylor's Pull-Out Sections (R2, 12.30pm, Dec 27), Old Harry's Game (R4, 6.30pm, Dec 31) and the 35th anniversary programme of Just A Minute (R4, 12pm, Jan 1)

Published: 25 Nov 2002