New drama marks 30 years of an unusual meeting

An unlikely real-life meeting between Benny Hill and Michael Jackson is being turned into an audio drama.

On the February 22, 1992, the king of pop met the king of comedy on February 22, 1922. Hill was staying at the Brompton Hospital following a heart attack Jackson, a fan of his work, paid a visit – and the occasion was captured by a photographer.

 They talked for half an hour, making plans for Michael to appear in a future TV series of The Benny Hill Show. But it was not to be: Benny Hill died on April 20 less than two months later.

Now, exactly 30 years later, a new play imagines what took place in that hospital room.

When Michael Met Benny has been written by Jonathan Morris, whose credits include Dead.

He said: ‘I heard about this unlikely meeting about ten years ago, and immediately thought, there’s a play in that! It could be the next Frost/Nixon!

‘And then I realised that if nobody else was going to write it, I should write it myself. It was just such an exciting idea I couldn’t let it go. What would two such different people find to talk about? What would they find they had in common?

‘It’s a very affectionate celebration of Benny Hill and his generation of comedians. Fans of Benny, classic comedy of the 60s and 70s, or biopics like Eric & Ernie, will love it. It will make them laugh, it will make them cry, and they will learn about the man behind the legend.

‘With The Benny Hill Show now being repeated – and still making headlines – there couldn’t be a better time to bring him back to life.’

It stars Daniel Anthony – Jamie Collier in Casualty – as Jackson and comedy veteran Phil Nice as Hill.

Nice said: ‘The idea of playing Benny Hill was initially somewhat daunting, but the premise of the piece was both intriguing and fascinating - a dramatisation of an actual meeting between two legends! I was able, through Jonathan's writing, to get a more nuanced view of Benny as he approached his final days and found the whole project immensely satisfying and lots of fun."

When Michael Met Benny, a half-hour drama produced by Average Romp, will be available for free on all podcast platforms from Tuesday.

Published: 20 Feb 2022