One of the amiable comedian‘s regular series on ITV, Life With Cooper was a mixture of sketches, stand-up comedy and an ample dose of magic, topped and tailed by short filmed jokes.
The sketches followed the events in Tommy’s day-to-day life, including taking up a hobby, buying a bed, joining a fox hunt, applying for a passport, becoming a toastmaster, visiting his aunt Prudence, taking a trip to a Magic Convention at Eastbourne, trying to redeem a suitcase from the left luggage office, working as a window cleaner and taking an overseas holiday.
In one sketch, Tommy saw an advertisement for a selection of 2,000 used cars. When he arrived at the car dealership, the only vehicle available was a derelict old bomb. “I thought you had thousands of cars?” asked Tommy of the sneaky salesman (Warren Mitchell), who replied, rubbing his hands together, “What a day I’ve had! What a day!”
There was also a flashback to his wartime years, featuring some stirring scenes from when Tommy answered the call to arms.
Everything that happened to Tommy Cooper invariably went wrong, and regardless of the setting, every situation ended in chaos.
Guests over the 19 episodes on the ABC-produced Saturday night series included Stanley Unwin, Henry McGee, Warren Mitchell, Sheila Hancock, Bob Todd, John Junkin, Deryck Guyer, June Whitfield, Dandy Nichols, Patricia Hayes, Anna Karen, Glyn Houston, Janet Webb, Kenneth Cope, Johnny Hart, Hilda Barry, Ivor Dean, Dermot Kelly, Bill Oddie, Erik Chitty, Miriam Karlin, Eric Barker, Dudley Foster, Clovissa Newcombe, Arthur Mullard, Neil Wilson, Harold Berens, Hugh Morton, Claire Davenport, Robert Cawdron, James Appleby, John Keenan, Elaine Mileham, Geoffrey Chandler, Thelma Ruby, Julian Holloway, Jane Tann, Winifred Sabine, Totti Truman Taylor, Joyce Grant, Christine Child, Barry Kennington, William Schearer, George Barnes, Jay Denyer, Frederick Schiller, Ronan O’Casey, Alf Joint, Royston Farrell, Gladys Dawson, Arnold Yarrow, Harry Davis, Roger Avon, JJ McColl and wrestler Mick McManus.
Writers on the show included Brian Cooke, Johnnie Mortimer, John Muir, Eric Green, John Warren, Brad Ashton, George Evans, Derek Collyer and John Singer. The script editor was Barry Took.
Everything that happened to Tommy Cooper invariably went wrong, and regardless of the setting, every situation ended in chaos.
