Comic actor Eric Sykes was the subject of a This is Your Life TV show on 25th December 1979.
Tommy Cooper was amongst the guests who paid tribute to him.  Here's what happened next.



Among the star guests appearing, for Eric Sykes, were Frankie Howerd,
Terry Thomas, Hattie Jacques, John Williams, Jimmy 'Whacko' Edwards,
Max Bygraves and the irreplaceable Spike Milligan. Not a bad line-up!!


Eammon Andrews: "Who else but Tommy Cooper."


Tommy walks on carrying a plank.


Gets to the stage and dumps the plank.


Tommy: "Well good evening."


Eric Sykes: "Well do something."


Tommy: "Is that it?"


Eric Sykes: "Do something."


Tommy starts doing a jig


Eric Sykes and star guests burst out laughing


Eammon Andrews: "Tommy why don't you tell us something about that famous
film you starred in with Eric, The Plank."


Tommy: "Oh yes, now I remember now doing this film with errrr ........ Eric err
.......The Plank. And err....... it was very funny............... it was. No hold on it
was very funny."


Eammon Andrews: "Well he not only acted in it, he wrote it........ didn't he?"


Tommy: "Yeh I was coming to that."


Spike Milligan: "You could have fooled me." (At this point Spike is wiping
away his tears through - laughing - so much)


Jimmy Edwards: "Well you was in it."


Tommy: "I know I was in it. I'm telling you I was in it."


Jimmy Edwards: "Tom, you're in it now!"


Tommy: "I was in the film The Plank, that's right, yes. And he wrote the script.
He wrote it in a letter box."


Eammon Andrews: "Why did he wrote it in a letter box?"


Tommy: "It was a post-script. Oh dear how did I think of that, I don't know."


Round of applause


Tommy: "And while we was making this film, the first film I've ever done."


Jimmy Edwards: "This is longer than Frankie Howerds!"


Tommy: "Not yet, not yet. No no I'm going to be very quick. We were doing
this film and err we were in this house remember?" (looks at Eric)


Eric Sykes: "We were in a house, yes."


Tommy: "In this house."


Eammon Andrews sits in the audience


Tommy: "I was in this house, the same house."


Laughs to himself



Tommy: "I cannot help laughing, I cannot, I know what's coming next."



Riotous laughter



Tommy: "And while we were doing this film there's one shot in it. And we had a
scene where we had to knock nails into the floor. So anyway, he may be good
at a typewriter, but he wasn't very good with a hammer. Cos' I had to hold the
nails while he was hitting 'em. And he just missed this one." (pulls out a
bandaged left finger)



Riotous laughter



Tommy: "But he caught me with that one." (shows right finger with a nail
through it)



Eammon Andrews: "Oh I say."



Tommy walks to Eric



Tommy: "All the best Eric."











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