Men From the Ministry was a classic BBC radio comedy that was broadcast from 1962-77. A precursor to ‘Yes Minister’ it lampooned the British Civil Service. Uproariously funny and often bitingly satirical, it appealed to audiences all over the world. Now, Brian Cooke is bringing his stage version to the White Bear Theatre.

Cooke, kindly arranges to meet at The Groucho Club in Soho. This arts & media private members club gets very busy and today is no exception. Nevertheless, it is easy to spot Cooke sitting on his own, his appearance; slightly crumpled with a natty scarf, he really is writing aristocracy, but would probably hate the label. 

After the wine has been poured and lunch ordered, we turn to the question of the format for his new play.  He is trying out three shows.  Number 1 and 2 will be shown the first night, with 1 and 3 being shown the second night. They will then alternate with the benefit of finding out which is the funniest. Cooke, ever ready with a quip says “audiences can take a vote, they can throw money if they like it”. 

The brainchild of the original Men From the Ministry was Edward Taylor who wrote it for Wilfred Hyde White. After a promotion in the BBC he came across a script written by Brian Cooke and Johnnie Mortimer and recommended them for the scriptwriting team. 

Cooke became one of the country’s most successful comedy writers. His writing partnership with Johnnie Mortimer helped create television sitcoms Man About The House, George and Mildred and Robin’s Nest. Cooke remarks that “they’re still running somewhere in the world, I’m still receiving the royalties to this day.” 

The radio shows included Stop Messing About and Round the Horne. Round the Horne was also adapted for the stage. After premiering at White Bear Theatre it toured nationally to much critical acclaim. When asked if he reads his reviews, Cooke remarks “truthfully some of them are very good, a critic is someone who knows the way, he just can’t ride the bike”. 

Its clear he’s old school, a gentleman. Sitting in these elegant timeless surroundings, he fits in perfectly. Just slightly outside of the internet boom, he still insists on using the post in preference to email. It’s no good objecting, Cooke is a leader not a follower.

On his own Cooke wrote Trippers Day for Leonard Rossiter and Close to Home for Paul Nicholas. Together, with Johnnie Mortimer he wrote shows for such comedy legends as Bernard Cribbins, Tommy Cooper, Frankie Howard, Marty Feldman, Ronnie Barker and Bruce Forsyth. 

The pair met as cartoonists, right at the beginning of their careers: “His wife Jytte would be talking in the living room and we were in the kitchen with an ironing board between us. We’d draw cartoons, put them in a hat, at the end of the night, we’d draw things out of the hat … I’ll do that, he’ll write that … maybe we ought to write a radio show”. They started writing for Thames Television before being picked up by the BBC

Cooke has an irreverent take on the British ruling classes. The Men From the ministry aren’t particularly bright they oil the wheels of commerce but never actually carry the can. When asked what he thinks to Boris Johnson, he said “not much, he’s a clown”. But, traditionally if you take off the clown mask, isn’t there someone really intelligent behind it? “No! Take off one mask and there’s another one underneath”.

He recalls when The Men From the Ministry script were first read by the BBC, they received a nervous reaction.  Cooke says “the BBC objected .. said they’re not able to do it. We can’t show them (the civil service) as inept and stupid.”

Cooke recalls one of the situations that upset them. “The Prime Minister is barmy” he begins. “A man ran down the road shouting ‘the Prime Minister is barmy’. He was arrested and the judge gave him 2 months for disturbing the peace and 2 years for revealing a State Secret”. He continues “the BUMS (BBC Upper Management) changed their minds with That Was the Week That Was. That enabled more criticism”. 

The elements of dissatisfaction at the BBC soon disappeared and they let them be braver with Round The Horn. However, they still complained that actors were putting emphasis on ‘certain words’. Cooke remembers that Barry Tooke pointed out that “ Sir Laurence Olivier puts emphasis on certain words … I think it’s called acting”.

Other features of the upcoming stage show include Michael Kingsbury introducing the show as a radio presenter with the emphatic opening line “Good Evening Laughter Seekers”. Cooke explains that Kingsbury is “actor, producer, founder of White Bear and Artistic Director … we’re thinking of taking a group photograph of him”.  There will be staged cock-ups a-plenty, as Cooke explains “every time an actor makes a mistake he’ll speak over the the tannoy ‘Could we just get that right … of course the actor argues that he hasn’t made any mistake – the late football results are announced as ‘The six o’click cock ups!”.   Other actors include David Benson imitating Harold Wilson, who also played the role in The Audience with Helen Mirren. 

Cooke’s shows are the precursor to so many comedies.  He’s an original.  He walked out of the one recent West End comedy because he had seen it all before, and probably written it himself. Cooke says “the Americans have a saying – Where there’s a hit, there’s a writ” but he’s clearly above all of that.  He says he has no great wisdom to impart about writing technique, it seems he just has a knack! 

On the other hand, he believes that comedy is the greatest skill for any actor to possess: “Any actor who can play comedy can play straight. The hardest is to play comedy … surf the laughter … the actor coming in at the right moment. Mostly, it’s his, but partly mine. The right actor will add 10% value to the script … bring it to life.”

Cooke cannot resist telling another joke, this time from Noel Coward about meeting a boring person who said “I passed your house the other day” to which Noel replied “Thank you”. Spending one and half hours with Brian Cooke has been anything but boring, indeed thoroughly entertaining. 

Men From the Ministry is set to be a fascinating, nostalgic trip down Memory Lane, and is for anyone who likes to laugh.