Fans of '80s movies certainly know the name Dudley Moore: the funny, piano-playing guy who always ends up trying to get out of a nutty situation. But before he took us to get caught between the moon and New York City in his Oscar-nominated role as
Arthur, before he and Eddie Murphy tried to provide us with their
Best Defense, and even before he had a mid-life crisis and followed
10 Bo Derek on her honeymoon to the beach, he was...a jazz musician! And that, strangely enough, led Moore to one of the most hilarious TV comedy pairings the BBC has ever seen.
Yes, Moore started out in his days at the University of Oxford's Magdalen College studying music, and there he became interested in jazz (composing as well as playing). He later played as part of The Johnny Dankworth Seven, and later on he even formed his own group: The Dudley Moore Trio. They put out records in the early '60s, and were regularly playing at a club owned by one Peter Cook. When Cook moved his club, The Establishment, to New York City, Moore followed for a while.
Moore was destined to return to the U.K., though, and was given a chance to star in his own BBC televsion series. The show, which began airing in 1965, was called
Not Only... But Also. One of his first guests was none other than his old friend Peter Cook, and the comedic pairing between Cook and Moore turned out to be pure television magic. They were so hilarious together that they pretty much became the show, and continued working together through all three series (seasons) that the program aired.
Many folks familiar with another classic BBC series,
Doctor Who, are in the know about how many early episodes of the sci-fi series were wiped from their storage tapes in the late '60s/early '70s, and it wasn't the only show affected by this. Unfortunately the hilarious recordings of Moore and Cook's
Not Only... But Also episodes were also among those which got wiped by this practice.
But the BBC has decided to take "What's Left" of the show, and bring the best of it to DVD on
September 9th. The official title of this 170-minute disc sounds rather complicated, actually:
Not Only...But Also - Peter Cook and Dudley Moore: The Best of...What’s Left of...
You'll get six episodes, compiled together from the materials that were left remaining in the official BBC archive. It includes terrific guest appearances, including none other than Beatle John Lennon! But the primary draw, of course, is going to be the classic comedy duo, featuring some of the cleverest sketches ever to appear.
Video and audio are presented as the show orginally aired, plus there are English subtitles for the hearing impaired. Included is a bonus Featurette called "Success Story: Peter Cook and Dudley Moore" (it sounds like a fitting tribute to both of these late great individuals). Cost is $24.98 SRP, but you can
pre-order it from Amazon for $16.99 as of this writing. Here is the package art:
