Peter Cook Dudley Moore Good Evening 1974

Pete and Dud were characters played by the comedians and entertainers

Peter Cook Peter Edward Cook (17 November 1937 – 9 January 1995) was an English comedian, actor, satirist, playwright and screenwriter. He was the leading figure of the British satire boom of the 1960s, and he was associated with the anti-establishmen ...

and

Dudley Moore Dudley Stuart John Moore (19 April 193527 March 2002) was an English actor, comedian, musician and composer. He first came to prominence in the UK as a leading figure in the British satire boom of the 1960s. He was one of the four writer-perf ...

. The dialogue format originated in 1964 when Dudley Moore invited Peter Cook to appear in a television performance. Cook scripted a conversation between two men from

Dagenham Dagenham () is a town in East London, England, within the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. Dagenham is centred east of Charing Cross. It was historically a rural parish in the Becontree Hundred of Essex, stretching from Hainault Fo ...

wearing

flat cap A flat cap is a rounded cap with a small stiff brim in front, originating in Northern England. The hat is also known in Ireland as a paddy cap; in Scotland as a bunnet; in Wales as a Dai cap; and in the United States as an English cap or Irish ...

s. This proved to be very popular with television audiences and the partnership was continued during the series '' Not Only... But Also''. Pete is a know-it-all and would-be intellectual, very much in the spirit of E. L. Wisty, and Dud is a put-upon Herbert in a subservient role, who tries to impress Pete with his knowledge. Neither of them has any real sense. The "Dagenham Dialogues" between the two ranged from paintings (Pete finds the

Mona Lisa The ''Mona Lisa'' is a half-length portrait painting by the Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. Considered an archetypal masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance, it has been described as "the best known, the most visited, the most written about, ...

snooty, and the bottoms of

Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens ( ; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat. He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque tradition. Rubens' highly charged compositions reference erudite aspects of clas ...

's nudes seem to follow them around the room), reasons why

gecko Geckos are small, mostly carnivorous lizards that have a wide distribution, found on every continent except Antarctica. Belonging to the infraorder Gekkota, geckos are found in warm climates. They range from . Geckos are unique among lizards ...

s do not live long and being annoyed by film stars (including "bloody

Greta Garbo Greta Garbo (born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson; 18 September 1905 – 15 April 1990) was a Swedish-American actress and a premier star during Hollywood's Silent film, silent and early Classical Hollywood cinema, golden eras. Regarded as one of the g ...

" and "bloody

Anna Magnani Anna Maria Magnani (; 7 March 1908 – 26 September 1973) was an Academy Award-winning Italian actress.Obituary ''Variety Obituaries, Variety'', 3 October 1973, pg. 47 She was known for her explosive acting and earthy, realistic portrayals of ...

") pestering them for romance. During the 1970s, Cook and Moore used a similar formula for the more adult Derek and Clive recordings. The comic and personal relationship between Cook and Moore is the subject of the play '' Pete and Dud: Come Again'', by Chris Bartlett and Nick Awde. In 2010, a group of comedians,

Hugh Dennis Peter Hugh Dennis (born 13 February 1962) is an English comedian, presenter, actor, Impressionist (entertainment), impressionist and writer. He was a panellist in every episode of the comedy show ''Mock the Week'' (2005–2022) and is one half ...

Angus Deayton Gordon Angus Deayton (; born 6 January 1956) is an English actor, writer, musician, comedian and broadcaster. Deayton was the original presenter of two successful British comedy panel shows, ''Have I Got News for You'' (1990–2002) and ''Woul ...

and

Alistair McGowan Alistair Charles McGowan (born 24 November 1964) is an English impressionist, BAFTAaward winning comic, actor, pianist, poet, and writer. He starred in '' The Big Impression'' (formerly '' Alistair McGowan's Big Impression''). He has also wor ...

among them, recreated some of the Pete and Dud comic routines on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...

in ''Pete and Dud: the Lost Sketches''. Recalling his relationship with

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

, English musician

Brian Eno Brian Peter George Jean-Baptiste de la Salle Eno (, born 15 May 1948), also mononymously known as Eno, is an English musician, songwriter, record producer, visual artist, and activist. He is best known for his pioneering contributions to ambien ...

has stated "We knew each other for over 40 years, in a friendship that was always tinged by echoes of Pete and Dud.”. Eno has recalled that during the recording sessions for Bowie's "Heroes" album, he and Bowie would communicate in Peter Cook and Dudley Moore voices: "We slipped into Peter Cook and Dudley Moore characters. Bowie was Pete and I was Dud, and for the whole time we stayed in character. “Ooh, I dunno about that synthesizer part, Dud.”” Bowie himself recalled, "Brian and I did have Pete and Dud down pretty pat. Long dialogues about

John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and Extended technique, non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one ...

performing on a ‘prepared layer’ at the Bricklayers Arms on the

Old Kent Road Old Kent Road is a major thoroughfare in South East London, England, passing through the London Borough of Southwark. It was originally part of an ancient trackway that was paved by the Romans and used by the Anglo-Saxons who named it Wæcel ...

and the like. Quite silly.”

References

Comedy theatre characters British comedy duos Fictional British people Male characters in theatre Dudley Moore Peter Cook Theatre characters introduced in 1964 {{fict-char-stub