h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Is there an unwritten law of the inverse that says when a much-loved celebrity dies, there'll be someone who can play him in a biopic so well that you could almost believe it's the real person?

Exhibit A: The Curse of Steptoe. Jason Isaacs as Harry H Corbett and Phil Daniels as Wilfred Brambell. Phil Daniels had the part right from the off; Jason Isaacs didn't really get into it until the second half of the drama, but by the end he could have been Harry H Corbett.

Exhibit B: Hattie. Ruth Jones as Hattie Jacques was spot-on. Robert Bathurst as John Le Mesurier not so much, but I loved Graham Fellows as Eric Sykes (not the only time Sykes will be mentioned). And while we're here - Marcia Warren as Esma Cannon. Brilliant

Exhibit C: Fantabulosa. Although his portrayal of Tony Blair in The Queen was good, I never really bought Michael Sheen as The Evil One, and as David Frost in Nixon I was more convinced, but in Fantabulosa he was very definitely Kenneth Williams. No, really, he *was* Kenneth Williams. In fact just about everyone who was playing anyone that production was the real life character they were portraying.

Exhibit D: Eric and Ernie. Daniel Rigby and Brian Dick played their parts as Eric and Ernie (respectively) so well, but Victoria Wood stole the show, as Eric's mother. Who we wouldn't know from Adam. Or Eve.

Exhibit E: Tommy Cooper: Not Like That, Like This. David Threlfall as Tommy Cooper is the finest of any I've seen to date. The voice, the face, mannerisms, the whole package. And according to the IMDb listing he didn't have a voice or dialect coach, but I can't believe he didn't have some kind of coaching for the part. And Eric Sykes again, played this time by Paul Ritter, who I'm not familiar with and wasn't convincing, although Bob Golding did a slightly better job as Eric Morecambe.

Now I need to see how Ken Stott performs as Tony Hancock in Hancock and Joan.

You've got feel for John Le Mesurier. Married to Hattie Jacques, cuckolded, then fell in love with Joan, played the guilty party in the divorce with Hattie even though he wasn't, then Tony Hancock and Joan had a fling.

Oh my goodness, I forgot another one of the best - David Bradley as William Hartnell in An Adventure in Space and Time

Were these all on tv or can we expats get hold of DVD's of them?

There was a BBC R4 drama/thing, on err, last week I think maybe, and the person playing Kenneth Williams in that, just had the voice absolutely correct... was seriously uncanny.... and try as I might, I still can't 'do' the Kenneth Williams voice... (and I've spent some considerable time trying.... )

TC, they were on TV, and I reckon the BBC has probably put some of them out on DVD, especially An Adventure in Space and Time, what with Dr Who being so popular right now. Leastways, it jolly well should have, so a quick search of the BBC shop or amazon.co.uk should turn them up.

Is this the Radio 4 drama, 2legs? http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0415hb8 I meant to listen to that and forgot all about it. Well well, Marcia Warren was in that too, and it was written by the same bloke who wrote Fantabulosa.

Oh hell, I've done it again - called Phil Davis Phil Daniels Where else did I do that recently? I always get those two mixed up but I really shouldn't, even though they were both in Quadrophenia. But it was *Davis* who played Wilfred Brambell. Oh, and speaking of which, The Curse of Steptoe isn't on DVD because there was a deal of controversy about the way it portrayed some of the biographical details, especially of Harry H Corbett, and the way they got on with each other. It's been edited at least twice and might not ever get another broadcast.

Sounds like the one from the description

You know who'd be an ideal candidate for one of these? Spike Milligan. Not just for his status as a much-loved national figure but because of all the drama in his life - early life spent in India towards the end of the Raj, moved to gloomy south London as a teenager when his father's position was done away with, fought in World War 2, became the writer of one of the most popular radio shows the BBC has ever had, had manic depression and spells in psychiatric hospitals, divorced his first wife and got custody of the kids (highly unusual in the 50s), married again to a woman he was devoted to who died of cancer, had several flings, at least two of which (if I remember rightly) resulted in children, married for a third time, was a fervent environmentalist and campaigner...

Plenty of scope there I reckon, but I wonder who could play him?