Peter Vincent, who has died aged 91, was a tv scriptwriter who put phrases into the mouths of a few of Britain’s largest comedy names, together with Tommy Cooper, Dick Emery, Jimmy Tarbuck, Les Dawson, Kenneth Williams and Russ Abbot. He loved notably fruitful collaborations with Dave Allen and the celebrities of The Two Ronnies, Corbett and Barker.
Like Dick Vosburgh, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Barry Cryer and David Nobbs, Vincent moved on to The Two Ronnies after writing for David Frost’s ITV satirical collection Frost on Sunday (1968-70), which featured Corbett and Barker in its ensemble forged earlier than they had been catapulted into their very own present on the BBC. Vincent contributed sketches, and a few of Corbett’s famously long-winded monologues, to all 12 collection of The Two Ronnies (1971-87), though not the 1987 Christmas particular, their swansong.
One other monologue he wrote, in partnership with Cryer and typical of the quirky humour so liked by Barker, was titled Nows at Ton. Within the guise of a information presenter, Barker learn out tales produced by a defective typewriter that printed Os as an alternative of Es. “It was fairly brief and solely took about 10 minutes to write down,” Vincent advised Barker’s biographer, Richard Webber. “It’s a corny concept, however I’m positive it got here from private expertise, as a result of typewriters typically play up like that.”
In addition to writing for the vastly common present, Vincent took over from Nobbs as script editor for a number of years (1972-76). This concerned discovering new writers and making a shortlist of things for the favored opening and shutting spoof information spots that bookended the comedy sketches, playlets, songs and parodies. These snippets had been submitted by common writers and outsiders, and Vincent picked about 20 every week at hand over to Corbett, Barker and the producer, Terry Hughes, who would typically reject half of them.
“Numerous writers despatched materials, however getting them proper was very tough,” Vincent stated. “I used to name David Renwick and would put in nearly all the pieces he despatched, as a result of they had been so good. David Nobbs was superb, too.”
Barker himself claimed duty for 75% of the programme’s scripts, underneath the pseudonym Gerald Wiley. Vincent – and his successor as script editor, Ian Davidson – generally needed to placate the unique writers when their work was rewritten by the star or when, at different instances, he merely “borrowed” their materials.
His affiliation with Allen started as one in all two principal scriptwriters on the BBC collection Dave Allen at Giant (1971-79) and continued by means of varied specials and the ITV present Dave Allen (1993-94). He ultimately grew to become the principle collaborator of the Irish comic, who delivered jokes in a relaxed model, typically sitting down with a cigarette and glass of ginger ale, masquerading as whiskey, at hand.
Venting suppressed fury at political hypocrisy and non secular authority was on the root of the humour, however Vincent was consistently searching for new targets.
Their work on The Two Ronnies led Vincent and Davidson to create the BBC sitcom Sorry!, starring Corbett as Timothy Lumsden, a annoyed fortysomething librarian tied to his domineering mom’s apron strings, and so they scripted all seven collection (1981-88). Barbara Lott was the mom who goes to nice lengths to see off potential daughters-in-law and retains in test her husband (William Moore), whose catchphrase, “Language, Timothy!”, is met with Timothy’s response of “Sorry!”
Vincent was born in Ruislip, Middlesex, to Elizabeth (nee Peyton) and her husband, Stanley Vincent, a Royal Flying Corps, then RAF, officer reputed to have been the one fighter pilot to have shot down enemy plane in each world wars. Peter himself did nationwide service within the RAF on leaving Lancing school. In 1957, he graduated in historical past from Corpus Christi Faculty, Cambridge, the place he wrote for the Footlights Membership revues – generally in collaboration with the long run Liberal MP John Pardoe – for performers comparable to Jonathan Miller and Daniel Massey.
Vincent began his working life instructing in a Littlehampton secondary faculty, then grew to become a lecturer at Brighton technical school. His break got here when the scriptwriter David McKellar gave him the prospect to write down for the anarchic BBC radio revue-style collection I’m Sorry, I’ll Learn That Once more (from 1965 to 1966), with the long run Goodies TV stars Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graeme Backyard and Invoice Oddie among the many forged.
Switching to tv in 1968 for Frost on Saturday and Frost on Sunday was a pure development. He then wrote materials for a lot of leisure reveals with high stars comparable to Harry Secombe, Bruce Forsyth and Stanley Baxter.
Vincent teamed up with Davidson once more to create one other sitcom, Comrade Dad (1984-86), which starred George Cole as a Londoner underneath Russian occupation, and contribute scripts to All at No 20 (1986-87), with Maureen Lipman, and The Brittas Empire (1991-97), with Chris Barrie. He and Peter Robinson created Hilary (1984-86), which starred Marti Caine as a divorced TV chat present researcher.
Vincent and Davidson additionally wrote the BBC radio sitcom When the Canine Dies (2010-14), which reunited them with Corbett, who performed Sandy Hopper, a widower underneath stress from his grown-up kids to downsize.
In 1959, Vincent married Patricia Lloyd; she died in 2016. He’s survived by their daughter, Miranda, son, Bosie, and 4 grandsons, Sam, Alvy, Fin and Ned.
