THE GREAT NUCLEAR MISUNDERSTANDING LASTED 2 MINUTES AND 28 SECONDS (INCLUDING THE PEACE TREATY)

Post apocalypse England and the 20 survivors of the nuclear war carrying on as best they can. They have a new queen (Mrs Ethel Shroake of 393A High Street, Leytonstone) and have managed to re-establish some semblance of British society. Admittedly young Penelope is 17 months pregnant and Lord Fortnum is turning into a bed sitting room, but the British way of life continues. Fundamental standards such as “stiff upper lip”, “know your place” and, above all, “preserve the status quo” are being rigorously upheld as life in the wreckage goes on.

This absurdist triumph began life as a play by Spike Milligan and John Antrobus and was brought to life on the screen by Richard Lester, the director who defined swinging 60’s London. It is a surreal, brilliant, fragmented, poetic, bizarre gumbo that combines the history of British comedy with the grand traditions of English Theatre. The cast includes everyone from ex goons, Spike Milligan and Harry Secombe, to the brilliant comedy upstarts of the era, Peter Cooke and Dudley Moore. Add to that the grand duke of the UK stage, Ralph Richardson, and you have a cast every bit as broad and bizarre as the movie itself.