"It goes back to when I was 13 and reading the books at home," says Tim, who is co-adaptor and director for Spike Milligan's Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall which tours to Chichester Festival Theatre from October 21-24.

"Really it was all that I knew of Spike Milligan back then.

I was not particularly a Goons aficionado because I was too young for that.

"But what I really knew was his Q series on TV. We all used
to watch it and then at school we'd all be saying 'Did you see it?' 'Yes!' 'Did you understand any of it?' 'No, but it was really funny!'

"But it was the books that got me into him really. And when I went back to them again in my 30s, it was for exactly the same reason.

"I loved his extraordinary failure to take anything seriously.

"In fact, it was a refusal to take anything seriously. Over the years, it seemed to me to become more and more heroic.

"We all knew about World War II and the only thing we knew was that it was a terrible thing and a terribly dark time. But here was Spike having by and large a great time. As time goes by, it takes a darker turn and eventually he gets shell shock and is invalided out of it. But all the way through the war he insists on laughing and trying to make sure he and his mates have a great time."

Tim's way into the piece was through the jazz Spike so loved: "He was always talking about jazz, all the time, wherever they were. He was always looking for opportunities to play his trumpet and get a band together to play a gig.

"The idea came of framing the piece as a concert in which the story is told through the tunes in the concert."

The next process was the sad one of deciding which sections of the six volumes of war memoirs had to be jettisoned in order to come up with just the one evening's entertainment. In reality, the night is just the first four volumes, but inevitably an awful lot had to be left out.

But all the signs are that he and co-adaptor Ben Power got it right. And they are delighted it is now coming to Chichester after opening in Bristol. The piece is a collaboration between the two venues.

"Greg Ripley-Duggan, our producer, has a long history of mounting projects with Jonathan Church (at the CFT). Greg went to Jonathan and in return for their investment, the CFT would get first look at it. But it turned out that they didn't have a slot for it in Chichester. They said we could wait for a year or do it somewhere else. But we wanted to get on with it. But we are pleased that it is now touring to Chichester."

Tickets on 01243 781312.


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