Full casting has been announced for SPIKE – the comedy by Ian Hislop and Nick Newman that had its world premiere at The Watermill Theatre Newbury in January and will be playing Cardiff’s New Theatre as part of an autumn UK tour in November.
Bridgerton and Gavin & Stacey star Robert Wilfort will take over the role of ‘Spike Milligan’, while Patrick Warner who played ‘Peter Cook’ in The Crown will also join the production to play ‘Peter Sellers’, and Jeremy Lloyd who featured in The Comedy About a Bank Robbery will return to his critically acclaimed role as ‘Harry Secombe’
TV comedienne and podcaster Margaret Cabourn-Smith will reprise her role as ‘Janet’, as will James Mack as ‘Denis Main-Wilson / Peter Eton’, Ellie Morris as ‘June’, and Robert as ‘BBC Executive’. Peter Dukes will join the company as ‘BBC Announcer’, as will Tesni Kujore as ‘Myra’, and Sam Ducane as ‘Doctor’.
The cast of Spike coming to the New Theatre, Cardiff in November 2022. Photo by Ryan Howard 
Patrick Warner as ‘Peter Sellers’ Robert Wilfort as ‘Spike Milligan’ Jeremy Lloyd as ‘Harry Secombe’ in Spike coming to the New Theatre, Cardiff in November 2022. Photo by Ryan Howard 
Robert Wilfort as ‘Spike Milligan’ in Spike coming to the New Theatre, Cardiff in November 2022. Photo by Ryan Howard 
Patrick Warner as ‘Peter Sellers’ Robert Wilfort as ‘Spike Milligan’ Jeremy Lloyd as ‘Harry Secombe’ in Spike coming to the New Theatre, Cardiff in November 2022. Photo by Ryan Howard
SPIKE will be directed by Watermill Artistic Director Paul Hart, with design by Katie Lias, lighting design by Rory Beaton. The Composer is Tayo Akinbode with sound design by Tom Marshall. Anjali Mehra is Movement Director and Ruth Sullivan is the Foley Sound Consultant.
It’s 1950s austerity Britain, and out of the gloom comes Goon mania as men, women and children across the country scramble to get their ear to a wireless for another instalment of The Goon Show. While Harry Secombe and Peter Sellers get down to the serious business of becoming overnight celebrities, fellow Goon and chief writer Spike finds himself pushing the boundaries of comedy and testing the patience of the BBC.
Flanked by his fellow Goons and bolstered by the efforts of irrepressible sound assistant Janet, Spike takes a flourishing nosedive off the cliffs of respectability and mashes up his haunted past to create the comedy of the future. His war with Hitler may be over, but his war with Auntie Beeb (and ultimately himself) has just begun.
Will Spike’s dogged obsession with finding the funny elevate The Goons to soaring new heights, or will the whole thing come crashing down with the stroke of a potato peeler?
The Watermill production of Spike is produced by Karl Sydow, Trademark Films, PW Productions and Anthology Theatre.
- Spike plays Cardiff’s New Theatre from Tuesday – Saturday 22-26 November. For ticket availability visit the New Theatre’s website.