"I am the dead one" Andrew Scott reads Spike Milligan letter to his elusive friend, George Harrison

LETTERS LIVE: letterslive.com/
Letter taken from More Letters Of Note, compiled by Shaun Usher (Canongate)
www.canongate.tv/more-letters-...
Andrew Scott reads a letter from a frustrated Spike Milligan trying to get hold of George Harrison.
The Beatles were huge fans of The Goon Show, the legendary comedy programme created by and starring Spike Milligan, Harry Secombe and Peter Sellers, and guitarist George Harrison struck up a friendship with Milligan that lasted for many years. However, much to Spike’s annoyance, George was impossible to get hold of by telephone; so much so that in December of 1983, he instead wrote a letter.
Andrew Scott is an Irish film, television, and stage actor. He received the 2005 Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre for A Girl in a Car with a Man, and an IFTA award for the film Dead Bodies. Scott's notable television roles have included Paul McCartney in the BBC television drama Lennon Naked and arch-villain Jim Moriarty in Sherlock, for which he was awarded the 2012 British Academy Television Award for Best Supporting Actor.
LETTERS LIVE is a series of live events celebrating the power of literary correspondence. Inspired by Shaun Usher's Letters of Note, Letters Live is an initiative by publishing company Canongate and Benedict Cumberbatch’s production company SunnyMarch. It has become a phenomenon wherever is has played in the UK.
The idea of LETTERS LIVE is simple: we ask talented, inspiring and high-profile artists from various disciplines to read letters out loud to our audiences. LETTERS LIVE celebrates letter writing and the art of correspondence first and foremost.
For more videos, please visit our website letterslive.com/

[@OriginalRAB]

What a uniquely cutting, beautiful way to say "I've missed you, but you waited too long"

[@noeraldinkabam]

“Oh, and you are, contrary to popular believe, an arshole.”

[@Ginea25]

It's beautiful and cutting, indeed. But Milligan died, roughly 19 years later, so perhaps not late yet.

[@TheRealist2022]

@@Ginea25 I wonder if Harrison repaired that loss.

[@Tenorgeiger]

And then he had “I told them I was ill” carved on his gravestone. Brilliant!

[@yesemitesam333]

And was it not also Spike who said, "I'm not afraid of dying I just don't want to be there when it happens."?

[@taylorrmoriarty]

I think it's so crazy how Andrew is during interviews compared to how he acts on television, or even just in this interview. He's honestly very amazing at what he does.

[@natix_7]

Taylor Moriarty

[@DeadNerve47]

Are you wife of James Moriarty?

[@tispumpkinhead374]

Taylor Moriarty hello again

[@happinessiskey6879]

Taylor Moriarty Yeah, he's like a different person. That shows what a great great actor he is

[@Zappa943]

Prick.

[@sheikyerbouti83]

Spike was such a cutting and hilarious bastard. Brilliant

[@thebluemorphine]

i could listen to him speak for hours and never get tired. that darn accent 😍

[@romeo9017]

Agreed....

[@seth1455]

I can't hear that voice and not think of Moriarty

[@Pygar2]

@@seth1455 Gryttpype-Thynne?

[@johndowney8575]

@David Johnson i feel you shouldnt use the word paddy you dinosaur!

[@nukefluke]

@@johndowney8575 jealously and a deluded sense of superiority.

[@aleniey]

"I am the dead one" how very fitting.

[@deathwitheponine]

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah no. not anymore :D

[@aleniey]

fuck outta here bruh 😭

[@Hallofang]

Alen Matibag To soon and oh so not true~ ;3

[@aleniey]

lmao yall. saw s4? he really is dead hahahahahah

[@mayorofsimpleton5674]

Alen Matibag SINNER

[@jadijadi899]

This is so hillariously read with Andrew's 'fuckin tired of yo shit' expression that probably came from Spike's annoyance of George 😂😂

[@rottierumbles9451]

For those of you who've never read one of Spike Milligan's books I urge you to do so , theyre funny, sad and incredibly entertaining, my Dad was the one that gave me the books to read and for that I am truly grateful , Spike was far more talented than people gave him credit for, he was an amazing man, please read them if you get a chance, the ones about him serving in the military really got to me.

[@tanberetO]

Where should one start? What's a good recommendation?

[@Sally4th_]

@@tanberetO "Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall" is the story of his drafting into the army at the start of WW2. Very funny in places. Darkly thought provoking in others.

[@zefanyapardede2867]

That letter was something.

[@thevisionaries9128]

Never put the punchline in the title.

[@andrewfairbrother259]

A-men to that! Very annoying actually. “Chicken gets to the other side of the road ... but why did he cross?”

[@raerae6422]

Ya, spoiler alert

[@adrianjohn1820]

The perfect title would be: No flowers please, just money.

[@paulhammons7077]

If that's a punch line, then this is a joke 😃 😊

[@mykehog6646]

i believe spike also has.."i told you i was sick" on his tombstone..missya gunner milligan

[@pete3953]

Close. It says "I told you I was ill". It's in an English village and the local church diocese wouldn't allow it. So as a compromise it's written in Irish.

[@Mortthemoose]

@@pete3953 the church wouldn't allow it!! Wow! I didn't know that!

[@Revup1]

I miss him too, (Spike that is, not Andrew) I console myself by reading his books....a ridiculously brilliant man whose time in service profoundly affected him. Andrew Scott's not bad either!

[@neillharte]

Bruaithe can mean sick or ill, Duirt me go raibh me bruaithe. 🤒

[@miketaverner4451]

I'm walking backwards across the Irish Sea, for Christmas. I told you I wasn't well 👍👍👍👍 I love this man. R I P Mr Milligan you made me laugh and still do

[@karyth09]

"Love, light and peace" - It's so good

[@MedievalFolkDance]

Spike wrote many letters in his life. Arguably, the most linguistically asurbic were the ones he penned when he knew it would be the last he sent to that person. A lot of feeling and gratitude, laced with very personal (sugar coated) venom. "If the celeb won't come to Spike, they will certainly come to the funeral after this"

[@rosemoriarty7324]

His voice 😍

[@archismandas7760]

Everything said by Andrew Scott is awesome

[@Synxtress]

Utterly brilliant!

[@celiasymes]

what can't Andrew do? he's so talented! i look up to him.

[@Zappa943]

This is about Spike arsehole.

[@rivolinho]

Imagine getting a letter / email from an old friend you lost contact with and at the end you realize it's a death notice and your invited to the funeral. He knew how to cut ppls legs out from under them did Spike

[@simonowpeel]

That's not what this is.....Spike died 30 years later

[@rivolinho]

@@simonowpeel ah I see, 1983.

[@thediminutiveword]

R.I.P. Spike and George. Thankyou for the beautiful, creative lights you have brought and will forever bring into my life.

[@ishy2step]

If you haven't yet, read Spike's war memoire's. So funny and full of pathos.

[@DavidOfWhitehills]

"When the postman delivered a cunningly worded invitation to partake in WW2, I bravely hid under my bed."

[@notlikely4468]

When Britannia rules the waves Britannia can waive the rules

[@jodders619]

One of the funniest and most poignant things I have ever read!

[@FMVMG2011]

Gosh, I can't stop watching this, brilliant

[@jomac841]

Damn. This guy gives me the chills. He's brilliant!

[@thebutton7932]

Spike said his headstone could read "I told you I was sick"

[@user-uy6uc5ey5q]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/pHfYfaWZeJiBa9E -

[@elvisleeboy]

No one is talking about the content of the letter, only about its reader. As beautifully as it is done and worthy of mention as it is, that is rather pathetic, considering the significance of the person who wrote the letter and its recipient.

[@MINIMOTOMADNESS]

the story of spike in peter sellers rolls royce boot in london,always cracks me up,

[@letsdothis9870]

Amazing. Purely amazing.

[@evelynbaron2004]

Love the messy comments below Spike would have loved them all. The goon show was for me a harbinger of things to come was not disappointed.. cheers to all. i love the letter series; absolutely brilliant at this time.

[@dr.octopussy8240]

His accent it’s just brilliant.

[@Zappa943]

Go away

[@chrissiem3958]

I love how he read it like he wrote it 😂

[@2blutigers749]

the reading was perfect in sarcasm, depth of expression, ...truly ingenious

[@harryhlloyd]

What a wonderful miniature performance.

[@jimallen9442]

I told you I was ill.

[@jonnysupreme]

Love how Spike called prince Charles a "grovelling bastard" on live national TV. Marvellous

[@pri3762]

The background reminded me of the British Men of Letters bunker lol

[@ammarabraham]

I got that reference

[@Shadywolf09]

Love it. I have many of his readings on my ipod.

[@Shadywolf09]

***** By the way, I fav'd one of your videos. You're a great video maker.

[@lenaleclezio646]

Haha I see you on every videos of Andrew x)

[@georgemanka]

Lovely! So Spike.

[@amina-oe6xs]

I LOVE THIS MAN

[@daniadejonghe4980]

Brilliant

[@WhitneyHaverstock]

Hahaha. I like this fella, and the fella what wrote that letter he's reading. I feel a kinship. Borne from a love of snark, and my own hubris.

[@Dawghome]

When sarcasm just says it all!

[@laranim]

😂🤣Andrew Scott ..Spike was such a funny guy

[@martinclark8162]

Good to see you back dude, we 'missed you'.

[@Shia92]

Isn't he lovely?

[@robertwilson7532]

Moving. Poignent. I'm glad I heard it.

[@justme.9711]

Letters, love or otherwise, for so long apart of history, all but gone now. Who keeps txts, love or otherwise.

[@thickthickitythickface]

Pls give this man more to read.

[@landline516]

I don't think George Harrison would carry a mobile phone if he were alive today. Solitude.

[@neilpemberton5523]

Hell no! 😄 He dissed mobile phones on the very last song on his very last Album! 😁 "Brainwashed by computers Brainwashed by mobile phones Brainwashed by the satellites Brainwashed to the bone"

[@corvuscorone7735]

Wow. That was... intense.

[@makenzieporter200]

Does Andrew not look like he is dying because of the way he reads 😂

[@mariafomina1773]

More Andrew please

[@solarnaut]

Ask not for whom the letter speaks . . . . . . It speaks for thee ! B-)

[@dismith73]

What are we going to do now? What are we going to do now? What are we going to do now? What are we going to do now? What are we going to do now?

[@RobSchofield]

Aahhhhh - Spike :)

[@bryansmith1920]

If I can stop laughing enough to type this I was lucky enough to grow up with his influence om my Funny bone God rest you mate but don't piss off Peter at the Gate

[@WhitneyHaverstock]

God has a sense of humor. I can all but promise. For God's sake, look at the Giraffe.

[@besoffenindereckeliegen4917]

I can't... I just can't breath!!!

[@WhitneyHaverstock]

Whoa. Calm down there, 3 years ago, sport. You pull through? It was pretty funny.

[@daniellekiey-thomas1327]

breathe = verb, breath = noun

[@WhitneyHaverstock]

@@daniellekiey-thomas1327 aww, c'mon. This person doesn't schprecken ze our language. "I can't breath." is adorable. Funny turn around with the Grammar Nazi stuff though.. So, well played! Intentional or not, that's fun. That, is, fun. 🥳

[@JohnKing73]

Thats nuts

[@icenseteam9733]

Today is 6th of Dec 2020.

[@joyooneek8069]

I had no idea he was Irish. Wow

[@DRMEEKS]

Addictive

[@lenaschutte7771]

It's so ridiulous that andrew scott reads the letter ,,I am the dead one´´

[@michalposen2433]

Golders Green crematorium ...that's about 5 minutes from where I live!:)

[@bartonseagrave9605]

Its only 6 foot above me.

[@deborahduthie4519]

I wonder if George ever got back to him? Too late now🙁

[@8stringedbandit]

This is the most compelling thing I've ever seen

[@WhitneyHaverstock]

Hahahaha. Awesome.

[@vintagesoup79]

Spike outlived George.

[@finolaomurchu8217]

So he did. Mmmm🤣☘

[@frankmachin5438]

Too serious - Spike still would’ve had a twinkle in his eye...

[@neilpiper9889]

I have a friend like this who never rings me. R. Sole Instead of Gideon bible, all hotels should have a copy of Spike's best book Puckoon. Hilarious.

[@NeerajKumar-sy2cq]

I'M THE DEAD ONE

[@camille.8285]

HE SAID "NO FLOWERS PLEASE". OH GOD. THATS WHAT MYCROFT SAYS WHEN HE IMPLORES SHERLOCK TO SHOOT HIM INSTEAD OF JOHN AND IM DEPRESSEDAHVDJFEIOBSAVKSAFKKHNLYECL

[@vrat1978]

Billie Jena OH MY GOD ITS ALL CONNECTED I KNEW IT YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

[@bopman1578]

i really want to know if you're a changed person 4 years later for your sake I hope so

[@user-li2fy4hu7p]

cringe xd rawr

[@user-li2fy4hu7p]

@@bopman1578 seriously. but unfortunately i think they might have won the game when that soap eating challenge thing happened....

[@camille.8285]

@@bopman1578 I thank you sincerely for your concern - I went on to become a matured Law undergrad that shivers at the mere thought of the days I was this way, but I also must regret to inform you all that my passion for Sherlock still burns deep lmao.

[@rory.w8258]

Aww , Andrew ♥♥ U O Me My Heart , My Mind And My Soul ♥‿♥

[@Rose.Of.Hizaki]

Very hard to believe that this guy was Doc Eugene Roe in Band Of Brothers.

[@gardeninglite405]

imagine that Moriarity sent me a letter

[@whereverover]

can anyone please explain the 'two buttons on irishman's coat' joke? and what does 'if you're rich you have two buttons' mean?

[@paultaylor4647]

Isn't that where Peter Sellers funeral was held?

[@vintagesoup79]

Yes.

[@chriswilson2431]

I was lucky enough to be sat next to Andrew Scott in the Donmar theatre on earlham street, London. He smelt delicious. I wish I knew what aftershave he was wearing and that I was brave enough to ask him! Alas, I sat quietly and smiled as he took his seat next me in awe of the talent I was positioned next to. What a lovely lovely gentleman and terrific actor.

[@Aloizza]

Loved your comment, but also - so jealous! To be able to smell Andrew...I would probably have a heart attack if I was sat next to him.

[@chriswilson2431]

@@Aloizza honestly, he smelt Devine. I couldn’t begin to describe it but wow. He was with a friend who I assume to be an actor too but I didn’t recognise him. Peace and love friend!

[@fuccasound3897]

Did George get in touch with Spike?

[@PhillyNonSequitur]

I want Andrew to read me bedtime stories. 😍

[@WhitneyHaverstock]

Yes! And Terry Crews to wake me up by dumping a box of puppies on my chest! It's all falling into place...🤔

[@corvuscorone7735]

You do know that he read the Beatrix Potter stories for audible? I have been listening to Andrew Scott reading those while falling asleep to them for a week now ;) Nothing more soothing and relaxing!

[@popvinnik]

He sounds a bit like George Plimpton to me.

[@quillber]

Did he write this with the request that it be sent to George when he died ?

[@ezraaylmer7091]

think the implication is that by the time George replies to him, he will be dead

[@CliveNDerek]

Spike Milligan did not die until nearly 20 years later, in 2002. SO. One cannot help but wonder a number of things. Whether it was posted as a macabre joke (Milligan was of course a well-known comedian) or what? And did SM make a copy of his own letter, or is that a facsimile of George's copy?

[@armacham]

I don't think Spike was saying "I'm going to die soon because you won't be nice to me." I think he was saying: "if keep avoiding me, eventually I'm going to die, and maybe only then will you realize that you squandered the opportunity for friendship"

[@oldskooljules]

@@armacham Yeah.. it felt very much like he was saying 'Please don't let the next time you see me be my funeral.'

[@michaelyagodmorris]

particularly pointed because George actually died 3 months before Spike.

[@Bobber256]

They probably should have quit while they were ahead, with Matt Berry reading Elvis writing to Nixon. The passenger writing to Richard Branson was pretty good, too.

[@WhitneyHaverstock]

Aww. Fuddy duddy. I just discovered these and I LIKE this one damnit. I wasn't spoiled by Matt goddammit Berry... you know, that sounds fuckin awesome.. 😎 I LOVE Matt Berry. ☺. I dunno.. You're still not off the hook. 🤨 Matt Berry does these, you say though.. 😏 mayhaps you are forgiven so soon after your affront after all.. 🤔

[@Bobber256]

@@WhitneyHaverstock Matt Berry does the best one, and it's got a bit too shmatzik and mission-oriented since.

[@WhitneyHaverstock]

@@Bobber256 forgive the profundity but, RASPBERRIES! Sorry, I had to get that out of my system. Dour news, friend. Dour news indeed. Welp, assuredly there's a weath of stuff from the 'before times'. Here to mean, before it got all stupid.

[@CricketEngland]

Typical spike alway jolly up to the last

[@petemarr824]

Just spotted this, such a shame something so private has now been thrown out there for everyone :(

[@itsgallifrey2518]

His accent!!

[@mam_bo6075]

My god he's hot... Why is he so hot in everything he does?

[@MrTwixraider]

but tragically George dies 3 months before Spike.

[@nilanjana3317]

GAHHHHH MORIARTYYYYYY

[@user-pp8ur8il5k]

Isn't he beautifull?

[@georgerodgerson4190]

Both funny and poignant

[@scottnapier943]

Wow, could you make Spike Milligan's Comedic Genius sound any more boring? I think not! Ying Tong!!!!

[@PaleyDaley]

When discussing Spike, everyone needs to see this: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ipyycoieqZh6a9E

[@paulhammons7077]

Huh

[@educatorstrooper7687]

Moriarty

[@leon4695]

If you are the dead one what deal do you make with these people and why? We are of the same creed you have purpose as do I

[@turtledove2095]

He really has a broad forehead

[@vrat1978]

Blanky Name :D

[@marleneg7794]

He looks poorly.

[@elizabethshampo6890]

God he seems so evil in this. Yikes

[@adamgrimsley2900]

I don't like him as an actor.

[@lindakelly7430]

Sorry but I just can't bear his voice. Sounds like a whiny child to me. Hated him as Moriarty.

[@cabronicusmaximuschingonic1062]

Such an overrated actor. If he's not "hamming it up", he's not acting... according to him. Never seen the appeal of Mr. Scott.