Peter Cook played James Last to perfection

James Last and orchestra. Peter Cook was mistaken for him in London’s Regent Street

While waiting in Regent Street to shoot a sequence of Peter Cook as James Last (James Last: A funny kind of joy, 12 June) in a short film that I co-wrote, we were standing next to a tour coach with “The James Last Orchestra” in giant letters. Two middle-aged ladies mistook him for the real bandleader and asked for his autograph. Peter greeted them with “Hello, I love my Britischer Fanz!” and signed as James Last. They then asked him where his tour was going and Peter, in an almost Hitlerian rant, told them he intended to conquer Europe. First would be Czechoslovakia and then Poland and eventually England. The two ladies were impressed and went happily on their way.
Bernard McKenna
Winchester