A Comedy On This Day: The Squirrels - The Cover Up (27 January 1977)

 Here's a novelty - a sitcom script by Alan Hackney, creator and co-author of I'm All Right Jack (and author of the original novel of Private's Progress). You can see a few of his distinctive individual touches from time to time in this episode, I think, in the details of the endless freebies and perks promised at the Highland conference and the scam selling off damaged matting. But most of all in this week's original character - a guest turn for Benjamin Whitrow as Northwood-Black, a smooth asset-stripper from the company board. He's an insanely assured person, darkly rhapsodising about the brutality of nature and the violence of cacti, who works well as both archetypal Machiavellian management figure and distinctive character in his own right.
 

 Alan David was sat a few seats away from me when I saw The Birthday Party in the Pinter Theatre last year. He was with his daughter, I imagine. Once I'd worked out who he was, I did toy with the idea of telling him, "I enjoyed your performance in The Squirrels" - something he's unlikely to have heard for 40 years - but he left before me. Top that, celebrity spotters!