The Strange Death of the Establishment

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In October 1961 Peter Cook opened The Establishment, a nightclub and cabaret venue in Soho.

As he later explained, it was inspired by "those wonderful Berlin cabarets ... which did so much to stop the rise of Hitler and prevent the outbreak of the Second World War".

There is currently a radio documentary on the BBC iPlayer that tells the story of the club, explaining how university satirists were no match for the gangsters who ran Soho in those days.

It was made in 2004 by Harry Thompson, comedy producer and author, who was to die the following year.