Researched and written by Russell Davies, and presented by Denis Norden, this BBC Radio 2 documentary tells the life story of Spike Milligan.

In doing so it makes extensive use of archive radio and television material, as well as Spike's music, books, poems, war memoirs and writings for children. It also gives the listener a fascinating insight into letters written both to and from Spike, many of them taken from the BBC's written archives and never before seen or heard by a wide audience.

Readings by Jon Glover and Sally Grace are interspersed with extracts from interviews (including Spike's appearance on Desert Island Discs), sketches and, above all, a funny and moving picture of the private man behind the public image.