New comedy by Shropshire playwright gets rave reviews after West End opening

It has come to London's Noel Coward Theatre after a sell-out run at Edinburgh Fringe Festival and will later be going on a nationwide tour.

It is the latest venture for multi-talented Hendy who hails from Dawley and successfully moved from children's television into adult television, himself having the last laugh on a producer who told him at the start of his career "with your accent you will never work in television as a presenter."

His big break came hosting an ITV show called The Disney Club and led to high profile TV work, including the long-running ITV quiz Wheel of Fortune.

His passion for theatre and pantos saw him create a pantomime production company with wife Emily, and writing credits include an acclaimed novel called The Diary of a C-List Celeb which struck a chord with its depiction of the central character in the lower reaches of the celebrity culture.

The Last Laugh began as a short film which won several awards. On stage, Bob Golding plays Morecambe, Damian Williams plays Tommy Cooper, and Simon Cartwright is Bob Monkhouse.

The Daily Mail's verdict on Hendy's "hugely affectionate" play is that it is "comedy heaven."

And the Daily Telegraph's review said: “Paul Hendy’s fond homage to Tommy Cooper, Eric Morecambe and Bob Monkhouse doesn’t dig deep, but it still cuts below the comic surface,” while Theatre Weekly said: "The performances are nothing short of extraordinary... Together, they create an electric dynamic that feels both authentic and magical.”

For The Stage it is a "gently amusing, sentimental tribute to three British comedy greats.”

However The Standard is less impressed, describing it as a "ropey nostalgia-fest."

Paul, who is 58, lives now in Kent but was born at Brunel Road in Dawley and attended Dawley's Phoenix School from 1977 to 1982.