Editing Peter Cook (section)

===1980s===
Cook starred in the [[London Weekend Television|LWT]] special ''Peter Cook & Co.'' in 1980. The show included comedy sketches, including a ''[[Tales of the Unexpected (TV series)|Tales of the Unexpected]]'' parody "Tales of the Much As We Expected". This involved Cook as [[Roald Dahl]], explaining his name had been Ronald before he dropped the "n". The cast included Cleese, [[Rowan Atkinson]], [[Beryl Reid]], [[Paula Wilcox]], and [[Terry Jones]]. Partly spurred by Moore's growing film star status, Cook moved to Hollywood in that year, and appeared as an uptight English butler to a wealthy American woman in a short-lived United States television sitcom, ''[[The Two of Us (1981 TV series)|The Two of Us]]'', also making cameo appearances in a couple of undistinguished films.

In 1983, Cook played the role of [[Richard III of England|Richard III]] in the first episode of ''[[The Black Adder|Blackadder]]'', "[[The Foretelling]]", which parodies [[Laurence Olivier]]'s portrayal. In 1984, he played the role of Nigel, the mathematics teacher, in [[Jeannot Szwarc]]'s film ''[[Supergirl (1984 film)|Supergirl]]'', working alongside the evil Selena played by [[Faye Dunaway]]. He then narrated the short film ''Diplomatix'' by Norwegian comedy trio [[Trond Kirkvaag|Kirkvaag]], [[Knut Lystad|Lystad]], and [[Lars Mjøen|Mjøen]], which won the "Special Prize of the City of Montreux" at the Montreux Comedy Festival in 1985. In 1986, he partnered [[Joan Rivers]] on her UK talk show. He appeared as Mr Jolly in 1987 in ''[[The Comic Strip|The Comic Strip Presents...]]'' episode "[[Mr. Jolly Lives Next Door]]", playing an assassin who covers the sound of his murders by playing [[Tom Jones (singer)|Tom Jones]] records. 

That same year, Cook appeared in ''[[The Princess Bride (film)|The Princess Bride]]'' as the "Impressive Clergyman" who officiates at the wedding ceremony between Buttercup and Prince Humperdinck. Also that year, he spent time working with humourist [[Martin Lewis (humorist)|Martin Lewis]] on a political satire about the [[1988 United States presidential election|1988 US presidential elections]] for [[HBO]], but the script went unproduced. Lewis suggested that Cook team with Moore for the US Comic Relief [[telethon]] for the homeless. The duo reunited and performed their "One Leg Too Few" sketch. Cook again collaborated with Moore for the 1989 [[Amnesty International]] benefit show, ''The Secret Policeman's Biggest Ball''.

A 1984 commercial for [[John Harvey & Sons]] showed Cook at a poolside party drinking Harvey's Bristol Cream [[sherry]]. He then says to "throw away those silly little glasses" whereupon the other party guests toss their [[sunglasses]] in the swimming pool.<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211205/hrBaExAtwgw Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20200507223626/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrBaExAtwgw&gl=US&hl=en Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrBaExAtwgw| title = Peter Cook 1984 Harvey's Bristol Cream Commercial | website=[[YouTube]]| date = 26 March 2014 }}{{cbignore}}</ref>

In 1988, Cook appeared as a contestant on the [[improvisational theatre|improvisation comedy]] show ''[[Whose Line Is It Anyway? (British TV series)|Whose Line Is It Anyway?]]'' He was declared the winner, his prize being to read the credits in the style of a New York [[taxicab|cab]] driver – a character he had portrayed in ''Peter Cook & Co.''

Cook occasionally called in to [[Clive Bull]]'s night-time [[phone-in]] [[radio show]] on [[LBC]] in London. Using the name "Sven from Swiss Cottage", he mused on love, loneliness, and herrings in a mock Norwegian accent. Jokes included Sven's attempts to find his estranged wife, in which he often claimed to be telephoning the show from all over the world, and his dislike of his fellow Norwegians' obsession with fish. While Bull was clearly aware that Sven was fictional and was happy to play along with the joke, he did not learn of the caller's real identity until later.