Though I was both happy and lucky to be a part of it, Pickwick was not my idea. It all began when Harry Secombe, who was to create and play the role of Pickwick so superbly, met Wolfe Mankowitz, who was to write the witty stage adaptation of Dickens' first novel, in Barbados in the winter of 1961-62. The remarkable thing about Harry - a distinction he shared with Victor Borge and Harpo and Chico Marx, which is not bad company to be in - was that he combined inspired yet gentle lunatic humor with exceptional musicianship. These two qualities, which had worked for him separately with a high degree of success up until that time, came brilliantly together in Pickwick.