Brian Cooke (born 1937, Liverpool) is a British comedy writer who, along with co-writer Johnnie Mortimer wrote scripts for and devised many of the top TV sitcoms of the 1970s. Man About The House, George and Mildred and Robin's Nest. All three of which were remade for American television as Three's Company, The Ropers and Three's A Crowd. Cooke also wrote and created the 1980s TV sitcom Keep it in the Family, starring Robert Gillespie and the 1960s sitcom Father Dear Father starring Patrick Cargill.
Starting off as a cartoonist during his term of National Service, he soon began to sell strips to magazines and newspapers. He met Johnnie Mortimer at a cartoonists convention.
They also wrote the screenplays for No Sex Please, We're British, and the movie versions of Man About The House and George and Mildred.
Earlier is his career Cooke was a writer for the last series of the 1960s hit radio series Round The Horne, and its short running successor Stop Messing About. He had much success in 2003-5 when he revived the format for a theatre tribute show called Round The Horne ... Revisited, which ran in the West End for 15 months and spawned three national tours. In 2004 it was made into a television film, with the original London cast, by BBC Four. Stop Messing About was also turned into a stage play in 2009.