BBC Books commissioned me to “rescue” Barrymore’s autobiography, which he’d been struggling to complete in the aftermath of Stuart Lubbock’s death. Michael is a great raconteur, but not the most organised writer in the world, and it rapidly became clear that this was more than just an editing job. We spent a good deal of time together developing material through interviews, and brought the book to a stage where it was more or less ready for publication. Then, during the scandal surrounding the inquest, the book was dropped.