I was reminiscing on The Barstool the other day about… a favourite BBC Radio 4 comedy show of my youth called The Burkiss Way. (See also the Wikipedia article.)
One episode - Avoid Like The Plague The Burkiss Way - featured a recurring skit sequence in which a leading character was being stalked by a ghoulish figure. At the end of the show, the poor chap was finally cornered by the pursuing phantom in some underground vault - lots of dripping water and hollow echoes on the sound effects.
The sinister figure taunted him in an ominous, booming voice, "You know WHO I AM, don't you?"
"Er... Death?" snivelled the terrified fellow.
"No. Death couldn't make it. He's playing in goal for Chelsea. I'm his friend, Sniffly Nose. Your hour of SLIGHT NASAL CONGESTION is nigh!"
I believe this sketch was written by Douglas Adams.
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I also read somewhere (I thought on Wikipedia, but apparently not - unless it was recently revised!), that Terry Pratchett stole the gag for one of his Discworld books - but made Death's apprentice Scrofula, or something.
I'm uncertain now as to where I came upon that attribution to Douglas Adams as well.
He wrote a small number of sketches for some of the very early episodes of the show, but Avoid Like The Plague... was near the end of the run (the final series, I think), and Douglas was busy with The Hitch-Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy by then.
Douglas was a fine man. Both amazing and great, a tribute to another excellent but more recent Radio 4 sitcom (which you won't know a thing about of course!) Fags, Mags & Bags if you're interested; genius work set in a corner shop.
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