The Two Ronnies

The Two Ronnies was a British sketch show that aired on BBC One from 1971 to 1987. It featured the double act Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett, the "two Ronnies" of the title.

Origins

The pairing had originally worked as a threesome with John Cleese on The Frost Report (see David Frost), and were subsequently given their own show by the BBC, while John Cleese went on to Monty Python's Flying Circus. The programme quickly became one of the most successful and long running television comedy shows ever on British television, averaging around 17 million viewers a show.

Format

The show was based on the complementary personalities of Barker and Corbett, who never became a formal pairing, but continued to work independently in television outside of the seven, one-hour-long editions of the Two Ronnies produced annually between 1971 and 1987. It had many notable writers including Ray Alan, John Cleese, Barry Cryer, Spike Milligan, David Nobbs, David Renwick and Michael Palin. The show revolved around comic sketches in which Barker and Corbett appeared together and separately, with various other additions giving the programme the feeling of a variety show.

The sketches often revolved around complex word-play, much of it written by Barker under the pseudonym Gerald Wiley. Barker also liked to parody officialdom and establishment figures, as well as eccentrics. Corbett appeared quieter, more often acting as a foil for Barker, but remained an important part of the "chemistry". One of the most popular was "Four Candles" (a sketch written by Barker under the "Gerald Wiley" pseudonym) where Barker walks into a DIY shop and asks for "four candles" and Corbett gives him the candles. What Barker wanted, however, was "fork handles - handles for forks". Other popular sketches include a parody of Mastermind with Barker as Magnus Magnusson and Corbett as a contestant named Charlie Smithers, whose specialist subject was "answering the question before last" and the famous optician sketch "No, No, You're reading all the furniture".

Corbett always had a solo monologue in each show, where he sat in a chair, facing camera, attempting to tell a simple joke, but constantly distracting himself onto other humorous incidents. The joke itself was normally deliberately corny; the humour came from Corbett's wild tangents, as well as the anticlimax when he finally reached the punchline. It soon became a tradition of the shows to have a continuing "serial" story which progressed through the main six episodes of a season. These were often fairly bawdy tales with special guest-stars, occasionally featuring the comic detective characters "Piggy Malone", (Barker), and "Charley Farley", (Corbett). Probably the best-remembered of these serials, however; The Phantom Raspberry Blower of Old London Town, written by Spike Milligan "and a Gentleman", did not feature either Farley or Malone. Another memorable serial was The Worm That Turned, where women ruled England, and men are housekeepers and wear women's clothes.

The Two Ronnies also starred in two one-off silent films, By the Sea and The Picnic, written by Barker under a pseudonym. Other regular features of the shows included an elaborate musical segment in which Barker, Corbett, (often in drag) and company would sing a medley of songs in character, perhaps in barbershop, music hall, or other styles, with the original words altered to suit whatever comic situation they were portraying

The show always opened and closed at the newsdesk, which featured the two as po-faced newsreaders, reading spoof news items. This gave rise to the famous catchphrase at the end of each show:

Corbett: That's the end of the News. Now it's "Goodnight" from me.

Barker: And it's "Goodnight" from him.

Both: Goodnight.

Following the departure of Morecambe and Wise from the BBC in 1978, The Two Ronnies became the BBC's flagship comedy programme, regularly gaining the top viewing figures for the critical Christmas Day audience battle. A memorable Radio Times cover for the double Christmas issue in 1973 had both double acts appearing side by side.

The pairing made no new shows after Christmas 1987, following Barker's sudden decision to retire from showbusiness.

Revival

During the 1990s, a number of compilation shows entitled The Best of the Two Ronnies were made and in 2004 Barker announced that he and Corbett would return to make new episodes of 'The Two Ronnies', entitled The Two Ronnies Sketchbook. This involved the two sitting at the newsdesk, introducing some of their classic sketches. A Christmas Special was recorded in July 2005, due to Barker's failing health.

Whilst the Sketchbook series was transmitted, The Two Ronnies were also the subject of an episode of the BBC documentary Comedy Connections. Ronnie Corbett; producers James Gilbert, Terry Hughes and Michael Hurll; and writers Ian Davidson, Peter Vincent, David Renwick and Barry Cryer all spoke about the making of the series. Ronnie Barker did not appear, but excerpts from an interview he gave in 1997 were included.

On Ronnie Barker's death on October 3, 2005 Ronnie Corbett is reported to have said that throughout their many years of association there was never an angry word between them. Ronnie Barker's last public appearance, The Two Ronnies Christmas Sketchbook, was broadcast on Christmas Day 2005.

External links

Celebrity duos | Comedy duos | BBC television programmes | British comedians | British television sketch shows

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Origins

Format

Revival

External links