31/03/2016 The One Show

Good evening, it's wonderful to be with you once again. The first ever

reunion for school dancers took place tonight at the Albert Hall and

was a huge success with over 3000 people standing in the same corner.

He made us laugh as one half of one of the most famous comedy double

acts of all time, but today brought very sad news with the death

At just five foot tall, he was a giant of British comedy.

Tonight, in a packed show, we'll be paying tribute to the man

who made the nation laugh for over five decades.

And we want to hear from you if you were lucky enough

to have met Ronnie and managed to get a photograph of you both.

Please send it to us, tell us where and when it was,

and we'll show as many as we can later in the show.

Tonight, we'll also be enjoying some of his work and talking to friends

Later we'll be talking to comedy writer David Renwick,

who created some of the Two Ronnies classic sketches.

But first, with us in the studio are two of his earliest

collaborators and lifelong friends, Michael Palin and Barry Cryer.

Hello. Barry, your thoughts today, hearing this news. It is a shock,

not a surprise. We heard he was not well. I was out and about today in

London and I got the phone call from the One Show saying, sorry, didn't

you know? It shatters you. I am coping but they will grow on me as

time goes on. Having said that, I can't think about him without

starting to grin. Michael, what is your favourite memory of Ronnie?

There are an awful lot of brilliant sketches, but I run the him once on

the film fierce creatures, and he was playing a zookeeper who had to

throw fish into the water and sea lions would come out. Working with

animals took a long time. Ronnie was wonderful at keeping everybody

patient. On the 14th take, he was asked to carry a dead ostrich and he

finally flipped. It was wonderful to see him go. He did not shout a lot,

he just quivered and you thought, stay away! Barry, you have been part

of his TV career from the beginning. It must be difficult to choose a

favourite memory. Memory of The Frost Report has just come to me.

There is so much to remember. Ronnie Barker standing at the bottom of a

shoot, a laundry chute in a hotel, and Ronnie Corbett comes down the

chute at high speed and stands up and says good evening and he leaves.

What is going on? It keeps happening. Ronnie Corbett keeps

appearing. He is being thrown out of a room up there and stuffed into the

dumb waiter or something. And it was just his dignity, the nonchalance. I

have just come down and it is very embarrassing but I will just say

good evening and walk out the other side. He was brilliant at that. And

the legendary four candles sketch. Ronnie Barker just gave it to him.

If you watch Ronnie Corbett in that sketch, his reaction is superb. A

consummate professional. It is wonderful to have you here with

these personal memories. Thank you. Tributes have been pouring in with

comedians, politicians and fans sharing their memories. But let's

hear from Ronnie in his own words. Welcome to Ronnie Corbett's world of

comedy. I had gone through school being pretty dull and average at

best at most things. Curiously enough for a little person, I was

never bullied or victimised at all, so perhaps I was a bright spark than

I thought, because I was never unhappy at school. I did not see

myself as being a comic. Most of the actors I chatted to, I would say

would love to be in the theatre. They would say, the shape and size

of you, I would think you are going to be a comedian. David Frost rang

me and said, could I take you out to tea? He took me to tea at the Ritz.

He said, I am going to do a show called The Frost Report, and a chap

called Ronnie Barker has been asked to do it, and I have asked a chap

called Jon pleased to do it, and I am asking you if you would do it. --

John Bickley 's. The Two Ronnies came about through an extension of

doing Frost on Sunday. We were doing at the Palladium.

Due to bad weather, the strike at Heathrow has been diverted to

Manchester. The show would start and end like

that. It is good night from him. There would be a musical item,

sketches, and there would be Ronnie's bit. There would be my bit.

That shape remained the same throughout.

My secret is out. I am glad for all our sakes. Come, sit down, the

weather's fine, we will have some tea and cake.

I did become a better comic actor under Ronnie's influence. I think he

thinks I brought a bit of vaudeville jollity to him.

# Cormier scrubber. #

I had all these vaudeville skills. A bit ahead of Ronnie. Perhaps he did

not feel so nimble on his feet because he had not done song and

dance to the extent that I had. We decided it would be more calming,

direct and personal if I was sitting in a chair actually talking from the

back. If they were particularly tough, I used to say to them, I am

going to do this bit again. If you are not sure when to laugh, I will

touch my glasses like that. We had a bit of trouble with that

furniture. Caught Dutch elm disease. That's not a pretty sight.

We were still a big Saturday night show. But he lost his appetite for

it, so I had a year and a half to think what I might do after that. At

the time I was still doing Sorry, so I still had that in the summer. I

did not want him to think for a minute that I was being left in the

lurch, and I wasn't. Apologies to the two fat ladies from the one fat

man. There is a feeling that maybe I am a little more diminished on my

own van in fact I am. You would not change anything. I could not have

had a more charmed life. Heeded did lead a charmed life and

what a legacy he has left. Barry, you were there for the

what a legacy he has left. Barry, big break. That glimpse was from

don't walk on the grass. He went onto the grass and did but walk. He

danced, did the splits, cartwheels. David Frost was massive at the time.

I had written this show and Ronnie was in it and David Frost invited us

for a drink. We said, my God, David Frost. Ronnie went into the Frost

report and I became a writer, which in those days was a big thing. You

could have been awful but if you are known as a David Frost writer it was

great. No cash! Is it true that you met Ronnie Corbett and your wife on

the same day? Yes, and I tossed a coin and married her. Could you tell

from the moment that The Two Ronnies met that there was alchemy and magic

between them instantly? There was a moment in front of the camera which

Michael Palin will tell you about, where they were in a police station.

Was a quickie, really. One of them said, hello, superb, and the other

said hello, wonderful. You can watch that clip. Morning, super. Morning,

wonderful. So short and simple. One of your

favourites, right. Credit to the author. It was Terry and whilst

Kington. They perfectly understood comedy. I never saw them forget a

line, or fluff it. They knew how to play it seriously to get laughs.

Some of the things they played with enormous intensity, as though it was

not comedy, which made it much funnier. You have spoken today about

his silliness. There was a twinkle in his eye. Ethnically. That was

good for the mix with Ronnie Barker, who was slightly more serious. --

definitely. When they went to ITV, pardon the expression... It is OK,

you can mention it once. Live television, you could feel little

Ronnie would be delighted if a bit of scenery fell down or someone came

on at the wrong moment, and Ronnie Barker hated it. Ronnie Corbett had

the ability to cope with the moment. He was a giggle. He would break up

very easily, except when he was doing the sketches. Luckily, he had

very good writers throughout who made the best of the material. I

wrote some stuff for him and it was a joy to see him perform it. Some of

the sketches were tough, so wordy. He took great pride in the work,

never got a thing wrong. He was a great reactor. If you watch him, it

is underrated. If you watch Ronnie Corbett in a sketch, the emotions

flitting across his face, his reaction to everything going on.

Brilliant. He was very self-deprecating which must have

been a joy. He was arrogant in his humility. Always going on and on

about his humility. Some comedians would have had enough of the height

jokes. He was doing them until the end. He did not want to to start

with and Ronnie Barker encouraged him. Then he started - I have a

passport photograph, life-size. Danny La Rue called him a miniature

Carrie Grant. What was the process like, working for Ronnie Corbett.

You did more than I did. We wrote the script, sent it in and if you

were lucky one of them was chosen, because these were great performers

and there were a lot of writers. There was a gang of us. You knew it

would be done in Mac in leaf. Particularly Ronnie Barker. --

immaculately. They never disagreed. They were completely on one

wavelength. After a bit, you knew what their strengths were. We would

write very irritating people. And Ronnie could do them brilliantly,

better than anybody. But they would change roles all the time. In some

sketches, Ronnie Barker would be the straight man. And the other way

around in another sketch. He could do almost every accent going. On the

line, another of Ronnie's great friends. Sir Bruce Forsyth. It is a

sad day. Tell us about your favourite memory of Ronnie. This has

been one of the saddest days of my life.

We can hear you. Sorry about that. I am not very good with television the

mode controls. It's the red button! Anyway, hello.

Things have been going through my mind all day. When you have known

somebody so well, it's very difficult not to keep thinking about

him. Barry, remember the time he came to my apartment and we were

going to rehearse, and you were there. He arrived, the buzzer went,

and I went to get a picture of who was outside. I pressed the button

and saw the picture, and all I could see was the top of a head. I said,

who is it? He said, its Ronnie. Where are you? Down here. We can't

see you. He came up, we did the rehearsal and everything. What a

great sense of timing he had. We were doing something upstairs. He

went down in the lift, got to the bottom, pressed my bell again, just

so we could see the top of his head leaving. Barry will tell you, we

went through a lot together with Barry.

He spent a lot of time with Ronnie on the golf course, didn't you? Yes.

One of my regulars about Ronnie was he had a nasty accident, a very bad

accident, he fell into a divet! Thank you so much, Sir Bruce. Thank

you for talking to us. It is a very sad day and we're all going to miss

him so much. Thank you. Here on The One Show we regularly hear from the

sons and daughters of the famous. Ronnie's daughter Sophie gave us an

insight into what it was like growing up with one of the UK's

funniest men. People say, what does your dad do?

We say, he is a comedian. People say ah! Do we know him? Yeah. Who is he,

then? And we go, Ronnie Corbett. I'm told when my dad was younger he

was a bit of a lady-killer and actually I can believe it when I

look back at the photographs, because he has a twinkle in his eye.

My mum and dad networking in Danny LaRue's nightclub. My mum, back then

known as Anne Part, was really successful. She was kind of leading

lady of the West End and can still sing like a fantastic diva, like she

did back then, but she gave it up for us, really. She had three of us

all in April, one year after the other, so Andrew was born, then MR,

then me. But Andrew had a hole in his heart and his heart was on the

wrong side. They got to bring him home for one night... And, yeah,

they lost. I think it terrified Mum, as it would do. I don't think she

ever wanted to go back to work because she was so

something would happen to us. We did travel, I suppose, compared

with most families, quite a lot, so the whole house would go and Mum

would take the Twin Towers, the cat, the dog, the guinea pigs, the

would take the Twin Towers, the cat, knack of making everywhere look like

our home within three hours. The main thing was

our home within three hours. The mum and dad, and that's all you want

as a child. When I was about 13, Dad was doing a

sketch on this very stage. When I was about 13, Dad was doing a

to give me his, erm... His wholehearted support? No. His ginger

nuts. I would sit in his dressing room and be his dresser for a week.

My dad has a couple of extravagances in his life and one of them is his

clothes. He needs his attire to be just right and I'm sure it's because

he is petite. A lot of my memories with him, which I love, is going

around and kind of looking at interior was and getting things just

right. -- looking at the material and getting the finishing touches

just right. That's what my dad was about. I love the dance routines.

Much more hilarious than sad. The two of them were soul mates, no

doubt about it. And they were brilliant, won't they?

Of actually worked -- I have actually worked with my dad in

pantomimes and he's a perfectionist but a charming perfectionist, so

nobody lets him down. He was quite gentle, really. When he puts his

foot down, you puts his foot down, and then you might get clobbered in

the face. And we all go, ooh! The sketch, fork handles, when he is

behind the bar and getting more and more annoyed, that is the face. My

dad has been described quite a few times recently as being a national

treasure. Such lovely memories and our

thoughts go out to Ronnie's wife, his daughters Sophie and Emma and

his four grandchildren. We have had a couple of photos already. Stevie

met Ronnie at a charity golf day in East Lothian.

And here we have a fan of Ronnie Corbett. He was a little big man,

just like Ian grew up to be. Rest in peace, both of you.

Please keep sending these pictures in. Now we are joined by writer

David Rennick, who, along with Barry, wrote some of The Two

Ronnies' most iconic sketches. We would love to him grow some more

memories from you of what it was like working with Ronnie and writing

with him. Did he ever challenge you on script, editing, rewriting? Not

really. I come myself as a generation behind Mike and Barry! I

don't like to rub it in! Thanks(!) Nevertheless... I grew up certainly

watching The Frost Report and Frost on Sunday. So then to be propelled

actually into that environment and working with them was just an

amazing... A dream team. I started out as so many people did, my

generation, contributing lines to the newsdesk or the odd joke, and I

have done that for a couple of series and then 1976, with just

about to leave for the Edinburgh Festival, I this letter, you

remember Ron have this beautiful blue stationery and inside was this

blue card in his spidery writing. If you wanted to imagine what Ronnie

Corbett's writing was like, it was exactly like that. Like pixie

writing! Just asking if I would like to be the script associate on his

new variety series, which he did in between The Two Ronnies. I wasn't

even aware he knew I existed, let alone was interested in my writing.

So that began the closer relationship with him, and from then

on, I kind of got absorbed into The Two Ronnies series. We did the TV

specials with Ronnie as well and one was just called Bed, because the

billing in the radio times said Ronnie Corbett In Bed, and all his

guests were interviewed in bed! Quite an easy gig! You got fully

absorbed into the folklore because many of them will quote the

Mastermind sketch as being one of the best.

This time you have chosen to answer the question before last. Is that

correct? Charlie Smithers. And your time starts now. What is

palaeontology? Yes, absolutely correct. Who are led Murray and so

Geoffrey Howe? Works. Genius! He obviously delighted in

wordplay, which must have been a joy for you? They both did. Absolutely.

That was a sketch I tore up and I remember I didn't... I did and think

they would go for it. I was so desperate for ideas. -- I did not

think. I was lagging behind so I sell tapes the pieces behind and

retyped it, in those days, and interestingly, when we recorded

that, the plan was to actually take it twice. Ronnie Barker, he had this

instinct that the audience would need one pass in order to get the

idea of the second pass, that's when they would understand it and then

they would laugh at it. In fact, it went like that on the first go. In

the gallery there were all preparing to go for the second past and Ronnie

just said, we won't be doing that again, and he moved on. He knew

instantly. And of course in the mid-80s, Ronnie Barker obviously

announced his retirement. How did Ronnie take that news?

Philosophically, I think. Yes. And he had advance knowledge. They were

filming one of my sketches about a couple of Vikings down in Dorset, in

fact, and I've told the story many times. He said, I'm not going to

retire this Christmas but the Christmas after that will be the

last. Really planned ahead. So Ronnie had ample warning. He got his

own career to replace that. That was the thing about them because they

were really admired and a new that they went a classic double act

insofar as they both had separate careers, unlike Eric and Ernie.

Let's take a minute or two to enjoy some of his very best work. Here's a

small selection of classic Corbett moments.

Silencing court! And if there's any more noise shall have to ask the

orchestra to leave! Now, look here, naughty phantom Ross

Perry blow of old London town, we know you are down there. Give

yourself up. -- Rosebury blower. Otherwise I will play a recording

with this new electric police warn. Do you hear me?

Good morning. I'm sorry... Ooh, I'm sorry... I meant to... Good morning

Miss Prendergast. You are only. Good morning. Could I have ?2 of

potatoes, please? No, this is an optician's.

She doesn't want to see your legs! It is now or never. Say good

afternoon. Good afternoon, Timothy. Mother, I have something very, very

important to talk to you about. How are your feet, by the way? I saw

the others moving to the main bar. There's nothing wrong with my feet.

I've got the odour eaters now. I had them once. They aren't half hard to

swallow! The pictures of you and Ronnie keep

coming in. Ronnie was great with Limbo to see line, who was taller

than Ronnie! And decent in this picture of his

wife's parents and Ronnie on Guernsey in the 1950s. Such a

special picture. That is all that night. You can see

The Many Faces Of Ronnie Corbett, a one-off documentary, about one

name's life and work at 8pm on BBC Two. For now, we will leave you with

the master of the monologue in full flow.

Tonight, I would like, if I may, to relate a very funny story that I

heard when... BANG! Sorry, what is that? I think the producer has just

shot himself! LAUGHTER

Plenty of time for that one we get to the joke!

Now, anyway, this isn't... This is a very funny story that... Funnily

enough... That noise has reminded me of a very old show business adage

that every time you hear an unexpected noise like that, a bang,

it means somebody backstage doesn't like your act. It's true. BANG!

So now, for the last time, it's good night for me...

..stay sharp. You have a very young heart.