The Man Who Made Eric and Ernie

The British Broadcasting Corporation proudly presents the Morecambe And Wise Christmas Show!

During the 1970s, Morecambe and Wise led the way in a new era of light entertainment at the BBC.

I'd like to introduce to you the greatest star we've ever had on the show.

The one and only, Sir Laurence...

He can't come.

As the golden age of television dawned,

one hit show after another delighted audiences in their tens of millions.

-We're doomed. Doomed!

-Oh, be quiet, Frazer.

Come on, Margo, get your hat on!

This is the Daily Mirror.

-So it's a happy Christmas from me.

-And it's a happy Christmas from him.

Haven't they done well?!

And all this was down to just one man.

Whenever the name Bill Cotton is spoken, there should be a fanfare of trumpets.

Bill was the kindest, lovable...

-You couldn't help but love him.

-He understood stars.

-He understood people who put bums on seats.

-He was a show-business person.

He was THE major figure in the history of British TV entertainment. No-one else holds a candle to him.

Don't worry about that "BBC" up there. It's Before Bill Cotton.

Wakey wakey!

Bill Cotton was born into the world of show business.

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Good evening and welcome to the show.

His father, Billy Cotton, was one of the century's most famous band leaders.

As a kid, he would go round the music halls and see all the acts with his father's band

and his father was not just a band, he'd have lots of acts

in the show as well and he would hear his father talking -

"I think I'm going to book so and so again next week because they were very good."

And I think Bill learnt what to look for...

..and his instincts were honed over years of trudging round the music halls with his dad.

# No woman or a man

# Has ever been as happy as we are... #

After a brief spell as a music plugger, Bill Jnr joined the BBC in 1956.

He was soon using his entertainment background to produce music shows.

Now it's time for Six-Five's own popular discoveries, The Mudlarks,

and they've got precisely two minutes for My Grandfather's Clock.

# Tick, tick, tick, tick-tock

# Tick, tick, tick, tick-tock... #

But the innocent days of the '50s were numbered. Bill could see a revolution was on its way.

# ..Tick-tock, tick-tock... #

# Come on without

# Come on within

# You'll not see nothing like the mighty... #

That was Bill's show. Absolutely plain and simple. Bill said,

"We've got this extraordinary boom in music going on in the '60s."

It was his background - he started as a music plugger,

"We should do a show but it's got to be about the top 20. It's got to be top of the pops."

MUSIC: "Delilah" by Tom Jones

# She stood there laughing... #

That was Bill, he had his finger on the pulse.

# Where the cares of the day will be carried away... #

And he had an extraordinary gift for spotting talent and showcasing up-and-coming new stars.

Cilla Black was riding high in the charts in the late '60s.

But Bill saw something more in her, and in 1968, he gave Cilla her own show on the BBC.

Bill's greatest asset was his nose.

I don't mean from an appearance point of view.

He just knew.

# I want you to stay. #

Whether they were singers, comedians, or actors, he just had the best nose

anybody's ever had in this business.

# But I'm not afraid

# This rover crossed over... #

Throughout the 1960s, Bill showed an increasing confidence in picking

not only established names but new faces to deliver a string of popular entertainment shows.

# ..I've got my feet

# On the sunny side

# On the sunny side

# The sunny side of the street! #

But it wasn't just mainstream entertainment shows he was nurturing.

In 1966, Bill gave a helping hand to a new satirical series.

I went to Bill and...

he loved the idea and he saw why it would work

and how it would work.

At each stage, Bill was a real contributor and...

He was a really good leader.

That's simply what he was. That was what was unique about Bill.

In television, there are an awful lot of followers and not many leaders. And he was a leader.

Tonight, authority. Perhaps it's best to begin with some examples.

This is authority, for instance, from the Sun.

"Council workmen are to rip planks out of seats and make

"holes in the walls of bus shelters in an attempt

-"to make the shelters too uncomfortable for hooligans."

-LAUGHTER

Bill, you know, because he was established in the traditional forms of show business, rather than being a

father of satire, maybe he was a grandfather or an uncle of satire.

An uncle of satire. You know,

but he sensed the mood, the mood that was...

The wind that was blowing at that time.

But there was one show which he just couldn't fathom.

'Yes, gangs of old ladies attacking defenceless, fit young men.'

I think we were seen as the awkward squad in light entertainment

and we were a little difficult.

-THEY LAUGH

-Bill, I know, defended the series but was worried about it.

It wasn't his sort of show, really.

His shows were more traditional, I think. Here was something coming completely out of leftfield.

Hampstead wasn't good enough for you, was it?

You had to go poncing off to Barnsley!

You and your coal-mining friends.

Coal mining is a wonderful thing, Father, but it's something you'll never understand. Just look at you!

Be careful! You know what he's like after a few novels.

Clearly it was successful so it was like riding a bucking bronco.

We didn't quite know which direction it was going to go in, but Bill was an advocate of hanging on

in there in the saddle and not discouraging our spontaneity.

But there were one or two areas where they did come in and say, "We think this is a little bit rude."

He never quite saw the point of Monty Python.

Here we have a turning point in British television and comedy

and Bill didn't quite get it at all, and I shall always remember because he would mutter away about them,

"I couldn't understand it." And they used to have this fabulous Christmas party that Bill did.

It was THE thing to get to in the Christmas season, it was the invitation to get,

and I shall always remember talking to him and he was looking over my shoulder towards the door,

he was the host, and this look of total horror came on his face and I turned round

and there was Graham Chapman in full ball gown...

..smoking a pipe and Bill didn't quite understand.

He shook his head and walked away to a far corner of the room to recover.

Graham was always the odd one out, even of the Pythons, because he drank quite a lot

and he saw these events, like the light entertainment party, as a sort of challenge.

-Your head's addled with novels and poems. You come home every evening reeking of Chateau Latour!

-Don't!

And look what you've done to Mother!

She's worn out with meeting film stars, attending premieres and giving gala luncheons!

There's nowt wrong with gala luncheons, lad!

Bill may have had a blind spot about Monty Python, but he had his finger very much on the pulse of

feel-good comedy shows, and was by now giving the go-ahead to new ideas and writers he felt had potential.

Bill was a big supporter of talent, so some of the

shows he came up with, what he was really doing was supporting talent.

I'm a pretty sure it was on his watch that Dad's Army started. Hi-De-Hi certainly started on his watch.

He didn't have an idea that it would be funny to do a thing about the Home Guard

or a holiday camp, but he believed in David Croft and Jimmy Perry.

# Mr Brown goes off to town... #

In 1968, a new script had landed on Bill's desk.

I went into his office. AS COTTON: "Hello, Jim,

"This looks good. Can you see it through?"

I'm a rotten impersonator, but that's how he spoke.

And that was the start of my relationship with Bill Cotton.

Fall in in three ranks, as the sergeant says!

Come on now! Three ranks, like the sergeant says!

We've fallen in three ranks like the sergeant said, sir.

Thank you, Jones.

HE SHOUTS AN ORDER

-Stand at ease.

-MANY FEET THUD

-Hurry up, Jones.

-FEET THUD

-That's better.

But Bill read the script, and said, "Get on with it."

And Bill never interfered with anybody.

It may look innocent today, but at the time, the idea of making a comedy

about Britain's Home Guard caused a stir amongst senior management.

Bill wasn't going to give up without a fight.

He had one or two stormy meetings with the then controller,

who was not convinced about the thing at all.

He thought we were taking the mickey out of England's finest hour and it was not the thing to do.

It all calmed down and I think Bill was the one that calmed them all down.

So here it is, straight from the shoulder.

I am wearing a toupee.

A wig, if that makes it any clearer.

So if any of you want a good laugh at my expense, now's your chance.

Because I'm going to show it to you.

I think series like Dad's Army have lasted

because they were well-written, and because they had a marvellous series of characters.

I should've known not to trust that smarmy Captain Stewart.

-You can't blame him, sir. He's got a job to do.

-You'll stick up for him, won't you?

You both went to public schools, didn't you?

I can't help feeling, sir, you've got a little bit of a chip on your shoulder about that.

There's no chip on my shoulder. I'll tell you what there is, though. Three pips. Don't you forget it.

There was a wonderful gallery of British stereotypes in there,

from the pompousness to the slightly vague ex-university man, John Le Mes,

to the wide boy... They were all in there. It was a lovely little cross-section of English

-sort of types at that time. I think that's why it was so good.

-Oh, thank you.

It's the wrong one, Godfrey!

I think the other one's wrong too.

When we'd made the show, his congratulations were restricted to, "Well done, boys."

Because he...

Dear Bill was a bit of a rough diamond.

He wasn't quite as lah-di-dah as the others.

Tough, he could be...

He didn't have to be polite all the time.

He said what he thought and one respected that, so if he didn't like something, he said so.

Right.

Round the trunk for safety. Like that.

Jump to it!

With Dad's Army delighting audiences, Bill gave Croft and Perry free rein to pursue other ideas.

When I told him about Ain't Half Hot Mum, he said, "Where's it set?"

I said, "In the jungle." He said, "You can't have a jungle in the studio.

"A jungle's not funny." I said, "Don't worry, it'll be funny, Bill." His enormous confidence.

Excuse me, Sergeant Major. But when do you take your salt tablets?

Mr Lah-di-dah, I've had more salt tablets than you've had hot dinners.

I will show you. I'll show you now.

He had his office door open.

If I was passing in the corridor, it was on the sixth floor, he'd say, "Is that you, Jim?

"Come in, come in. What you got?"

Don't forget to be in the dining hall early for your evening meal as

Fred Larkin, our cordon bleu cook,

is in an Italian mood and he's conjured up for you

spaghetti Bolognese and chips.

David Croft and I based everything we did on our lives together because I had worked as a Red Coat at Butlins

and David Croft had produced the concert party at Butlins.

-Well, campers, you've met your entertainment staff.

-Who wants a custard pie?

Don't bother me now, son.

Come back! I'm acting, I'm acting.

What do you say to me, my good man?

(Pies, pies, who wants a custard pie?)

Say it louder.

Pies, pies, who wants a custard pie?

I'll have one. I think he ought to have one as well.

-Shall I give him a pie?

-ALL:

-Yes!

He did trust one to do the job completely and

he didn't always agree with you.

He'd say, "I think you're mad, but go ahead. I'm sure you'll do something good."

-Good morning.

-Good morning, Gladys.

I was passing the kitchen. Thought you might like a cup of tea.

-Sugar's in the saucer.

-Thank you very much.

That dressing gown's nice.

-Is it real silk?

-You know, I really don't know.

You can usually tell by the touch.

Beautiful.

You've got some lovely things.

Thank you.

Bill's passion for light entertainment masked a more serious purpose -

to keep the BBC at the heart of the nation's affections.

He always said that

the BBC's three main stanchions

were education, information and entertainment.

But Bill Cotton always maintained that entertainment was the most important and should come

first, because if you didn't have the entertainment, nobody was going to look in to be informed or educated.

Bill and the people who ran light entertainment at that time

realised there was a connection with the wider British public.

That was the magic thing they had.

It was like people getting together in wartime and doing a show for everybody.

It was about, "Are the nation talking about it? Do they love

"these entertainers we're putting in front of them? That's what Bill understood.

Bill was proving his ability to bring new ideas to the screen.

But his breakthrough signing was to come from a call out of the blue from his old friend, Michael Grade.

In the late '60s and early '70s, I was a talent agent.

I was always trying to sell Bill some of my acts,

with very little success - he had too much taste!

But one of the acts that we represented in the office was Morecambe and Wise.

My partner in the agency, Billy Marsh, was their agent.

Billy and I shared an office and did all our work together.

At the time, Morecambe and Wise were already a much-loved double act with their own show on ATV.

Good evening, and thank you once again for having us on your screens.

-I'm terribly sorry about that young lady.

-Oh, that's OK. We're on TV now. You can leave all that behind.

I will. Lisa, stay behind!

ATV, who they were working for, they'd been under contract, their contract came up for renewal.

And we had an argument about money.

The boss of ATV was my uncle,

Lew Grade, Lord Grade.

Billy Marsh was away, so I was dealing with it and keeping Billy in touch.

And obviously keeping in touch with Morecambe and Wise.

And we all agreed that the thing to do was for me to ring up Bill Cotton, and say,

"If Morecambe and Wise were available, would you be interested?" Which I duly did.

And Bill said, "Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know you're just trying to get the price up for Lew."

-You'll be telling me next you've heard a voice from the other side.

-I have.

It was Lew Grade but the money was no good!

I said, "Are you free for lunch?" He said, "OK, I'll come and see you.

"I'll go along with it. I know I'm being used."

I sat down and I did the deal with him.

SIRENS BLARE

He's not going to sell much ice cream going at that speed, is he?!

I then rang Lew after the lunch and said, "I'm afraid I've got some

"bad news for you. Eric and Ernie have signed with the BBC."

There was a long silence. He'd been an agent. He understood the game.

He was very disappointed.

But he should never have lost them, really. It was about money.

Tea, Ern?

-Tea, Ern!

-'The first show for Billy came at the beginning of September.'

'And they were doing shows once a week, which finished'

at the end of October.

Of course, in November, Eric had a major heart attack.

Eric spent three weeks in hospital before being allowed to return home.

No-one knew if he'd ever work again.

Bill came over and talked to him when he was recuperating.

He more or less said, "Look, Eric, you take as long as you want,

"but we would love to have you back and we'll reorganise the contract."

So after six months, Eric, who had lost an

awful lot of his confidence, wasn't at all sure that he should work.

And Hills and Green had gone off to another contract,

because they felt that Eric wouldn't ever work again.

Hills and Green had been writing shows for Morecambe and Wise for the last seven years.

With Eric now on the road to recovery, Bill found himself facing a new problem.

Bill was desperate. "What am I going to do? Where do you find writers for Morecambe and Wise?"

Bill rang and said, "Would you like to write for Eric and Ernie?" Well...

I was very flattered,

because Eric and Ernie were the biggest names in television then.

I didn't think I'd be able to write for Morecambe and Wise.

They weren't my style.

I really don't know how Bill even suspected that I was

right for Eric and Ernie, or that we would be right for each other.

He must have said, "Yes, I know this is going to work." Nobody else did, but he knew.

And he persisted, gently persisted, with that wonderful smile of his.

His face was built for a smile, he had lovely chubby cheeks.

I think Bill knew that Eddie had a great comedic talent and great skills.

Something magical happened in that first

half hour when I met Eric and Ernie in Bill's office.

We took to each other right away.

I knew there was something there, sparking between the three of us.

The following week, Eddie returned with a trial script for the show.

Sitting there and handing this script over to these two men, and waiting, all that work for that week, waiting,

and then all of a sudden, Eric went...

HE SNIGGERS

He went, "That is funny. Now that is funny."

And Ern said, "Yeah, that is funny.

"It is funny, but it's not for us.

"We can't do it." It wasn't their kind of funny. Or they didn't think it was their kind of funny.

Then Bill Cotton, this very astute man, said, "Look, I think it is.

"I think this is going to work.

"Will you, please, do one show? Do it on BBC Two. No reputations will be destroyed.

"They only get 35 viewers, so nobody will be hurt! So just do this one show."

-Ready, Eric?

-Ready, Ern!

-Right, switch on.

-Right!

So we did it on BBC Two and it was...

It was good.

APPLAUSE

Eddie Braben had a certain...

..surreal view of the world

which added a whole new dimension to Morecambe and Wise.

All I can say, ladies and gentlemen, is, I'd never become conceited,

because I feel that there is no-one better. And I also would like...

I'd like to present to you now my...

Really, I didn't expect it to be...

And what do you think you're doing?

Not a lot!

The first change I made, I thought was the obvious one - obvious to me, anyway. Change Ernie.

There was a lot of talent in Ernie. I could see it.

And that was when I decided to make him the egotistical, pompous author, the playwright.

"Her most gracious majesty...

"Her most gracious majesty...

"betoes upon... Bestows upon..."

Bad printing there!

"Bestows upon Ernest Wise, short-legged comedian...

"the title of Lord Ern

of Peterborough!"

Lord Ern of Peterborough!

She was going to make you a sir, but she didn't think knights were that short!

-What did I get it for?

-You got it, it says here in brackets, "for services to literature".

-She's given it to me for those plays what I wrote.

-What else?

He said, "At last, I've really got something I can do.

"I can really perform now. I can work now."

I am deeply concerned about his majesty and his...

misdemeanours.

That's a good word. "Misdemeanours".

M-I-S...

"His larking about."

Very quickly they struck up, Eric and Ernie and Eddie, struck up a relationship.

Eddie pushed them into directions I don't think they would have gone.

I wrote this sketch about them being in bed together and they were horrified.

Everybody who heard about it was horrified.

The thought of two men being in bed together.

-That's very untidy.

-I'm not bothered. They're yours!

It was the only time I disagreed with them, and I dug my heels in.

And I kept on and on about it, every week, about this bed sketch.

So one day we were sitting in the room. It was a break.

And I said, "What are we going to do about this bed sketch?"

And Ernie said, "Oh, for God's sake, not that bed sketch. We can't do it."

That night I was inspired, I said, "If it's good enough for Laurel and Hardy, it's good enough for you."

And Eric said...

"We'll do it."

Are you going to read your newspaper or annoy me?

I can do both.

They don't have turkey at Christmas.

Who don't?

Eskimos.

-Eskimos?

-At Christmas, an Eskimo family sits down to a whale.

-How interesting.

-That must take a bit of stuffing!

They called the act Morecambe And Wise. It was a three-handed act.

It was Morecambe and Wise and audience. They were part of it.

He would look at the audience, and then he could bring...

Which worked very well. He'd be talking to somebody and he'd suddenly...

Now then, Percy, could you just show us one or two of your plants?

That was a good little gimmick.

Before long, celebrities were queuing up to be humiliated on the show.

Hang about, Tom Jones is coming on in a minute. I'll introduce you.

If I could just have a word with you, please, Miss Rednose.

Eric, say hello to Mr Preview.

Ah, Mr Preview, how are you? A pleasure to be with you and ready when you are.

There's a drunk just come on from the audience!

Leave her to me. I'll get rid of her.

Excuse me Miss, or Madam, as the case may be.

I'm afraid you can't stop here. Only professional artists are allowed up here in front of the cameras.

Go back to your seat. This isn't the Generation Game, please.

I...am Glenda Jackson.

They all say that!

Believe me, you're in for a surprise, Mr Preview.

-Previn.

-Privet.

Open the curtains, please!

It was a great idea to do the Grieg piano concerto.

It all stemmed from the fact that Eric could play the Grieg piano concerto badly.

He used to do it for fun. And we thought, "Well, we can get something out of this."

Grieg by... With him and him!

DRAMATIC ORCHESTRAL MUSIC

PLAYS JAUNTY TUNE

Something wrong with the violins?

-No, there's nothing wrong with the violins.

-That's only your opinion.

W-W-What were you playing just then?

The Grieg piano concerto.

PLAYS JAUNTY TUNE

You're playing... you're playing all the wrong notes.

I'm playing all the right notes...

but not necessarily in the right order.

I'll give you that. I'll give you that, sunshine.

But Morecambe and Wise weren't the only brilliant double act in Bill's stable of entertainers.

I think we both knew we were very different, fortunately.

And Ron and I would be first

to recognise that Eric and Ernie were the top dogs.

I mean,

Eric Morecambe, at his peak, was just

irresistible and wonderful.

And they worked in quite a different way from Ron and I.

And we shared... We were in the same building in Acton, rehearsing.

They'd be on the third floor.

And they would come a bit late in the morning, usually. Perhaps chauffeur-driven.

They would do a brief rehearsal and share a picnic basket with Robert Morley or something at lunchtime -

whoever was their guest - or Shirley Bassey,

and then go away at quarter to three to miss the traffic.

And Ron and I would arrive in our own cars, drive in a bit earlier and stay a bit later.

The Two Ronnies were another of Bill's legendary signings for the BBC.

He had seen them perform on The Frost Report.

Right, elementary addressing class. Two, three and...

ALL: Hello.

Yes, not bad. Bit of an upward inflection at the end there, Horton.

I know it's difficult for you, but keep trying, lad.

But it was an impromptu performance during a technical hitch at the BAFTAs which clinched the deal.

We lost power and they lost

the cameras. Ron and I had to extemporise and entertain people at the Palladium.

To be truthful, I can't imagine either of us being very good

at that sort of thing. However, we seemed to carry it off.

Bill was sitting with Paul Fox who was the controller of BBC One.

He said, "How would you like them on your channel?"

Paul said, "Yes, very good."

Bill went off and got them and, of course, took them to a whole new level.

Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett were new to television as a double-act.

Bill not only gave them their own show but scheduled it in

-the prime-time slot of 8 o'clock on a Saturday night.

-I was very lucky.

Just after I joined the BBC,

I got assigned to The Two Ronnies.

They were one of the half a dozen shows that were the

iconic defining shows of Bill's entertainment department.

APPLAUSE

-Hello, and it's good to be with you again, isn't it, Ronnie?

-Yes, it is.

The Two Ronnies was greater than the sum of the parts and the parts were pretty damn good to start with.

That's completely stumped me, that chart. I'm sorry.

Don't worry. We've got plenty more. Try the one on the back. There.

A?

-I said, try the one on the back.

-No, A.

-Oh, A? No, no. Not A.

-B?

-No.

-C, D?

-Keep going. No.

-E.

-E. Very good, yes.

Now, the next line, would you?

-Er, no, sorry.

-Don't worry. I'll give you a clue.

-What do you see with?

-Your eye.

-I.

-I. I.

And what do you do with your eye?

-See.

-C.

-C.

Now then, try the next line on your own.

You always felt completely supported by Bill.

He would be there at some point during the Saturday or Sunday.

He'd come in, maybe sit in the audience and watch, or drop in on a dress run.

"How's it going, guys? Are you OK?" He'd be there for the drinks after at least one of the shows.

-You knew you were working for Bill and he was a physical presence.

-You could always knock on his door

and see him and he would occasionally come and see part of a show being recorded.

We knew he was there and we knew we could ring him up and speak to him.

However big the show, once Bill had put his team in place, he trusted them to get the job done.

We sat down and...

we worked out what the show would be.

We knew that I could sit in a chair and be myself and talk to myself.

Well, this is the last programme in this series.

I must say, I'm certainly going to miss this chair.

It's so comfortable, really.

Most chairs I sit on, my feet don't reach the ground.

Mind you, when I was a child, I was even smaller, you know?

LAUGHTER You don't believe me, do you? No, I was, honestly.

I could stand up and my feet didn't reach the ground.

We knew, to open the show, we couldn't

talk to each other very much, like Eric and Ernie did, because we didn't know each other like they had done.

So the news-item feel turned up. That sort of disinfected way of doing jokes.

The news. Following the dispute with the Domestic Servants' Union

at Buckingham Palace today, the Queen, a radiant figure in a white silk gown and crimson robe,

swept down the main staircase and through the hall.

She then dusted the cloakroom and hoovered the lounge.

The powerful secret society known as the Lords Of The Universe held their annual meeting last night, but their

president, the Lord Chief Controller and Commander Over All Living Things, was unable to be present.

His wife wouldn't let him out.

And there'd be a film item in the middle, which would be like

the Phantom Raspberry Blower and various sketches throughout.

-Mornin'.

-Afternoon.

-Somebody sittin' there?

-Yeah.

-Who?

-Me.

-I know that. I'm not daft, am I?

-Ain't you? I am.

We knew we would like to do a big musical finale.

I remember, as a young director, shooting a musical item with The Two Ronnies -

you might as well have been in a Hollywood studio - 36 dancing girls, full orchestra,

full choir, crane shots, overhead shots, slung cameras, fantastic design teams.

It was a fantastic time to grow up in TV and learn what could be done.

Bill made it possible, because Bill was,

for such a big department...By that time he was running the whole department, the comedy side as well,

but you knew you were working for Bill Cotton. It was his department.

# Doo-doo, doo, doo-doo

# Doo-doo, doo, doo-doo

# Doo-doo, doo-doo, doo-doo

# Three blind mice

# I said, three blind mice... #

For the next 16 years, The Two Ronnies

dominated the schedules, regularly bringing in audiences of 17 million.

-They were one of the biggest hitters in the BBC's Saturday night line-up.

-# ..Three blind mice... #

But comedy wasn't the only area in which Bill was leading the way.

In 1970, he began to develop an idea for a new kind of talk show.

When he started, as head of entertainment, to go to America and see shows,

he famously saw the talk shows. He went to America and saw The Jack Paar Show, Johnny Carson later on.

He came back and he was looking around for somebody

and he decided that Michael Parkinson, a young journalist, would be the man to do it.

I got to know Bill Cotton as a voice on the telephone ringing me up and saying that he'd like me to

go down to TV Centre and have a word with him or two about a programme idea that they had.

It was about 1970, I think. I was doing an afternoon show for Thames Television, a talk show.

I went down there and they said they had this spot in the summer, June,

July time, 11 shows and nothing after that, but would I like to try it out and see if I fit the bill?

I'd been waiting for this call all my life. I thought, "What an agreeable chap."

I liked him from the very beginning.

He was a very engaging man, particularly when he was offering you work.

I had an instinct straightaway that here was a man who loved what he was doing,

who loved light entertainment, who loved the same stars that I did, and felt the same way about them.

So we had a very easy relationship.

Most of all, he was an enabler.

He saw himself as being the person who enabled you to get into a studio in the happiest

frame of mind possible, surrounded by the best possible people, to make the best possible programme.

That's exactly what you want from a head of department.

I saw a picture of you in the paper, two days ago I think it was,

cornered by a group of fans, mainly women, in a supermarket somewhere.

Can I ask you what the problem is, if it is a problem to you, about

being regarded as one of the world's most attractive men and the kind of fan adulation you have from women?

-Fan what?

-Fan worship.

-From who?

-Women.

Oh, I don't pay no attention to it.

I don't consider myself no attractive man.

People like Tom Jones are attractive.

Elvis Presley. I'm nothing like that.

Whether you want it or not, you are.

For years, people have been saying you are one of the most attractive men in the world.

-I know it. I was just...

-LAUGHTER, APPLAUSE

'Bill had very specific ideas about that show.

'He wanted a purely kind of showbiz show.'

We saw it differently, Richard Drewitt and myself, who produced the show. We saw it as being...

We wanted to trawl wider. We wanted to bring in all kinds of people and just put them together.

So we could put Rita Hayworth with a politician or whatever it might be.

We had conflict with Bill to start with, so we used to put a false list on the board.

So if we had somebody in like Professor Jacob Bronowski, we would put up Bob Hope on

the board, so when Bill came by, he'd be quite happy.

To be fair to him, he never ever stopped us doing anybody at all.

He would just look askance once or twice.

What do you think we can do about this fat fellow here? Do you think he should go on a diet?

It's mostly fluid.

-You're all water.

-It's true that.

This is something I've studied like mad. I should have done.

-I was 14 stone 9 pounds.

-Really?

My vital statistics were 37...

No, wait. 46, 37, 47.5.

-That's only one of them.

-And they are now... LAUGHTER

'It was a very rich time to do a talk show.'

The BBC was so powerful in those days, it really was.

It didn't matter what the opposite side did. We got the guests. We got them first.

He is Orson Welles.

APPLAUSE

'We had to borrow Bill Cotton's seat for that.

'Bill had a big Mussolini seat in his office, a huge one, a dictator's seat.'

Orson Welles' bum wouldn't fit into any other kind of chair we could find

so we had to get Bill Cotton's. That was the nearest he got to Orson Welles.

I must ask you this. You've been called it many times. You've been called a genius.

It is just one of those words.

I suppose there have only been two or three geniuses in this century.

-We all know who they are.

-Really?

I suppose. Einstein, Picasso and somebody in China we haven't heard about.

So you don't accept the...?

Oh, I accept anything I get.

Bill particularly liked the Hollywood film stars.

When I started doing the talk show, it was a wonderful time to be there,

to interview those people, because, for the first time in their careers,

the great Hollywood stars of the '40s and '50s were allowed on to television for the very first time.

So we got Jimmy Cagney. We got Henry Fonda. We got Bette Davis.

He was like a child in a toy shop with all that. He really was.

APPLAUSE

Thank you. Thank you very much.

I sometimes think he kept me there just for that!

Do you accept, if you look back on the history of Hollywood,

there have been three great women stars, haven't there?

There's Garbo, Hepburn and yourself.

Would you agree with that running order?

Well, I will accept the running order, yes.

Of course, I'd be happier if I got first billing but I accept it.

I was putting them in historical perspective.

No, no. If I am included with those two fabulous women, I am delighted.

That was the happiest department I've ever worked in.

As I said, it was successful.

It was blissful to go to work, actually, to be among all that great

bunch of people who were working there at the time.

And at the top, sat this very benign, clever man, actually.

Sometimes Bill's inspiration for new shows came from the most unlikely places.

He went to Holland and saw a game show, and he saw it in a very rudimentary form.

But he could see the germ of the idea.

He rushed back and bought the rights for a tuppence ha'penny

and then rang Bruce Forsyth's agent, my old

partner Billy Marsh, and said, "I've got something amazing for Bruce."

APPLAUSE

He said, "I'd like to put a tape on for you of this show from Holland."

He put the tape on

and then, at the end, he said, "What d'you think?"

I said, "I think there's a lot of fun in getting these people to do things

"that they'd never normally even try to do."

# Life is the name of the game

# And I want to play the game with you. #

Bill was a risk taker.

I knew he was having to put his head on the block, so to speak.

So knowing that it was on the block, we became very close. We talked about the show an awful lot.

We did the pilot, which we were quite pleased with.

From the pilot, we knew we had something there that would be

very different than what had ever been on British television before.

Once the audience got into it, we thought it could be very successful.

APPLAUSE, CHEERING

He said, "With you, I think this show is made for you."

I thought, "They all say that when they want you to do a show."

They always say, "It's made for you." But he was right. The Generation Game was made for me.

Thank you very much. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, children.

Welcome to The Generation Game. Nice to see, to see you...

-ALL:

-Nice!

When I introduced a professional person to do whatever they were going to do,

the reaction from the audience, as soon as the person

started doing what they were doing, the audience

would all laugh in anticipation with what these

poor four people were going to be asked to do.

LAUGHTER There we are.

And then on goes the wall. Do you call that "the wall"?

Yes.

Then just a little bit of that going around there,

just to give it the finishing touch.

Isn't that gorgeous? And that's all there is to it. APPLAUSE

Well done, though. It was a good start.

OK, give it a good turn and away you go.

LAUGHTER

ELECTRONIC BUZZER

Oh, a lot of fun, a lot of fun! Oh, dear.

Something for you to do in your spare time, that(!)

When he showed me the show, I thought, "Yeah, me getting

"amongst these people, this is my bread and butter. I can have fun."

And we'll meet our last couple this evening, who are, Anthea?

This is Jean and Robert Thorn.

I see. It's Jean and Robert Thorn. It's mother and son again.

You enjoy cooking, gardening and sewing and you have a deaf white cat called Butch.

-Quite right.

-Is that right?

-He's quite deaf.

-Is he really?

-Honestly.

-Oh, dear. Must be trouble at night getting him in, isn't it?

SCREAMS: Here, kitty!

Here kitty, kitty!

Butch, come in! Cor, you must be very popular with the neighbours(!)

It was a complete breakthrough. You hadn't seen people actually physically having to get up

and do some ridiculous thing, and put themselves...

As I used to say, we used to throw them in at the deep end.

And that's what it was.

We'd throw them in at the deep end with no lifebelt.

And when you come in, dear, your first line is at the back of the door.

When you get your cigarette, your line is written on the cigarette.

-You read it off the cigarette. The last line you do...

-Where's the cigarette?

-The cigarette's in the cigarette box, dear.

-You'll need those.

-Does she need those?

LAUGHTER

A French maid with glasses on!

-All right, wear your glasses, dear.

-I can't put them on. It's only when I read.

-W-W-Well...

-I can't see anything if I put them on now.

Oh, I see...

LAUGHTER

I mean, have we really got research people on this show?!

A French maid who's called Daphne and blind as a bat!

Bill meant so much to me because he came along and asked me to do something at such a...

not a dangerous part of my career, but I was...

things weren't really happening.

Bill made me a big star again.

LAUGHTER, APPLAUSE

With The Generation Game, Bill had known from the start how to fit the right man with the right show.

But in the case of one young presenter, finding the right show was less obvious.

He asked the head of light entertainment at the time to try and find me something to do.

"Let's find something to do for that poor eejit."

And so, more out of pity than anything,

he dug up an idea

that was called The Match Game in America.

And Blankety Blank in Australia.

And we stole the microphone, the long, thin microphone, from America.

And the title from Australia.

Back, lest you feel the kiss of cold steel.

I thought it was your wand!

And then, under a very talented producer called Alan Boyd, who could put together

shows like this, and again, had an unerring instinct for what

would work and what wouldn't, and with Bill Cotton in the background whipping him,

we actually started Blankety Blank.

Look at that top row - an example to all of us.

Oh, do shut up, Terry! I get so embarrassed!

I've gone all puce!

-Rushton...

-What?

-Press your little...

Oh, technology!

(What? What?

(Terry Wogan's a what?)

LAUGHTER

For me, Blankety Blank was the first time I felt that I was actually doing television properly.

Or doing it the way I wanted to do it,

the way I do the radio, which was in a relaxed, unworried manner, walking and talking at the same

time, not worrying about whether I'm standing in the correct light.

It enabled me to be free for the first time on TV.

"I was trained by Barbara Woodhouse to go walkies.

"Now every time I go out of the house, I come back with a blank."

Barbara Woodhouse, trains dogs, you know, to go walkies or sit.

Sit!

Sit! It's from here. Sit!

Mine's from there!

-That stick thing, that's silly.

-You don't think you can bend it, eh?

Let's have a go. Oh, my God!

LAUGHTER

He really had the rapport with...

unfortunates like me.

He'd come down on the studio floor and he'd meet people.

He was friends with everybody that he had promoted.

Through the 1970s, Bill had created an entertainment machine of unrivalled range and talent.

It was a tough time for the opposition at ITV.

The rivalry in those days was even more intense than it is today, particularly at the weekend.

And Bill understood, therefore, that he would pack the weekend

with his biggest and best entertainment.

We used to dominate from 6 o'clock in the evening with The Gen Game

or Noel, through to Parky at 10 o'clock at night.

We'd get ten, 11 million people on a Saturday night, following

the kind of programme he would put before you and after you. It was an extraordinary time to be there.

I was, at this point, head to head with him at ITV.

I was running London Weekend and we were only on the air on Friday night, Saturday and Sunday.

And I took it very personally that he concentrated The Two Ronnies,

The Generation Game and everything else, all at the weekend.

I took it very personally, but it was good friendly rivalry.

And he was very... I never beat him. We could never beat him.

Bill's light entertainment department continued to ride high in the schedules.

But there was one show which towered above all others in his empire.

The biggest event of the year was Morecambe and Wise's Christmas show.

If we went anywhere, or we saw anything that was funny, he said,

"We must remember that! Write that down for the Christmas show."

It got to the stage where people were stopping me in the

street in October, November, saying, "Who's on? Who have you got?"

Possibly, with the greatest respect to Her Majesty,

bigger than the Queen's Christmas message, was Morecambe and Wise's Christmas show.

You just did not want to miss it, because you knew

everybody would be talking about it for weeks to come.

-CRACK!

-Let's see... What did we get?

-A toy.

I think there's a motto in it, here. Let's see what it says.

It says... It's a good one, this.

-It's a real good one.

-Read it out.

It says, "Professor - can you give me an example of wasted energy?

"Pupil - yes, sir, telling a hair-raising story to a bald-headed man."

-LAUGHTER

-"Telling a hair-raising story to a bald-headed man!"

There was one rascally moment, I remember.

The great secret of Eric and Ernie's Christmas show was what it was going to be about.

And it was all terribly hush-hush, you know.

Ron and I were about three floors up.

When we finished rehearsals, we'd go down. "I wonder if Eric and Ernie are still there."

We walked down to their rehearsal.

It was, curiously enough, open, not even locked.

And all the scripts were lying about on the tables.

"Oh, look! They're going to do this thing about doggies and puppies!"

So the secret could easily have been revealed.

What I'd like to say is this much.

-I've got quite a surprise for you, something that...

-AUDIENCE:

-Aw!

Aw!

-What?

-Well, what's that?

Ernie, have I ever told you a lie?

-No, never.

-It's a kitten!

LAUGHTER

Wouldn't it have been awful if we'd done it?

God, it's cold.

It isn't half cold.

I wonder how long that white-haired old fool is gonna be down there?

-He's been down there an hour already, you know.

-Oh, yes.

-It's freezing, innit?

-It is.

-You must be in agony.

-Oh, I am.

Don't keep doing that, there's a good chap. It's not nice.

-What's the matter with him?

-It's that reindeer at the back.

-Yeah?

His nose is freezing.

LAUGHTER

I think Eric thoroughly enjoyed watching the Christmas shows.

He was nervous beforehand, a bit, but he was very mellow, because

by then he'd had his Christmas lunch and a couple of drinks, so everything was fine.

All the family sitting around him.

But, em...

he always laughed ever such a lot at the shows.

He was a good audience for himself.

# So I chaffed them and I gaily laughed

# To think he could doubt...

# Yet today, my love... #

SPEECH DROWNED BY LAUGHTER

There wasn't anything that got the nation talking and watching on Christmas night as Eric and Ernie.

It was, I don't know, 28, 30 million people watching.

# ..So I chaffed them and I gaily laughed... #

You can see Wembley with 100,000 people.

But 28.5 million?

No, it's a bit awe-inspiring and scary.

MUSIC PLAYS

# Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps... #

Hey?

# Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps. #

The BBC years were the highlight of their lives, because the '70s

was when they really were at the top of their profession.

Just weeks after the record-breaking Christmas show of 1977, Bill was on a trip to America

when he heard the news that Morecambe and Wise had signed a contract with ITV.

It was a bolt from the blue.

Eric and Ernie, for him, as for the rest of the nation, were...their gods.

I think when they departed the BBC, Bill was bereft.

He could not understand, really, what had happened.

They knew that it would upset the BBC, that they would be a great loss to the BBC.

But they had been working for them constantly for ten years.

But they never knew how hard Bill would take it.

And that did haunt us a bit afterwards, that he should be so upset.

In fact, he never did quite get over it.

The couple of times he talked to me about it, he said it was like a bereavement. They were family.

And we lost somebody from the family.

Despite his sense of loss, Bill continued his distinguished

career at the BBC, fulfilling his lifelong ambition to become managing director of television in 1984.

# Bring me sunshine... #

But it is for those remarkable years when light entertainment on the BBC

enthralled the nation, that he will be best remembered.

-You said we were finishing with that one!

-# In this world that we live

# There should be more happiness

# So much joy you can give

# BOTH: To each brand-new bright tomorrow

# Make me happy... #

This was the greatest

impresario of television entertainment that created the golden age.

It wouldn't have been a golden age without Bill Cotton.

He leaves a legacy of a period in television that will never be beaten.

You'll never be able to beat Bill Cotton's time at the BBC.

I think that in the old hall of fame, he's got prime spot

in light entertainment as far as I'm concerned.

You won't find anybody

anywhere who didn't love him, who didn't have an enormous affection for him.

Because was a most affectionate, warm and lovely man.

And if anybody

epitomised the spirit of the BBC that I know and love -

Bill Cotton.

LAUGHTER

Dignity at all times!