Episode 1

0:00:08 > 0:00:11'It's 2nd December 1963

0:00:11 > 0:00:14'and the Beatles are on The Morecambe & Wise Show.

0:00:14 > 0:00:16'It represented the ascendancy of

0:00:16 > 0:00:19'popular culture from the North of England, but it was also

0:00:19 > 0:00:23'John, Paul, George and Ringo and Eric and Ernie having a laugh.'

0:00:23 > 0:00:25Would you like to do a number with us?

0:00:25 > 0:00:26- BEATLES:- Yeah, yeah.

0:00:26 > 0:00:27- You think so, lads? - Ahhh!

0:00:27 > 0:00:29LAUGHTER

0:00:29 > 0:00:32It's the Gaye Sisters! They've done great!

0:00:32 > 0:00:34Fabulous!

0:00:34 > 0:00:37The Gaye Sisters?! This is the Beatles!

0:00:37 > 0:00:39Hello, Beatle!

0:00:39 > 0:00:41- LAUGHTER - Where is he?

0:00:41 > 0:00:44- Where is he?- There he is!

0:00:44 > 0:00:45Hello, Bongo!

0:00:45 > 0:00:46LAUGHTER

0:00:49 > 0:00:51- That's Ringo! - Oh, is he there as well?

0:00:53 > 0:00:56# We were strolling along... #

0:00:56 > 0:00:58Twist and shout!

0:00:58 > 0:01:01# On Moonlight Bay... #

0:01:01 > 0:01:05'They were entertainers. They knew where they were from,

0:01:05 > 0:01:08'but they couldn't imagine what lay ahead.

0:01:09 > 0:01:11'It was just another perfect day

0:01:11 > 0:01:15'in the comedy world of Morecambe and Wise.'

0:01:15 > 0:01:18# Don't go away... #

0:01:18 > 0:01:20- Are the Beatles gone? - No, they're here!- Oh.

0:01:20 > 0:01:26# With your short, fat, hairy legs on Moonlight Bay

0:01:26 > 0:01:31# On Moonlight Bay. #

0:01:31 > 0:01:32APPLAUSE

0:01:37 > 0:01:40It began as a way of entertaining your mates, did it, or...?

0:01:40 > 0:01:43- Yeah...- No, it began as a way of making money, quite honestly, yeah.

0:01:43 > 0:01:46But you don't know why you're funny, do you? You just know people laugh.

0:01:46 > 0:01:48- You don't know why you're funny. - Not really.

0:01:48 > 0:01:51You just tell jokes and they used to laugh and that was it.

0:01:53 > 0:01:57The story of Morecambe and Wise is the story of two men

0:01:57 > 0:02:00who mastered the art of entertainment, but it's also

0:02:00 > 0:02:04the story of comedy's difficult journey from theatre and radio

0:02:04 > 0:02:07to its brand-new home - television.

0:02:08 > 0:02:11As children, Eric and Ernie caught the last breath

0:02:11 > 0:02:15of the colourful parade that was the Variety Theatre.

0:02:15 > 0:02:18Thousands of acts from the ridiculous to the sublime

0:02:18 > 0:02:22flashed before their eyes and then they were gone,

0:02:22 > 0:02:26but the names, faces, costumes, jokes, routines

0:02:26 > 0:02:30and comedy characters stayed with them for the rest of their lives.

0:02:30 > 0:02:33Morecambe and Wise reached out for television heaven

0:02:33 > 0:02:36and nailed it like nobody had done before.

0:02:36 > 0:02:39The 1960s and '70s was their time

0:02:39 > 0:02:42and they made it count.

0:02:42 > 0:02:45And in the beginning there was dance.

0:02:45 > 0:02:47# Yeah, yeah, yeah

0:02:47 > 0:02:48LAUGHTER

0:02:48 > 0:02:50- # I know why I've waited - Yeah, yeah, yeah

0:02:50 > 0:02:53- # Know that I've been blue - Yeah, yeah, yeah

0:02:53 > 0:02:55- # Wait each night for someone - Yeah, yeah, yeah

0:02:55 > 0:02:58- # Exactly like you - Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

0:02:58 > 0:03:00- # Why should we spend money? - Yeah, yeah, yeah

0:03:00 > 0:03:03- # On a show or two - Yeah, yeah, yeah

0:03:03 > 0:03:06- # No-one plays those love scenes - Yeah, yeah, yeah

0:03:06 > 0:03:08- # Exactly like you - Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

0:03:08 > 0:03:12# Exactly like you, you make me feel so grand

0:03:12 > 0:03:15# I wanna give the world to you

0:03:15 > 0:03:17# You seem to understand

0:03:17 > 0:03:19# Each little foolish dream I'm dreaming

0:03:19 > 0:03:21# Every scheme I'm scheming

0:03:21 > 0:03:23# Dream I'm dreaming, scheme I'm scheming

0:03:23 > 0:03:26# Now, I know our mother

0:03:26 > 0:03:28# Taught me to be true

0:03:28 > 0:03:31# She meant me for someone

0:03:31 > 0:03:34- # Exactly like you - Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

0:03:34 > 0:03:35# Exactly like you

0:03:35 > 0:03:38# You make me feel so grand

0:03:38 > 0:03:40# I wanna give the world to you

0:03:40 > 0:03:43# It's good you understand

0:03:43 > 0:03:45# Each little foolish dream I'm dreaming

0:03:45 > 0:03:46# Scheme I'm scheming

0:03:46 > 0:03:49# Dream I'm dreaming, scheme I'm scheming

0:03:49 > 0:03:51- # Now, I know our mother - Yeah, yeah, yeah

0:03:51 > 0:03:54- # Taught me to be true - Yeah, yeah, yeah

0:03:54 > 0:03:56# She meant me for someone

0:03:56 > 0:03:58# Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

0:03:58 > 0:04:00# Yeah, yeah, yeah

0:04:00 > 0:04:03- # Exactly like you - Yeah, yeah, yeah

0:04:03 > 0:04:05- # Exactly like you - Yeah, yeah, yeah

0:04:05 > 0:04:10- # Exactly like you - Yeah, yeah, yeah

0:04:10 > 0:04:12- # Yeah, yeah, yeah. # - LAUGHTER

0:04:13 > 0:04:16I started off on amateur concerts.

0:04:16 > 0:04:19I started off at Miss Hunter's Dancing Class over the Plaza.

0:04:19 > 0:04:22- Oh, yes.- At Morecambe, and, um...

0:04:22 > 0:04:25I used to live at Christie Avenue, you see, at number 43,

0:04:25 > 0:04:27and our Peggy, she used to live at 23 Christie Avenue

0:04:27 > 0:04:34and, um, she came down, it'd be about 1937, uh, and she said,

0:04:34 > 0:04:37"Sadie..." That's me mother's name, Sadie.

0:04:37 > 0:04:40Auntie Sadie, she used to call her because, you know, she liked her.

0:04:40 > 0:04:42LAUGHTER And she said, "Auntie Sadie,

0:04:42 > 0:04:44"I'm going to dancing class." So, my mother said,

0:04:44 > 0:04:48"How much is it?" And our Peggy said, "It's a shilling."

0:04:48 > 0:04:50So, she said, "Well, do us a favour, take him with you.

0:04:50 > 0:04:52"Keep him out the way on Saturday mornings."

0:04:52 > 0:04:54And I used to go, I was the only boy there.

0:04:54 > 0:04:55- Yes.- Yeah.

0:04:55 > 0:04:57Seriously. Then I had private lessons.

0:04:57 > 0:04:59HE SLURPS ON PIPE, LAUGHTER

0:04:59 > 0:05:01And I ended up as the only girl there!

0:05:01 > 0:05:02LAUGHTER

0:05:05 > 0:05:08Eric and Ernie were born into families that knew

0:05:08 > 0:05:11just enough about show business to make a difference.

0:05:15 > 0:05:18George and Sadie Bartholomew had their one and only child,

0:05:18 > 0:05:22Eric, on the 14th of May 1926.

0:05:22 > 0:05:25Sadie always said that Eric entered show business at

0:05:25 > 0:05:27the age of about three.

0:05:27 > 0:05:32When he escaped from the house and he was found directing traffic,

0:05:32 > 0:05:33on the road,

0:05:33 > 0:05:34and she was furious cos

0:05:34 > 0:05:36he could have got run over, of course, even back then.

0:05:36 > 0:05:39I absolutely adored Sadie and, of course,

0:05:39 > 0:05:42this is my grandmother that we're talking about.

0:05:42 > 0:05:45She spotted that Dad could entertain.

0:05:45 > 0:05:48I often say now that if my father was a kid now

0:05:48 > 0:05:52he'd be labelled with Attention Deficit Disorder Syndrome!

0:05:52 > 0:05:55I think she knew that he was a really live wire,

0:05:55 > 0:06:00highly intelligent, but not remotely interested in school.

0:06:00 > 0:06:03Eric wasn't academic and he was a dreamer.

0:06:03 > 0:06:06Sadie always used to say, "He's a dreamer." But from being...

0:06:06 > 0:06:11As soon as he could walk, she always reckoned that he always was dancing,

0:06:11 > 0:06:15always amusing people, that it was absolutely born in him to entertain.

0:06:15 > 0:06:17He'd go down the road, find a group of builders,

0:06:17 > 0:06:20and start tap-dancing for pennies and things.

0:06:20 > 0:06:24So, he was obviously not shy, let's say!

0:06:24 > 0:06:27And loved entertaining from a very early age.

0:06:27 > 0:06:28SEAGULLS CALL

0:06:30 > 0:06:32The Bartholomew family lived in Morecambe,

0:06:32 > 0:06:36a seaside town full of entertainment for the holidaymakers

0:06:36 > 0:06:38of the industrial towns of Lancashire.

0:06:38 > 0:06:43Coming from Morecambe Bay, particularly in the 1930s, um,

0:06:43 > 0:06:46was extraordinary because it was a showbiz town,

0:06:46 > 0:06:48it had the Winter Gardens and the pier entertainment

0:06:48 > 0:06:51and he would have been hugely influenced by that.

0:06:51 > 0:06:53And at that time Morecambe would have been second only

0:06:53 > 0:06:55to Blackpool as a big seaside destination,

0:06:55 > 0:06:58so he'll have grown up around things like

0:06:58 > 0:07:01the Summer Talent contest, which he entered himself.

0:07:01 > 0:07:04Um, things like Summer Seasons Fair, so all the big variety stars

0:07:04 > 0:07:07would have come through Morecambe as well.

0:07:07 > 0:07:10Eric's mother, Sadie, worked as an usherette in Morecambe's

0:07:10 > 0:07:14theatres and saw that, if you had what it took, there was a living to

0:07:14 > 0:07:19be made from entertainment and she knew her son Eric had what it took.

0:07:20 > 0:07:24She used to say he had the attention span of a gnat.

0:07:24 > 0:07:27Her nickname for him was Gifflearse.

0:07:27 > 0:07:30And, you know, I think she got him lessons in

0:07:30 > 0:07:34just about everything and he did everything for ten minutes.

0:07:34 > 0:07:38He really was one of those, um... a bit like a butterfly really.

0:07:38 > 0:07:42She wanted him to have a freer life and improve his lot.

0:07:42 > 0:07:44Um, so she encouraged that and she saw...

0:07:44 > 0:07:47as soon as she saw there was a glimmer of talent there,

0:07:47 > 0:07:48she did leap onto...

0:07:48 > 0:07:51Eric always said, and it's quite true,

0:07:51 > 0:07:54even as an adult I could see this,

0:07:54 > 0:07:57if left to his own devices he was intrinsically lazy

0:07:57 > 0:08:00and he needed someone that just motivated him

0:08:00 > 0:08:03and that was Sadie for those early years.

0:08:03 > 0:08:09She homed in on... almost by accident, on show business.

0:08:09 > 0:08:12And that was really down to the dance teacher who,

0:08:12 > 0:08:16when he got dragged off to a dance lesson with his cousin, um,

0:08:16 > 0:08:20she did tell my grandmother that, you know, he's a very talented...

0:08:20 > 0:08:21um...

0:08:21 > 0:08:26performer. She said, "He's got that itch you can't teach."

0:08:26 > 0:08:30Now, that was all Sadie needed to hear. She's heard that,

0:08:30 > 0:08:34she's then thought, "Right. This is something he can do."

0:08:34 > 0:08:38Sadie set the young Eric Bartholomew on the path to a life

0:08:38 > 0:08:42in show business by entering him into local talent contests.

0:08:42 > 0:08:46He had a character, a costume and a song.

0:08:46 > 0:08:48Can you remember any part of it?

0:08:48 > 0:08:49Oh, yeah. # I'm not all there

0:08:49 > 0:08:51# There's something missing

0:08:51 > 0:08:53# I'm not all there, so the folks declare

0:08:53 > 0:08:55# They call me loopy

0:08:55 > 0:08:56# Loopy

0:08:56 > 0:08:58# Nothing but a great big boopy. #

0:08:58 > 0:09:00That's all I remember.

0:09:01 > 0:09:04When Eric was a teenager, it was already clear to Sadie

0:09:04 > 0:09:07that his best chance of a career was on the stage.

0:09:07 > 0:09:10He was naturally funny and Sadie knew that performing

0:09:10 > 0:09:13was his ticket out of a life of manual labour.

0:09:13 > 0:09:18She was so concerned that in the end he would end up just being

0:09:18 > 0:09:21a council worker, you know, digging the roads or something like that,

0:09:21 > 0:09:24and she wanted him to better himself,

0:09:24 > 0:09:27and he had this spark which was always there.

0:09:27 > 0:09:31If you can become a successful entertainer, and by successful

0:09:31 > 0:09:35they meant earning slightly more than a coal miner, possibly,

0:09:35 > 0:09:38um, you could be saved from having to work in a mill,

0:09:38 > 0:09:41you could be saved from having to work down a pit.

0:09:41 > 0:09:44It was clear from Eric's success in the talent shows that he

0:09:44 > 0:09:49could be a professional entertainer, but he was far from stage-struck.

0:09:49 > 0:09:51Yes, he hated the "I'm Not All There" stuff

0:09:51 > 0:09:54and performing as a solo act, he hated all that,

0:09:54 > 0:09:57and having to dress up, he really hated that.

0:09:57 > 0:10:00He hated the fact that, while his friends could kick a football around,

0:10:00 > 0:10:04he was having to wear these silly clothes, primarily to get laughs.

0:10:04 > 0:10:09I don't think he relished the stress that was involved in performing.

0:10:09 > 0:10:11These shows were fiercely competitive,

0:10:11 > 0:10:12that he got into when he was starting out.

0:10:12 > 0:10:16They were like talent shows. It was like footballers competing

0:10:16 > 0:10:17for a place in the team, you know?

0:10:17 > 0:10:20People got let go the whole time. You know, it was tough stuff.

0:10:20 > 0:10:24I don't think he had a lust for the footlights, you know?

0:10:24 > 0:10:27It was always Ernie that wanted to go to Hollywood.

0:10:32 > 0:10:36Meanwhile, in Leeds, Yorkshire, Harry and Connie Wiseman

0:10:36 > 0:10:38could see the talent in their son, Ernest.

0:10:39 > 0:10:43He had been born on the 27th of November 1925 and was

0:10:43 > 0:10:47soon on stage with his father, an amateur song and dance man.

0:10:47 > 0:10:50Well, Ernie's background is very much showbiz because his dad,

0:10:50 > 0:10:52Harry, was big on all that sort of thing.

0:10:52 > 0:10:55I think there was a bit of a sort of dreamy personality in a way,

0:10:55 > 0:10:57he was a born entertainer, born performer,

0:10:57 > 0:10:59constantly going round the pubs and clubs

0:10:59 > 0:11:02and it wasn't too long before Ernie found himself

0:11:02 > 0:11:04travelling around with him, really, as part of the double act.

0:11:04 > 0:11:07I used to perform with my father, do a double act in the clubs

0:11:07 > 0:11:09- over the country.- Really?- It's what we used to do, yes.

0:11:09 > 0:11:12- Well, around Leeds, you didn't go all over the country.- Well...

0:11:12 > 0:11:15We used to go in the country and in Leeds as well, yes.

0:11:15 > 0:11:16That's what I meant!

0:11:16 > 0:11:20- It was like a joke.- It was, yes. - Not much.- Not much like a joke, no!

0:11:20 > 0:11:21LAUGHTER

0:11:21 > 0:11:23Uh...yeah, Leeds. Leeds.

0:11:23 > 0:11:25What were you doing? What kind of double act was it?

0:11:25 > 0:11:26- ERIC YAWNS LOUDLY - I was...

0:11:26 > 0:11:28LAUGHTER

0:11:28 > 0:11:29It was a very good double act.

0:11:29 > 0:11:31It was. I never saw it, but I've heard about it.

0:11:31 > 0:11:34It was very nice. Do a bit that you did.

0:11:34 > 0:11:37- I used to...- The act was with his dad, you know.

0:11:37 > 0:11:40- This is very sentimental and very dear to me.- I do apologise!

0:11:40 > 0:11:43Well...

0:11:43 > 0:11:45My dad and I...

0:11:45 > 0:11:46used to go around the clubs.

0:11:46 > 0:11:48What was the name? You used to have a name.

0:11:48 > 0:11:50We used to be called Bert Carson and Kid.

0:11:50 > 0:11:52- Yeah. He was Bert Carson.- Yeah.

0:11:52 > 0:11:54LAUGHTER

0:11:54 > 0:11:55And we used to do this...

0:11:55 > 0:11:58- I used to do hit numbers...- They thought I was a midget, you know.

0:11:58 > 0:11:59LAUGHTER

0:11:59 > 0:12:02I used to do hit numbers like I'm Knee Deep In Daisies.

0:12:02 > 0:12:05# I'm knee deep in daisies and head over heels... #

0:12:05 > 0:12:07And I used to do a clog dance.

0:12:07 > 0:12:09Ernie would perform this clog dance years later

0:12:09 > 0:12:11on The Morecambe & Wise Show.

0:12:22 > 0:12:25As teenagers, the wider world of entertainment had

0:12:25 > 0:12:28a grip on the imaginations of Eric and Ernie.

0:12:28 > 0:12:31His biggest influence was going to the local cinema, you know,

0:12:31 > 0:12:36every weekend in the morning performances of Flash Gordon or whatever

0:12:36 > 0:12:39and thinking, "God, wouldn't it be great to

0:12:39 > 0:12:41"be on the big screen?" That was his first idea.

0:12:41 > 0:12:43Flash Gordon, he was one of my favourites.

0:12:43 > 0:12:45- Remember Flash Gordon? - Flash Gordon? Yeah.

0:12:45 > 0:12:47They used to call my cousin Flash Gordon.

0:12:47 > 0:12:50- He got six months. - LAUGHTER

0:12:50 > 0:12:53Their favourite film stars were Laurel and Hardy,

0:12:53 > 0:12:54and Abbott and Costello,

0:12:54 > 0:12:58but they were American and America was a long way away.

0:12:58 > 0:13:00- Where's the bow of the boat? - That's over there.

0:13:00 > 0:13:02- The stern of the boat? - That's over there.- And the port?

0:13:02 > 0:13:04- That's in the icebox.- Oh, shut up!

0:13:05 > 0:13:08Much nearer home was George Formby,

0:13:08 > 0:13:11a Northerner and a film star.

0:13:11 > 0:13:14# With my little stick of Blackpool Rock

0:13:14 > 0:13:19# Along the promenade I stroll It may be... #

0:13:19 > 0:13:21'For Sadie and Eric, the penny dropped.

0:13:21 > 0:13:25'If George Formby could do it, so could Eric.'

0:13:25 > 0:13:29When Eric was a kid, he said in one of his first ever interviews,

0:13:29 > 0:13:33when he won a talent contest up North, he said that George Formby

0:13:33 > 0:13:36was his favourite comic and he aspired to be like George Formby.

0:13:36 > 0:13:39Well, he aspired to George Formby's success,

0:13:39 > 0:13:42but, actually, in private he said he thought George Formby

0:13:42 > 0:13:45was about as funny as a cry for help, you know.

0:13:45 > 0:13:47He was not a big fan of that stuff.

0:13:47 > 0:13:50'In later years, George Formby was just another old-time performer

0:13:50 > 0:13:52'they could reference for laughs.'

0:13:52 > 0:13:55- Leaning On A Lamppost, you know that one?- All right.

0:13:55 > 0:13:56# I'm leaning on a lamppost

0:13:56 > 0:13:57# At the corner of the street

0:13:57 > 0:13:59# In case a certain little lady goes by. #

0:14:01 > 0:14:03# Oh, Mr Wu

0:14:03 > 0:14:04# What shall I do?

0:14:04 > 0:14:07# I got those Limehouse Chinese Laundry... #

0:14:11 > 0:14:14I'll take it. APPLAUSE

0:14:14 > 0:14:17Eric Morecambe did not rate George Formby as a comedian.

0:14:17 > 0:14:18Now listen...

0:14:18 > 0:14:22'For Eric, the real comedy talent in the North belonged to

0:14:22 > 0:14:24'the likes of Sandy Powell,

0:14:24 > 0:14:28'Norman Evans, Frank Randle and Jimmy James.'

0:14:29 > 0:14:32Two more brandies before the fight starts.

0:14:32 > 0:14:34Just a minute, who's going to fight?

0:14:34 > 0:14:37You and me, because I've got no money to pay for these drinks!

0:14:37 > 0:14:41I feel that, quite seriously, Ernie and I have learnt a tremendous amount

0:14:41 > 0:14:44from people like Jimmy James and Frank Randle and people like that.

0:14:44 > 0:14:46Absolutely fantastic.

0:14:46 > 0:14:51Jimmy James was a comedian who worked best when reacting to other characters around him,

0:14:51 > 0:14:54in what has been called the Comedy Triangle.

0:14:54 > 0:14:57Three performers in all kinds of trouble.

0:14:57 > 0:15:00- Is it you that's putting around that I'm barmy?- Who, me?!

0:15:00 > 0:15:01Yes.

0:15:01 > 0:15:05- Good heavens, no. Why should I do that?- Well, is it him?

0:15:05 > 0:15:06- Is it you?- What?

0:15:06 > 0:15:09- Is it you?- I don't want any. - He doesn't want any.

0:15:09 > 0:15:17Jimmy James is a hub around which fly extremely strange people.

0:15:17 > 0:15:21He always had two stooges, so you had a kind of comedy triangle

0:15:21 > 0:15:25in which Jimmy James was constantly bouncing jokes off one stooge

0:15:25 > 0:15:28then the other, dealing with these two idiots.

0:15:28 > 0:15:30Go and get two coffees.

0:15:30 > 0:15:32Are you telling him about the lions?

0:15:32 > 0:15:34Yes, he's got two lions in that box.

0:15:34 > 0:15:35How much are they?

0:15:35 > 0:15:38How much are they? He doesn't want to sell 'em!

0:15:38 > 0:15:41Are you telling him about the giraffe?

0:15:41 > 0:15:43Yes, he's got a giraffe in there with the lions.

0:15:43 > 0:15:47Is it, er...black or white?

0:15:47 > 0:15:50I don't...what colour is the giraffe? He wants to know.

0:15:50 > 0:15:52They're coffee, aren't they?

0:15:52 > 0:15:53LAUGHTER

0:15:55 > 0:16:00Morecambe and Wise worked with Jimmy James in Blackpool in the summer of 1959.

0:16:00 > 0:16:05And they took from him the idea of turning their double act into a triple act.

0:16:05 > 0:16:10Eric and Ernie would be joined by a guest star.

0:16:10 > 0:16:14Eric would be the Jimmy James and you'd have Ernie, one idiot,

0:16:14 > 0:16:18followed by this guest star, who would be completely bemused

0:16:18 > 0:16:21and perplexed and appear like another idiot.

0:16:21 > 0:16:23And Eric would just play off one against the other.

0:16:23 > 0:16:26And it was the reprise of Jimmy James.

0:16:26 > 0:16:27Eric, say hello to Mr Previn.

0:16:27 > 0:16:29Ah! Mr Preview, how are you?

0:16:29 > 0:16:30LAUGHTER

0:16:30 > 0:16:32A pleasure to be with you and ready when you are...

0:16:32 > 0:16:35A one, a one, two, three...

0:16:35 > 0:16:36You got me here under false pretences.

0:16:36 > 0:16:39- False pretences? - What does he mean?

0:16:39 > 0:16:42I told you it wouldn't work, he's expecting Yehudi Menuhin.

0:16:42 > 0:16:43He's a comedian.

0:16:43 > 0:16:45And a very funny one too.

0:16:45 > 0:16:46LAUGHTER

0:16:46 > 0:16:49I must be honest, he makes me laugh when he puts the violin under his chin.

0:16:49 > 0:16:51Gets to the last note and shouts, "Aye-aye! That's your lot."

0:16:51 > 0:16:53LAUGHTER

0:16:53 > 0:16:55Then goes straight to the bar.

0:16:55 > 0:17:01I think you could look at Andre Previn on The Morecambe & Wise Show and look at Jimmy James

0:17:01 > 0:17:08and see...an absolute parallel between insanity, buffoonery...

0:17:08 > 0:17:10Grand Guignol.

0:17:10 > 0:17:17You've got Andre Previn, who is the epitome of highbrow entertainment,

0:17:17 > 0:17:23being reduced to the level of a clown.

0:17:23 > 0:17:25- All right. I'll go and get my baton. - Please do that.

0:17:25 > 0:17:27- It's in Chicago. - It's in Chicago!

0:17:27 > 0:17:30LAUGHTER

0:17:30 > 0:17:32Wow! He's in. I like him.

0:17:35 > 0:17:40The double act was special but the double act plus one expanded their universe

0:17:40 > 0:17:43to a point where anything was possible.

0:17:43 > 0:17:48It was precision-engineered chaos, just like Jimmy James.

0:17:48 > 0:17:52I don't suppose it matters to you whether it's male or female, the elephant?

0:17:52 > 0:17:56I-It wouldn't matter t-to anybody, only another elephant.

0:17:56 > 0:17:58LAUGHTER

0:18:01 > 0:18:06Before television the comedy stars were all on the radio and a successful radio show

0:18:06 > 0:18:08sold tickets at the theatre.

0:18:08 > 0:18:11- Where do the motor horns come from? - China.

0:18:11 > 0:18:13- What part of China? - Honk-honk.

0:18:13 > 0:18:14LAUGHTER

0:18:16 > 0:18:22Arthur Askey took his radio show Band Waggon onto the West End stage and this would lead

0:18:22 > 0:18:25to a first taste of the big time for little Ernie Wise.

0:18:28 > 0:18:34On 6th January 1939 Ernie and his father Harry boarded a train to London.

0:18:34 > 0:18:38Ernie had an audition with the band leader Jack Hylton,

0:18:38 > 0:18:41the producer of Arthur Askey's Band Waggon theatre show.

0:18:41 > 0:18:45Jack Hylton was so impressed that he put Ernie into the show that same night.

0:18:47 > 0:18:50It was Jack Hylton took him down, got him to London,

0:18:50 > 0:18:52and at the age of 13

0:18:52 > 0:18:55he became what then was one of the youngest ever stars

0:18:55 > 0:18:59of a West End show and appeared in Band Waggon.

0:18:59 > 0:19:02Which was a stage version of the very popular

0:19:02 > 0:19:05Arthur Askey, Richard Murdoch radio show.

0:19:05 > 0:19:09He'd been plucked out of nowhere, taken down to the West End,

0:19:09 > 0:19:12literally on the West End stage the next night,

0:19:12 > 0:19:15brought the house down appearing with Arthur Askey,

0:19:15 > 0:19:19written up in the national press, his life had been transformed.

0:19:19 > 0:19:21He didn't basically have a childhood

0:19:21 > 0:19:25because from the age of six he was working at weekends

0:19:25 > 0:19:28and used to get told off at school on a Monday for falling asleep

0:19:28 > 0:19:33because he'd been working on a Sunday night in the working men's clubs.

0:19:33 > 0:19:38And he basically provided for the family,

0:19:38 > 0:19:43because he could earn twice as much as his father's salary for the week.

0:19:43 > 0:19:48Ernie became a meal ticket. His parents were very poor, came from a very working-class background

0:19:48 > 0:19:54and suddenly they had two or three times the amount of money that they did a few months ago.

0:19:54 > 0:19:57It became, in hindsight...

0:19:57 > 0:20:02A lot of people have accused his parents of exploiting him.

0:20:02 > 0:20:05It was almost child labour in a way.

0:20:05 > 0:20:08They used to go on holidays to... I think Scunthorpe they went to,

0:20:08 > 0:20:11and they went to a couple of other places.

0:20:11 > 0:20:14And Ernie at sort of two o'clock in the afternoon would be dragged up

0:20:14 > 0:20:17from the beach and sent to work.

0:20:17 > 0:20:20They'd book him in to do shows every day and that would pay for the holiday.

0:20:20 > 0:20:23He goes to London and lives in a chaperoned flat

0:20:23 > 0:20:27and takes part in Hylton Reviews and the clogs go

0:20:27 > 0:20:33and he gets soft shoe shuffle tap shoes, he loses the bowler hat

0:20:33 > 0:20:36and gets a straw boater and he becomes a hoofer.

0:20:36 > 0:20:37He's a song and dance man.

0:20:37 > 0:20:41Already there's an attempt to remove the accent

0:20:41 > 0:20:47and create a milder...what in those days was called a mid-Atlantic accent,

0:20:47 > 0:20:52whereby, who knows, they may have been from New York or

0:20:52 > 0:20:56they may have been from Scunthorpe but we'll never quite know.

0:20:56 > 0:21:00The association with Jack Hylton would prove fateful

0:21:00 > 0:21:03just a few months later, bringing Ernie Wise face-to-face with

0:21:03 > 0:21:07none other than the young kid who would become Eric Morecambe.

0:21:07 > 0:21:10Eric and Ernie first met in Manchester when Eric was

0:21:10 > 0:21:14auditioning for Jack Hylton and Ernie was already a child star.

0:21:14 > 0:21:18Well, I say met, I think they nodded at each other.

0:21:18 > 0:21:22Ernie was Jack Hylton's favourite because he'd been so successful

0:21:22 > 0:21:26out of all the young stars on the youth tour as it was in those days.

0:21:27 > 0:21:30He sat with Jack Hylton watching Eric doing his audition

0:21:30 > 0:21:33and Ernie was wonderful because many,

0:21:33 > 0:21:37many years later, after my father had died, Ernie said,

0:21:37 > 0:21:42"I sat down and really thought, God, I've got some competition here.

0:21:42 > 0:21:43"This guy is very good."

0:21:44 > 0:21:47So, he did Flanagan and Allen, apparently, Eric,

0:21:47 > 0:21:50as part of his ambition, but he played both of them,

0:21:50 > 0:21:52but without any obvious change of character,

0:21:52 > 0:21:56which Ernie always found fascinating in the later years.

0:21:56 > 0:21:58That that was possible to do.

0:21:58 > 0:22:01That's right. It was at Manchester. You gave an audition to Jack Hylton.

0:22:01 > 0:22:04I won this competition and the first prize was an audition.

0:22:04 > 0:22:07No money, just an audition. That was the first prize, which I gave.

0:22:07 > 0:22:11And he was with Hylton at the time and he saw my audition.

0:22:11 > 0:22:14What did you do? You had the top hat and the baton.

0:22:14 > 0:22:16I did a double act in those days.

0:22:16 > 0:22:19It was Flanagan and Allen I used to do.

0:22:19 > 0:22:22- Flanagan and Allen he did, on his own.- By yourself?

0:22:22 > 0:22:25- Yes.- How do you do that? - I have false legs.

0:22:27 > 0:22:32I used to put this battered top hat on and sang... # Underneath the arches... #

0:22:32 > 0:22:34I used to get that...

0:22:34 > 0:22:37I used to do that's a lot. I still do.

0:22:38 > 0:22:43A few months later, the Second World War began, but by 1940

0:22:43 > 0:22:46Eric and Ernie were booked on the same touring show.

0:22:46 > 0:22:47Youth Takes A Bow.

0:22:47 > 0:22:51And it was really through touring that they then met each other

0:22:51 > 0:22:55and during the war, whilst the tour was still going on,

0:22:55 > 0:22:59they were in Oxford and Ernie's digs fell through.

0:22:59 > 0:23:02He couldn't find anywhere to stay

0:23:02 > 0:23:04and it just happened that he knocked on the door and it was where

0:23:04 > 0:23:07Eric and Sadie were, and the rest, as they say, is history.

0:23:07 > 0:23:14He's drawn into this B&B theatrical digs and shares the same bed,

0:23:14 > 0:23:16which is wonderfully iconic,

0:23:16 > 0:23:21when you think years later that they developed this idea.

0:23:21 > 0:23:24It's an old comedy idea anyway, two comics sharing...

0:23:24 > 0:23:26Laurel and Hardy had done it

0:23:26 > 0:23:28and there were never any gay connotations with it.

0:23:28 > 0:23:30It was just a device.

0:23:36 > 0:23:39It's got me beat. I just can't make it out.

0:23:39 > 0:23:42Just can't understand it at all. The market's down four points.

0:23:42 > 0:23:44It's got me beat as well.

0:23:44 > 0:23:50Desperate Dan's just eaten four cow pies and he's still hungry.

0:23:51 > 0:23:55Can I ask you how you teamed up first. Whose idea was it?

0:23:56 > 0:24:00- Shall I answer that?- Please do. - His mother, actually.- Yes.

0:24:00 > 0:24:03- His mother?- His mother. - Could take a long time, this.

0:24:05 > 0:24:09They'd travel around the country on the circuit together doing these gigs

0:24:09 > 0:24:14and the banter in the train carriage is such that she gets annoyed.

0:24:14 > 0:24:17"If you two keep doing this, why don't you do a double act?"

0:24:17 > 0:24:20With one simple comment, Sadie Bartholomew had created

0:24:20 > 0:24:24a double act that would be together for the next 40 years.

0:24:25 > 0:24:30She had as much love, I felt, for Ernie as she did for Eric.

0:24:30 > 0:24:33She really did and she always felt Ernie was the sensible one

0:24:33 > 0:24:37and that Eric wasn't, that Eric was the one that, you know...

0:24:37 > 0:24:41I wouldn't say not reliable, because he was always reliable

0:24:41 > 0:24:44with his work, but he was a bit of a dreamer.

0:24:44 > 0:24:47He was very easy-going with money,

0:24:47 > 0:24:50so in other words he'd never have any money because it would always go

0:24:50 > 0:24:55and Ernie was always a bit careful and Sadie felt this was a good

0:24:55 > 0:24:59influence on Eric to have someone like Ernie around, you know.

0:24:59 > 0:25:01They would perform as a double act for the first time

0:25:01 > 0:25:06at the Liverpool Empire on Friday 20th of August 1941,

0:25:06 > 0:25:11when the boys walked on stage as Bartholomew and Wise.

0:25:11 > 0:25:14Now began the journey that would take them right to the top.

0:25:14 > 0:25:18Eric and Ernie, your act began at the Liverpool Empire in 1941

0:25:18 > 0:25:20when you were 15 years old,

0:25:20 > 0:25:22which didn't give you much time for any other ambitions.

0:25:22 > 0:25:25- Were there any? - In those days?- Yes.- Oh, yes.

0:25:25 > 0:25:30- The biggest ambition in those days was the Moss Empire, wasn't it?- Yes.

0:25:30 > 0:25:32It was a very mediocre act in those days.

0:25:32 > 0:25:34Mind you, we had lots of ego and...

0:25:34 > 0:25:37We used to come on, the very first gag we ever did on the stage,

0:25:37 > 0:25:42he was singing. How's about a little ramble in the moonlight.

0:25:42 > 0:25:46I used to run on with a chair and a long fishing line with

0:25:46 > 0:25:50a piece of string down and an apple on the end of the string.

0:25:50 > 0:25:52I used to put... Can I get them in?

0:25:52 > 0:25:55I used to put the apple in the pit orchestra and then he used to say...

0:25:55 > 0:25:58- I used to say, "What are you doing?" - I would say, "I'm fishing."

0:25:58 > 0:26:01"But you don't catch fish with an apple, you catch fish with a worm.

0:26:01 > 0:26:03"That's all right, the worm's inside the apple."

0:26:03 > 0:26:05That's the first gag we ever worked on the stage

0:26:05 > 0:26:08- and we're still doing it. - 15 years on.

0:26:10 > 0:26:14The greatest British double act of all time had made their debut

0:26:14 > 0:26:17but nobody liked the name, Bartholomew and Wise.

0:26:17 > 0:26:20Remember the old days when we first started?

0:26:20 > 0:26:21- When we were trying to find a name? - Yes.

0:26:21 > 0:26:24- I thought the name Southport and Stupid.- Yes.

0:26:24 > 0:26:26- I thought that.- I thought Bridlington and Soppy.

0:26:26 > 0:26:30I thought that was a good name, that. Suited you, that name. Yeah.

0:26:30 > 0:26:32And then the audience sent in a few suggestions.

0:26:32 > 0:26:34- We couldn't use any of them.- No.

0:26:34 > 0:26:37Somebody came up with the name of Morecambe and Leeds

0:26:37 > 0:26:40- but it looked like a cheap day return.- Yes.

0:26:41 > 0:26:44A chance meeting with the American singer

0:26:44 > 0:26:48Adelaide Hall and her husband Bert Hicks would solve the problem.

0:26:48 > 0:26:50My mother said to Bert Hicks,

0:26:50 > 0:26:54"I don't like the name Bartholomew for his stage name.

0:26:54 > 0:26:56"What do you think I should call him?"

0:26:56 > 0:26:58He says, "Well, why does he come from?"

0:26:58 > 0:27:00My mother said, "He comes from Morecambe."

0:27:00 > 0:27:03He said, "Well, call him Morecambe."

0:27:04 > 0:27:09In the summer of 1941, Eric and Ernie became Morecambe and Wise.

0:27:09 > 0:27:11They were only 15 years old.

0:27:15 > 0:27:18From this point on, Morecambe and Wise absorbed

0:27:18 > 0:27:22all the influences that would make their future shows so unique.

0:27:24 > 0:27:27Arthur Tolcher, seen here with Eric, was the young harmonica player

0:27:27 > 0:27:29on Youth Takes A Bow.

0:27:30 > 0:27:33In later years, his unwanted harmonica playing became

0:27:33 > 0:27:36a running joke on The Morecambe & Wise Show.

0:27:36 > 0:27:39Ladies and gentlemen, the very beautiful, the very talented,

0:27:39 > 0:27:42- the very well-known... - Not now, Arthur. Not now.

0:27:46 > 0:27:50Sorry about that. What do you think of it so far? Rubbish!

0:27:50 > 0:27:52Never fails.

0:27:52 > 0:27:58Not now, Arthur. Not now. Slowly. Take it nice and easy.

0:27:59 > 0:28:03- Think of the money, Arthur. - A bit of dignity. Smile, smile.

0:28:04 > 0:28:08Eric and Ernie loved the eccentricity of the speciality acts

0:28:08 > 0:28:10of the variety theatre.

0:28:10 > 0:28:13The many hapless ventriloquists they encountered

0:28:13 > 0:28:15were an easy target in later years.

0:28:16 > 0:28:17Hello, Charlie, how are you?

0:28:17 > 0:28:20I'm very well, thank you. Oh, I am glad.

0:28:22 > 0:28:25Magicians, mind readers and novelty acts were a major

0:28:25 > 0:28:28part of the variety world around them and these characters

0:28:28 > 0:28:33inspired Morecambe and Wise's Mr Memory sketch from 1973.

0:28:33 > 0:28:37- Thank you, thank you, good evening, Mr Memory.- Good morning.

0:28:37 > 0:28:40Mr Memory, I understand you have a brain capable of remembering

0:28:40 > 0:28:43every event that ever happened anywhere at any time in the world.

0:28:43 > 0:28:45- That is correct. - Question number one, Mr Memory.

0:28:45 > 0:28:48Could you please tell me who won the FA Cup in 1950?

0:28:50 > 0:28:53- FA Cup 1950.- Yes.

0:28:53 > 0:28:54Arsenal.

0:28:57 > 0:28:58Tranmere Rovers!

0:29:03 > 0:29:04Eric's mother, Sadie,

0:29:04 > 0:29:06was now guiding the career of Morecambe and Wise

0:29:06 > 0:29:13and in 1943 she took them to London to appear in Strike A New Note.

0:29:13 > 0:29:15The new double act made a big impression on a young

0:29:15 > 0:29:17dancer in the show, Sheila Mathews.

0:29:17 > 0:29:22My very, very fond memory of Eric is me coming off the stage

0:29:22 > 0:29:27from the Adelphi Theatre one night and in the wings

0:29:27 > 0:29:32was Eric Morecambe sitting on a sort of throne which was on a dais,

0:29:32 > 0:29:38surrounded by a bevy of ballet girls and chorus girls, rocking with laughter.

0:29:38 > 0:29:40Couldn't laugh out loud, of course,

0:29:40 > 0:29:43because the show was on, but hysterical with laughter.

0:29:43 > 0:29:46It was a wonderful sight and one I shall never forget.

0:29:46 > 0:29:49During the war, it was about 1940, we went on Strike A New Note.

0:29:49 > 0:29:52- We were on Strike A New Note. - Beautiful girls in that show.- Yes.

0:29:52 > 0:29:54- Oh, yeah, they used to walk about, you know?- Yeah.

0:29:54 > 0:29:57- Naked.- Yeah, it's true.

0:29:57 > 0:30:00These beautiful showgirls, black shoes and black gloves,

0:30:00 > 0:30:03- looked like the five of spades walking...- Yes, it's true.

0:30:03 > 0:30:04LAUGHTER

0:30:04 > 0:30:08APPLAUSE

0:30:08 > 0:30:13Ernie was sort of a stocky boy, but he was very jumpy,

0:30:13 > 0:30:17all full of beans and always raring to go

0:30:17 > 0:30:20onto the American side of things, if you know what I mean,

0:30:20 > 0:30:23in as much as that the number he did do in Strike A New Note

0:30:23 > 0:30:26was Yankee Doodle Dandy which couldn't have been better for him.

0:30:26 > 0:30:28It was absolutely Ernie.

0:30:28 > 0:30:33# I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy. #

0:30:33 > 0:30:3640 years later, Ernie could still perform the routine.

0:30:36 > 0:30:41# A real live nephew of my Uncle Sam

0:30:41 > 0:30:43# Born on the fourth of July. #

0:30:45 > 0:30:46Isn't that fabulous?

0:30:47 > 0:30:51They were meticulous in every move, every inflection,

0:30:51 > 0:30:53where they would look...

0:30:53 > 0:30:55Absolutely, they didn't leave a thing to chance.

0:30:55 > 0:30:57It was beautifully done, but it was very...

0:30:57 > 0:31:01I felt very privileged to be able to stand there in the dressing room

0:31:01 > 0:31:04and watch this creation growing.

0:31:04 > 0:31:08I mean, they were like sponges, they soaked up everything and used it.

0:31:08 > 0:31:13So I knew, I knew they were going to be a success, but I never dreamt

0:31:13 > 0:31:16that they'd be the wonderful stars

0:31:16 > 0:31:18that they are or they turned out to be.

0:31:20 > 0:31:23The glamour and prestige of Strike A New Note

0:31:23 > 0:31:26would come to an end in November 1943

0:31:26 > 0:31:30when Ernie received his call-up papers to join the Merchant Navy.

0:31:30 > 0:31:34The following year, it was Eric's turn to join the war effort,

0:31:34 > 0:31:37sending him from the limelight of the West End stage

0:31:37 > 0:31:39to the gloom of a coal mine.

0:31:39 > 0:31:41You were in fact... Reading your book,

0:31:41 > 0:31:43the only time you've been separated in all these 34 years,

0:31:43 > 0:31:46in a professional sense, was during the war, wasn't it?

0:31:46 > 0:31:49- That's right, yes.- That's right. - Cos he was on their side.

0:31:49 > 0:31:52LAUGHTER

0:31:53 > 0:31:57- Yes, we were.- You were a Bevin Boy. - I was down the mines.

0:31:57 > 0:31:59And I was in the Merchant Navy.

0:31:59 > 0:32:01Good Lord. What was being a miner like?

0:32:01 > 0:32:04Dark. LAUGHTER

0:32:04 > 0:32:07It's quite frightening, quite honestly. It was terrifying, yeah.

0:32:07 > 0:32:10I was 18 and I was in 11 months altogether.

0:32:10 > 0:32:12I was 28 when I came out.

0:32:12 > 0:32:14LAUGHTER

0:32:17 > 0:32:19The years after the war were a hard slog

0:32:19 > 0:32:22for the newly-reformed Morecambe and Wise.

0:32:22 > 0:32:25They were just one of many performers trying to

0:32:25 > 0:32:29make their mark on the treadmill of the variety circuit.

0:32:29 > 0:32:32Getting into variety as an actor was our hardest time, wasn't it?

0:32:32 > 0:32:33Mm, I used to run across the stage

0:32:33 > 0:32:37and slap him very hard across the face. It was just like...SHPOM!

0:32:37 > 0:32:38Really hard, you know.

0:32:38 > 0:32:41I'd say, "How dare you have the kind of face I dislike," and run off.

0:32:41 > 0:32:45Now, the idea of that was to get an impact with the audience, you see.

0:32:45 > 0:32:46Because we'd be second spot,

0:32:46 > 0:32:49they'd only just opened their eyes in the theatre and...

0:32:49 > 0:32:50They'd only just opened the theatre.

0:32:50 > 0:32:54..and this was to make them all jump, you know. "My God, that must've hurt."

0:32:54 > 0:32:58They didn't laugh, they just said "That must've hurt," you know. But the effect was...

0:32:58 > 0:33:00If it wasn't for that gag, he would've been taller.

0:33:00 > 0:33:04The most feared venue in Britain was the Glasgow Empire,

0:33:04 > 0:33:07known as the graveyard of English comedians.

0:33:07 > 0:33:11I remember once going down there and we came off to our own footsteps and

0:33:11 > 0:33:16the fireman was in the corner and he said, "They're getting to like you."

0:33:16 > 0:33:18- Really?- They hadn't thrown anything.

0:33:18 > 0:33:20They hadn't thrown anything, yes. They sat there.

0:33:20 > 0:33:22There was a comic, I won't mention his name,

0:33:22 > 0:33:24- but he fainted, Des O'Connor.- Yes.

0:33:24 > 0:33:26LAUGHTER

0:33:26 > 0:33:27I won't mention his name.

0:33:30 > 0:33:32He actually walked on and went...

0:33:32 > 0:33:34BOTH: "Well, lad..."

0:33:35 > 0:33:37And he was carried off.

0:33:37 > 0:33:39Did they applaud him?

0:33:39 > 0:33:41What a fall!

0:33:41 > 0:33:43# Any time you're feeling lonely. #

0:33:43 > 0:33:44And he was that night.

0:33:47 > 0:33:52Morecambe and Wise began to get things right on the variety stage.

0:33:52 > 0:33:56At the same time, they started to appear on radio.

0:33:56 > 0:33:59ANNOUNCER: This is the North of England Home Service.

0:33:59 > 0:34:02Tonight, we want to talk to the young men and women of this country.

0:34:02 > 0:34:04To help them if we can over their difficulties and problems

0:34:04 > 0:34:07- and here is Mr Morecambe to say a few words.- Thank you.

0:34:07 > 0:34:10Girls, do you feel run down when hit by a truck?

0:34:10 > 0:34:12LAUGHTER

0:34:12 > 0:34:15Most of their radio appearances

0:34:15 > 0:34:17were produced by the Northern Home Service

0:34:17 > 0:34:19from the BBC's Manchester studios.

0:34:19 > 0:34:23It was entertainment by northerners for northerners

0:34:23 > 0:34:26and only broadcast across the North of England.

0:34:26 > 0:34:31This was how it was in the early 50s - a cultural North-South divide

0:34:31 > 0:34:34and one which Morecambe and Wise needed to overcome.

0:34:34 > 0:34:37Morecambe and Wise were forever being knocked back

0:34:37 > 0:34:43from broadcasting, because their accents could not be understood

0:34:43 > 0:34:44by people in the South.

0:34:44 > 0:34:47Or that was the idea of some bigwig at the BBC.

0:34:47 > 0:34:49We progressed very slowly.

0:34:49 > 0:34:51We developed in the North in the first place

0:34:51 > 0:34:54and could never break the barrier with the South,

0:34:54 > 0:34:56we were always known as northern comedians and then we...

0:34:56 > 0:35:00- Then he changed his shirt one day into that and we've been getting laughs ever since.- Got trendy.

0:35:00 > 0:35:04Yes, I think coming from the North of England back then there was

0:35:04 > 0:35:06a huge North-South divide.

0:35:06 > 0:35:10You just didn't hit the BBC or whatever with a northern accent,

0:35:10 > 0:35:12you couldn't do that.

0:35:12 > 0:35:14They were even told at one time to sound less northern

0:35:14 > 0:35:16when they were performing.

0:35:16 > 0:35:19So, I think that that was very difficult to overcome.

0:35:19 > 0:35:23It's some kind of myth about, "It won't work South,"

0:35:23 > 0:35:27and it was a myth that I think was maintained by people who

0:35:27 > 0:35:32weren't in touch with, let's say, working class tastes.

0:35:32 > 0:35:35If it was funny, it was funny, no matter where you were from,

0:35:35 > 0:35:37what social grouping you were from,

0:35:37 > 0:35:40you would identify what people were talking about.

0:35:40 > 0:35:44We'd had a war where people from Yorkshire

0:35:44 > 0:35:46and people from Essex had been in the same units

0:35:46 > 0:35:49and they didn't actually have to have subtitles,

0:35:49 > 0:35:51they could understand one another.

0:35:51 > 0:35:56They would talk about Jock or Paddy or whoever

0:35:56 > 0:36:01and we won the war without any major problems of communication.

0:36:03 > 0:36:06With their many impressive guest appearances, Morecambe and Wise

0:36:06 > 0:36:09had made a big leap forward and they were given

0:36:09 > 0:36:14a radio show of their own for the first time in November 1953.

0:36:14 > 0:36:16Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise

0:36:16 > 0:36:18will spend the next 30 minutes

0:36:18 > 0:36:20reminding you that You're Only Young Once.

0:36:26 > 0:36:29Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to YOYO.

0:36:29 > 0:36:32In their search for new talent, the BBC have tried many new comedians

0:36:32 > 0:36:36and here is the comic who was tried and found guilty, Mr Eric Morecambe.

0:36:37 > 0:36:40You're Only Young Once was good. Morecambe and Wise

0:36:40 > 0:36:44had come a long way since their debut 12 years earlier.

0:36:44 > 0:36:46When we listen to it today,

0:36:46 > 0:36:50it more or less stands the test of time.

0:36:50 > 0:36:53We know who the characters are, we can identify them,

0:36:53 > 0:36:56we can identify the voices and they're not that much changed

0:36:56 > 0:36:59from the voices we're going to hear 25 years later.

0:36:59 > 0:37:02Now then, my man, tell me how this machine works.

0:37:02 > 0:37:04Well, you see, sir, I press this little button

0:37:04 > 0:37:06- and it makes that big wheel go round and round.- Oh, yes.

0:37:06 > 0:37:08And that big wheel starts going round,

0:37:08 > 0:37:10it makes the little wheel next to it go round and round

0:37:10 > 0:37:13and when the big wheel and the little wheel start going round and round,

0:37:13 > 0:37:16it automatically makes the wheel on the bench go round and round,

0:37:16 > 0:37:19so you have the big wheel going round and the small wheel going round and round and...

0:37:19 > 0:37:21Yes, yes, yes. But what does it make?

0:37:21 > 0:37:23Makes me dizzy.

0:37:23 > 0:37:26LAUGHTER

0:37:26 > 0:37:29It's very, very hard to say that northern comedy wasn't just

0:37:29 > 0:37:31the comedy of the North. Eric and Ernie weren't

0:37:31 > 0:37:35just for the North of England, Eric and Ernie were for everyone.

0:37:35 > 0:37:38Whatever class, whatever your geography, wherever you were born

0:37:38 > 0:37:41and raised, they were just two funny, funny men

0:37:41 > 0:37:45and the fact is that, yes, the northern heritage very definitely

0:37:45 > 0:37:50fed into their comedy, but it didn't define them entirely.

0:37:50 > 0:37:51There's something else there.

0:37:51 > 0:37:55There's something universal about Eric and Ernie which took them

0:37:55 > 0:37:58to audiences above and beyond the roots that they actually came from.

0:38:00 > 0:38:03You're Only Young Once was good for their reputation

0:38:03 > 0:38:08and their bank balance and they felt they were finally getting somewhere.

0:38:08 > 0:38:11Their personal lives were also heading in the right direction.

0:38:11 > 0:38:15Eric and Joan Bartlett were married in December 1952

0:38:15 > 0:38:18and Ernie and Doreen Blythe married a few weeks later.

0:38:18 > 0:38:21We got married in 1953.

0:38:21 > 0:38:23We got engaged when I was about 18

0:38:23 > 0:38:28and it was supposed to be, before that, a Platonic friendship.

0:38:28 > 0:38:32But it was on a Sunday, because they never let me forget

0:38:32 > 0:38:35they cancelled a broadcast so that we could get married on a Sunday.

0:38:43 > 0:38:46Ernie and Doreen chose not to have children,

0:38:46 > 0:38:48but Eric and Joan had a baby straightaway.

0:38:49 > 0:38:55They were married December 11th, 1952.

0:38:55 > 0:39:00And I was born the following September 14th, 1953.

0:39:00 > 0:39:05So, yeah, they don't get a rosy glow talking about those days.

0:39:05 > 0:39:07I think it was hard, I think it was really hard.

0:39:07 > 0:39:11There were no disposable nappies and highchairs and pushchairs

0:39:11 > 0:39:13and buggies and so on.

0:39:13 > 0:39:15Don't think they even had a car.

0:39:15 > 0:39:20Certainly not at first, so I think it was quite hard for Mum.

0:39:20 > 0:39:22I think that we did miracles, really,

0:39:22 > 0:39:26to have any sort of a normal life when we'd only courted

0:39:26 > 0:39:31for such a little time and then to suddenly have a baby and be touring.

0:39:31 > 0:39:35Had no home, we didn't even have a flat then, nothing at all.

0:39:35 > 0:39:39And it was incredibly difficult, it really was.

0:39:39 > 0:39:42I think my father meeting my mother was fantastic

0:39:42 > 0:39:46when it happened, which would have been, what, 1952

0:39:46 > 0:39:50because she's always been a very grounded, sensible person.

0:39:50 > 0:39:55She's a bit like Ernie, the opposite to Eric, and Sadie by then

0:39:55 > 0:39:59would have had enough of being the driving force and she virtually

0:39:59 > 0:40:03handed it all over to my mother. She said, "It's your problem now."

0:40:03 > 0:40:06And it was literally like that and she'll tell you that

0:40:06 > 0:40:08and she did take it on.

0:40:08 > 0:40:11What she hadn't expected was that then my sister would be born

0:40:11 > 0:40:14so soon afterwards and then a couple of years later, me, so...

0:40:14 > 0:40:16Which would have made it very difficult

0:40:16 > 0:40:19because it was still the touring days, it is still caravans and

0:40:19 > 0:40:21all the rest of it and British weather and winters,

0:40:21 > 0:40:23so it was difficult.

0:40:23 > 0:40:25They would have been hard times, I'm sure.

0:40:25 > 0:40:28But she certainly took over the reins from Sadie at that point

0:40:28 > 0:40:29and Eric completely needed that.

0:40:29 > 0:40:33He needed a stalwart supporter who was always there for him.

0:40:35 > 0:40:391953 was also a landmark year for television.

0:40:39 > 0:40:43The Queen's Coronation of that year saw sales of television sets

0:40:43 > 0:40:45jump dramatically.

0:40:45 > 0:40:48An industry was born and Morecambe and Wise were destined

0:40:48 > 0:40:51to make some of its best programmes.

0:40:51 > 0:40:55In the early 50s, the BBC was the only television channel

0:40:55 > 0:40:58and comedy wasn't high on its agenda,

0:40:58 > 0:40:59with entertainment programmes

0:40:59 > 0:41:02making up less than a quarter of its output.

0:41:02 > 0:41:06One man who knew that things had to change was Ronald Waldman,

0:41:06 > 0:41:09the BBC's Head Of Light Entertainment

0:41:09 > 0:41:11and he zeroed in on Morecambe and Wise

0:41:11 > 0:41:16as having the talent to make a hit comedy show on BBC television.

0:41:16 > 0:41:17Of course, he had great faith in us.

0:41:17 > 0:41:20Ronnie Waldman said we would be big stars on television.

0:41:20 > 0:41:22And obviously he's a very intelligent man.

0:41:22 > 0:41:26- You are worriers, though, would you say?- Yes, basically, we are.

0:41:26 > 0:41:28You can't be anything else, it's a serious business.

0:41:28 > 0:41:30I'm worried about getting home after this.

0:41:30 > 0:41:33Ronald Waldman saw then what others saw later

0:41:33 > 0:41:37and asked them to make their first television series.

0:41:37 > 0:41:41I think the chance to go into TV was just one you didn't turn down.

0:41:41 > 0:41:45If someone comes along as a producer to see your live show on stage

0:41:45 > 0:41:48and they say, "Well, we'd like to offer you a TV series."

0:41:48 > 0:41:51Just, you know, these are the boys from the North of England,

0:41:51 > 0:41:53made good suddenly, what a great opportunity.

0:41:53 > 0:41:56Their dreams had come true.

0:41:56 > 0:41:59Morecambe and Wise now had a television show of their own

0:41:59 > 0:42:02and they called it Running Wild.

0:42:02 > 0:42:03ANNOUNCER: Morecambe and Wise.

0:42:03 > 0:42:06APPLAUSE

0:42:08 > 0:42:11Ernest Maxin, the producer who would one day

0:42:11 > 0:42:14take charge of the Morecambe and Wise show at the BBC,

0:42:14 > 0:42:17was a young trainee in 1954 and was part

0:42:17 > 0:42:20of the Running Wild production team.

0:42:20 > 0:42:22Brian Sears was the producer...

0:42:23 > 0:42:28..and I can remember getting that script in

0:42:28 > 0:42:31and Brian looking at it and...

0:42:32 > 0:42:37..pulling kind of not very nice faces, he didn't like the script.

0:42:37 > 0:42:40I can remember Brian saying,

0:42:40 > 0:42:44"These boys are far too good for this script."

0:42:44 > 0:42:49Even at rehearsals, I could see the fun in Eric and Ernie,

0:42:49 > 0:42:53in they themselves, but when it came to saying the words

0:42:53 > 0:42:58that were in the script, it changed their whole personality.

0:42:58 > 0:43:00The producer, Brian Sears,

0:43:00 > 0:43:04kept telling them none of their ideas would work down South,

0:43:04 > 0:43:07so the northern comedy they had performed on the radio

0:43:07 > 0:43:09was not in the script.

0:43:09 > 0:43:11Against this background,

0:43:11 > 0:43:17the first episode of Running Wild was broadcast on April 1st, 1954.

0:43:17 > 0:43:21What could have been their big break turned into a huge setback.

0:43:21 > 0:43:23It was absolutely disastrous

0:43:23 > 0:43:26That first programme just flopped hideously.

0:43:26 > 0:43:31And of course this idea of the BBC at that time,

0:43:31 > 0:43:34or certainly the producers making that particular programme,

0:43:34 > 0:43:38that Morecambe and Wise's usual northern style of comedy

0:43:38 > 0:43:39wouldn't make it down South -

0:43:39 > 0:43:42that would prove to be disastrous for them, really.

0:43:42 > 0:43:45Essentially, they were having to be who they weren't,

0:43:45 > 0:43:49they were having to pretend to be American, pretty much,

0:43:49 > 0:43:53and they weren't American. So it was always doomed to failure.

0:43:54 > 0:43:57The newspaper reviews for Running Wild were cruel and vicious,

0:43:57 > 0:44:00and Eric would feel the sting of this criticism

0:44:00 > 0:44:02for the rest of his career.

0:44:02 > 0:44:04It was only once a fortnight,

0:44:04 > 0:44:06a little half-hour show once a fortnight.

0:44:06 > 0:44:09How old were we? 26, or something like that.

0:44:09 > 0:44:11And the critics really took you apart?

0:44:11 > 0:44:14Oh, yes. I remember all the write-ups, all of them.

0:44:14 > 0:44:16Psychologically damaged ever since?

0:44:16 > 0:44:19"How dare they put such mediocre talent on television."

0:44:19 > 0:44:22"Alma Cogan stands out like a rose in a garden of weeds..."

0:44:22 > 0:44:24LAUGHTER

0:44:24 > 0:44:25This is true, all true.

0:44:25 > 0:44:28First man, "Is that a television in the corner?"

0:44:28 > 0:44:33Second man, "No, that's the box they buried Morecambe and Wise in last night."

0:44:33 > 0:44:36I think Dad dreaded the fact that people wouldn't want to

0:44:36 > 0:44:39watch them any more, wouldn't go to the live shows.

0:44:39 > 0:44:42I think that a critic had that brilliant line,

0:44:42 > 0:44:44"The definition of a television -

0:44:44 > 0:44:46"the box they buried Morecambe and Wise in,"

0:44:46 > 0:44:48I think he'd already written that

0:44:48 > 0:44:52and thought, too good an opportunity not to use that.

0:44:52 > 0:44:55But I think the critics hated it more than the public did.

0:44:55 > 0:44:58I think at the time it was devastating that they got such bad reviews,

0:44:58 > 0:45:00and my mother claims that the shows weren't really that bad.

0:45:00 > 0:45:05They weren't good, but they weren't as bad as they were made out to be.

0:45:05 > 0:45:06And for Eric it was devastating.

0:45:06 > 0:45:10You know, it wasn't going to be perfect,

0:45:10 > 0:45:13but to sort of slate it as they did, it was...

0:45:13 > 0:45:15very destroying.

0:45:15 > 0:45:17Did you feel like giving up? Have you ever felt like it?

0:45:17 > 0:45:20- Are you talking about Running Wild, actually?- Yeah.

0:45:20 > 0:45:22- The series we did for the... - HE LAUGHS

0:45:22 > 0:45:24For the old firm.

0:45:24 > 0:45:27Yes, well, of course it was a disaster to us.

0:45:27 > 0:45:30We were in television in the early stages and we said, we can't...

0:45:30 > 0:45:33We left television completely, that was the finish. It ruined our career.

0:45:36 > 0:45:39The trauma of Running Wild toughened up Morecambe and Wise.

0:45:39 > 0:45:43They would never again hand complete control to television producers,

0:45:43 > 0:45:47and for the rest of his life Eric would put all his energy

0:45:47 > 0:45:49into proving the critics wrong.

0:45:49 > 0:45:52They're utterly depressed, completely deflated,

0:45:52 > 0:45:54they think it's all over, essentially,

0:45:54 > 0:45:56so they have to reinvent themselves.

0:45:56 > 0:45:59And they go back out onto the stages, onto the boards,

0:45:59 > 0:46:00around all the variety theatres,

0:46:00 > 0:46:03put themselves quite low-down some bills with people who,

0:46:03 > 0:46:06prior to that, they would probably have been above on the bill,

0:46:06 > 0:46:09but they do the hard yards again, really.

0:46:10 > 0:46:12What they learned very, very quickly -

0:46:12 > 0:46:14and this is something he told me afterwards -

0:46:14 > 0:46:16that you can't really do bad TV,

0:46:16 > 0:46:18all you're doing is reaching a lot more people.

0:46:18 > 0:46:20So when they went back to the theatres

0:46:20 > 0:46:23they were billed as "Those stars of television, Morecambe and Wise."

0:46:23 > 0:46:26So that was the first sign he had of the power of TV,

0:46:26 > 0:46:28how it can be used to your advantage.

0:46:28 > 0:46:30There wasn't any billboard saying,

0:46:30 > 0:46:32"What a shame, they were terrible on TV."

0:46:32 > 0:46:35It was just used completely in a positive way to sell them.

0:46:35 > 0:46:38They've seen the future, they know it's television,

0:46:38 > 0:46:40they've just got to bide their time.

0:46:40 > 0:46:43So they go back to what they're doing best,

0:46:43 > 0:46:46which is live performance, and honing and honing and honing.

0:46:49 > 0:46:51Two years of successful theatre work

0:46:51 > 0:46:55put Morecambe and Wise back into the minds of television producers,

0:46:55 > 0:46:57this time at the new channel, ITV.

0:46:59 > 0:47:02In 1955, ITV went on air.

0:47:02 > 0:47:05It was set up and controlled by leading figures

0:47:05 > 0:47:08from the world of variety, like theatrical agents Val Parnell

0:47:08 > 0:47:13and Lew Grade, who ran the London and Midlands area through ATV.

0:47:14 > 0:47:19ATV was particularly strong in the area of bringing

0:47:19 > 0:47:23people who had been stars of variety into television format.

0:47:26 > 0:47:30The Winifred Atwell Show was a big hit for ATV,

0:47:30 > 0:47:32and in April 1956 Morecambe and Wise

0:47:32 > 0:47:35landed the job as her regular guests.

0:47:35 > 0:47:38This time everything clicked,

0:47:38 > 0:47:41and it proved they could work on television.

0:47:41 > 0:47:45The association with the Trinidad-born piano player Winifred Atwell

0:47:45 > 0:47:49would lead to one of their more unusual bookings a short time later.

0:47:52 > 0:47:551958 was spent touring Australia

0:47:55 > 0:47:57as part of the Winifred Atwell stage show.

0:47:57 > 0:48:00So that, in a way, was wonderful,

0:48:00 > 0:48:03because, you know, people didn't go to Australia very much then.

0:48:03 > 0:48:06That was this wonderful opportunity, so they jumped at that.

0:48:08 > 0:48:12A six-month tour took them to Sydney and Melbourne.

0:48:12 > 0:48:15On the way home they went to Hollywood and Las Vegas.

0:48:16 > 0:48:19They were having the time of their lives,

0:48:19 > 0:48:22but back in Britain show business was changing fast.

0:48:24 > 0:48:26Television had really taken over,

0:48:26 > 0:48:29and the variety theatre couldn't compete.

0:48:29 > 0:48:33They knew they had to make the breakthrough on the new ITV,

0:48:33 > 0:48:37but their agent, Frank Pope, didn't share their vision.

0:48:37 > 0:48:40Frank could not move with the times,

0:48:40 > 0:48:43he would not recognise that the days of doing the tours

0:48:43 > 0:48:48and the stage shows, that they were over, and that the days of television

0:48:48 > 0:48:51had arrived, and, moreover, they couldn't even get the work.

0:48:51 > 0:48:57Ernie was determined that they were going to conquer the television.

0:48:57 > 0:49:01He said, "Oh, well, if we can do it our way,

0:49:01 > 0:49:06"have a little bit more input and not take advice from other people

0:49:06 > 0:49:10"who think they know us, which they don't..."

0:49:10 > 0:49:13And that was it, he was definitely determined

0:49:13 > 0:49:16that they were going to conquer television.

0:49:16 > 0:49:19Morecambe and Wise went out and found an agent

0:49:19 > 0:49:22who could make things happen for them on television.

0:49:22 > 0:49:24His name was Billy Marsh.

0:49:24 > 0:49:27He was another one of those linchpin people

0:49:27 > 0:49:30that really changed everything because,

0:49:30 > 0:49:32as soon as they signed on with him -

0:49:32 > 0:49:34and they didn't actually sign anything, they never had

0:49:34 > 0:49:36a contract between them, just a handshake -

0:49:36 > 0:49:39he literally picked up the phone in the office and got them

0:49:39 > 0:49:41three spots on TV on other people's shows.

0:49:41 > 0:49:45So suddenly things were happening. This guy was a real mover and shaker.

0:49:45 > 0:49:49But Billy was also part of a big organisation

0:49:49 > 0:49:54and associated with Lew and Leslie Grade, and all of them,

0:49:54 > 0:49:56so they were a powerful organisation

0:49:56 > 0:50:00and Billy could get for them really what they needed.

0:50:00 > 0:50:04Everybody respected Billy, and if you got a call from Billy, you listened.

0:50:04 > 0:50:07But the most important thing he did for Eric and Ernie

0:50:07 > 0:50:10was to give them the courage to come back to TV

0:50:10 > 0:50:12after their disaster at the BBC.

0:50:12 > 0:50:16He said to them, "Boys, if you're not on TV, you're nobody.

0:50:16 > 0:50:18"You've got to have a go."

0:50:21 > 0:50:25Not much survives of their TV appearances from the 1950s,

0:50:25 > 0:50:28but one of the few that does is from one of the first bookings

0:50:28 > 0:50:30Billy Marsh arranged.

0:50:30 > 0:50:34The Good Old Days on the BBC was a programme which recreated

0:50:34 > 0:50:39the lost world of the music hall for the new television audience.

0:50:39 > 0:50:44Ladies and gentlemen, in all pride, we present Morecambe and Wise!

0:50:44 > 0:50:47BAND STRIKES UP

0:50:48 > 0:50:50- Thank you, thank you. Who's come on?- I don't know.

0:50:50 > 0:50:52Oh, it's us.

0:50:52 > 0:50:54- Good evening... - Hello, darling. Working?

0:50:54 > 0:50:57Oh, you're up there, aren't you?

0:50:57 > 0:50:59Don't wave - it's the wife.

0:50:59 > 0:51:00Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.

0:51:00 > 0:51:03I must say how happy we are to be appearing once again

0:51:03 > 0:51:04at the City Varieties Leeds.

0:51:04 > 0:51:07It really is wonderful to see all your happy smiling faces.

0:51:07 > 0:51:08Happy smiling fa...!

0:51:10 > 0:51:13As a matter of fact, the old place hasn't changed one little bit.

0:51:13 > 0:51:15Don't you feel there's something missing?

0:51:15 > 0:51:17TROMBONE GROANS

0:51:17 > 0:51:18That's it.

0:51:20 > 0:51:22But it's exciting in the theatre, the lights, the atmosphere!

0:51:22 > 0:51:25- Is that what it is?- Yes. - I thought it was you.

0:51:25 > 0:51:27I'm getting a bit fed up with this stage lark.

0:51:27 > 0:51:30- Fed up with it?- Well, I'd like to do something different, you know,

0:51:30 > 0:51:31like go abroad, get a new job.

0:51:31 > 0:51:34Where was that woman there when she was doing that dancing?

0:51:34 > 0:51:35- I've got it.- What?

0:51:35 > 0:51:37- Spain.- Is that where she was?

0:51:37 > 0:51:39- Yes.- That's where I'd like to go, where it's hot.

0:51:39 > 0:51:40- That's the place for you.- Why?

0:51:40 > 0:51:44Listen, you would make a marvellous bullfighter.

0:51:45 > 0:51:47Yeah, you're a natural.

0:51:47 > 0:51:50Listen, I'm going to make you the greatest bullfighter in the world.

0:51:50 > 0:51:53- You're only saying that.- No, I'm not.

0:51:53 > 0:51:54- Well, somebody just did.- Eh?

0:51:56 > 0:51:58Morecambe and Wise.

0:51:58 > 0:52:01APPLAUSE

0:52:01 > 0:52:03Morecambe and Wise were now back on television,

0:52:03 > 0:52:07and it was ITV shows like Val Parnell's Saturday Spectacular

0:52:07 > 0:52:09where they really stood out.

0:52:09 > 0:52:10ORCHESTRA PLAYS

0:52:10 > 0:52:14# Lady of Spain, I adore you

0:52:14 > 0:52:17# Right from the moment I saw you... #

0:52:17 > 0:52:19# And ever more I'm singing the blues...

0:52:19 > 0:52:21ORCHESTRA STOPS PLAYING

0:52:21 > 0:52:23# Without you

0:52:23 > 0:52:25# Why do you do me this way?

0:52:25 > 0:52:26# Hey. #

0:52:26 > 0:52:28- Morecambe...- And Wise!

0:52:28 > 0:52:30APPLAUSE

0:52:36 > 0:52:40- SINGING IN A MUSIC HALL STYLE: - # You ain't nothing but a hound dog

0:52:40 > 0:52:44# You ain't nothing but a hound dog... #

0:52:44 > 0:52:46Very good.

0:52:46 > 0:52:49(I've heard of a square, but this fella's an oblong.)

0:52:55 > 0:52:56- Very good, that.- Now come on!

0:52:56 > 0:52:59Keep your eyes on this, sunshine! What do you think of that, eh?

0:53:02 > 0:53:04- Eric here. WOMAN'S VOICE:- 'Oh.'

0:53:04 > 0:53:06- You know, the good-looking one with the glasses.- 'Yes.'

0:53:06 > 0:53:10Yeah. Well, I was just ringing up to find out if, er...

0:53:10 > 0:53:12if you'd like to go to Brighton tomorrow

0:53:12 > 0:53:14and spend the day there with me.

0:53:14 > 0:53:18We could have a drink and a few laughs, one or two things, you know.

0:53:18 > 0:53:20Well, what do you say then?

0:53:20 > 0:53:21- MAN'S VOICE:- 'Hey, you.'

0:53:21 > 0:53:24- Eh?- 'I heard that.'

0:53:24 > 0:53:28- You what?- 'Do you know who I am?'

0:53:28 > 0:53:31- Do I what?- 'Do you know who I am?'

0:53:31 > 0:53:33Well, no. Who are you?

0:53:33 > 0:53:35'I'm Elsie's 'usband.'

0:53:36 > 0:53:37Oh.

0:53:37 > 0:53:39- Do you know who I am?- 'No.'

0:53:41 > 0:53:43LAUGHTER

0:53:45 > 0:53:49On ITV, the northern accents of Morecambe and Wise seemed fresh,

0:53:49 > 0:53:51like the channel itself.

0:53:53 > 0:53:58Sunday Night At The London Palladium was ITV's biggest entertainment show

0:53:58 > 0:54:00and Morecambe and Wise made several

0:54:00 > 0:54:03show-stealing appearances on the programme.

0:54:03 > 0:54:07Billy Marsh rang them one day and said, "Boys, we've made it.

0:54:07 > 0:54:10"I've got you headline on Sunday Night At The Palladium.

0:54:10 > 0:54:13"Lew wants you to top the bill on Sunday Night At The Palladium,"

0:54:13 > 0:54:15which was the biggest show on television at the time.

0:54:15 > 0:54:17They were thrilled.

0:54:17 > 0:54:19So that was, really, "We've arrived."

0:54:19 > 0:54:21I'm just like a shadow.

0:54:21 > 0:54:23# Me and my Shadow... #

0:54:24 > 0:54:26Now you try and get out of that, eh?

0:54:26 > 0:54:27Ooh!

0:54:31 > 0:54:33LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE

0:54:34 > 0:54:36My goodness! What have I done?

0:54:38 > 0:54:41APPLAUSE

0:54:47 > 0:54:48Excuse me, sir, are you all right?

0:54:48 > 0:54:51- Have you anything to say to the viewers before you leave?- One thing.

0:54:51 > 0:54:53- What? - HE MUMBLES

0:54:56 > 0:54:59Audiences loved Morecambe and Wise,

0:54:59 > 0:55:02and ATV thought they were ready for a show of their own.

0:55:05 > 0:55:08Morecambe and Wise prepared themselves for another stab

0:55:08 > 0:55:11at a television series, but they were nervous.

0:55:11 > 0:55:15Fearing a repeat of the problems that had sunk Running Wild,

0:55:15 > 0:55:18Morecambe and Wise sought out the advice of the era's other

0:55:18 > 0:55:21successful northern double act, Jewel and Warris.

0:55:27 > 0:55:30Jimmy Jewel and Ben Warris had transferred their double act

0:55:30 > 0:55:34onto television with some success, and recommended their writers

0:55:34 > 0:55:37and their producer to Morecambe and Wise.

0:55:37 > 0:55:40Eric and Ernie informed Lew Grade at ATV

0:55:40 > 0:55:44that this was the production team they wanted, and they got their way.

0:55:45 > 0:55:50In the summer of 1961, Morecambe and Wise and their new producer,

0:55:50 > 0:55:53Colin Clews, and new writers Sid Green and Dick Hills,

0:55:53 > 0:55:56started work on the new show.

0:55:56 > 0:55:59APPLAUSE

0:55:59 > 0:56:01The first episode of Two Of A Kind

0:56:01 > 0:56:05was transmitted in October 1961 to a lukewarm reception.

0:56:05 > 0:56:07Something wasn't right,

0:56:07 > 0:56:11and Eric and Ernie blamed the scriptwriters, Hills and Green.

0:56:11 > 0:56:15The sketches that were being written for them by Sid Green and Dick Hills

0:56:15 > 0:56:21were populated by quite large casts, and they felt really uneasy with it.

0:56:23 > 0:56:26- Welcome to Casablanca... - Just a moment, just a moment!

0:56:28 > 0:56:30The sketches had too many actors on screen.

0:56:30 > 0:56:32It was The Morecambe & Wise Show,

0:56:32 > 0:56:35but the stars were fighting for attention with the extras.

0:56:35 > 0:56:39It was back to the whole Running Wild experience of 1954,

0:56:39 > 0:56:41the whole disaster scenario had re-emerged.

0:56:41 > 0:56:44Not because Sid and Dick were writing badly - they weren't -

0:56:44 > 0:56:47but they were suddenly in a cast of thousands again.

0:56:47 > 0:56:49It was back to lots of people on a stage

0:56:49 > 0:56:52and then being told to do this, stand there, do this.

0:56:52 > 0:56:55So it was heading nowhere, again, very quickly.

0:56:55 > 0:56:57A solution presented itself

0:56:57 > 0:57:01when the actors' union, Equity, called a strike.

0:57:01 > 0:57:04With no actors available, Hills and Green were forced to write

0:57:04 > 0:57:08small-scale sketches around the personalities of Morecambe and Wise.

0:57:09 > 0:57:11- Nap-nap-nap.- Nap-nap-nap.

0:57:11 > 0:57:13- I say!- Nap-nap.

0:57:13 > 0:57:15Nap-nap-nap-nap. What?

0:57:15 > 0:57:17Is that Brigitte Bardot over there?

0:57:17 > 0:57:19- Where?- Snap! I win.

0:57:20 > 0:57:22Cunning devil!

0:57:24 > 0:57:25- Try it again.- Again?- Nap-nap-nap.

0:57:25 > 0:57:27I can see the top of your cards.

0:57:27 > 0:57:30I won't look. Nap-nap, nap-nap.

0:57:30 > 0:57:32- Hey.- What? - Is that Brigitte Bardot over there?

0:57:32 > 0:57:34- No, she's over there.- Where?

0:57:34 > 0:57:35Snap! I win.

0:57:37 > 0:57:40The cast is cut down, the sketches become more intimate

0:57:40 > 0:57:42and we're invited into their world.

0:57:42 > 0:57:45And the whole of their television performance came down

0:57:45 > 0:57:51to a very intimate, face-to-face, nose-to-nose intimate relationship,

0:57:51 > 0:57:54and all the clutter on the screen, millions of actors

0:57:54 > 0:57:57and extras and props - all that got stripped away

0:57:57 > 0:58:01and they suddenly discovered what magic that was

0:58:01 > 0:58:05and how that was a television technique.

0:58:05 > 0:58:06They were made for television.

0:58:06 > 0:58:11A lot of the music hall stars who'd made it on the stage

0:58:11 > 0:58:15were too big when they came in front of a camera.

0:58:15 > 0:58:17They were sort of eating the camera.

0:58:17 > 0:58:19But Eric and Ernie were made for television.

0:58:19 > 0:58:23They adapted perfectly, because it was all conversational,

0:58:23 > 0:58:25the two of them talking to each other.

0:58:25 > 0:58:28In a way, it gave them a break because they found that those

0:58:28 > 0:58:33short, concise shows were received amazingly well.

0:58:33 > 0:58:37I used to go to the studio and watch when it was a live broadcast

0:58:37 > 0:58:40and they used to bring the house down, you couldn't believe it,

0:58:40 > 0:58:44couldn't believe that it could go so well. Brought the house down.

0:58:44 > 0:58:46Well, first of all, ladies and gentlemen,

0:58:46 > 0:58:49I'd like to speak to you about Einstein's theory of astrophysics.

0:58:49 > 0:58:52This, of course, is a very, very fascinating subject

0:58:52 > 0:58:54and very, very difficult for the ordinary man.

0:58:54 > 0:58:56But as you know, we...

0:58:56 > 0:58:57Hup, hey!

0:58:59 > 0:59:03As you know, we are surrounded by a lot of commonplace things...

0:59:03 > 0:59:05Hup! Hey-oh!

0:59:05 > 0:59:07..motor cars, aeroplanes and vacuum cleaners,

0:59:07 > 0:59:09and very few people seem to want...

0:59:09 > 0:59:11LAUGHTER

0:59:18 > 0:59:19BAG RUSTLES

0:59:19 > 0:59:20LAUGHTER

0:59:20 > 0:59:25An unexpected bonus of the strike meant the writers, Dick Hills

0:59:25 > 0:59:28and Sid Green, had to stand in for the missing actors.

0:59:28 > 0:59:33# Do you miss me tonight?

0:59:33 > 0:59:36# Oh, are you sorry

0:59:36 > 0:59:39# We drifted apart... #

0:59:39 > 0:59:41What are you doing?

0:59:41 > 0:59:44- I'm singing, aren't I?- Singing? - # Are you... #

0:59:44 > 0:59:47You don't sing on your own any more, you know?

0:59:47 > 0:59:49Well, Frank Sinatra didn't do bad, did he?

0:59:49 > 0:59:51He'd have backing today,

0:59:51 > 0:59:53you know, like Cliff Richard has The Shadows.

0:59:53 > 0:59:57- Oh, has he?- It's a very lucky day for you.- Speak up a bit.

0:59:57 > 0:59:59- # Are you... # - Hey, I'm a group.- By yourself?

0:59:59 > 1:00:02No, no, no. There's a group of us.

1:00:02 > 1:00:04- Is it?- Yeah, Sid and Dick. You haven't met them, have you?- No.

1:00:04 > 1:00:06Well, this is Dick and this is Sid.

1:00:06 > 1:00:10- Oh, I see.- That's Dick and that's Sid. They are going to back you.

1:00:10 > 1:00:13- Well, what does Dick... That's Dick? - Yeah.- What does he do, then?

1:00:13 > 1:00:17- Well, he's a boomer.- Oh. - Give him a "boom", Dick.

1:00:17 > 1:00:21- Boom. - LAUGHTER

1:00:21 > 1:00:25- Is that all he does?- That's all he needs to do.- Does he cop?- Of course.

1:00:25 > 1:00:29Well, what about... What about...Sid then?

1:00:29 > 1:00:34- Ah, now, he's the real personality. - Yeah.- He's an ooh-er.

1:00:34 > 1:00:36- Is he?- Yes.- Oh.

1:00:36 > 1:00:38Give him an "ooh", Sid.

1:00:38 > 1:00:41Ooh!

1:00:41 > 1:00:43You didn't want to part with that, did you?

1:00:44 > 1:00:47The amateurish acting by Sid and Dick gave the whole show

1:00:47 > 1:00:49an accessible charm,

1:00:49 > 1:00:52the perfect setting for Eric Morecambe.

1:00:52 > 1:00:53I can remember it from watching it.

1:00:53 > 1:00:56Suddenly there were the two script writers going,

1:00:56 > 1:00:59"Boom! Ooh! Yat-ta-ta-ta. Boom. Ooh..."

1:00:59 > 1:01:03when they did a doo-wop number, and it was Sid and Dick, and we went,

1:01:03 > 1:01:06"Who are these people?"

1:01:06 > 1:01:09We didn't know people had script writers in those days,

1:01:09 > 1:01:11but there they were on stage, just four people

1:01:11 > 1:01:13instead of 10, 20, or whatever.

1:01:13 > 1:01:15A one, a two...

1:01:15 > 1:01:19- Boom.- Ooh!- Yat-ta-ta-ta. - Boom.- Ooh!- Yat-ta-ta-ta.

1:01:19 > 1:01:22# Are you lonesome tonight?

1:01:22 > 1:01:26# Do you miss me tonight?

1:01:26 > 1:01:31# Are you sorry we drifted apart? #

1:01:31 > 1:01:36- J-J-Just a minute.- No, don't stop.- Just a minute.- Boom!

1:01:36 > 1:01:39J-Just a minute.

1:01:39 > 1:01:43- I'm yat-ta-ta-ta-ing, you see?- Oh, of course. Well, you shouldn't be.

1:01:43 > 1:01:45No, I should be singing Are You Lonesome Tonight?.

1:01:45 > 1:01:47You've got the sideboards, you're the star.

1:01:47 > 1:01:50- I've got them all down to here, yeah.- It's probably the start.

1:01:50 > 1:01:54Something went wrong with the start. I know, Sid, you start us off.

1:01:54 > 1:01:59- Give us the one, two, then you'll be all right.- Yeah.- OK. Ready?- Yeah.

1:01:59 > 1:02:02- One, two... # Boom.- Ooh!- Yat-ta-ta-ta

1:02:02 > 1:02:05- # Boom.- Ooh!- Yat-ta-ta-ta... #

1:02:05 > 1:02:08Eric and Ernie and Sid and Dick became a comedy gang.

1:02:08 > 1:02:10It was unusual but it worked.

1:02:10 > 1:02:14Morecambe and Wise finally had a format which would make them

1:02:14 > 1:02:15television stars.

1:02:15 > 1:02:18- Just a minute, Sid. - Boom.- Just a minute, Dick.

1:02:18 > 1:02:20LAUGHTER

1:02:20 > 1:02:23I'm doing the "ooh" now.

1:02:23 > 1:02:26I've yat-ta-ta-ta-ed and now I am doing the "ooh" now.

1:02:26 > 1:02:28I've only got the "boom" to go.

1:02:28 > 1:02:32Sid Green and Dick Hills had very little in common

1:02:32 > 1:02:34with Morecambe and Wise.

1:02:34 > 1:02:36Sid and Dick were from the south, well-educated

1:02:36 > 1:02:40and had a reputation as talented comedy writers.

1:02:40 > 1:02:43They were a bit posher than Eric and Ernie, and in those days,

1:02:43 > 1:02:45there were still a lot of deference about.

1:02:45 > 1:02:48You deferred to people who were posher than you.

1:02:48 > 1:02:52In many ways, Sid and Dick were in control of Two Of A Kind,

1:02:52 > 1:02:56which was sometimes a problem for Eric and Ernie.

1:02:56 > 1:02:59I think they tried to take too much credit for it.

1:02:59 > 1:03:04I think they were very critical after a show, and Eric would come off

1:03:04 > 1:03:08and be in the dressing room, and Hills and Green would come in,

1:03:08 > 1:03:10"Well, you got that wrong and you got that wrong,"

1:03:10 > 1:03:12and Eric would swallow it and then they'd go out

1:03:12 > 1:03:14and Eric would go... and Ernie would go...

1:03:14 > 1:03:16HE GROWLS ..like that.

1:03:16 > 1:03:19Sid and Dick were really running The Morecambe & Wise Show

1:03:19 > 1:03:23to begin with. Without a doubt, it was their project.

1:03:23 > 1:03:27Eric and Ernie were the employed comedians, really.

1:03:27 > 1:03:30I think my father always found that Sid was very negative about them,

1:03:30 > 1:03:31always brought things down, like,

1:03:31 > 1:03:34"Oh, you could've done that better or that better."

1:03:34 > 1:03:36There was never any sense of praise.

1:03:36 > 1:03:39And they were not easy, they were quite chippy.

1:03:39 > 1:03:42Sid and Dick were brilliant but very chippy and difficult

1:03:42 > 1:03:46and critical, and it wasn't a happy working environment

1:03:46 > 1:03:48and they used to have to bite their lip

1:03:48 > 1:03:52when they went to rehearsals, and I think that took its toll.

1:03:53 > 1:03:56The creative differences between writers

1:03:56 > 1:03:59and performers were kept under control by the producer Colin Clews.

1:04:01 > 1:04:07Colin Clews was... Essentially, he had come up the ranks of television.

1:04:07 > 1:04:13He hadn't been in variety or any of those things, to my knowledge, and

1:04:13 > 1:04:17he was a great television technician, he had a good sense of comedy.

1:04:17 > 1:04:22He was very collaborative, easy to work with and very, very talented.

1:04:22 > 1:04:27Knew how to shoot them and knew how to get the best out of them,

1:04:27 > 1:04:30and knew when to say, "No, guys, that won't work,"

1:04:30 > 1:04:33and they respected that in the same way that he would respect them

1:04:33 > 1:04:36when they said, "No, Colin, we need to do it this way because...

1:04:36 > 1:04:39"Even if it doesn't work for the cameras, you'll have to find

1:04:39 > 1:04:41"a way to make it work because that is where the laugh is."

1:04:41 > 1:04:43It was wonderfully collaborative.

1:04:43 > 1:04:47I think Colin Clews was massive in the history of Morecambe and Wise

1:04:47 > 1:04:50on TV, because of his experience and what he brought to the production.

1:04:50 > 1:04:52I remember my father saying that every now and then

1:04:52 > 1:04:55he'd even throw in a gag, or something like that,

1:04:55 > 1:04:57and I think on one or two occasions you see

1:04:57 > 1:05:01Eric say, "Colin was right." Like if a gag fell flat,

1:05:01 > 1:05:05Colin Clews probably said on the quiet, "That one won't work tonight."

1:05:05 > 1:05:09And Eric kept it in and it fell flat, so he was right.

1:05:09 > 1:05:11Who was he going to say? That's what I want to know.

1:05:11 > 1:05:14- Who is he going to say? - Who invented this?- Yes.- Years ago,

1:05:14 > 1:05:18- Sir Humphrey Lyttelton.- Ah-ha-ha!

1:05:18 > 1:05:20You see, it's just a wild guess, that's all.

1:05:20 > 1:05:24- No, definitely, he invented it. - Yes, and Colin was right.- Yes.- What?

1:05:25 > 1:05:28Two Of A Kind was a modern comedy show.

1:05:28 > 1:05:31The set design was stylish, the costumes were fashionable

1:05:31 > 1:05:35and Morecambe and Wise were confident and funny.

1:05:35 > 1:05:40- He does the John Wayne walk! - Yeah, well, you know.

1:05:40 > 1:05:43You've seen John Wayne walk. He walks like that, don't he?

1:05:43 > 1:05:46LAUGHTER

1:05:46 > 1:05:50As if he's hurt himself, you see. Something like that.

1:05:50 > 1:05:53- John Wayne doesn't walk like that! - He does.

1:05:53 > 1:05:56He definitely walks sort of more like this.

1:05:57 > 1:06:01- That's Elsie Wayne, that is! - What do you mean, Elsie Wayne?!

1:06:01 > 1:06:06- He walks like that.- No, he doesn't. John Wayne walks like that.

1:06:06 > 1:06:10THEY ALL TALK AT ONCE

1:06:13 > 1:06:17Anyway, look. We've got it between us, haven't we, the way he walks?

1:06:17 > 1:06:21He walks like one of us. He looks a bit like you, he's got your hands...

1:06:21 > 1:06:24he's got nothing of yours at all! LAUGHTER

1:06:25 > 1:06:27Use your feet, boy.

1:06:27 > 1:06:30Oh, lovely!

1:06:30 > 1:06:34The energy of Two Of A Kind makes the show one of ITV's most

1:06:34 > 1:06:36popular programmes.

1:06:36 > 1:06:39I think they were sort of hovering a second only to

1:06:39 > 1:06:42Coronation Street or something like that in terms of the ratings.

1:06:42 > 1:06:44It was quite phenomenal.

1:06:44 > 1:06:49My first realisation that I had a famous father was

1:06:49 > 1:06:52when I started big school,

1:06:52 > 1:06:55so when I was just coming up to eight,

1:06:55 > 1:06:59and I didn't realise that seeing posters of your father

1:06:59 > 1:07:02and seeing your father perform was unusual.

1:07:02 > 1:07:05I thought that was a job that dads did.

1:07:05 > 1:07:11But those 1960 shows, they would be discussed

1:07:11 > 1:07:15and children can be quite harsh, so they tended to be discussed

1:07:15 > 1:07:19in a way that went along the lines of, "Well, your dad's an idiot.

1:07:19 > 1:07:21"Your dad's a buffoon."

1:07:21 > 1:07:25But there was the time when I did actually hear myself say,

1:07:25 > 1:07:29"Well, that's OK, because, actually, I'm adopted."

1:07:29 > 1:07:34And, you know, I never owned up to not being adopted...

1:07:34 > 1:07:36which I'm slightly ashamed of.

1:07:36 > 1:07:39During the series, many of the ideas which would become

1:07:39 > 1:07:42hallmarks of Morecambe and Wise were first introduced.

1:07:42 > 1:07:45What are you going to do? It's about time you did something, isn't it?

1:07:45 > 1:07:47We'll sing a song together, shall we?

1:07:47 > 1:07:48- Finish on a sentimental note? - Why not?

1:07:48 > 1:07:50Let's do a song and dance.

1:07:50 > 1:07:53In series two, Eric and Ernie first sang the title song

1:07:53 > 1:07:55to end the programme, an idea which

1:07:55 > 1:07:59would eventually lead them to their signature tune Bring Me Sunshine.

1:07:59 > 1:08:02# Two of a kind For your information

1:08:02 > 1:08:05# We're two of a kind... #

1:08:05 > 1:08:09Many of the sketches which Morecambe and Wise are best known for

1:08:09 > 1:08:10started life on Two Of A Kind.

1:08:10 > 1:08:14# I'm singin' in the rain

1:08:14 > 1:08:16# Just singin' in the rain... #

1:08:16 > 1:08:19LAUGHTER

1:08:19 > 1:08:21Eric got drenched in water during the number

1:08:21 > 1:08:24Singin' In The Rain in 1962.

1:08:24 > 1:08:28This was later reworked into a classic routine on the BBC.

1:08:29 > 1:08:34# ..Everyone from the place

1:08:34 > 1:08:40# Come on with the rain There's a smile on my face... #

1:08:40 > 1:08:44Another iconic BBC routine was the Grieg piano concerto

1:08:44 > 1:08:46with Andre Previn.

1:08:46 > 1:08:50- What... W-What were you playing just then?- The Grieg piano concerto.

1:08:50 > 1:08:53HE PLAYS OUT OF TUNE

1:08:54 > 1:08:59But...but...you're playing all the wrong notes.

1:09:12 > 1:09:18I'm playing all the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order.

1:09:20 > 1:09:26Again, this was first performed on Two Of A Kind in 1963.

1:09:26 > 1:09:29You're playing all the wrong notes!

1:09:31 > 1:09:33No, I am playing all the right notes.

1:09:33 > 1:09:37They're not necessarily in the right order...

1:09:40 > 1:09:43Two Of A Kind establishes Morecambe and Wise

1:09:43 > 1:09:46as one of the hottest properties in show business.

1:09:46 > 1:09:50It is the '60s and the country is changing fast.

1:09:50 > 1:09:53The Beatles' appearance on Two Of A Kind shows there's nothing

1:09:53 > 1:09:57better than being from the north in 1960s Britain.

1:09:57 > 1:10:00- Do you like being famous? - It's not like in your day, you know?

1:10:00 > 1:10:01LAUGHTER

1:10:03 > 1:10:06What? APPLAUSE

1:10:06 > 1:10:08Oh, that's an insult! THEY LAUGH

1:10:08 > 1:10:11What do you mean, not like in my day?

1:10:11 > 1:10:13Well, me dad used to tell me about you, you know.

1:10:13 > 1:10:16You've only got a little dad, have you?

1:10:16 > 1:10:18LAUGHTER

1:10:18 > 1:10:21They start to make serious money

1:10:21 > 1:10:24selling thousands of tickets for their stage shows.

1:10:24 > 1:10:27Here's holiday entertainment for the whole family,

1:10:27 > 1:10:29The Morecambe And Wise Show,

1:10:29 > 1:10:32starring Eric Morecambe, Ernie Wise,

1:10:32 > 1:10:34an all-star company.

1:10:34 > 1:10:37This fabulous show is on the stage for the summer season

1:10:37 > 1:10:40at the ABC Blackpool from 5th June.

1:10:43 > 1:10:46The Morecambe And Wise Show is presented twice nightly at 6.10

1:10:46 > 1:10:50and 8.45, in the comfort of Europe's most luxurious theatre.

1:10:52 > 1:10:55Morecambe and Wise had made it on the British stage

1:10:55 > 1:10:59and television, but their ambition left them wanting more.

1:10:59 > 1:11:02They could not resist the challenge of comedy films

1:11:02 > 1:11:04and the glamour of the USA, and this was where

1:11:04 > 1:11:08they would concentrate their fire during the mid-'60s.

1:11:08 > 1:11:11Starting off our show tonight is a team of very fine comedians and

1:11:11 > 1:11:15very nice people who flew over here from London, England.

1:11:15 > 1:11:17Here is the team of Morecambe and wise.

1:11:17 > 1:11:20Let's have a fine American greeting for them.

1:11:20 > 1:11:23The Ed Sullivan Show in New York was the launch pad for many

1:11:23 > 1:11:27English entertainers on American TV, and Morecambe and Wise

1:11:27 > 1:11:29made regular appearances in the '60s.

1:11:29 > 1:11:31I'm singing the counter melody that goes,

1:11:31 > 1:11:34# A musical genius Set your honey a-dreamin'

1:11:34 > 1:11:37# Won't you play me some rag? Yeah, yeah. #

1:11:37 > 1:11:39LAUGHTER

1:11:39 > 1:11:41Don't you know the other one, then?

1:11:41 > 1:11:44I know them both, but you're going to sing the melody and I'm going to

1:11:44 > 1:11:47sing the counter melody, and the two will blend together.

1:11:47 > 1:11:50- It is a musical treat!- Is it? - ERIC LAUGHS

1:11:50 > 1:11:52- I start off then, do I? - You start off.

1:11:52 > 1:11:54A one, a two...

1:11:54 > 1:11:56# Won't you... Won't you play

1:11:56 > 1:12:02- # Won't you.. - Won't... #

1:12:02 > 1:12:03Oooh!

1:12:03 > 1:12:05# Won't you play a simple

1:12:05 > 1:12:09BOTH: # Musical genius Set your honey... # No!

1:12:09 > 1:12:12It must have been a nightmare for Eric and Ernie because the

1:12:12 > 1:12:17audience are just totally bemused by this, you know, people who

1:12:17 > 1:12:21speak very quickly in an English accent, slightly northern accent.

1:12:21 > 1:12:25- What about American audiences? - A lot of people are saying that.

1:12:25 > 1:12:26LAUGHTER

1:12:26 > 1:12:29No, I like them. I like them because they're over there.

1:12:29 > 1:12:31LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE

1:12:36 > 1:12:40Success in America had always been Ernie's dream more than Eric's,

1:12:40 > 1:12:42and having disapproved the idea they were too northern

1:12:42 > 1:12:44for southern audiences in England,

1:12:44 > 1:12:48Eric Morecambe was in no mood to adapt his style for the Americans.

1:12:48 > 1:12:51We are British humour, we can't use elevators and dollars...

1:12:51 > 1:12:53- I don't say to him...- IN AMERICAN ACCENT:- "I came to the elevator..."

1:12:53 > 1:12:55We do our money routine

1:12:55 > 1:12:58and it's about dollars and subways and things...

1:12:58 > 1:13:03I think it's bad. The British comics I see on television doing this, I think it's disgusting

1:13:03 > 1:13:07because I think the Americans should watch us and learn.

1:13:07 > 1:13:10But Eric said, "We're as big as we can be in this country,

1:13:10 > 1:13:15"why do we want to go and get worried and anxious in America?"

1:13:15 > 1:13:18There was a friendly difference of opinion.

1:13:18 > 1:13:23It wasn't a big deal, but Ernie dreamed of making it in America,

1:13:23 > 1:13:24but not for Eric.

1:13:24 > 1:13:28You see, we were busy making it here and, in particular,

1:13:28 > 1:13:32I didn't want to go over to America and start - I was 42 then -

1:13:32 > 1:13:35and start all over again because you would have to,

1:13:35 > 1:13:38you would have to start from the bottom, and we started at the bottom

1:13:38 > 1:13:39on those Sullivan shows.

1:13:39 > 1:13:42We were low, we weren't big stars on The Ed Sullivan Show.

1:13:42 > 1:13:44They used to give us about three minutes.

1:13:44 > 1:13:48Three minutes, get on, get off, six months of my best wages and come home.

1:13:49 > 1:13:52Their reluctance to change was only part of the reason

1:13:52 > 1:13:54they didn't take off in America.

1:13:54 > 1:13:57The truth was they didn't really try.

1:13:57 > 1:13:59They were British comedy stars, and that was enough

1:13:59 > 1:14:01for Morecambe and Wise.

1:14:04 > 1:14:06For all the popularity it had brought them,

1:14:06 > 1:14:10television was still a small black-and-white screen.

1:14:10 > 1:14:14Their TV audiences had never seen them in full colour

1:14:14 > 1:14:17and for a generation raised on the glamour of Hollywood,

1:14:17 > 1:14:20film cast a magical spell.

1:14:20 > 1:14:23Both Eric and Ernie grew up movie mad.

1:14:23 > 1:14:26They loved the glamour of Hollywood

1:14:26 > 1:14:28and they used to disappear into it

1:14:28 > 1:14:31in the darkened cinemas in the north of England

1:14:31 > 1:14:33when they were adolescents.

1:14:33 > 1:14:38And both had a kind of vague dream that if they ever got really famous,

1:14:38 > 1:14:40they'd love to make their own film.

1:14:40 > 1:14:45Ernie was by far the strongest, always, in terms of pushing for that,

1:14:45 > 1:14:50because he'd really wanted to be like the American performers he'd seen,

1:14:50 > 1:14:52and he loved the musicals

1:14:52 > 1:14:55and he loved the glamour of the great spectacles.

1:14:55 > 1:14:59And so, he'd always been driven to make it in America

1:14:59 > 1:15:02and make it in the movies.

1:15:02 > 1:15:07They were terribly excited about doing films, absolutely thrilled.

1:15:07 > 1:15:10The big draw, obviously, was having colour,

1:15:10 > 1:15:14being seen on a big screen in colour and also having a big budget.

1:15:18 > 1:15:21For Morecambe and Wise, the excitement of film-making

1:15:21 > 1:15:25kicked off in 1964 when production began on The Intelligence Men -

1:15:25 > 1:15:30a Cold War spy spoof written by their TV show writers

1:15:30 > 1:15:31Hills and Green.

1:15:31 > 1:15:33- Right, are you ready?- Yeah. - Here we go!

1:15:37 > 1:15:38Bang!

1:15:39 > 1:15:42I'd like to take this moment to mention our film,

1:15:42 > 1:15:45which we've just made. Our first film for Ranks.

1:15:45 > 1:15:47- They've asked us to say this. - Yes.

1:15:47 > 1:15:49- The Rank Organisation.- Yes. - The Intelligence Men.

1:15:49 > 1:15:53- The Intelligence Men. - And we haven't seen it yet,

1:15:53 > 1:15:56but members of the government have seen it and they're knocked out with it,

1:15:56 > 1:15:59because they'd like to use it in place of capital punishment.

1:15:59 > 1:16:01LAUGHTER

1:16:03 > 1:16:08The premiere of The Intelligence Men took place in March 1965

1:16:08 > 1:16:10at the Odeon in Manchester.

1:16:10 > 1:16:14It was a glamorous night, and the stakes were high.

1:16:14 > 1:16:17A hit film could change their lives

1:16:17 > 1:16:20and help them break through in America.

1:16:20 > 1:16:23We were terribly excited about going to the premiere.

1:16:23 > 1:16:27First time this has ever happened in our lives and so

1:16:27 > 1:16:32it was quite a glamorous occasion, really. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

1:16:32 > 1:16:36Hoped that the film was going to be a success, we were never quite sure.

1:16:36 > 1:16:40The high hopes of the premiere didn't last long.

1:16:40 > 1:16:44The next day, they received a cool reception from the film critics.

1:16:44 > 1:16:48They weren't going to become film stars overnight.

1:16:48 > 1:16:52It's...you know, it's comedy, thriller, but not very funny.

1:16:52 > 1:16:55CHA-CHA-CHA SONG PLAYS

1:17:07 > 1:17:10The best part of that film comes right at the end

1:17:10 > 1:17:12when there's a performance of Swan Lake.

1:17:18 > 1:17:22And Eric and Ernie, for some reason, dress in Egyptian costumes,

1:17:22 > 1:17:24get mixed up in the dance of the little swans

1:17:24 > 1:17:27and that was brilliant, and that was the kind of thing that

1:17:27 > 1:17:31later on they went to do absolutely perfectly on television.

1:17:31 > 1:17:34But that was the only bit of the film that really works.

1:17:34 > 1:17:39The film survived the critics and did well at the box office.

1:17:39 > 1:17:41Eric and Ernie were encouraged

1:17:41 > 1:17:44and went to the south of France to shoot their next film.

1:17:46 > 1:17:49I had a great time when they did The Riviera, and so did Doreen.

1:17:49 > 1:17:52We had a great time doing That Riviera Touch.

1:17:52 > 1:17:56It wasn't like work, we used to say, it wasn't like work.

1:17:56 > 1:18:00And I would certainly get up in the early hours of the morning,

1:18:00 > 1:18:03the same as them, to go out with them on location

1:18:03 > 1:18:07and there was something terribly glamorous about the whole thing.

1:18:07 > 1:18:13And there would always be this big van would pull up as you arrived,

1:18:13 > 1:18:16and you thought, "Good old French cuisine."

1:18:16 > 1:18:19They got all the breakfast there, you know.

1:18:19 > 1:18:22So you could sit down in this lovely area, perhaps a wooded area,

1:18:22 > 1:18:26and you'd have all this breakfast lined up

1:18:26 > 1:18:29and you could sit and have your coffee and your breakfast.

1:18:29 > 1:18:32Very, very civilised indeed way of filming.

1:18:32 > 1:18:36Morecambe and Wise had a three-film deal with The Rank Organisation,

1:18:36 > 1:18:39but after a lifetime in front of an audience,

1:18:39 > 1:18:42Eric and Ernie were having trouble adapting to the

1:18:42 > 1:18:44process of shooting a film.

1:18:44 > 1:18:47Isn't this a problem when you make your films, then? You've got

1:18:47 > 1:18:50no real audience, apart from studio hands and all the rest of it.

1:18:50 > 1:18:53- Oh, who've seen everything?- Yes. And we never give them a complete show.

1:18:53 > 1:18:56- We only do a minute at a time. - We only do a minute at a time.

1:18:56 > 1:18:58So you don't know until you see the rushes, actually?

1:18:58 > 1:19:01- We don't do the rushes any more. - We don't do the rushes, no.

1:19:01 > 1:19:04Frightened to death of them... Cos they do, they petrify you.

1:19:04 > 1:19:06And we can't...even then, you can't tell in rushes,

1:19:06 > 1:19:09you can't tell. We can't.

1:19:09 > 1:19:12When do you know that it's worked? When you see the film premiere?

1:19:12 > 1:19:13When the cheque comes.

1:19:13 > 1:19:15THEY LAUGH

1:19:15 > 1:19:18Yes, I don't know. I can't sit and watch the films either.

1:19:18 > 1:19:22I don't know. You know, you get so sensitive in that direction. I am.

1:19:22 > 1:19:25I see myself blown up there on that screen, you know.

1:19:25 > 1:19:26Which he should be.

1:19:26 > 1:19:29And I get nervous.

1:19:29 > 1:19:31And you can't correct it, you see.

1:19:31 > 1:19:35You see, when it's up there and then the audience see it

1:19:35 > 1:19:38and they laugh at it, you probably could have,

1:19:38 > 1:19:41if you'd have been doing it live, you could have adjusted it quickly

1:19:41 > 1:19:44- to get even a bigger laugh, but you can't, it's there, it's done.- You can't.

1:19:44 > 1:19:46Eric didn't like it at all.

1:19:46 > 1:19:48He said, "Just sitting round, waiting to get the lighting right

1:19:48 > 1:19:50"and, of course, no laughs."

1:19:50 > 1:19:54He wanted that reaction, response.

1:19:54 > 1:19:59He felt even a sort of cold atmosphere in a straitjacket.

1:19:59 > 1:20:02Oh, he didn't... They didn't deliver their best in a film

1:20:02 > 1:20:06because it was a cold idiom for them to work in.

1:20:06 > 1:20:11Well, basically, spontaneity. We have a spontaneity, Ernie and I,

1:20:11 > 1:20:14that is not allowed to come over in films.

1:20:14 > 1:20:18- Because of the machinery of films? - Yes, and also because it's...

1:20:18 > 1:20:21- I couldn't...move over there.- Yeah. - If you felt like it.

1:20:21 > 1:20:24- You know, you can't walk off the set, obviously.- Yeah.

1:20:24 > 1:20:28And you've got to go to marks and finish on such and such a line

1:20:28 > 1:20:30and you'd do it six or eight times, you know.

1:20:30 > 1:20:32But don't you think it's possible to make films like this

1:20:32 > 1:20:35if you'd cut the size of the unit down with handheld cameras and all that?

1:20:35 > 1:20:39Well, I suppose so. I...I must be honest, I don't know.

1:20:39 > 1:20:43But where I feel that they go wrong with a lot of comedy in films

1:20:43 > 1:20:46is they don't allow you to work long enough.

1:20:46 > 1:20:51It's a minute bit instead of, say, a well-rehearsed seven-minute bit,

1:20:51 > 1:20:54- which they then can cut up. - Yeah.- You know?

1:20:54 > 1:20:56And also, I think they've got too many close-ups.

1:20:56 > 1:21:00It's all this all the time. You do the gag, then you get the close-up.

1:21:02 > 1:21:05Their next film, The Magnificent Two, was a story

1:21:05 > 1:21:08set against the backdrop of a Latin American revolution,

1:21:08 > 1:21:12and Eric and Ernie would approach the project with more fear

1:21:12 > 1:21:15and frustration than ever before.

1:21:15 > 1:21:18'Two eminent businessmen are making an early start.

1:21:18 > 1:21:22'Their business - humour. The place - a film studio.

1:21:24 > 1:21:26'On this particular occasion,

1:21:26 > 1:21:28'Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise -

1:21:28 > 1:21:31'surrounded by the talent, the technicians,

1:21:31 > 1:21:34'the expertise it takes to make a comedy feature film -

1:21:34 > 1:21:37'are playing the part of harmless tourists in South America

1:21:37 > 1:21:42'who find themselves turned into VIPs in the local revolution.'

1:21:42 > 1:21:45It's not a bad premise, it just wasn't worked out very well.

1:21:45 > 1:21:49And what I suppose most people who saw it remember vividly

1:21:49 > 1:21:53is a scene at the end when an army of beautiful young women dressed

1:21:53 > 1:21:57only in bras and panties go to war against the dictator's forces.

1:21:57 > 1:21:58Fire!

1:21:58 > 1:22:01THEY CHEER

1:22:05 > 1:22:09- I'm getting out while the getting's good! They'll shoot the pair of us! - They wouldn't dare!

1:22:09 > 1:22:11Listen, my people!

1:22:11 > 1:22:12SILENCE

1:22:15 > 1:22:16CHEERING

1:22:18 > 1:22:23'26 years' partnership has made these droll collaborations seem effortless,

1:22:23 > 1:22:26'but it's not all a bed of roses and, by the end of the day,

1:22:26 > 1:22:30'there may be only two minutes' screen time in the can.'

1:22:30 > 1:22:33They had now made three films, but none of them

1:22:33 > 1:22:36captured their comedy in the way they had expected.

1:22:37 > 1:22:39They hoped that they were going to produce

1:22:39 > 1:22:41something a little bit special.

1:22:41 > 1:22:44And in fact, in the end, I think they were very disappointed.

1:22:44 > 1:22:49Thoroughly enjoyed doing them, absolutely loved it, loved filming,

1:22:49 > 1:22:54but they were disappointed, they felt that they were average.

1:22:54 > 1:22:58They thought that they would be as successful as TV,

1:22:58 > 1:23:02but they learned from it that the films are totally acceptable

1:23:02 > 1:23:05and are still repeated to this day and are still very funny,

1:23:05 > 1:23:08but Eric and Ernie without a live audience is always

1:23:08 > 1:23:11just not quite the Eric and Ernie we know and love.

1:23:13 > 1:23:16The experience proved that television was their natural home

1:23:16 > 1:23:19and their talent blossomed on the small screen

1:23:19 > 1:23:22in a way they couldn't capture on a film set.

1:23:22 > 1:23:26By the fourth series, the titles were changed.

1:23:26 > 1:23:27No longer Two Of A kind -

1:23:27 > 1:23:30it was the now The Morecambe & Wise Show.

1:23:30 > 1:23:34They had much more to say about what sketches they did and didn't do,

1:23:34 > 1:23:39they began to be much more in control of what appeared on the screen

1:23:39 > 1:23:42and they would, you know, eventually, as they found their feet,

1:23:42 > 1:23:45you know, "I need to look at the camera here."

1:23:45 > 1:23:48You know... "No, I'll look at the camera here

1:23:48 > 1:23:51"and I'll say...you know, something to the audience at home."

1:23:51 > 1:23:53And they would take control,

1:23:53 > 1:23:57they had very... And they would use the people's talent around them,

1:23:57 > 1:24:01obviously, harness it, but they would be much more in control.

1:24:01 > 1:24:05That was a big... They knew what they were doing, you know.

1:24:05 > 1:24:11The fame of Eric and Ernie now tipped the balance of power away from Sid and Dick.

1:24:11 > 1:24:13- Hey, look who's over there on the right there?- Eh?

1:24:13 > 1:24:15- Look who's...- Who is it?

1:24:15 > 1:24:16Sid and Dick!

1:24:16 > 1:24:20Oh! No, they're still alive?

1:24:21 > 1:24:25Dubbing them Sick and Did, Eric even began criticising them

1:24:25 > 1:24:28as they recorded the sketches.

1:24:28 > 1:24:30Look at those two over there!

1:24:30 > 1:24:31LAUGHTER

1:24:31 > 1:24:33Sat there like the Dalton Brothers.

1:24:33 > 1:24:34LAUGHTER

1:24:34 > 1:24:37The only thing they've done is, "Mmm!"

1:24:37 > 1:24:38They did that badly.

1:24:38 > 1:24:40They may not have been best friends,

1:24:40 > 1:24:44but Sid and Dick and Eric and Ernie needed each other.

1:24:44 > 1:24:47Between them, they had made The Morecambe & Wise Show

1:24:47 > 1:24:49one of the best programmes on television.

1:24:49 > 1:24:53Hills and Green created some brilliant material,

1:24:53 > 1:24:56which Eric and Ernie, in the way they worked, would build on

1:24:56 > 1:24:57and improve, obviously,

1:24:57 > 1:25:00but Hills and Green are a very, very important part

1:25:00 > 1:25:03of the Morecambe and Wise story.

1:25:03 > 1:25:07I think the Hills and Green era saw the point

1:25:07 > 1:25:11at which Morecambe and Wise relaxed into themselves,

1:25:11 > 1:25:14relaxed into who they were as individuals.

1:25:16 > 1:25:20Throughout the 1960's, Morecambe and Wise continued to travel to America

1:25:20 > 1:25:24for the Ed Sullivan Show, making their last appearances in 1968.

1:25:25 > 1:25:29# Moonlight becomes you

1:25:29 > 1:25:32# It goes with you hair... #

1:25:32 > 1:25:34MUSIC STOPS

1:25:34 > 1:25:36LAUGHTER

1:25:36 > 1:25:38# ..You certainly know

1:25:38 > 1:25:41# The right things to wear... #

1:25:41 > 1:25:42MUSIC STOPS

1:25:42 > 1:25:45LAUGHTER

1:25:45 > 1:25:47Ernie believed if they kept at it,

1:25:47 > 1:25:50they could eventually crack it,

1:25:50 > 1:25:53but he knew his partner just didn't have his heart in it.

1:25:53 > 1:25:57And so, it just really frittered away as the '60s ended.

1:25:59 > 1:26:02Their last appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show are also

1:26:02 > 1:26:05the first TV recordings to show them in colour.

1:26:05 > 1:26:07Eric and Ernie had seen the future

1:26:07 > 1:26:10and were impatient to see themselves in colour at home.

1:26:11 > 1:26:15When contract negotiations began with Lew Grade at ATV

1:26:15 > 1:26:17in the summer of 1968,

1:26:17 > 1:26:20Morecambe and Wise wanted more money and colour television.

1:26:20 > 1:26:23Lew Grade wasn't going to give in.

1:26:23 > 1:26:28They disagreed about colour and they disagreed about money.

1:26:28 > 1:26:30I think you'd have to say mostly it was about money.

1:26:30 > 1:26:33That was the boiling point.

1:26:33 > 1:26:37Lew had a sense of what he thought they were worth to him

1:26:37 > 1:26:40and he'd never paid anybody more than he was paying them.

1:26:40 > 1:26:43They felt they were being undersold and that Lew was underpaying them.

1:26:43 > 1:26:45And, essentially, it was about money.

1:26:46 > 1:26:49Morecambe and Wise flexed their muscle.

1:26:49 > 1:26:51If Lew Grade wouldn't give them what they wanted,

1:26:51 > 1:26:55they would go somewhere else - the BBC.

1:26:55 > 1:26:57Form Eric and Ernie's side,

1:26:57 > 1:27:00they wanted to do colour TV

1:27:00 > 1:27:04and BBC Two in those days was the channel that offered that.

1:27:04 > 1:27:08And Ernie in particular thought they were due a pay rise as well

1:27:08 > 1:27:11and so, they started bargaining with ATV

1:27:11 > 1:27:15to say they wanted to do colour and they wanted a pay rise.

1:27:15 > 1:27:19At the moment they decided to leave ATV,

1:27:19 > 1:27:22they were headline attraction, they could sell out the Palladium,

1:27:22 > 1:27:26they could sell out any theatre in the UK in five minutes.

1:27:26 > 1:27:30They were household names, they were huge ratings,

1:27:30 > 1:27:33they were the biggest thing in the country, bar none.

1:27:33 > 1:27:34They were huge.

1:27:38 > 1:27:41It would be a move made in heaven.

1:27:41 > 1:27:45At the BBC, Morecambe and Wise would achieve greatness.

1:27:45 > 1:27:49It was only comedy, but it meant much more.

1:27:49 > 1:27:52The northerners who were told they wouldn't make it down south

1:27:52 > 1:27:55would be taken into the hearts of the entire nation.

1:27:55 > 1:27:59They would bring us fun,

1:27:59 > 1:28:01they would bring us sunshine,

1:28:01 > 1:28:03they would bring us love.

1:28:03 > 1:28:05Be honest, come on!

1:28:26 > 1:28:29Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd