0:00:02 > 0:00:04Name - Ronald "Goliath" Corbett.
0:00:07 > 0:00:11# When whippoorwills call And evening is nigh
0:00:11 > 0:00:16# I hurry to my blue heaven. #
0:00:16 > 0:00:21I want to just hug him and whenever I see him, I always hug him on meeting him.
0:00:21 > 0:00:24I just want to have a nice hug from him.
0:00:24 > 0:00:27There's so much going on in Ronnie Corbett.
0:00:27 > 0:00:31He makes it effortless. There's his natural charm, his warmth,
0:00:31 > 0:00:35his cunning, his craftsmanship, there's the years of experience.
0:00:35 > 0:00:38He's an entertainer. He wants to entertain you.
0:00:38 > 0:00:43Whenever Ronnie's on, I feel, "I'm comfortable here. I'm really going to enjoy this".
0:00:43 > 0:00:45Because he's enjoying it!
0:00:45 > 0:00:49And now of course the star of our show, Mr Ronnie Corbett!
0:00:49 > 0:00:52APPLAUSE
0:01:19 > 0:01:21All of today's performers would view Ronnie
0:01:21 > 0:01:25as something of a godfather and someone to look up to
0:01:25 > 0:01:27and be in awe of and respectful of,
0:01:27 > 0:01:31not in a retrospective way because he can do anything with anybody.
0:01:31 > 0:01:34He's just as contemporary now as ever he was.
0:01:34 > 0:01:36Oh, hi.
0:01:37 > 0:01:43He just represents years and years of great British comedy, really.
0:01:43 > 0:01:46BOTH: Rather a nice house.
0:01:46 > 0:01:48Of course, not to my taste.
0:01:48 > 0:01:50Nor mine.
0:01:50 > 0:01:53I prefer something more...elaborate.
0:01:53 > 0:01:55Me too.
0:01:55 > 0:01:59He's right up there. He's top of his game.
0:01:59 > 0:02:03He's still a funny man. He's still wanted by producers and directors.
0:02:03 > 0:02:04He's a little master.
0:02:16 > 0:02:19APPLAUSE
0:02:28 > 0:02:32People always come up and have a wee chat.
0:02:32 > 0:02:35They always say to me, how did you start in the business?
0:02:35 > 0:02:39What made you decide to become a comedian?
0:02:39 > 0:02:40Which is what I am...
0:02:40 > 0:02:41LAUGHTER
0:02:41 > 0:02:44In those days, the West End did offer
0:02:44 > 0:02:50fantastic little opportunities and venues for people doing...
0:02:50 > 0:02:54like intimate revues, and there was Winston's and Churchill's,
0:02:54 > 0:02:57there was Edmundo Ros', there was Murray's Club
0:02:57 > 0:03:01and Danny La Rue's was a huge success amongst all these clubs I've mentioned.
0:03:01 > 0:03:05We did a sort of satirical little evening, I mean, gently satirical.
0:03:05 > 0:03:07One day, I leaped over a fence.
0:03:07 > 0:03:10Preparation and leap. Preparation and leap.
0:03:10 > 0:03:13They sent you up, didn't they?
0:03:13 > 0:03:16I leaped over the fence and was caught by the Cossacks.
0:03:16 > 0:03:18Oh, my goodness.
0:03:22 > 0:03:27Danny La Rue's club was THE meeting place for pros.
0:03:27 > 0:03:30Even if you'd seen the show before, you'd say,
0:03:30 > 0:03:32"Let's go into Danny's again,"
0:03:32 > 0:03:38mostly to see Ronnie and Danny do their double-act, which was wonderful.
0:03:38 > 0:03:40# Happy feet.
0:03:40 > 0:03:43# We've got those happy feet
0:03:43 > 0:03:46# And now they will repeat, We're happy together. #
0:03:46 > 0:03:49- # Dame Margo - And the Rudy we both know
0:03:49 > 0:03:52# The Iron Curtain need not be a trap
0:03:52 > 0:03:53# When I and Rudy bridge that gap... #
0:03:53 > 0:03:56The partnership with Danny La Rue was really good
0:03:56 > 0:03:59because it wouldn't work so well with a big man,
0:03:59 > 0:04:02there's something funny about the woman's taller than the man,
0:04:02 > 0:04:05especially in that ballet spoof that they do.
0:04:05 > 0:04:08It's like, how on earth is that little man
0:04:08 > 0:04:10going to lift up that great big woman?
0:04:12 > 0:04:18Danny's ended up being the most fantastically successful room.
0:04:18 > 0:04:23You couldn't get in. You had to make special arrangements to get in. You had to book.
0:04:23 > 0:04:28It was always full of stars who were visiting London, no expense was spared.
0:04:28 > 0:04:32A little jewel of a show went on there.
0:04:32 > 0:04:35I played the leading man to Danny's heroines, really,
0:04:35 > 0:04:39and the fact that I was a tiny leading man
0:04:39 > 0:04:41added to the comedy, I suppose.
0:05:02 > 0:05:06When I first met him, he'd been working with Danny La Rue in cabaret,
0:05:06 > 0:05:12on stage, so he could sing and he could dance and he could be outrageous and do whatever
0:05:12 > 0:05:18and he managed to make this move into a quite sort of,
0:05:18 > 0:05:23if you like, quite a mould-breaking television comedy series,
0:05:23 > 0:05:26which was the Frost Report, where a lot of Pythons got their first break,
0:05:26 > 0:05:30both as writers and performers, the two Ronnies were brought together,
0:05:30 > 0:05:34and that was, kind of, very different to what he was doing in cabaret.
0:05:34 > 0:05:39Perhaps we should straighten up one point straight away.
0:05:39 > 0:05:43You're not in fact Julie Andrews, are you?
0:05:43 > 0:05:47Oh, no, no. Let's get that quite clear from the outset. No, no, no.
0:05:47 > 0:05:50She merely employs my organisation, LF Dibley & Son,
0:05:50 > 0:05:53in order to save her from having to appear in person.
0:05:53 > 0:06:01The sketch about me being Julie Andrews or whatever was sort of what we enjoyed writing at the time,
0:06:01 > 0:06:06slightly pre-Python, someone whose job was to go around being other celebrities, you know.
0:06:06 > 0:06:09And clearly wasn't!
0:06:09 > 0:06:15I liked the fact it was just so bad, the attempt to fool people!
0:06:15 > 0:06:18DEADPAN: # Doe, a deer, a female deer,
0:06:18 > 0:06:20# Drop, a ray of golden sun.
0:06:20 > 0:06:22# Far, a long, long way to come. #
0:06:22 > 0:06:24My, oh, my. My, oh, my
0:06:24 > 0:06:26I am only happy when I sing.
0:06:26 > 0:06:29But alas I must be winging my way back to Hollywood.
0:06:29 > 0:06:31But I shall always treasure this meeting with you today.
0:06:31 > 0:06:33Thank you and God bless you all.
0:06:33 > 0:06:38Then I'm smuggled out the back way to avoid the fans and off down the pub for a pint of mild.
0:06:38 > 0:06:41'The Frost Report was a complete change in my life.'
0:06:41 > 0:06:48As far as making one's face well-known and name well-known,
0:06:48 > 0:06:50the Frost Report was the turning point.
0:06:55 > 0:06:58I look down on him because I am upper-class.
0:06:58 > 0:07:02I look up to him because he is upper-class.
0:07:02 > 0:07:07But I look down on him because he is lower-class.
0:07:07 > 0:07:08I am middle-class.
0:07:11 > 0:07:13I know my place.
0:07:14 > 0:07:17This is Anthony Burgess.
0:07:17 > 0:07:20Yes, a review of the Frost Report, the class sketch.
0:07:20 > 0:07:27"They're a kind of visual epigram made out of the intellectual fact of human variety.
0:07:27 > 0:07:33"This epigram is also a paradigm for conjugating social statements
0:07:33 > 0:07:37"about class, chiefly with great neatness." God!
0:07:37 > 0:07:39I look up to them both,
0:07:39 > 0:07:45but I don't look up to him as much as I look up to him.
0:07:45 > 0:07:48Because he has got innate breeding.
0:07:48 > 0:07:52I have got innate breeding but I have not got any money
0:07:52 > 0:07:56so sometimes I look up to him.
0:07:56 > 0:08:02I still look up to him because although I have money, I am vulgar.
0:08:02 > 0:08:07But I am not as vulgar as him so I still look down on him.
0:08:09 > 0:08:12I know my place.
0:08:12 > 0:08:17- It's so memorable because it looks so unlike any other sketch you've ever seen.- I know.
0:08:17 > 0:08:22It's so strange to see three people talking to each other in that way.
0:08:22 > 0:08:26And still when class is discussed at the Tory party conference,
0:08:26 > 0:08:31the Telegraph will have a picture of the three of us again after all these years.
0:08:31 > 0:08:34You do think of people the shape of David Walliams
0:08:34 > 0:08:38as being grand and elegant, in the royal box at Ascot,
0:08:38 > 0:08:43where we have to scum along and fit in where we can.
0:08:43 > 0:08:46- That's right. We know our place. - We know our place, yes.
0:08:46 > 0:08:49We all know our place, but what do we get out of it?
0:08:49 > 0:08:53I get a feeling of superiority over them.
0:08:53 > 0:08:56I get a feeling of inferiority from him.
0:08:56 > 0:08:59But a feeling of superiority over him.
0:09:01 > 0:09:04I get a pain in the back of my neck.
0:09:07 > 0:09:11Do you think David Frost is... What do you think he's most proud of?
0:09:11 > 0:09:15Do you think the Nixon interviews or Through The Keyhole?
0:09:17 > 0:09:18(THEY LAUGH)
0:09:28 > 0:09:30APPLAUSE
0:09:32 > 0:09:37Ron was certainly an extremely skilful character actor
0:09:37 > 0:09:40and he taught me a bit about character acting
0:09:40 > 0:09:45and I was a little bit more vaudevillian and silly-arse nightclub and I taught him
0:09:45 > 0:09:50silly-arse nightclub and he taught me character acting, so between us,
0:09:50 > 0:09:52we met in the middle of the road
0:09:52 > 0:09:56and taught each other a little bit of something each,
0:09:56 > 0:10:01so the skills rubbed off on each other so we were lucky in that way.
0:10:34 > 0:10:41The Two Ronnies is so iconic from my childhood because it was the treat
0:10:41 > 0:10:46that we got to watch on a Saturday night before Starsky and Hutch.
0:10:46 > 0:10:52- What I especially loved was, well, I always loved the songs.- Yes.
0:10:52 > 0:10:56Loved the songs, which must have been a great hoot to do.
0:10:56 > 0:10:58Yes, they were. Terrific, yes.
0:10:58 > 0:11:03Amazing. Amazing, big, kick-off production numbers, which I love.
0:11:03 > 0:11:05I'd always finish on a song if I could.
0:11:05 > 0:11:09I hope we're going to do it tonight, are we? I very much hope that.
0:11:09 > 0:11:14# Now you're sad and tumble down
0:11:14 > 0:11:19# But you'll always be Camden Town,
0:11:19 > 0:11:23# My Camden Town You are home to me. #
0:11:23 > 0:11:26For me, a lot of the musical stuff, the musical set-pieces,
0:11:26 > 0:11:28were just so brilliantly done.
0:11:28 > 0:11:32They were like these kind of little tour de forces
0:11:32 > 0:11:34that would happen every week.
0:11:42 > 0:11:45# You can go for a man with dimples
0:11:45 > 0:11:48# Stick with a slick brunette
0:11:48 > 0:11:53# But for a girl with the best goose pimples
0:11:53 > 0:11:56# You can't beat the majorette. #
0:11:56 > 0:11:59# Sod off, sod off, sod off, sod off
0:11:59 > 0:12:02# So doff your hat, I pray. #
0:12:02 > 0:12:05They did a great song set at an Eisteddfod in Wales,
0:12:05 > 0:12:07and I can still remember the words.
0:12:07 > 0:12:12It went, "Our conductor Albert Stratton..."
0:12:12 > 0:12:15# Trouserless but with his hat on
0:12:15 > 0:12:20# A ribbon tied around his button
0:12:20 > 0:12:22# He won second prize
0:12:22 > 0:12:26# Through the valleys of the Rhondda
0:12:26 > 0:12:30# Singing songs from way back yonder
0:12:30 > 0:12:33# But our minds are bound to wander
0:12:33 > 0:12:36# When we've had a shower. #
0:12:36 > 0:12:41We were loath to rehearse, so if you could sit down round a table for a meeting...
0:12:41 > 0:12:45- Really? You preferred that than getting it on its feet?- Yes.
0:12:45 > 0:12:48It's all a bit tiring doing that.
0:12:48 > 0:12:51You sort of feel, "I don't want to do it too much,"
0:12:51 > 0:12:55because you want to save some of it in front of the audience, don't you?
0:12:55 > 0:12:57- You want to keep the excitement. - That's right.
0:12:59 > 0:13:01Hello.
0:13:12 > 0:13:14Jolly nice party, this, isn't it?
0:13:17 > 0:13:20That was written by me and Terry. I think. My God, I hope so!
0:13:20 > 0:13:21My name's...
0:13:24 > 0:13:27He'd say something to Ronnie, Ronnie suddenly slaps him across the face
0:13:27 > 0:13:31and says, "Terribly sorry, it's just I've got something that I do".
0:13:31 > 0:13:33So then got talking. "So, you live round here?"
0:13:33 > 0:13:36"No, we live in a bungalow up there." And he'd hit him again.
0:13:36 > 0:13:38I remember being quite frightened by it,
0:13:38 > 0:13:41and Ronnie being so slapped so often, it was fantastic.
0:13:41 > 0:13:44The effrontery of it - "What, what is it?"
0:13:44 > 0:13:46I remember him doing that and his hair all flapping.
0:13:46 > 0:13:52- What is this? What is it?- I'm sorry. It's something I just can't control.
0:13:52 > 0:13:54- If I were you, I'd just move away. - Well, I mean...
0:13:56 > 0:13:57Everybody else does.
0:13:57 > 0:14:00Don't worry, I'll be all right. I'm used to it.
0:14:00 > 0:14:02Well, it seems such a shame.
0:14:02 > 0:14:05Instead of just going, "Stop it, you're a crazy person",
0:14:05 > 0:14:07there's an English reserve which suggests,
0:14:07 > 0:14:08"Oh, really, there's a problem?
0:14:08 > 0:14:13"Don't worry, don't bother yourself. I'll avoid your slaps and punches"."
0:14:13 > 0:14:14Supposing I just sort of...
0:14:14 > 0:14:18Supposing I just sort of kept an eye on that hand of yours,
0:14:18 > 0:14:20and every time it came up,
0:14:20 > 0:14:22you know, to give me a thing, I duck my head,
0:14:22 > 0:14:25we could have quite a reasonable conversation.
0:14:25 > 0:14:27There we are. Ooh!
0:14:29 > 0:14:31He's a man who will leave that party going,
0:14:31 > 0:14:35"That was an odd turn of events. I don't know if you ran into that man?
0:14:35 > 0:14:36"He kept slapping me".
0:14:36 > 0:14:38There's never a sense that he's an utter fool.
0:14:38 > 0:14:43He's a man who, through circumstance, found himself in that situation. And trying to remain polite.
0:14:43 > 0:14:46I feel so pathetic, so hopelessly helpless,
0:14:46 > 0:14:48not being able to cope with this problem of yours.
0:14:48 > 0:14:52- I'm very sorry. - Thanks for trying, anyway.- Well...
0:14:52 > 0:14:54- No hard feelings, then? - No, none at all.
0:14:56 > 0:15:01Terry Jones and myself were writing together. We were jobbing writers.
0:15:01 > 0:15:03Python didn't pay us much money.
0:15:03 > 0:15:09We were sending material in to The Two Ronnies even while we were planning Monty Python.
0:15:11 > 0:15:13- Hello, I want to join the...- Shh!
0:15:13 > 0:15:16(SHOUTING) I want to join the library!
0:15:16 > 0:15:18Do you mind not shouting, please?
0:15:18 > 0:15:19I can't help shouting!
0:15:19 > 0:15:21SHH!
0:15:24 > 0:15:26Please, talk quietly.
0:15:26 > 0:15:31I can't talk quietly! That's why I want to join the library!
0:15:31 > 0:15:34I want a copy of a book entitled How Not To Shout!
0:15:34 > 0:15:36I'll see if I can find it.
0:15:36 > 0:15:38- Thank you very much indeed! - Mr Simpson.
0:15:38 > 0:15:41(SHOUTING) Yes!
0:15:41 > 0:15:45- This gentleman wants a book called How Not To Shout.- What?
0:15:45 > 0:15:49- This gentleman wants a book called How Not To Shout. - There's no such book!
0:15:49 > 0:15:53Oh, yes, there is! It's called How Not To Shout!
0:15:53 > 0:15:56No, no! There's a book called How To Shout Louder!
0:15:56 > 0:15:59Or How To Shout Terrifically Loud! That's a good one!
0:15:59 > 0:16:02- Or How To Scream At The... - No, no, I don't want to shout!- Shh.
0:16:02 > 0:16:05- What?- I want to stop shouting!
0:16:05 > 0:16:08That's why I want a copy of the book entitled How Not To Shout!
0:16:08 > 0:16:12'We were very fortunate.
0:16:12 > 0:16:16There were a lot of very, very clever writers about,
0:16:16 > 0:16:24people who were fascinated by words, by rhymes and by wordplay.
0:16:24 > 0:16:26Hello, Simon.
0:16:26 > 0:16:28- Hello, Gerald here.- Hello, Doris.
0:16:28 > 0:16:30Doris, it's me, Walter.
0:16:30 > 0:16:32How are you, old man?
0:16:32 > 0:16:34All right, thanks.
0:16:34 > 0:16:36Listen, Simon, I had to ring you up
0:16:36 > 0:16:40to find out how you got on with that fabulous new girl last night.
0:16:40 > 0:16:44Not too bad. There were one or two things I couldn't quite get hold of.
0:16:46 > 0:16:48Yes, I know the kind of girl.
0:16:48 > 0:16:50Where did you take her, somewhere exotic?
0:16:50 > 0:16:52Sainsbury's.
0:16:54 > 0:16:57Bianca Jagger goes there, doesn't she?
0:16:57 > 0:16:59I think the best thing I could do, dear,
0:16:59 > 0:17:02- is to go through the list with you. - Yes, yes, that's a good idea.
0:17:02 > 0:17:05So what was she like? What sort of girl?
0:17:05 > 0:17:09- A French bread.- Ooh!
0:17:09 > 0:17:11Bloomers, two large.
0:17:13 > 0:17:14Kept slipping down, you mean?
0:17:14 > 0:17:16Well, if you will go ice skating,
0:17:16 > 0:17:20- you will keep slipping down, won't you, old chap?- And rolls for 20p.
0:17:20 > 0:17:21She doesn't!
0:17:23 > 0:17:24They had fantastic writers.
0:17:24 > 0:17:29When you look at the names of the people who were writing for The Two Ronnies,
0:17:29 > 0:17:32they were brilliant, brilliant writers.
0:17:32 > 0:17:38He was literally cherry-picking all the greatest teams of comedic minds we've ever had.
0:17:38 > 0:17:42That's an extraordinary path to have taken.
0:17:42 > 0:17:47That David Renwick sketch, which is the Mastermind one, is extraordinary.
0:17:47 > 0:17:50As a piece of writing, it's quite brilliant.
0:17:50 > 0:17:53I don't know where he started when he wrote that sketch.
0:17:53 > 0:17:57I still, periodically I still watch that just to remind myself
0:17:57 > 0:18:00of just perfect, precision-engineered sketch writing.
0:18:02 > 0:18:05And so to our first contender. Good evening. Your name, please?
0:18:05 > 0:18:10- Good evening.- In the first heat, your chosen subject was answering questions before they were asked.
0:18:10 > 0:18:15- This time you've chosen to answer the question before last each time. Is that correct?- Charlie Smithers.
0:18:18 > 0:18:22And your time starts now. What is palaeontology?
0:18:22 > 0:18:24Yes, absolutely correct.
0:18:24 > 0:18:28What's the name of the directory that lists members of the peerage?
0:18:28 > 0:18:31A study of old fossils.
0:18:31 > 0:18:34Correct. Who are Len Murray and Sir Geoffrey Howe?
0:18:34 > 0:18:36Burke's.
0:18:36 > 0:18:40Correct. What is the difference between a donkey and an ass?
0:18:40 > 0:18:41One is a trade union leader
0:18:41 > 0:18:43and the other is a member of the Cabinet.
0:18:46 > 0:18:48Correct.
0:18:48 > 0:18:50Some of those sketches, you know,
0:18:50 > 0:18:53he just completely flings himself into it,
0:18:53 > 0:18:56with such great deal of seriousness and commitment
0:18:56 > 0:19:00that it's incredibly endearing, and very funny as well.
0:19:03 > 0:19:06Oh, dear. It's like Piccadilly Circus in here tonight.
0:19:06 > 0:19:07What's this one here?
0:19:09 > 0:19:11Evening.
0:19:15 > 0:19:19If I was thinking of coming down that chute, I'd go, OK, yeah,
0:19:19 > 0:19:22that would be funny, but maybe I'll do a little flip at the end
0:19:22 > 0:19:24or scream or some line at the end.
0:19:24 > 0:19:28But he knew that just simply going down it was enough.
0:19:28 > 0:19:29And it was.
0:19:29 > 0:19:33What's this - one handkerchief? There ought to be a minimum charge.
0:19:37 > 0:19:40Well, the chute is certainly working all right.
0:19:40 > 0:19:42His size for that was perfect.
0:19:42 > 0:19:44He could maintain this very neat...
0:19:45 > 0:19:50..neat legs, neat feet, and then the slide looked even longer.
0:19:50 > 0:19:52It was just perfect.
0:19:55 > 0:19:57I was diplomatic but firm, you know what I mean?
0:19:57 > 0:20:01You go and tell them either they knock it on the head or out they go.
0:20:01 > 0:20:02Yes, that's the ticket.
0:20:02 > 0:20:06- You tell them that. But be diplomatic.- I will.
0:20:06 > 0:20:10Just say to them, "We're not running a hotel here for yobbos and the likes of you".
0:20:10 > 0:20:11I explained to them...
0:20:13 > 0:20:17I explained to them that whereas we realise they were guests,
0:20:17 > 0:20:19they must consider the other guests.
0:20:19 > 0:20:21I see. Did they come to a decision?
0:20:21 > 0:20:24They did, yes. They decided to throw me down the chute again.
0:20:24 > 0:20:28As an adult dissecting that comedically, you go, "Really?
0:20:28 > 0:20:32"Really, though? And those stairs are very quick to get up".
0:20:32 > 0:20:34And it doesn't make sense, but it doesn't matter.
0:20:34 > 0:20:37You just go, "Please come down the chute again!"
0:20:43 > 0:20:47Ronnie Corbett, apart from being a brilliant stand up,
0:20:47 > 0:20:52is also a great actor, and he's also a rather effective dancer.
0:20:52 > 0:20:55He has a real understanding of rhythm, and knows how to move.
0:20:55 > 0:20:57# You'll find them in the nicest homes
0:20:57 > 0:20:59# At court, they're just the stuff
0:20:59 > 0:21:04# They do say that his Majesty just cannot get enough
0:21:04 > 0:21:09# I know a wealthy grocer in the better part of Ealing
0:21:09 > 0:21:12# And every time I visit him I get a lovely feeling
0:21:12 > 0:21:15# I drink his fine old brandy And I smoke his best Havanas
0:21:15 > 0:21:18# And all I give him in return are Billy Pratt's bananas.
0:21:18 > 0:21:21# And all I give him in return are Billy Pratt's bananas. #
0:21:24 > 0:21:26He's what I call a sophisticated mover.
0:21:26 > 0:21:31There's not an ounce of wasted energy. It's all within him.
0:21:31 > 0:21:34He sort of sways and he has that lovely, sophisticated...
0:21:34 > 0:21:36He's a sophisticated person, Ronnie.
0:21:36 > 0:21:42What I find particularly funny about Ronnie's movement is his jumping. He bounces.
0:21:58 > 0:22:02What's your secret to dancing well and comedically?
0:22:04 > 0:22:05Moving funnily.
0:22:05 > 0:22:12When I came out of the Air Force I'd go to tap classes and tap dancing,
0:22:12 > 0:22:14so I kind of moved a bit.
0:22:14 > 0:22:17It's eccentric dancing, isn't it?
0:22:17 > 0:22:19For sure.
0:22:19 > 0:22:20And you've got it in...
0:22:20 > 0:22:22In my genes.
0:22:22 > 0:22:28- Dancing bones. Funny dancing bones. - Funny dancing bones.
0:22:28 > 0:22:31# Hey ho and up she...
0:22:31 > 0:22:33# Measures her bust in school cap sizes
0:22:33 > 0:22:35# Six and seven eighths. #
0:22:37 > 0:22:42I remember longing for them to put dresses on in The Two Ronnies.
0:22:42 > 0:22:45That was always the bit that I was really excited about.
0:22:45 > 0:22:48When are they going to come on with the boobs and the dresses?
0:22:48 > 0:22:51# Rosy paths and ruby gates
0:22:51 > 0:22:53# Travelled east on winter rates
0:22:55 > 0:22:58# Started off to see the palm trees
0:22:58 > 0:23:00# Ended up as two stone dates
0:23:00 > 0:23:02# Left our boyfriends, Tom and Dick
0:23:02 > 0:23:05# Back at home in Hampton Wick
0:23:05 > 0:23:08# Dick is in the Territorials
0:23:08 > 0:23:11# Tom is in the local nick. #
0:23:11 > 0:23:15I suppose I was naturally,
0:23:15 > 0:23:17being tiny, neat and tiny,
0:23:17 > 0:23:22and therefore I was a neat and tidy little lady, or I became one.
0:23:22 > 0:23:23Like my mum, really.
0:23:23 > 0:23:29I probably was introduced to men dressing up as women
0:23:29 > 0:23:31by you and Ronnie.
0:23:31 > 0:23:35- Every week, you didn't shy away from it, did you?- No, no!
0:23:35 > 0:23:39So was that a thing that came happily?
0:23:39 > 0:23:44Yes, it's not a thing that disgusted me or excited me, really.
0:23:44 > 0:23:47It wasn't done in a titillating way.
0:23:47 > 0:23:50It was done in a very comedic way.
0:23:50 > 0:23:56And of course, I'd been brought up with Danny La Rue in nightclubs,
0:23:56 > 0:23:59so I'd worked with the creme de la creme as far as that was concerned.
0:23:59 > 0:24:02And did you wear tights, or did you just, you know...?
0:24:02 > 0:24:03Oh, I wore tights. Yes.
0:24:05 > 0:24:07You didn't cheat?
0:24:07 > 0:24:09I didn't cheat, no.
0:24:11 > 0:24:13He say...
0:24:16 > 0:24:20I sell my dog and I give up the tuba.
0:24:20 > 0:24:25I work day and night in a bubblegum factory
0:24:25 > 0:24:30so you can have all the mongooses you want.
0:24:30 > 0:24:35Ronnie's ability to be a chameleon as a performer,
0:24:35 > 0:24:38all of the different roles he's taken on
0:24:38 > 0:24:41are so different from each other,
0:24:41 > 0:24:44and he just does that so effortlessly.
0:24:44 > 0:24:46How are you today, all right?
0:24:46 > 0:24:49Mustn't grumble. Mustn't grumble.
0:24:50 > 0:24:51Just been up the...
0:24:51 > 0:24:53- Club?- No.- Dogs? What?
0:24:55 > 0:25:00- Fish shop? Doctor's?- Doctor's, yeah, just been up the doctor's.
0:25:00 > 0:25:04I've just been up the... Up the road? No, up the... Ladder?
0:25:04 > 0:25:07No, up the... Up the doctor's. Oh, up the doctor's?
0:25:07 > 0:25:09Of course, I only went up there on the...
0:25:09 > 0:25:11- On the bus?- No.
0:25:11 > 0:25:14- On the off chance. - On the off chance.
0:25:14 > 0:25:17- You been up there lately? - No, I haven't, no.
0:25:17 > 0:25:19It's all changed up there now. Oh, dear, yes.
0:25:19 > 0:25:22He's got this marvellous, great big new, uh...
0:25:22 > 0:25:26- Rolls Royce?- No. - Waiting room? Receptionist?
0:25:26 > 0:25:27Receptionist.
0:25:27 > 0:25:30Marvellous, great big new receptionist. She's got it all...
0:25:30 > 0:25:33- All up here?- No.- Down there?
0:25:33 > 0:25:35- No.- Where, then? Where's she got it?
0:25:35 > 0:25:39- She's got it all... - All over? She's got it all over?
0:25:39 > 0:25:41She's got it all organised up there.
0:25:46 > 0:25:49It was a proper entertainment show.
0:25:49 > 0:25:54There was gags, stand up, sketches, wordplay,
0:25:54 > 0:25:58and some big kind of song and dance number.
0:25:58 > 0:26:01Certainly The Two Ronnies' format seemed to fit them
0:26:01 > 0:26:04like a bespoke suit.
0:26:04 > 0:26:10It highlighted brilliantly what they did brilliantly.
0:26:10 > 0:26:14So, quick, simple set up and reverse, or set up and pay off gags,
0:26:14 > 0:26:17with the news desk at the front.
0:26:17 > 0:26:19- It's good to be back with you, isn't it?- Yes, it is.
0:26:19 > 0:26:21And in a packed programme tonight,
0:26:21 > 0:26:24we shall be reading excerpts from the book written by a man
0:26:24 > 0:26:27who tried to carry a refrigerator from Athens to Middlesbrough
0:26:27 > 0:26:28and gave himself a hernia.
0:26:28 > 0:26:31It's called A Fridge Too Far.
0:26:32 > 0:26:35And then we hope to talk to Mr Tiny Adcock,
0:26:35 > 0:26:38who's spent his entire working life in the circus
0:26:38 > 0:26:40clearing up after the elephants.
0:26:40 > 0:26:42He'll be telling us how as a child
0:26:42 > 0:26:45he took his first steps in the business.
0:26:47 > 0:26:51Reading news items, whoever came up with that is a genius.
0:26:51 > 0:26:54You get to do pure jokes, you're looking straight to the camera,
0:26:54 > 0:26:56they're just being themselves...
0:26:56 > 0:26:59The number of times you sit in writers' meetings,
0:26:59 > 0:27:02"Can we have something like that Two Ronnies thing
0:27:02 > 0:27:06"where they just read those jokes? We just want to do jokes!"
0:27:06 > 0:27:08It's very hard to find a way to do that.
0:27:08 > 0:27:11And for me, the funniest thing about that
0:27:11 > 0:27:14was seeing them trying not to laugh at each other,
0:27:14 > 0:27:18and I think if you believe that the guys find each other funny,
0:27:18 > 0:27:19you trust them a bit more.
0:27:19 > 0:27:21- This is lovely.- A nice, new desk.
0:27:23 > 0:27:25Can't see that my feet don't touch the ground.
0:27:28 > 0:27:31Can't see that my stomach does, for that matter.
0:27:33 > 0:27:36The classic image is of the two of them, the two pairs of glasses,
0:27:36 > 0:27:41the two slightly kind of garishly coloured suits,
0:27:41 > 0:27:45and them behind the desk. In a way, it sort of ushered in a whole
0:27:45 > 0:27:50generation of comedy that was a pastiche of news.
0:27:50 > 0:27:54There's countless programmes that have done that,
0:27:54 > 0:27:57and there's something about it immediately very familiar,
0:27:57 > 0:28:00but it's probably them that actually started all that.
0:28:00 > 0:28:05And Ronnie would have his shaggy dog story, which he's brilliant at.
0:28:05 > 0:28:09He's fantastic. That was possibly my favourite part.
0:28:11 > 0:28:15The old chair is a bit lumpy tonight.
0:28:15 > 0:28:18I wish the producer wouldn't stand on it to clean the windows.
0:28:20 > 0:28:25I suppose you're thinking, why is a BBC television producher...
0:28:25 > 0:28:27Producher...
0:28:27 > 0:28:30Why is he called a producher?
0:28:30 > 0:28:37Well, he isn't usually, but why is a BBC television producer standing on a chair cleaning windows?
0:28:37 > 0:28:38The answer is quite simple.
0:28:38 > 0:28:40They won't buy him a ladder.
0:28:40 > 0:28:46He'd sit down in that chair in his Pringle jumper and with his lovely,
0:28:46 > 0:28:53beaming smile, he'd sort of rock back and forth and tell you the comedy story.
0:28:53 > 0:28:57I remember thinking, any way I could clamber into the television and get on his knee?
0:28:57 > 0:29:01The fun is in him never really arriving at the punchline,
0:29:01 > 0:29:03or when he does, the punchline is largely irrelevant
0:29:03 > 0:29:06because it's the endless digressions beforehand.
0:29:06 > 0:29:10You see, she's got this insomnia, my wife.
0:29:10 > 0:29:12She's got this insomnia.
0:29:12 > 0:29:15That's not right. She's got this insomnia.
0:29:15 > 0:29:19She's got that insomnia? Anyway.
0:29:19 > 0:29:21She's got a bit of insomnia.
0:29:21 > 0:29:26It doesn't make much difference, does it? Anyway, she's got insomnia.
0:29:26 > 0:29:28Got this insomnia.
0:29:28 > 0:29:29Or that insomnia. She's got it.
0:29:31 > 0:29:33Can't bloody sleep.
0:29:36 > 0:29:41This is it. This is the chair, this is the actual chair.
0:29:41 > 0:29:45I say that because a lot of the time I turn up to places and they say,
0:29:45 > 0:29:48"By the way, we've got your chair."
0:29:48 > 0:29:55And I turn up and it's never the right one, but this, this is it.
0:29:55 > 0:29:58I spent many comfortable minutes sitting in this,
0:29:58 > 0:30:02blathering away words of Spike Mullins or David Renwick.
0:30:02 > 0:30:06So it's a comfort to see it.
0:30:06 > 0:30:07Just before the show started,
0:30:07 > 0:30:10I was having a chat with the producer.
0:30:10 > 0:30:13To be honest, we all draw lots before the programme
0:30:13 > 0:30:16and the loser has a chat with the producer.
0:30:16 > 0:30:19There's a sort of... There's a natural dignity to him.
0:30:19 > 0:30:23He sits there and adjusts his glasses, he wears his Pringle sweater and he's talking.
0:30:23 > 0:30:27But he seems to be constantly bullied by this unseen producer,
0:30:27 > 0:30:30who seems to be constantly corralling him into doing things.
0:30:30 > 0:30:35And he said, he said, "Why don't you tell that joke I told you about
0:30:35 > 0:30:39"the lady with a little Continental car with the engine in the rear?"
0:30:39 > 0:30:41I said, "Frankly, Terry,
0:30:41 > 0:30:45"I don't really think it's all that funny."
0:30:45 > 0:30:47He said, "Well, they loved it at the squash club."
0:30:49 > 0:30:51"They love it at the squash club."
0:30:51 > 0:30:53He belongs to this club.
0:30:53 > 0:30:55Every Saturday night, they buy a bottle of squash.
0:30:55 > 0:30:58LAUGHTER
0:31:01 > 0:31:05He said, "If you know what's good for you, you'll do as you're told."
0:31:05 > 0:31:07I always remember that from those sketches,
0:31:07 > 0:31:11him talking about this producer who, you sense, is bullying Ronnie.
0:31:11 > 0:31:14Even though Ronnie is clearly the star of the show.
0:31:14 > 0:31:18And again, your knowledge of what Ronnie's like - your knowledge of him being smaller.
0:31:18 > 0:31:22You imagine him being easily intimidated by a man
0:31:22 > 0:31:24who has graciously given him a job at the BBC.
0:31:24 > 0:31:26This seat, for example, I have to sit on.
0:31:26 > 0:31:28It's getting more uncomfortable every week.
0:31:28 > 0:31:31I told the producer this morning. I said, "I've had enough."
0:31:31 > 0:31:34I said, "There's an awkward little lump in this chair."
0:31:34 > 0:31:36He said, "Don't I know it!"
0:31:38 > 0:31:40I said, "Now, look, there's no need for wit!
0:31:40 > 0:31:42"That's not like you at all," I said.
0:31:42 > 0:31:44"The solution is perfectly simple."
0:31:44 > 0:31:46I said, "The cushion needs stuffing."
0:31:46 > 0:31:50And his reply is in the hands of my solicitor.
0:31:50 > 0:31:57It made me feel more comfortable sitting down
0:31:57 > 0:32:00and, I think, the audience more settled and more at ease.
0:32:00 > 0:32:04And, in an age when people talked about stand-up comedy,
0:32:04 > 0:32:06there I was sitting down.
0:32:06 > 0:32:11I think it made me feel quite relaxed, and the audience as well.
0:32:11 > 0:32:16No tension. Just at my ease, as it were.
0:32:16 > 0:32:19I must try tonight to stick to the point of the story. I must.
0:32:19 > 0:32:23It keeps the producer happy and no one wants to make
0:32:23 > 0:32:26life difficult, because he's still quite new to the show.
0:32:26 > 0:32:31I don't want to speak too loudly in case we waken him up.
0:32:31 > 0:32:34But our new producer is actually very good.
0:32:34 > 0:32:38Apart from a rather shocking memory. He's got this terrible memory.
0:32:38 > 0:32:40This afternoon he came up to me in the studio and he said,
0:32:40 > 0:32:45"Excuse me, are you the fat one or the little one?"
0:32:45 > 0:32:51I used to rock about like that or sit, blether away, chat away.
0:32:51 > 0:32:54I've got nothing to say today, just, um...
0:32:56 > 0:32:58..Sit here and feel isolated.
0:33:00 > 0:33:03Do you know what I think Ronnie Corbett is the master of?
0:33:03 > 0:33:05He's the master of a lot of subtlety.
0:33:05 > 0:33:10If it's just a shifting in the chair, to a kind of hee-hee, before a word
0:33:10 > 0:33:12is spoken, or the laughter he does,
0:33:12 > 0:33:18which is just timed perfectly, to the kind of, you know, that.
0:33:18 > 0:33:19It just works.
0:33:19 > 0:33:21They're big glasses for a small person.
0:33:21 > 0:33:27They did become very much part of him. Whether that was just because he needed the glasses, or whether
0:33:27 > 0:33:31they were a good prop. He does play with them quite well, especially when he's doing
0:33:31 > 0:33:32his little monologue and things.
0:33:32 > 0:33:35It's not Ronnie Corbett without the glasses.
0:33:35 > 0:33:39The glasses are a big part of him.
0:33:39 > 0:33:42You can have these little moments that you fill by touching them.
0:33:42 > 0:33:46Of course, it was convenient because Ronnie B was the same.
0:33:46 > 0:33:50You know, we did things with them as we... They're just mannerisms.
0:33:50 > 0:33:54I don't know if they add to the comedy or what.
0:33:54 > 0:33:59The man who's considerate about his glasses, who has a methodology
0:33:59 > 0:34:02in the way he adjusts them, suggests a certain...
0:34:02 > 0:34:05There's something anal about it. There's something pedantic.
0:34:05 > 0:34:08"Before I carry on, I've just got to adjust these glasses,
0:34:08 > 0:34:11"because they need to be exactly right before I carry on talking."
0:34:11 > 0:34:15I think it says a lot. It's a great comic device.
0:34:15 > 0:34:19At last we come to the funny bit I was telling you about.
0:34:19 > 0:34:24I am on a train to Biggleswade and we'd been going on for quite a time when I happened to say
0:34:24 > 0:34:29to the ticket collector, "How long is it before we get to Biggleswade?" He said, "It's about ten minutes."
0:34:29 > 0:34:31I said, "Oh good, because I'm getting off there."
0:34:31 > 0:34:33He said, "Do you mind if I watch?"
0:34:37 > 0:34:41He said, "Because I've never seen anyone get off a train going at 90 miles an hour!"
0:34:41 > 0:34:44I really enjoy watching Ronnie Corbett when he plays
0:34:44 > 0:34:48working-class characters, because he doesn't patronise them.
0:34:48 > 0:34:51He doesn't necessarily play them purely as an underdog.
0:34:51 > 0:34:53He doesn't play them in a whimsical way.
0:34:53 > 0:34:56He plays them in a quite robust, unapologetic way,
0:34:56 > 0:34:57which I really like.
0:34:57 > 0:34:58BELL RINGS
0:35:06 > 0:35:08Four candles.
0:35:08 > 0:35:09Four candles.
0:35:17 > 0:35:20There you are. Four candles.
0:35:20 > 0:35:22No. Four candles.
0:35:22 > 0:35:24There you are, four candles.
0:35:24 > 0:35:29No. FORK HANDLES - handles for forks.
0:35:36 > 0:35:41It was originally based on a man who had a hardware shop,
0:35:41 > 0:35:43writing to Ron and saying,
0:35:43 > 0:35:47"Somebody came in yesterday and asked for four candles.
0:35:47 > 0:35:51"And, you know, I gave him four candles."
0:35:51 > 0:35:57"No, not four candles, FORK HANDLES. Handles for forks."
0:35:57 > 0:35:59That actually happened to somebody.
0:35:59 > 0:36:03From that, Ron developed it and all the other stuff, so it was lovely.
0:36:03 > 0:36:05Got any plugs?
0:36:05 > 0:36:06Plugs?
0:36:06 > 0:36:09- What kind of plugs? - Rubber one, bathroom.
0:36:22 > 0:36:26- What size?- 13 Amp.
0:36:39 > 0:36:44It's electric plug - electric bathroom plugs, you call them in the trade.
0:36:44 > 0:36:45Electric bathroom plugs.
0:36:48 > 0:36:50Brilliant at getting...
0:36:50 > 0:36:54double, triple jokes are beyond the words, just with his looks.
0:36:54 > 0:36:56Like, a couple of times he will go,
0:36:56 > 0:36:59"Plugs, right." He'll walk off.
0:36:59 > 0:37:01You can hear the audience laughing.
0:37:01 > 0:37:05To get another laugh, he'll just come back and stare at Ronnie and go...
0:37:06 > 0:37:08And go off again.
0:37:08 > 0:37:12Well, it's simply acting the role
0:37:12 > 0:37:16as seriously and in depth as you can imagine.
0:37:16 > 0:37:18How annoying it would be
0:37:18 > 0:37:23for a sort of hooligan workman like Ronnie B with his woollen hat on
0:37:23 > 0:37:26to be annoying me with these indefinite requests
0:37:26 > 0:37:29and confusing orders and walking up and down, having to go
0:37:29 > 0:37:31right up to the top of the ladder,
0:37:31 > 0:37:35come down and get the box and find it's the wrong one. Go up again.
0:37:35 > 0:37:39It's easy to be perpetually annoyed. That's what it was all about.
0:37:39 > 0:37:40You make it very, very real.
0:37:40 > 0:37:44Because it's based on puns, isn't it?
0:37:44 > 0:37:47- I know.- It could be unreal.
0:37:47 > 0:37:51That's right. He sort of wanted to be patient, tolerant,
0:37:51 > 0:37:53because it was a bit of business.
0:37:53 > 0:37:56The man was going to order plugs and he was going to order this and that.
0:37:56 > 0:38:01He was quite a good customer, though annoying to get to the, and 'ose.
0:38:01 > 0:38:06He was spending a bit of money although it was taking him a long time to get the accurate things.
0:38:06 > 0:38:09- Got any 'oes?- 'Oes?- 'Oes.
0:38:27 > 0:38:29No, 'ose.
0:38:29 > 0:38:31'Ose!
0:38:31 > 0:38:34I thought you meant 'oes!
0:38:34 > 0:38:35'Ose.
0:38:35 > 0:38:40'Ose! You say 'oes. You should have said 'ose.
0:38:48 > 0:38:52You meant 'ose. There we are.
0:38:52 > 0:38:53No. 'Ose.
0:38:56 > 0:39:03'Ose! Oh, you mean pantyhose. Pantyhose.
0:39:03 > 0:39:05No, Os. Os for the gate.
0:39:05 > 0:39:09Mon Repose. Os.
0:39:09 > 0:39:11- Letter Os.- Letter Os.
0:39:13 > 0:39:18MUMBLES
0:39:18 > 0:39:21Ronnie Corbett absolutely made that sketch.
0:39:21 > 0:39:23It would have been nothing without.
0:39:23 > 0:39:29You would have got a joke initially from four candles, fork handles, and maybe hoes, Os.
0:39:29 > 0:39:32And then after that, you'd go, "Yeah, all right, I get the point."
0:39:32 > 0:39:36If anyone was to hear it now, "Yeah, OK, I really think they should have
0:39:36 > 0:39:39"cut this sketch by now, it's really repetitive. We know what's going on."
0:39:39 > 0:39:45But he just builds on it so subtly and so cleverly so, by...
0:39:45 > 0:39:48I don't know, a tin of peas or wherever we've got to,
0:39:48 > 0:39:51Ronnie Corbett's going, "I thought you said Ps."
0:39:51 > 0:39:53He's started doing the muttering.
0:39:53 > 0:39:57And then the up the ladder, down the ladder, just perfect timing.
0:40:02 > 0:40:04- How many do you want?- Two.- Two.
0:40:08 > 0:40:09All right?
0:40:31 > 0:40:33- Yeah, next?- Got any Ps?
0:40:36 > 0:40:40For God's sake, why didn't you bleeding tell me that when I'm up the stairs?
0:40:40 > 0:40:45I've been up the stairs already... I'm up and down the shop all the time.
0:40:47 > 0:40:50I haven't got any help today...
0:40:50 > 0:40:52HE CONTINUES MUTTERING
0:41:03 > 0:41:04How many do you want?
0:41:06 > 0:41:07No, tins of peas.
0:41:14 > 0:41:15Three tins of peas.
0:41:21 > 0:41:25You're having me on, aren't you? You're having me on, eh?
0:41:25 > 0:41:28Ronnie's a really good actor. He is.
0:41:28 > 0:41:31That's why he can play all those kinds of parts convincingly.
0:41:31 > 0:41:33When he was in Sorry,
0:41:33 > 0:41:34which I find incredibly...
0:41:34 > 0:41:39Looking at it now, it's such a dark programme, really depressing in a way, but funny.
0:41:39 > 0:41:42This little man trapped with this monstrous woman.
0:41:42 > 0:41:45You're not going anywhere without a decent meal inside you.
0:41:45 > 0:41:48- Mother, I shall be late. - You are a growing boy.
0:41:48 > 0:41:49I'm not a growing boy.
0:41:49 > 0:41:51I'm 40 years old, Mother.
0:41:51 > 0:41:53What you see is all you're going to get.
0:41:54 > 0:41:58It was about this 41-year-old boy who lives at home with his mother -
0:41:58 > 0:42:01Barbara Lott - no longer with us, sadly.
0:42:01 > 0:42:03And his dad.
0:42:03 > 0:42:12And was sort of mother-dominated, but impudent nevertheless,
0:42:12 > 0:42:16and trying to get a romance going in his life,
0:42:16 > 0:42:19and running about everywhere on his Vespa with his hard hat.
0:42:19 > 0:42:21It was a delight to do.
0:42:21 > 0:42:25- All we want is to be alone, Jennifer and I.- And then what?
0:42:25 > 0:42:28Can she sew? Can she wash?
0:42:28 > 0:42:30Can she even cook like I can?
0:42:30 > 0:42:34Yes, she can, but she's promised not to.
0:42:34 > 0:42:38He's effectively this man-child who wants to be grown-up
0:42:38 > 0:42:41and respected in the world and he's having this constant tussle
0:42:41 > 0:42:46with his mother and stuff and you think, that's a very kind of,
0:42:46 > 0:42:49almost, that's like an adolescent thing that we all go through.
0:42:49 > 0:42:54So, to see this man having this very adolescent problem is very funny.
0:42:54 > 0:42:56It's kind of a one off in a way really.
0:42:56 > 0:42:59I don't think anyone else could have quite pulled it off, in a way.
0:42:59 > 0:43:02It's so perfect for him.
0:43:02 > 0:43:07I sort of fully accepted him as this kind of put upon man with an overbearing mother.
0:43:07 > 0:43:12It didn't feel like a kind of... It didn't feel one note.
0:43:12 > 0:43:13It felt... I believed it.
0:43:13 > 0:43:18"The Nuzfaz of Mudgard, an epic novel by Matt Rampage,
0:43:18 > 0:43:21"29 Ravenscroft Avenue."
0:43:21 > 0:43:24Matt Rampage! That's you, isn't it?
0:43:24 > 0:43:27Possibly.
0:43:27 > 0:43:28"Volume the first,
0:43:28 > 0:43:34"in which Hunkin and Gandabolt travel to the Land Of Growlox."
0:43:34 > 0:43:35GROLLOCKS, Mother!
0:43:35 > 0:43:38- Language, Timothy!- Sorry, Father.
0:43:38 > 0:43:40"Language, Timothy!"
0:43:40 > 0:43:43One of my favourite catchphrases of any comedy show ever.
0:43:43 > 0:43:45I am my age. Goodness me!
0:43:45 > 0:43:47I'm 43 and three quarters.
0:43:47 > 0:43:51I am mature, assertive and decisive.
0:43:51 > 0:43:54And, to prove it, when I want a biscuit, I have a biscuit.
0:43:54 > 0:43:57Leave those biscuits alone, Timothy!
0:43:57 > 0:44:02He just represents years and years of...
0:44:02 > 0:44:04kind of, great British comedy.
0:44:04 > 0:44:06It's like we want to bring him in the fraternity.
0:44:06 > 0:44:09We want to welcome in the gang of at least...
0:44:09 > 0:44:13A feeling like we're kind of a new generation and saying...
0:44:13 > 0:44:15but, he's always welcome.
0:44:15 > 0:44:17He's sort of part of the gang.
0:44:20 > 0:44:22- Andy.- What are you doing?
0:44:22 > 0:44:24Come in here. It's all kicking off in here. Come in here.
0:44:24 > 0:44:26I had a message saying would I ring Ricky.
0:44:26 > 0:44:30I rang him and said, "This is very exciting, what's this all about?"
0:44:30 > 0:44:32He said, "You don't know what I want you to do yet."
0:44:33 > 0:44:35SNIFFING
0:44:35 > 0:44:38- Who's that?- Oh, hi!
0:44:40 > 0:44:41How are you doing, all right?
0:44:41 > 0:44:46Who's the most unlikely person to be doing cocaine in the toilets
0:44:46 > 0:44:48at the Baftas? Ronnie Corbett.
0:44:48 > 0:44:50It's brilliant, it's genius.
0:44:51 > 0:44:56It's a credit to Ronnie that he did it and wasn't freaked out by the idea. It's quite a serious thing.
0:44:56 > 0:44:58It's a criminal act!
0:44:58 > 0:45:01- Yeah, he's one of us, don't worry. - I'm not into this.
0:45:01 > 0:45:03The idea of us...
0:45:03 > 0:45:05Where did we become friends?
0:45:05 > 0:45:07How are we mates? Why are we sneaking around in the toilets?
0:45:07 > 0:45:12Which one of us said to the other one, "Oi, let's pop to the bogs. I've got a little bit of...?"
0:45:12 > 0:45:15No, it's all right. Just have a little bit. It will cheer you up.
0:45:15 > 0:45:16What's going on in there?
0:45:16 > 0:45:20IN HIGH-PITCHED VOICE: I'm just finishing up, excuse me for five minutes.
0:45:20 > 0:45:23- Why are you putting on this voice? - How many people are in there?
0:45:23 > 0:45:25One.
0:45:25 > 0:45:27That's a different voice.
0:45:27 > 0:45:29Two, including the woman you just heard.
0:45:29 > 0:45:31Open the door.
0:45:31 > 0:45:34We didn't think it would be funny to see him chopping up lines.
0:45:34 > 0:45:38It's never entirely clear what we're up to in there but, you know,
0:45:38 > 0:45:42it's obvious that it's nefarious.
0:45:43 > 0:45:46Let me explain, I was in here and I was leaving and he put his...
0:45:46 > 0:45:48That's my agent. Darren Lamb.
0:45:48 > 0:45:50Nice to meet you. You shouldn't say your name.
0:45:50 > 0:45:52Never tell them your name.
0:45:55 > 0:45:57Well, he knows who...
0:45:57 > 0:45:59It's just absolutely extraordinary.
0:45:59 > 0:46:02When I was watching this, I couldn't believe
0:46:02 > 0:46:07they got him to do it. And to commit to it so wholeheartedly.
0:46:07 > 0:46:12Then there's also the clear comic potential of just having he and I
0:46:12 > 0:46:16on screen together, being obviously so very different in size.
0:46:16 > 0:46:18'There's a little visual homage to that classic sketch.
0:46:18 > 0:46:22'I look up to him because he's upper-class.'
0:46:22 > 0:46:23It was your fault.
0:46:23 > 0:46:27- Why was it my fault?- Because they saw your head over the cubicle door.
0:46:27 > 0:46:33They saw your head under the cubicle door. There's no point in arguing amongst ourselves.
0:46:33 > 0:46:37- Well, well, The Three Stooges. - Ha-ha!- Sorry, is something funny?
0:46:37 > 0:46:39- Your joke...- Shut up!
0:46:39 > 0:46:42Corbett.
0:46:42 > 0:46:44It's always bloody Corbett.
0:46:44 > 0:46:46See, I expect it of him.
0:46:46 > 0:46:49But you, you're the new kid on the block.
0:46:49 > 0:46:51- How did you fall in with this crowd? - I-I...
0:46:53 > 0:46:55Is this it or is there any more?
0:47:00 > 0:47:03Just a bit of wizz, you know, to blow away the cobwebs.
0:47:03 > 0:47:04Hand it over.
0:47:04 > 0:47:07"It's just a little bit of wizz to blow away the cobwebs."
0:47:07 > 0:47:12I just remember us falling about at that - just being so excited that he said it.
0:47:12 > 0:47:16Just a bit of wizz, you know, to blow away the cobwebs.
0:47:16 > 0:47:17I'm so sorry!
0:47:17 > 0:47:20Just a bit of wizz, you know, to blow away the cobwebs.
0:47:20 > 0:47:24- Hand it over. - RICKY SNIGGERS
0:47:24 > 0:47:28Just a little whizz to blow away the cobwebs, you know.
0:47:28 > 0:47:29RICKY GIGGLES
0:47:29 > 0:47:32I laughed at "whizz," because he put an H in. I laughed at "whizz".
0:47:32 > 0:47:33Very funny.
0:47:33 > 0:47:37It's not an attempt to be silly, or comic, or fool...
0:47:37 > 0:47:39It's the dignified man again.
0:47:39 > 0:47:43It's Ronnie Corbett, the man who's an institution,
0:47:43 > 0:47:49a much-loved member of the British comic fraternity.
0:47:49 > 0:47:53Like a little naughty schoolboy, caught by a headmaster.
0:47:53 > 0:47:54You're banned from Bafta.
0:47:54 > 0:47:57You can never win a Bafta now.
0:47:57 > 0:47:59- What, me as well?- Yeah, all of you.
0:47:59 > 0:48:01You can never attend any of our varied events.
0:48:01 > 0:48:05You can't come to the Film Baftas, you can't come to the TV Baftas.
0:48:05 > 0:48:07You can't even come to the Children's Baftas.
0:48:07 > 0:48:09What about the Welsh Baftas?
0:48:09 > 0:48:11Would you attend the Welsh Baftas if you were asked?
0:48:11 > 0:48:15- Probably.- OK, expect a call.
0:48:15 > 0:48:18He clearly loves the new stuff that's coming out
0:48:18 > 0:48:24and it gives us an insight into his sense of humour probably being a bit darker than we all thought.
0:48:24 > 0:48:27He understands how schtick works better than probably most
0:48:27 > 0:48:31of the people he's working with, because he's been doing it for so long.
0:48:31 > 0:48:33You know, that's his strength.
0:48:33 > 0:48:40That scene is a very good example of how he's adapted and embraced
0:48:40 > 0:48:42the kind of...
0:48:42 > 0:48:46I guess the new direction essentially that comedy has gone in.
0:48:46 > 0:48:51- What are you doing here?- Don't say you don't remember me, darling.
0:48:51 > 0:48:54Oh, he's always been so naughty with his jokey jokies.
0:48:54 > 0:48:58It's me, darling, Bubbles!
0:48:58 > 0:49:01- We met at Phil Cool's. - I've never met him.
0:49:01 > 0:49:04Phil Cool, you must know Philly Cool.
0:49:04 > 0:49:08- No, I don't know him.- That's right, leave the little people behind.
0:49:08 > 0:49:13Well, what are we waiting for? Champagne, champagne for everyone.
0:49:13 > 0:49:17Bubbles' world is Monte Carlo...
0:49:17 > 0:49:19- Yes, it was beautiful. - ..and glamour.
0:49:19 > 0:49:22And we thought you fitted into that world perfectly.
0:49:22 > 0:49:25It was great we eventually got to do a sketch...
0:49:25 > 0:49:29Lovely! In that lovely house on the Riviera. Yes, it was very lovely.
0:49:29 > 0:49:36Ever since I saw you as Timothy Lumsden on Sorry, I knew I had to have you.
0:49:36 > 0:49:38Just bloody leave!
0:49:38 > 0:49:42Language, Timothy!
0:49:42 > 0:49:45I remember when we did the rehearsal, the first rehearsal,
0:49:45 > 0:49:48you came in and you started reading it. I was so thrilled.
0:49:48 > 0:49:53I could not believe that you were reading words that me and Matt had written.
0:49:53 > 0:49:56I was so thrilled. I just couldn't contain my excitement.
0:49:56 > 0:49:58Even though I was in the scene, you know,
0:49:58 > 0:50:01in a subsidiary role as a butler, I didn't want to be in this.
0:50:01 > 0:50:02I just wanted to watch you do it.
0:50:02 > 0:50:06Oh, gosh! It was very flattering to be invited. It was fun.
0:50:06 > 0:50:11# Everything about you is so sexy
0:50:11 > 0:50:16# You don't even know what you've got
0:50:16 > 0:50:21# Mr Ronnie Corbett Oh, yeah, yeah. #
0:50:21 > 0:50:23Well, it was just very...
0:50:23 > 0:50:29Quite flattering and tempting to be wooed and vamped by Bubbles.
0:50:29 > 0:50:33I mean just for a laugh, perfectly lovely.
0:50:33 > 0:50:37There was no shortage of men who would have happily stood in your shoes that day.
0:50:37 > 0:50:40No, absolutely. Absolutely!
0:50:40 > 0:50:44It's a physical thing as well, because Bubbles is so big
0:50:44 > 0:50:47and you were, sort of, breast height, weren't you?
0:50:47 > 0:50:49That's right. That's right.
0:50:49 > 0:50:54# And work it a little Get hot just a little
0:50:54 > 0:50:56# And meet in the middle
0:50:56 > 0:51:00# Let go just a little bit more
0:51:00 > 0:51:03# Give me just a little bit more. #
0:51:05 > 0:51:06A bit more!
0:51:08 > 0:51:11Monsieur, the police will be here in five minutes.
0:51:11 > 0:51:14Could they make it ten?
0:51:14 > 0:51:18I did feel very naughty that we'd reduced you to that
0:51:18 > 0:51:23and when I was trying to seduce you, I thought, "Oh my God, this man has worked with much better people."
0:51:23 > 0:51:26And here we are - here I am dressed as this big fat woman.
0:51:26 > 0:51:29We brought to down to our level.
0:51:29 > 0:51:32Lovely, very flattered to be included.
0:51:32 > 0:51:34We were grateful as well, so thank you.
0:51:34 > 0:51:38Different teams of people have all had a bit of Ronnie and wanted
0:51:38 > 0:51:42to work with him, and that's a great testament to his talent.
0:51:42 > 0:51:44You can fit into our world as well.
0:51:44 > 0:51:49That's still happening now. That tells you how good he is.
0:51:49 > 0:51:52You've been doing something with Lloyd Drewitt, haven't you?
0:51:52 > 0:51:54What was it? A comedy drama?
0:51:54 > 0:51:58We did a thing called Love Soup, which was...
0:51:58 > 0:52:00- Not been out yet?- No.
0:52:00 > 0:52:03The BBC still have to show it, I think, to their kitchen staff,
0:52:03 > 0:52:06before we can get a final transmission date.
0:52:06 > 0:52:11- Basically, Ronnie was playing an actor/director...- Yes.
0:52:11 > 0:52:16..who as an actor, does ordinary, very, very comic...
0:52:16 > 0:52:20Comic, yes. I was a sort of character comedian as an actor.
0:52:20 > 0:52:23But as a director, just very, very serious, arty,
0:52:23 > 0:52:28very serious, very worthy plays.
0:52:28 > 0:52:31This was about necrophilia, wasn't it?
0:52:31 > 0:52:35Stefan's written this play that I'm directing at the Royal Court
0:52:35 > 0:52:39next week, the subject matter of which might raise a few eyebrows.
0:52:39 > 0:52:43- Controversial? - Well, let's say morally challenging.
0:52:43 > 0:52:45It's about necrophilia.
0:52:48 > 0:52:53So, when you came to see me in the pantomime...
0:52:53 > 0:52:57and I came in with that extraordinary camp outfit,
0:52:57 > 0:53:04which, incidentally, I had worn in Bromley in pantomime.
0:53:04 > 0:53:07He brought his own gear with him. We, sort of, hadn't seen it.
0:53:07 > 0:53:11So, I'm doing very little acting at that point because it was me going...
0:53:11 > 0:53:14Extraordinary. You did look extraordinary.
0:53:14 > 0:53:16- I did look extraordinary. - Especially with the cigar.
0:53:16 > 0:53:18With the cigar, yes!
0:53:18 > 0:53:21It was very good. It was lovely to do, actually.
0:53:21 > 0:53:23I enjoyed it very much.
0:53:23 > 0:53:25We know Ronnie. We see him.
0:53:25 > 0:53:29That's one side of him that we think he is. Then you get him playing these characters as well.
0:53:29 > 0:53:33That's when the edges are blurred and it becomes very interesting.
0:53:33 > 0:53:37You just think, you're getting a character that's talking about necrophilia.
0:53:37 > 0:53:39You'd never have had that in The Two Ronnies.
0:53:39 > 0:53:42But he is Ronnie Corbett. That's what's great.
0:53:42 > 0:53:46You're rubbing a lot of strange edges together because he's playing with
0:53:46 > 0:53:49a side of him - the light entertainment side -
0:53:49 > 0:53:52dragging it in through a door into something a bit darker.
0:53:52 > 0:53:54That's delicious.
0:53:54 > 0:53:57The man's the age that he is and he's still interested
0:53:57 > 0:54:01in all of these people coming up with the new traditions of comedy.
0:54:07 > 0:54:11Matt and David have come up with this idea, The One Ronnie,
0:54:11 > 0:54:14very much in the style of The Two Ronnies.
0:54:14 > 0:54:17So, I got out my um...
0:54:17 > 0:54:19What, your magic wand?
0:54:19 > 0:54:23- No, I got out my, um... - Your turkey baster!
0:54:23 > 0:54:27- No, I got out my...- Tiny mind.
0:54:27 > 0:54:29No, I got out my ladder, didn't I?
0:54:29 > 0:54:30Oh, your ladder!
0:54:30 > 0:54:32He's still sharp.
0:54:32 > 0:54:36- He's still got what it takes. - He can still do it.
0:54:36 > 0:54:39You can still put him at the centre of a show and he will deliver.
0:54:39 > 0:54:42I keep fitter than you think.
0:54:42 > 0:54:46To be honest, I have my own treadmill at home.
0:54:46 > 0:54:49I'm only doing widths at the moment.
0:54:51 > 0:54:54Matt and David came up with the idea
0:54:54 > 0:54:57and put it to the BBC that would it be an idea
0:54:57 > 0:55:02to celebrate my birthday by doing a sketch-type show
0:55:02 > 0:55:08casting today's current crop of sketch performers?
0:55:23 > 0:55:26# Can't you hear those cavalry drums?
0:55:26 > 0:55:29# Hijacking your equilibrium... #
0:55:29 > 0:55:32I did a great sketch where I played Dr Frankenstein
0:55:32 > 0:55:36and he was my little Frankenstein's monster who was too nice.
0:55:36 > 0:55:38What's wrong with being nice?
0:55:38 > 0:55:42You're not supposed to be nice! You're a monster!
0:55:42 > 0:55:45You're supposed to spend your time terrifying people,
0:55:45 > 0:55:48not indulging your passion for interior design.
0:55:49 > 0:55:54- Are you still upset about the curtains?- Yes, I'm still upset about the curtains.
0:55:54 > 0:55:56You're a rubbish monster!
0:55:56 > 0:56:00Once you've got over that sort of awestruck feeling that,
0:56:00 > 0:56:03"Oh, my goodness me, that's Ronnie Corbett."
0:56:03 > 0:56:07Once you get past that, Ronnie's actually so supportive and calming,
0:56:07 > 0:56:12I think, to fellow performers, that you just feel at your ease and everything runs sort of beautifully.
0:56:12 > 0:56:17You really do enjoy whatever it is you're doing.
0:56:17 > 0:56:22- You've just returned from the North Pole.- Yes, indeed.
0:56:22 > 0:56:25It was absolutely freezing.
0:56:25 > 0:56:31He just strikes me as a man who brings nothing but affection -
0:56:31 > 0:56:34affection follows him round.
0:56:34 > 0:56:36That's rare, that's very rare,
0:56:36 > 0:56:38particularly in show business.
0:56:40 > 0:56:43I said show business then like I was doing one of his monologues.
0:56:43 > 0:56:45"Particularly show business."
0:56:45 > 0:56:48# To-ra, lam-ah, lam-ah To-ra, lam-ah, lam-ah
0:56:48 > 0:56:52# Too-ra lie ay
0:56:52 > 0:56:59# Any umbrellas, any umbrellas to mend today?
0:56:59 > 0:57:06# Bring your parasol It may be small, it may be big
0:57:06 > 0:57:13# He repairs them all With what they call a thingamajig
0:57:13 > 0:57:18# Pitter patter Pitter patter
0:57:18 > 0:57:21# It looks like rain... #
0:57:21 > 0:57:24He's right up there. He's top of his game.
0:57:24 > 0:57:29Still a funny man. When you look back as all the shows he's done,
0:57:29 > 0:57:32he's a great comedic character.
0:57:32 > 0:57:34Some comedy like the Two Ronnies,
0:57:34 > 0:57:37some comedy just stays funny for ever.
0:57:46 > 0:57:49It's kind of almost timeless in a way.
0:57:49 > 0:57:51It never dates.
0:57:51 > 0:57:53You're nuts, my lord.
0:57:56 > 0:57:58In the end, just the good stuff remains.
0:57:58 > 0:58:00That's the case with that.
0:58:00 > 0:58:02The reason he's still here is because it's good.
0:58:02 > 0:58:06It was never because it was voguish or trendy or cool or cutting edge.
0:58:06 > 0:58:07It was just good.
0:58:07 > 0:58:11# ..I used to walk in the shade
0:58:11 > 0:58:15- # With the blues on parade - Blues on parade
0:58:15 > 0:58:18# But I'm not afraid
0:58:18 > 0:58:21# I'm crossing over And walking in clovers
0:58:21 > 0:58:28# If I never had a cent I'd be rich as Rockefeller
0:58:28 > 0:58:31# With gold dust at my feet
0:58:31 > 0:58:33# On the sunny side... #
0:58:33 > 0:58:37People get called national treasures, don't they? Much too easily.
0:58:37 > 0:58:39But he most definitely is one.
0:58:39 > 0:58:42He's one of things that makes being British good.
0:58:42 > 0:58:44# ..The sunny side of the street. #
0:58:49 > 0:58:50Yeah!
0:58:54 > 0:58:57Ladies and gentlemen, Ronnie Corbett.
0:59:05 > 0:59:09Ladies and gentlemen, Ronnie Corbett, and his lovely wife, Anne.
0:59:09 > 0:59:11Come up, Anne.
0:59:11 > 0:59:13Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:59:13 > 0:59:15E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk