0:00:02 > 0:00:06- Well, hello, everyone!- He's been on our screen for over 60 years.
0:00:06 > 0:00:09Sometimes in the most unexpected places.
0:00:09 > 0:00:10Corbett!
0:00:12 > 0:00:15Unforgettable, as Ronnie in The Two Ronnies.
0:00:15 > 0:00:18One of the funniest things that has ever been on television.
0:00:18 > 0:00:21Yes, absolutely correct.
0:00:21 > 0:00:24They had a fantastic formula.
0:00:24 > 0:00:27He mastered the art of stand up, sitting down.
0:00:27 > 0:00:30I know what you're thinking. I know what you're thinking.
0:00:30 > 0:00:34That's the first time I've seen a garden mole wearing glasses.
0:00:34 > 0:00:37He spent an awful lot of his career in dresses.
0:00:39 > 0:00:43I mean, who wasn't a fan of The Two Ronnies?
0:00:43 > 0:00:46He could shuffle a bit. Didn't mind a little dance,
0:00:46 > 0:00:48which was great.
0:00:50 > 0:00:54You just want to stroke him, put him in a little pouch and take him home.
0:00:54 > 0:00:57He won the adoration of a new comedy generation.
0:00:57 > 0:01:00One of the true greats.
0:01:00 > 0:01:02People genuinely love him.
0:01:02 > 0:01:05Ronnie Corbett unquestionably is a national treasure.
0:01:05 > 0:01:09The man is a born, brilliant reactor.
0:01:09 > 0:01:16All-singing, all-dancing. He's Britain's smallest big star.
0:01:16 > 0:01:18A bit of confetti hit me in the back of the head...
0:01:18 > 0:01:22An icon of British TV and comedy.
0:01:22 > 0:01:25I was rushed to hospital with concussion.
0:01:25 > 0:01:29These are the many faces of Ronnie Corbett.
0:01:45 > 0:01:48"How did you start in the business?" they say.
0:01:48 > 0:01:51"What made you decide to become a comedian?"
0:01:51 > 0:01:54Which is what I am.
0:01:54 > 0:01:56- And... - LAUGHTER
0:01:56 > 0:01:59I always mention that. Always mention that very early, you know.
0:01:59 > 0:02:01Just in case!
0:02:01 > 0:02:04You know, there might be some foreigners in the audience
0:02:04 > 0:02:06who think I'm a glove puppet.
0:02:09 > 0:02:12Ronnie was born in Edinburgh in 1930.
0:02:12 > 0:02:15The family were keen churchgoers and it was on a pantomime
0:02:15 > 0:02:20stage in the local church hall that Ronnie first got the acting bug.
0:02:20 > 0:02:23I was in this youth club, this church youth club,
0:02:23 > 0:02:25cos our life was built very much round the church.
0:02:25 > 0:02:27Church of Scotland.
0:02:27 > 0:02:30And I did this youth club pantomime and I played the wicked aunt.
0:02:30 > 0:02:32I was in drag straightaway.
0:02:32 > 0:02:33And...
0:02:33 > 0:02:37And it was just a revelation to me cos I hadn't been any
0:02:37 > 0:02:41good at anything and suddenly, I just felt this immediate comfort.
0:02:41 > 0:02:44But the comforting applause was soon a memory.
0:02:44 > 0:02:46After the Second World War,
0:02:46 > 0:02:49young men were obliged to enter National Service.
0:02:49 > 0:02:53At only 5ft 1 inch, Ronnie was reputedly the shortest
0:02:53 > 0:02:55commissioned officer in the Royal Air Force.
0:02:59 > 0:03:02Back in Civvy Street after his regulation 18 months,
0:03:02 > 0:03:07his diminutive stature opened the door to small parts in films.
0:03:07 > 0:03:09He found a niche, playing boys and young men.
0:03:12 > 0:03:14You're Only Young Twice!
0:03:14 > 0:03:18was a 1952 British film shot mainly around the University of Glasgow.
0:03:18 > 0:03:21Are you staying here long?
0:03:21 > 0:03:25- I don't know. Yes, perhaps.- Oh, good! I think you'll like it here.
0:03:25 > 0:03:26It's a bit cold at first, of course,
0:03:26 > 0:03:29but I always find that after a week or two, I never notice the cold.
0:03:29 > 0:03:31Come on, we'll be late.
0:03:31 > 0:03:33Being awkward around women would become
0:03:33 > 0:03:36something of a trademark in years ahead.
0:03:36 > 0:03:39- Au revoir then.- Au revoir. I have enjoyed our little chat.
0:03:41 > 0:03:42Quiet!
0:03:44 > 0:03:46Have to raise my voice.
0:03:46 > 0:03:50Ronnie was big on ambition, but in the '50s,
0:03:50 > 0:03:53his boyish looks kept dragging him back to the classroom.
0:03:53 > 0:03:56'Ere, Titch. What you going to do in the school concert tomorrow night?
0:03:56 > 0:04:00- Nothing.- Nothing? I thought you were going to be a comic.- A comic?!
0:04:00 > 0:04:01Yes, you know, a wit.
0:04:01 > 0:04:04I don't know a wit. I know a couple of halfwits though.
0:04:04 > 0:04:05- You and who else?- Get out of it!
0:04:05 > 0:04:08He does a lot of schoolboy parts.
0:04:08 > 0:04:10He's in a film called Fun At St Fanny's,
0:04:10 > 0:04:13which is set in one of those schools where everybody looks
0:04:13 > 0:04:16a bit...rather older than they should be.
0:04:16 > 0:04:19All of these middle aged men in short trousers.
0:04:19 > 0:04:21Cardew.
0:04:21 > 0:04:24This is going to hurt me far more than it's going to hurt you.
0:04:24 > 0:04:27- Oh! Oh! - Think of it, 16 years at St Fanny's
0:04:27 > 0:04:31and you don't know anything about William the Conqueror.
0:04:31 > 0:04:35Fun At St Fanny's was a bizarre 1956 concoction with all
0:04:35 > 0:04:39the ingredients to be a totally forgettable moment in British film.
0:04:39 > 0:04:42We think we've found an improvement on the hydrogen bomb.
0:04:42 > 0:04:44Never mind that. Will someone get me out of here?
0:04:44 > 0:04:49EXPLOSION
0:04:50 > 0:04:53Thank you.
0:04:54 > 0:04:56Ronnie had had enough.
0:05:00 > 0:05:03Ronnie was also getting regular television work
0:05:03 > 0:05:06on account of his height, or lack of it.
0:05:06 > 0:05:09Crackerjack was a children's show, hosted by Eamonn Andrews
0:05:09 > 0:05:13and performed before a live audience of excitable youngsters.
0:05:13 > 0:05:16Yes, it's Crackerjack!
0:05:16 > 0:05:20THEY CHEER EXCITEDLY
0:05:20 > 0:05:22- Ronnie...- Yes.- Ronnie...
0:05:22 > 0:05:25- Have you ever made a record?- No.
0:05:25 > 0:05:29- No? Would you like to? - I'd love to, yes!
0:05:29 > 0:05:32One of the things that I suffered from a bit in my early days
0:05:32 > 0:05:38was that being small, people thought I was sort of more constructed
0:05:38 > 0:05:42to do the knockabout stuff, hit on the head, little comedian.
0:05:42 > 0:05:44So they would say - now we're going to cover you with flour
0:05:44 > 0:05:47and water and then hit you in the head,
0:05:47 > 0:05:50but really, I wasn't that kind of performer at all.
0:05:50 > 0:05:53- Do you want to record?- Well, stand up. Oh, you are standing up.
0:05:53 > 0:05:56'Although I was little, I worked tall.'
0:05:56 > 0:05:59I didn't go on working in television.'
0:05:59 > 0:06:03It was a little spat of... And then nothing happened afterwards.
0:06:03 > 0:06:07It didn't lead to anything because I wasn't really truly right for it.
0:06:09 > 0:06:12After almost ten years on the fringe of an acting career,
0:06:12 > 0:06:16Ronnie Corbett was struggling and he was being typecast.
0:06:16 > 0:06:19Being short meant being the butt of the wrong kind of jokes.
0:06:19 > 0:06:24Terry Thomas promised another film part, but Operation Snatch
0:06:24 > 0:06:28cast Ronnie as a diminutive soldier impersonating a monkey.
0:06:28 > 0:06:29Something had to change.
0:06:32 > 0:06:36It was now the '60s and London was in full swing.
0:06:36 > 0:06:39Ronnie did television by day, worked in a bar in the evening,
0:06:39 > 0:06:42and performed cabaret late into the night.
0:06:42 > 0:06:47But he struggled to be more than a support act for newer stars.
0:06:47 > 0:06:50The younger comedians of the day, Jimmy Tarbuck for example,
0:06:50 > 0:06:53had come up with the kind of Liverpool, Beatles,
0:06:53 > 0:06:55people couldn't get enough of the Scousers.
0:06:55 > 0:06:58Ronnie didn't fit any particular...
0:06:58 > 0:07:03Any particular box that you could put him in and it...
0:07:03 > 0:07:06I think that held him back quite a bit.
0:07:06 > 0:07:08But eventually, talent will out.
0:07:09 > 0:07:12Ronnie's cabaret comedy talent was being noticed.
0:07:12 > 0:07:16He made regular appearances supporting Jimmy Tarbuck in the '60s.
0:07:19 > 0:07:23- I recognise you, don't I? - You can't prove a thing.
0:07:23 > 0:07:26Just a moment, that little chin, that same little nose,
0:07:26 > 0:07:29that hint of mascara around the eyes...
0:07:29 > 0:07:32I know you. Conrad from Carnaby Street.
0:07:32 > 0:07:35Call me Connie.
0:07:35 > 0:07:39And even in those days, he had class.
0:07:39 > 0:07:41I thought - he does well, this fella, and he's funny
0:07:41 > 0:07:45and did sketches and all that and did what we call quickies.
0:07:45 > 0:07:48APPLAUSE
0:07:48 > 0:07:49He's away changing,
0:07:49 > 0:07:52time for a quick rhyme from Mr Fuller of Rickmansworth.
0:07:52 > 0:07:54There was a young girl called Cilla...
0:07:54 > 0:07:55LAUGHTER
0:07:55 > 0:07:58..who looked as if nothing could fill her
0:07:58 > 0:07:59To make her look plumper
0:07:59 > 0:08:00She stuffed up her jumper
0:08:00 > 0:08:03- Two melons wrapped in a pillar. - HONKS HORN
0:08:03 > 0:08:06- Ho-ho! - And he was a joy to work with.
0:08:06 > 0:08:11Solid as a rock when he was working, cos he'd worked with lots of people.
0:08:11 > 0:08:14Ronnie was busy, if not big time.
0:08:14 > 0:08:17He had been in films, he'd been in cabaret and on television.
0:08:17 > 0:08:20He even had a growing career on stage.
0:08:23 > 0:08:29In 1963, he appeared with Bob Monkhouse in The Boys From Syracuse.
0:08:29 > 0:08:33that led to a part in a much anticipated new musical - Twang.
0:08:33 > 0:08:36Maybe this would be his big break.
0:08:37 > 0:08:40If you saw the running order
0:08:40 > 0:08:44and the credits of Twang, you'd go,
0:08:44 > 0:08:47"Well, this has got to be a huge success."
0:08:51 > 0:08:54The hand of fate was hovering.
0:08:54 > 0:08:57But while the West End beckoned, Ronnie still felt most comfortable
0:08:57 > 0:09:02doing comedy in clubs, particularly the cabaret stage at Danny La Rue's.
0:09:03 > 0:09:06My earliest memory of Ronnie was seeing him
0:09:06 > 0:09:11stooging at Danny La Rue's club in the West End, in Hannover Square.
0:09:11 > 0:09:14And he was on and off all night long.
0:09:14 > 0:09:17And what a funny man.
0:09:17 > 0:09:20The 17th edition of our cabaret, devised
0:09:20 > 0:09:23and produced by Danny La Rue, written by Barry Cryer,
0:09:23 > 0:09:27starring Jenny Logan, Ronnie Corbett, Tony Farmer,
0:09:27 > 0:09:31and Danny, who says - keep it moving!
0:09:31 > 0:09:35Come to me, my little sugar plum.
0:09:35 > 0:09:40- Sugar plum's a fairy!- Any questions? - LAUGHTER
0:09:40 > 0:09:46'The fun was that there was this glamorous, statuesque lady,'
0:09:46 > 0:09:49who was Dan, and this busy bee of a little soul with short
0:09:49 > 0:09:54legs like me, buzzing about, playing all heroes to his heroines.
0:09:54 > 0:10:00It worked very well because you see on stage, in all the gear,
0:10:00 > 0:10:04I can be anything from 6ft 2 to 7ft.
0:10:04 > 0:10:08# Happy feet, we've got those happy feet... #
0:10:08 > 0:10:11Danny was sophisticated, glamorous,
0:10:11 > 0:10:15rather than a sort of pantomime dame type, which we'd been used to.
0:10:15 > 0:10:17And he had this little company of players,
0:10:17 > 0:10:22who he fed off and who did gags. And it was the place in London.
0:10:22 > 0:10:25Everybody went to Danny La Rue's club.
0:10:25 > 0:10:28It was the place to go, the place to be seen,
0:10:28 > 0:10:30and the place to have a bloody good laugh.
0:10:30 > 0:10:36- I leapt over the fence, I was caught by the Cossacks.- Oh, my goodness!
0:10:36 > 0:10:40He had a wonderful crew around him, feeding him
0:10:40 > 0:10:44and that and he, Corbett, the little guy, and the difference with Danny
0:10:44 > 0:10:49with the huge knockers on and the little fella who came up to them...
0:10:49 > 0:10:52I mean, it was funny for a start.
0:10:52 > 0:10:54# Up on point, we're always up on point
0:10:54 > 0:10:56# And straight in... #
0:10:56 > 0:10:58I can't make it! I can't make it!
0:10:58 > 0:11:02That's where Ronnie, along with the other clubs,
0:11:02 > 0:11:04served his apprenticeship.
0:11:04 > 0:11:07I mean, you could go in and be sat in the dark
0:11:07 > 0:11:11and you'd look who was sat there, it might be Princess Margaret or
0:11:11 > 0:11:15Laurence Olivier, or people of that ilk, you know...
0:11:15 > 0:11:21The grandees of this life. They'd be in there, roaring laughing at Danny.
0:11:21 > 0:11:24And certainly at the little guy. Yeah.
0:11:24 > 0:11:28The people who came, and Ron was in it and a whole gang of us,
0:11:28 > 0:11:31and I was in it and wrote the shows,
0:11:31 > 0:11:33and Danny was a great mentor.
0:11:33 > 0:11:35The gang. We were the gang.
0:11:35 > 0:11:40He really looked after us and we all united against opposition.
0:11:40 > 0:11:44It was hard not to be discovered there, if you were any good,
0:11:44 > 0:11:47because everybody in the business went there, every TV boss,
0:11:47 > 0:11:51every theatre boss, booker... Everybody went there.
0:11:51 > 0:11:54And Ronnie was absolutely a standout.
0:11:54 > 0:11:58David Frost came in one night and had a drink with me and Ronnie.
0:12:01 > 0:12:05David Frost was a rising star, but his cult television satire,
0:12:05 > 0:12:09That Was The Week That Was, had come and gone.
0:12:09 > 0:12:12# That was the week that was
0:12:12 > 0:12:15# It's over, let it go... #
0:12:15 > 0:12:17David Frost had said -
0:12:17 > 0:12:22if Twang runs, you won't be able to do this, but in
0:12:22 > 0:12:29six weeks, I am starting recording a series called The Frost Report.
0:12:29 > 0:12:33Twang was the biggest flop in West End history.
0:12:33 > 0:12:36It sank Ronnie's hopes of a future in musical theatre after
0:12:36 > 0:12:38only 43 performances.
0:12:40 > 0:12:43In life, there's a thing, isn't there?
0:12:43 > 0:12:47One door closes and another door opens
0:12:47 > 0:12:51and that might have been the case in the Twang thing cos it
0:12:51 > 0:12:55came off and Ronnie was available to do other things.
0:12:57 > 0:13:02That was a major, major turning point in my life really.
0:13:02 > 0:13:05David Frost's topical weekly show took the edgy
0:13:05 > 0:13:09atmosphere of late night revue and put it on television.
0:13:09 > 0:13:10Live.
0:13:10 > 0:13:12Thank you very much indeed.
0:13:12 > 0:13:16He had recruited university talent who wanted everything to be
0:13:16 > 0:13:17something completely different
0:13:17 > 0:13:21and stage talent who had the discipline to pull it together.
0:13:23 > 0:13:25The stage talent was Ronnie Corbett
0:13:25 > 0:13:29and a newcomer from repertory theatre, Ronnie Barker.
0:13:29 > 0:13:33The chemistry between the two Ronnies happened very early on.
0:13:33 > 0:13:37There's a classic police station sketch, written by Mike Palin
0:13:37 > 0:13:40and Terry Jones and they only use the first two lines.
0:13:40 > 0:13:44- Good morning, Super. - Morning, wonderful.
0:13:48 > 0:13:52And that's all it was. And you sensed at the time...
0:13:52 > 0:13:56We got the impression - we've got something here.
0:13:56 > 0:13:58A nine second exchange brought Ronnie Corbett
0:13:58 > 0:14:01and Ronnie Barker together for the very first time.
0:14:01 > 0:14:04Although it would be another five years before the two Ronnies
0:14:04 > 0:14:08starred in their own show, their unique comedy chemistry is
0:14:08 > 0:14:10there in The Frost Report from day one.
0:14:10 > 0:14:13I'd never worked with Ron before that, but I'd met him
0:14:13 > 0:14:17because I used to work in a bar called The Buxton Club,
0:14:17 > 0:14:21which is an actors' club off Haymarket.
0:14:21 > 0:14:24And Ron always reckoned the first time I served him
0:14:24 > 0:14:27behind the bar, I was standing on a beer crate.
0:14:27 > 0:14:29No, that was wrong.
0:14:29 > 0:14:30Both he and Ronnie Barker,
0:14:30 > 0:14:33having done all these last minute jobs
0:14:33 > 0:14:36and last minute line learning, running from place to place,
0:14:36 > 0:14:39doing a bit of cabaret, filling in for people,
0:14:39 > 0:14:41Ronnie Barker had had a long career in rep,
0:14:41 > 0:14:44they knew about learning lines right at the last minute,
0:14:44 > 0:14:47but some of those other people, those Cambridge people, they didn't
0:14:47 > 0:14:48have a clue about that,
0:14:48 > 0:14:52so if we look back at footage of those shows, I think if you look
0:14:52 > 0:14:58carefully, you can see that the two Ronnies are rather at ease with this
0:14:58 > 0:15:01kind of stuff, but I think you can see the fear in John Cleese's eyes.
0:15:01 > 0:15:05Now, what exactly were you doing on the night of the 14th of October?
0:15:05 > 0:15:08Well, we pulled some birds, slapped them back to the Drum,
0:15:08 > 0:15:11you know, bit of a giggle, all down to Larkin, and all that carry on...
0:15:11 > 0:15:13Now, look here!
0:15:13 > 0:15:17It was a ground-breaking show and won the coveted
0:15:17 > 0:15:21Golden Rose at the Montreaux Television festival in 1967.
0:15:21 > 0:15:25Ronnie was at the cutting edge of the comedy of the day.
0:15:26 > 0:15:30I think people forget that he was effectively an alternative
0:15:30 > 0:15:33comedian in his day. I mean, he was... He was at some...
0:15:33 > 0:15:37Involved in what was definitely cutting edge comedy...
0:15:37 > 0:15:40The Frost Report, was connected with That Was The Week That Was,
0:15:40 > 0:15:45that had come before it, and the very famous three class sketch.
0:15:45 > 0:15:49I look down on him because I am upper class.
0:15:49 > 0:15:53I look up to him because he is upper class.
0:15:53 > 0:15:56But I look down on him because he is lower class.
0:15:58 > 0:15:59I am middle class.
0:16:02 > 0:16:04I know my place.
0:16:05 > 0:16:08It's clever that the short man
0:16:08 > 0:16:11is playing, you know,
0:16:11 > 0:16:13the working class man
0:16:13 > 0:16:17because you might think that being working class,
0:16:17 > 0:16:22he'd be a manual labourer and so therefore big, or whatever,
0:16:22 > 0:16:26but they work the height thing really brilliantly.
0:16:26 > 0:16:30I look up to them both, but I don't look up to him
0:16:30 > 0:16:32as much as I look up to him.
0:16:32 > 0:16:38I think it's a sketch that pervades the British consciousness, that one.
0:16:38 > 0:16:41We're still obsessed with class.
0:16:41 > 0:16:44I have got innate breeding, but I have not got any money.
0:16:44 > 0:16:47So sometimes, I look up...to him.
0:16:49 > 0:16:53It was seen as a template of the development of satire
0:16:53 > 0:16:58and I think it's quite interesting to think that Ronnie, who is...
0:16:58 > 0:17:02Because he's at the heart of mainstream light entertainment and
0:17:02 > 0:17:05it's interesting that he played his role in what was
0:17:05 > 0:17:07seen as a more edgy part of the industry as well.
0:17:10 > 0:17:15David Frost moved to ITV in 1968 and took his A Team of stars
0:17:15 > 0:17:18and writers with him.
0:17:18 > 0:17:23He packaged shows, he put performers under contract,
0:17:23 > 0:17:28he was a real entrepreneur, year ahead of his time.
0:17:28 > 0:17:31And for Ronnie Corbett, it was great for him
0:17:31 > 0:17:34to be part of that cos David had a lot of clout.
0:17:34 > 0:17:37Frost was more than a frontman.
0:17:37 > 0:17:40He was a producer who kept his talent busy.
0:17:40 > 0:17:44He had faith in both Ronnies and created new TV shows for them
0:17:44 > 0:17:45as individuals.
0:17:47 > 0:17:52The sitcom No That's Me Over Here was Ronnie Corbett's first
0:17:52 > 0:17:56starring role. It ran from 1967 to 1970.
0:17:58 > 0:18:02David Frost, a practising catalyst, had put me
0:18:02 > 0:18:06and Graham Chapman together and we wrote Ronnie Corbett's first sitcom.
0:18:06 > 0:18:10The first series, I think it was me and Graham and Eric Idle.
0:18:10 > 0:18:13Taking his real name for the lead character,
0:18:13 > 0:18:16the action is split between Ronnie's home life and office politics.
0:18:16 > 0:18:19It's fast-moving and often unexpected.
0:18:19 > 0:18:21Yes, we had some surreal moments.
0:18:21 > 0:18:25Ronnie would be discovered IN a filing cabinet.
0:18:25 > 0:18:27If you examine that, there's no logic in that at all.
0:18:27 > 0:18:29How did he get in there?!
0:18:29 > 0:18:33Ronnie would get even smaller and his boss, played by Ivor Dean,
0:18:33 > 0:18:35would become a giant looming over him.
0:18:35 > 0:18:39- I was on my way to see if you were in.- Well, I'm out here now.
0:18:39 > 0:18:43- What did you want to see me about? - But we had a great time doing that.
0:18:43 > 0:18:46It's a prolific time for both Ronnies, as producers
0:18:46 > 0:18:50and broadcasters test their appeal in different formats.
0:18:50 > 0:18:53Corbett went on to another sitcom, Now Look Here.
0:18:53 > 0:18:57Barker made the Ronnie Barker Playhouse, Hark At Barker
0:18:57 > 0:18:58and Six Dates With Barker.
0:18:58 > 0:19:02While Corbett got his own named shows - The Corbett Follies
0:19:02 > 0:19:04and Ronnie Corbett In Bed.
0:19:04 > 0:19:08All of this and another two series of sketches in Frost On Sunday.
0:19:08 > 0:19:12In just five years, Ronnie had become a very familiar face.
0:19:14 > 0:19:17- Ronnie Corbett, this is your life. - Oh, my God!
0:19:21 > 0:19:25By 1970, Ronnie Corbett was so well known,
0:19:25 > 0:19:29he was big enough to feature in the star tribute show This Is Your Life.
0:19:33 > 0:19:37Both Ronnies had served their time, but at 40 years of age,
0:19:37 > 0:19:40Ronnie's television career was only just beginning.
0:19:50 > 0:19:54In 1971, the BBC created The Two Ronnies.
0:19:54 > 0:19:58The Two Ronnies became required family entertainment for 16 years.
0:20:00 > 0:20:04I just remember certain things that were on telly
0:20:04 > 0:20:07and that you watched and The Two Ronnies was one of them.
0:20:07 > 0:20:10Good evening. It's nice to be with you again, isn't it, Ronnie?
0:20:10 > 0:20:11Yes, it is. Very nice indeed.
0:20:11 > 0:20:13You would have the audience all
0:20:13 > 0:20:15watching at the same time, which
0:20:15 > 0:20:16they don't do now,
0:20:16 > 0:20:20and watching in great numbers, so it became a shared experience.
0:20:20 > 0:20:21So the next day, there was
0:20:21 > 0:20:25a fair chance you could talk to your friend and they'd seen it.
0:20:25 > 0:20:30THEY PLAY TUNE
0:20:42 > 0:20:47You just knew it was a guaranteed time of the weekend where
0:20:47 > 0:20:51you were going to have a bloody good laugh with the whole family.
0:20:51 > 0:20:53Wonderful!
0:20:55 > 0:20:57- Hello, George. Nice to see you.- Hello.
0:20:57 > 0:21:00- Have a sausage roll.- Uh... Ah-ah-atchoo!
0:21:00 > 0:21:03Oh, I'm sorry. A cheese straw?
0:21:03 > 0:21:04Oh...
0:21:04 > 0:21:05Uh-atchoo!
0:21:05 > 0:21:08- Oh, bless you.- I'm awfully sorry. Awfully sorry.
0:21:08 > 0:21:11Just that whenever anyone mentions food, I sneeze, you see?
0:21:11 > 0:21:13- Oh, dear. I am sorry about that. - Sorry.- Have a little drink.
0:21:13 > 0:21:16- Thanks very much.- Drink to your better health.
0:21:16 > 0:21:17- Yes.- A little toast.
0:21:17 > 0:21:18Atchoo!
0:21:18 > 0:21:20Sorry!
0:21:20 > 0:21:22- I'm sorry!- Oh, dear.
0:21:22 > 0:21:26The Two Ronnies were a double act created for television.
0:21:26 > 0:21:29Both Ronnies were equal comedy partners.
0:21:29 > 0:21:30Classic double acts,
0:21:30 > 0:21:34generally tend to have something physical going on between them.
0:21:34 > 0:21:37Obviously, Laurel and Hardy, Abbott and Costello as well,
0:21:37 > 0:21:39Morecambe and Wise as well...
0:21:39 > 0:21:42You know, the tall one and the short one.
0:21:42 > 0:21:45And that's happening too with The Two Ronnies.
0:21:45 > 0:21:47What's interesting about The Two Ronnies,
0:21:47 > 0:21:52from that point of view, is it's not straight man and funny man.
0:21:52 > 0:21:54Ah, thank you, Groucho.
0:21:54 > 0:21:57Oh, that's good! Oh, that's very, very good!
0:21:57 > 0:21:59Yes, I don't think we've got a Sooty.
0:22:01 > 0:22:04I beg your pardon! I haven't come as Sooty!
0:22:04 > 0:22:05- Oh, haven't you?- No.
0:22:05 > 0:22:08- Certainly not.- It's just as well, isn't it, really?
0:22:08 > 0:22:10You don't want to spend the rest of the party with someone's hand
0:22:10 > 0:22:13up your jumper all night, do you?
0:22:13 > 0:22:18For me, The Two Ronnies were deeply formative. Um...
0:22:18 > 0:22:21I don't think Ronnie's going to mind
0:22:21 > 0:22:24when I say that my personal all-time personal heroes of comedy
0:22:24 > 0:22:28were Morecambe and Wise, but then Morecambe and Wise were much more
0:22:28 > 0:22:31specific than talents like Ronnie and Ronnie because Ronnie and Ronnie
0:22:31 > 0:22:34did sitcoms, they worked apart, they worked together,
0:22:34 > 0:22:36The Two Ronnies was part of their lives,
0:22:36 > 0:22:39but they weren't a double act in the way that Morecambe and Wise were.
0:22:39 > 0:22:43Ronnie always went along with Ronnie Barker's opinions on shape
0:22:43 > 0:22:47and form and whatever. And it did evolve a format.
0:22:47 > 0:22:50They've got the news items at the beginning and then there'd be
0:22:50 > 0:22:54a sketch where they're both at a party or dinner or in a bar.
0:22:54 > 0:22:57And there would always be a song medley at the end.
0:22:57 > 0:23:00It was a solid formula that hardly ever changed.
0:23:00 > 0:23:02And worked.
0:23:02 > 0:23:06We knew that we couldn't do an opening thing in front of an
0:23:06 > 0:23:11audience with Ron and I talking to each other and to the audience.
0:23:11 > 0:23:14So we knew that there had to be a device whereby we could both talk to
0:23:14 > 0:23:18the audience separately and have a little passing glance between us,
0:23:18 > 0:23:22so what developed out of that was the news items.
0:23:22 > 0:23:25And we'll be demonstrating the very latest brassiere.
0:23:25 > 0:23:27It's called the Sheepdog.
0:23:27 > 0:23:30It rounds them up and points them in the right direction.
0:23:34 > 0:23:38Towards the end of every show, Ronnie Corbett takes to
0:23:38 > 0:23:41a chair for a rambling monologue, leading to a simple joke.
0:23:41 > 0:23:43I was doing some decorating.
0:23:43 > 0:23:46I fell off a ladder while painting the skirting board.
0:23:46 > 0:23:51He's kind of the first stand up comedian my generation ever
0:23:51 > 0:23:54saw, even though he was sitting down.
0:23:54 > 0:23:57Because people then didn't
0:23:57 > 0:24:00really come on telly
0:24:00 > 0:24:02and do a comic monologue.
0:24:02 > 0:24:05Tonight, I would like,
0:24:05 > 0:24:10if I may, to relate a very funny story that I heard when I...
0:24:10 > 0:24:12BANG
0:24:17 > 0:24:20Sorry, what's that? I think the producer's just shot himself.
0:24:26 > 0:24:29Plenty of time for that when we get to the joke.
0:24:29 > 0:24:32I remember standing watching him rehearsing one afternoon
0:24:32 > 0:24:34and Ronnie Barker was standing next to me.
0:24:34 > 0:24:37And Ronnie Barker was watching his friend in the chair
0:24:37 > 0:24:41and he turned to me and said, "How does he do that?"
0:24:41 > 0:24:44Cos Ronnie was ostensibly playing himself
0:24:44 > 0:24:47and Ronnie Barker was always a character.
0:24:47 > 0:24:50He said, "I want to smell the spirit gum on my upper lip,
0:24:50 > 0:24:54"part my hair, I'll wear a wig." But it was mutual admiration society.
0:24:54 > 0:24:57I mean, Ronnie admired Ronnie Barker very much,
0:24:57 > 0:25:01but always remember Ronnie Barker saying that, "How's he do that?"
0:25:01 > 0:25:03Sitting in that chair, waffling away,
0:25:03 > 0:25:06written by the great Spike Mullins.
0:25:06 > 0:25:10Ronnie's chair monologues grew out of his natural improvising skills,
0:25:10 > 0:25:13but they became a wholly scripted routine.
0:25:13 > 0:25:18When Spike's scripts used to come at the beginning of the week, for that
0:25:18 > 0:25:23week's show, I always knew they'd arrived because he'd have his cup of
0:25:23 > 0:25:26tea in bed and he'd start laughing and I could hear him laughing.
0:25:26 > 0:25:29The words were just there, you know.
0:25:29 > 0:25:33Sheer... You know, affection. Sounding like me.
0:25:33 > 0:25:34The fact is that it's a popular
0:25:34 > 0:25:38fallacy that men of my diminutive stature don't make great lovers.
0:25:38 > 0:25:41As I pointed out in my recent book on the subject -
0:25:41 > 0:25:43How To Make A Little Go A Long Way.
0:25:45 > 0:25:49Over the 16 year run, there were many great sketches,
0:25:49 > 0:25:52and one particular classic moment.
0:25:54 > 0:25:57Fork handles.
0:25:57 > 0:25:59Four candles?
0:25:59 > 0:26:02If you look at that sketch carefully with
0:26:02 > 0:26:08a sort of semi-professional eye, what makes that sketch
0:26:08 > 0:26:15work in three dimensions is Ronnie Corbett's acting in that sketch.
0:26:15 > 0:26:18Fork handles...
0:26:18 > 0:26:20Got any plugs?
0:26:20 > 0:26:22Plugs?
0:26:22 > 0:26:23- Yeah.- What kind of plugs?
0:26:23 > 0:26:26A rubber one, bathroom.
0:26:27 > 0:26:32Who is the straight man in Fork Handles? Because it's...
0:26:32 > 0:26:35Well, it is Ronnie Corbett, isn't it? It's Ronnie Corbett
0:26:35 > 0:26:40because Ronnie Corbett is playing the shopkeeper who is getting angry.
0:26:40 > 0:26:42What size?
0:26:42 > 0:26:4413 amp.
0:26:51 > 0:26:54You just watch the way the man is reacting.
0:26:54 > 0:26:57Every nuance, every touch, brilliant.
0:26:57 > 0:26:58- Got an 'ose?- Os?
0:26:58 > 0:27:00'Ose.
0:27:02 > 0:27:06It's beautiful. It's just beautiful. And it never ages.
0:27:06 > 0:27:10You can watch it again and again. Even though you know what's coming.
0:27:10 > 0:27:13And I suppose a lot of that is just to do with the rhythm.
0:27:13 > 0:27:19And it's two masters, you know, playing it just perfectly.
0:27:34 > 0:27:37- Many do you want?- Two.- Two.
0:27:40 > 0:27:41All right?
0:28:03 > 0:28:04Yes?
0:28:04 > 0:28:05Got any Ps?
0:28:05 > 0:28:06LAUGHTER
0:28:09 > 0:28:11Gawd's sake, why didn't you bleedin' tell me
0:28:11 > 0:28:13that when I'm up there, then?
0:28:13 > 0:28:15I'm up and down the shop already,
0:28:15 > 0:28:17it's up and down the shop all the time.
0:28:19 > 0:28:22Honestly, I've got all this shop, up and down here...
0:28:22 > 0:28:25That background activity
0:28:25 > 0:28:28of him going to get stuff and Ronnie Barker waiting for it,
0:28:28 > 0:28:30and then you just know it's going to be still wrong,
0:28:30 > 0:28:33it's still going to be a pun, gets funnier and funnier.
0:28:38 > 0:28:39How many do you want?
0:28:41 > 0:28:43No, tins of peas!
0:28:43 > 0:28:45UPROARIOUS LAUGHTER
0:28:49 > 0:28:51Three tins of peas.
0:28:53 > 0:28:56Of course, the words are brilliant.
0:28:56 > 0:28:59But, to bring that sketch to life,
0:28:59 > 0:29:03Ronnie Corbett's performance in that sketch
0:29:03 > 0:29:06is a masterclass in comic...comic genius.
0:29:09 > 0:29:11Through the 16 years of Two Ronnies,
0:29:11 > 0:29:15there were mini form series, parodies that ran from week to week.
0:29:19 > 0:29:22One of the great landmarks in Ronnie Corbett's career,
0:29:22 > 0:29:23The Worm That Turned.
0:29:28 > 0:29:32It's a brilliant insight into the gender politics of that period,
0:29:32 > 0:29:36because you've got this picture of this England, turned upside down...
0:29:38 > 0:29:39The dateline is 2012.
0:29:39 > 0:29:42England is in the grip of a new and terrifying regime.
0:29:42 > 0:29:45The country is being run by women.
0:29:48 > 0:29:49The secret police are everywhere.
0:29:49 > 0:29:53Ruled by women. Terrifying idea!
0:29:53 > 0:29:55Men, downtrodden and subjugated,
0:29:55 > 0:29:57are forced to wear dresses
0:29:57 > 0:29:59and to have only feminine lives.
0:29:59 > 0:30:05Ruled, in fact, by Diana Dors in a kind of commandant's uniform,
0:30:05 > 0:30:09which, I dare say, excited an awful lot of people.
0:30:09 > 0:30:11What the hell do you think you're doing?
0:30:11 > 0:30:13I'm dusting the desk.
0:30:13 > 0:30:15Sitting down?!
0:30:15 > 0:30:16Dusting the chair.
0:30:16 > 0:30:20It's a new directive from the Efficiency Department.
0:30:20 > 0:30:22There's something rather gripping about this.
0:30:22 > 0:30:23Just a minute.
0:30:23 > 0:30:24Name?
0:30:24 > 0:30:25DRAMATIC MUSIC
0:30:28 > 0:30:29It's utterly bizarre,
0:30:29 > 0:30:33but I can remember being totally beguiled by this world.
0:30:34 > 0:30:36Julie.
0:30:36 > 0:30:37Julie Andrews.
0:30:37 > 0:30:38LAUGHTER
0:30:39 > 0:30:41Sounds familiar.
0:30:41 > 0:30:43And almost seeing what they were doing in it as a version of,
0:30:43 > 0:30:45you know, I used to watch Secret Army.
0:30:45 > 0:30:48My great-grandmother was very, very famous in showbusiness.
0:30:48 > 0:30:49Really?
0:30:49 > 0:30:51Yes. Eamonn Andrews.
0:30:51 > 0:30:52Andrews?
0:30:54 > 0:30:56You will report to this office nine o'clock on Monday
0:30:56 > 0:30:58when you will be disciplined.
0:30:58 > 0:31:00And, actually, I think The Worm That Turned
0:31:00 > 0:31:02in its own way, was as gripping as Secret Army.
0:31:02 > 0:31:04HARP GLISSANDO
0:31:07 > 0:31:11And, as the programme's success soared, so did the budgets,
0:31:11 > 0:31:15with ever more elaborate sets and high production values.
0:31:15 > 0:31:18It was a golden age for television entertainment.
0:31:20 > 0:31:21- # I'm the Hare - # He's the Hare
0:31:21 > 0:31:23# He's the Hatter
0:31:23 > 0:31:26# And the former is as loony as the latter
0:31:26 > 0:31:28# Your hat is on fire
0:31:28 > 0:31:32# I'm smouldering with desire for Alice in her winter underwear... #
0:31:32 > 0:31:34- Winter Wonderland! - Didn't I say that?
0:31:34 > 0:31:37- You said underwear. - Under where?
0:31:37 > 0:31:40No, no, no, underwear, ladies' lingerie, peek-a-boo bras,
0:31:40 > 0:31:41garters and bodices.
0:31:41 > 0:31:44- Did I say all that? - Well, you had that in mind.
0:31:44 > 0:31:46Well, I'm not as mad as I look! Ha-ha!
0:31:46 > 0:31:48I think it was a golden age of television.
0:31:48 > 0:31:52Money was plentiful, the BBC had lots of money,
0:31:52 > 0:31:54ITV had a monopoly, had lots of money.
0:31:54 > 0:31:56# There's the duke.
0:31:56 > 0:31:58# And there's the duchess
0:31:58 > 0:32:01# Praying hard to fall into some fella's clutches
0:32:01 > 0:32:03# I don't fancy yours
0:32:03 > 0:32:04# No, I'd sooner be indoors
0:32:04 > 0:32:07# With Alice in her winter underwear
0:32:07 > 0:32:08Wonderland!
0:32:08 > 0:32:10# With Alice in a winter wonderland. #
0:32:11 > 0:32:13Say goodbye, Angelique.
0:32:15 > 0:32:19The Two Ronnies are remembered as a family-friendly show,
0:32:19 > 0:32:22but the comedy often has a more adult appeal.
0:32:25 > 0:32:28Cheeky innuendo was popular at the time.
0:32:29 > 0:32:32Have you seen my pair of spectacles?
0:32:32 > 0:32:33Yes, they're very, very nice indeed.
0:32:33 > 0:32:35LAUGHTER
0:32:35 > 0:32:38By the way, you know you left your glasses, Professor?
0:32:38 > 0:32:39Thanks!
0:32:39 > 0:32:42The Two Ronnies were offered to us as family entertainment.
0:32:42 > 0:32:45That's what they were. I used to watch it with my mum and dad.
0:32:45 > 0:32:48At Ascot, the water will only be turned on on Ladies' Day
0:32:48 > 0:32:52but we hope the ladies will be turned on every day.
0:32:52 > 0:32:54A lot of it is quite dirty.
0:32:54 > 0:32:57My big end's blown.
0:32:57 > 0:32:59A lot of it is quietly filthy, I think.
0:33:01 > 0:33:03We've got two bottles of elixir.
0:33:03 > 0:33:06Why don't we wake her up and give her one?
0:33:07 > 0:33:09What, at a time like this?
0:33:10 > 0:33:15There were what you might call adult jokes slipped in there,
0:33:15 > 0:33:19that went over their heads of the children watching, and that's fine.
0:33:19 > 0:33:22That's like if you go to see a really good pantomime, there
0:33:22 > 0:33:25are adult jokes in there, but they don't get in the way of the show.
0:33:25 > 0:33:27The children aren't aware of them.
0:33:27 > 0:33:29It's, you know, testament to the skill of writers.
0:33:29 > 0:33:33Allow me to introduce you to Snivelling and Gragg's
0:33:33 > 0:33:35Extract of Rhinosahaurus.
0:33:37 > 0:33:40Puts lead back in your quill pen, as they say.
0:33:41 > 0:33:44- I can't wait!- Don't worry, you won't have time.
0:33:48 > 0:33:52But by the early '80s, a new generation of television viewers
0:33:52 > 0:33:56was beginning to find that style of comedy past its sell-by date.
0:33:56 > 0:33:58Attack, attack!
0:34:05 > 0:34:08The Two Ronnies continue, but gradually,
0:34:08 > 0:34:11they lose the mantle of being entertainment for the whole family.
0:34:11 > 0:34:15Younger audiences are drifting off to new channels and new faces.
0:34:17 > 0:34:20What happens at the end of the '70s, beginning of the '80s,
0:34:20 > 0:34:23you get a generation of comedians
0:34:23 > 0:34:28who were influenced by things other than the cabaret,
0:34:28 > 0:34:32the satire boom and that broader end-of-the-pier,
0:34:32 > 0:34:35Palladium kind of light entertainment.
0:34:35 > 0:34:38You get comedians who are university comedians,
0:34:38 > 0:34:40but they've been influenced by things like punk
0:34:40 > 0:34:44and they want to kind of shake things up, rather.
0:34:44 > 0:34:47"Alternative". I think the word was coined by journalist.
0:34:47 > 0:34:50It's sort of meaningless, really.
0:34:50 > 0:34:53And you had Ben Elton sounding off about Margaret Thatcher,
0:34:53 > 0:34:56and there was a political flavour creeping in.
0:34:56 > 0:35:00But the old pillars,
0:35:00 > 0:35:03the Frankie Howerds and Two Ronnies, sort of survived that.
0:35:03 > 0:35:05Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones
0:35:05 > 0:35:09did a very funny parody of the Two Ronnies.
0:35:10 > 0:35:13# We like birds, we're ornithologists
0:35:13 > 0:35:16# 'Orny, porno-thologists
0:35:16 > 0:35:19# I've got a nice pair of binaculocul-ars
0:35:19 > 0:35:22# You can stick them up...on the tripod... #
0:35:22 > 0:35:27The main object of the attack was the fact that, in those songs,
0:35:27 > 0:35:30there would always be a rhyme, and the rhyme would always be rude,
0:35:30 > 0:35:33and at the last minute, that rude word would be avoided,
0:35:33 > 0:35:36and they made much of that on the Not The Nine O'clock News
0:35:36 > 0:35:39sketch, and that is funny, to parody that.
0:35:39 > 0:35:43And I think, you know, I see that sketch now, maybe you wouldn't be
0:35:43 > 0:35:47able to see it at the time, but I see it now as essentially homage.
0:35:47 > 0:35:49What was called alternative comedy,
0:35:49 > 0:35:53which I suppose was effectively The Young Ones, Saturday Live,
0:35:53 > 0:35:56the show I hosted, which gave a platform to new variety performers,
0:35:56 > 0:35:59and the Comic Strip series, was somehow,
0:35:59 > 0:36:02was being presented by us
0:36:02 > 0:36:05as some kind of attack on traditional stand-up
0:36:05 > 0:36:08and this really is a heinous lie.
0:36:08 > 0:36:11# We're marching up and down on the spot, spot, spot
0:36:11 > 0:36:14# Cos the sodding choreographer's a twot, twot, twot
0:36:14 > 0:36:16# Couldn't care a jot if we've never been there or not
0:36:16 > 0:36:17- # With a bum - Tit
0:36:17 > 0:36:20- # How's your father - Oop- Tiddly aye-doh!... #
0:36:20 > 0:36:22Every single person I've ever met in what you might call
0:36:22 > 0:36:25"my" generation of performers has nothing
0:36:25 > 0:36:27but admiration for the previous generation.
0:36:27 > 0:36:29We don't love 'em all, but, mainly, they were brilliant.
0:36:29 > 0:36:33And Ronnie Corbett, correct me if I'm wrong, he's,
0:36:33 > 0:36:37"What is this, what is this?" and then he started laughing.
0:36:37 > 0:36:41Tonight, you'll be reassured to know we'll be using exactly the same sort of material...
0:36:41 > 0:36:43As we've used for the last 20 years.
0:36:43 > 0:36:45I shall be, I shall be talking incredibly quickly,
0:36:45 > 0:36:48making spousands of thoonerisms and dressing up in women's clothing.
0:36:48 > 0:36:51And I shan't be getting any laughs, because he writes
0:36:51 > 0:36:54most of the scripts and makes sure I get all the crappy bits.
0:36:54 > 0:36:57Ronnie Barker was furious!
0:36:57 > 0:37:00"These two are not the Two Ronnies for their age, we are
0:37:00 > 0:37:02"the Two Ronnies of this age. We're still here."
0:37:02 > 0:37:06Ronnie Barker was not amused. It was very funny, actually.
0:37:06 > 0:37:11The Two Ronnies had been together for nearly 20 years, but Ronnie Barker
0:37:11 > 0:37:15had health concerns, and worried his writing was past its best.
0:37:15 > 0:37:19In 1985, he decided it was time to retire.
0:37:19 > 0:37:21Slowly...
0:37:21 > 0:37:23Unending cries, crushing your will.
0:37:24 > 0:37:26Breaking your soul!
0:37:28 > 0:37:29Cries.
0:37:31 > 0:37:33God.
0:37:40 > 0:37:43# Chick, chick, chick, chicken
0:37:43 > 0:37:45# Lay a little egg for me
0:37:45 > 0:37:49# Chick, chicky chick, chicky chicken... #
0:37:49 > 0:37:51We were aware at the time that,
0:37:51 > 0:37:54well, probably had to be, but this is sad. It's an end of an era,
0:37:54 > 0:37:57because it had come through the whole Frost background then
0:37:57 > 0:38:04it was The two Ronnies in their own right and, yeah, it's a bit sad.
0:38:04 > 0:38:08And we were losing work, of course, so that was even sadder.
0:38:08 > 0:38:12# Let's face the music and dance... #
0:38:14 > 0:38:17ORCHESTRA TAKES UP TUNE
0:38:19 > 0:38:24The Two Ronnies' epic journey ended in the UK in 1986.
0:38:24 > 0:38:27But, as the final series was aired,
0:38:27 > 0:38:31the pair did make six more programmes on the other side of the world.
0:38:31 > 0:38:33George?
0:38:35 > 0:38:37Sid?
0:38:37 > 0:38:40You still got two wishes left?
0:38:40 > 0:38:41Yeah?
0:38:41 > 0:38:43Better wish for a bucket and spade!
0:38:43 > 0:38:45Eh?!
0:38:54 > 0:38:57The Two Ronnies had been a successful export for the BBC
0:38:57 > 0:38:59and was especially popular in Australia.
0:39:01 > 0:39:05The Two Ronnies was cult viewing.
0:39:05 > 0:39:06Everybody would come to our place
0:39:06 > 0:39:09because we would be the only ones locally who had a TV.
0:39:09 > 0:39:12So all the kids would pile in, the neighbourhood kids, the parents.
0:39:12 > 0:39:16They would drink the home-brew that dad had made in the garage.
0:39:16 > 0:39:17Mum passed round the lemon teas.
0:39:17 > 0:39:20And we'd all hang onto every single word,
0:39:20 > 0:39:23and even though, as kids, we didn't get all of the references,
0:39:23 > 0:39:27it was just, being part of that comic camaraderie was so important,
0:39:27 > 0:39:30and it was a definite lifeline to us.
0:39:32 > 0:39:33In 1986,
0:39:33 > 0:39:36the Two Ronnies recorded sketches which had not yet been
0:39:36 > 0:39:39seen down under for the Channel 9 network.
0:39:39 > 0:39:42# I knew a girl called Jennifer Goafer
0:39:43 > 0:39:47# She had hips like a well-stuffed sofa
0:39:47 > 0:39:49# If she sat on you, she'd squash you flat
0:39:51 > 0:39:53# Boy, I sure kept outta that... #
0:39:54 > 0:39:58Australians took Ronnie Corbett to our hearts because he's
0:39:58 > 0:40:02so irrepressibly buoyant and optimistic.
0:40:02 > 0:40:06You know, a lot of British people think optimism is our disease, and
0:40:06 > 0:40:10then Ronnie Corbett, he's so bouncy he could almost be a marsupial.
0:40:19 > 0:40:21You know, he could be in a kangaroo family.
0:40:21 > 0:40:24And that's what we love about him, this little bonsai comic genius.
0:40:24 > 0:40:26And he only stayed on and did his own show for a year
0:40:26 > 0:40:28and he became an honorary Aussie.
0:40:28 > 0:40:31We definitely wanted to put him on a postage stamp.
0:40:34 > 0:40:36I don't think they'd been to Australia very much.
0:40:36 > 0:40:38They just kind of threw in the odd "G'Day"
0:40:38 > 0:40:41and a couple of local references to a few comedians,
0:40:41 > 0:40:45but it was still pretty much their standard British fare with
0:40:45 > 0:40:48a couple boomerangs and kangaroos chucked in for good measure.
0:40:48 > 0:40:51We will also be talking to Angus McTavish
0:40:51 > 0:40:54of the Sydney Caledonian Society
0:40:54 > 0:40:57who, when asked to do something Glaswegian on Burns Night,
0:40:57 > 0:40:59was sick in a phone box.
0:41:02 > 0:41:03So it's goodnight from me...
0:41:03 > 0:41:06- And it's g'day from him. - G'day!
0:41:08 > 0:41:11Back in Britain, The Two Ronnies were parting company,
0:41:11 > 0:41:16but Ronnie Corbett had no intention of following Barker into retirement.
0:41:16 > 0:41:21When Ronnie Barker retired, it wasn't
0:41:21 > 0:41:24a problem for Ronnie Corbett, because he had a career
0:41:24 > 0:41:28as a solo performer before he teamed up with Ronnie Barker.
0:41:28 > 0:41:32It wasn't like Morecambe and Wise, when Eric died,
0:41:32 > 0:41:34Ernie was left really bereft.
0:41:35 > 0:41:37Ronnie had a fabulous career.
0:41:37 > 0:41:41He was a stand-up comedian. He was in demand. He packed theatres.
0:41:41 > 0:41:43It wasn't a problem for him.
0:41:43 > 0:41:46It wasn't a problem for him at all.
0:41:46 > 0:41:47In his solo acting career,
0:41:47 > 0:41:51Ronnie Corbett was best playing variations of the same character -
0:41:51 > 0:41:54a man trapped by his boyish appearance,
0:41:54 > 0:41:56struggling to assert his maturity.
0:41:59 > 0:42:05In 1973, he had starred in a film, No Sex Please, We're British,
0:42:05 > 0:42:08where his stuttering, red-faced embarrassment over sex
0:42:08 > 0:42:11perfectly matched the social attitudes of the '70s.
0:42:12 > 0:42:16No Sex Please, We're British, is a landmark in the landscape.
0:42:16 > 0:42:21There he is in the film version of this as this rather odd
0:42:21 > 0:42:24character who suddenly finds himself inundated with porn.
0:42:24 > 0:42:27- A parcel for you, Penny.- Thank you.
0:42:27 > 0:42:29It's about a mix-up of addresses.
0:42:29 > 0:42:35A bundle of pornographic literature arrives at a flat above a bank
0:42:35 > 0:42:38where Ron, of course, Ronnie Corbett works.
0:42:38 > 0:42:39Oh, this knot's so tight.
0:42:39 > 0:42:44Oh, I've got my penknife with me With me. Be prepared. Ha-ha-ha!
0:42:44 > 0:42:45It's a farce.
0:42:45 > 0:42:50It's a good old traditional, quintessential British farce
0:42:50 > 0:42:56with, you know, postcard humour, end-of-the-pier humour.
0:42:58 > 0:42:59By God, it's a dirty picture!
0:42:59 > 0:43:02Corbett's rather interesting in this area, because, in a way,
0:43:02 > 0:43:06what he does is the comedy embarrassment and blushing
0:43:06 > 0:43:08and confusion and hesitation.
0:43:08 > 0:43:11Well, you couldn't look at this. As for this, well, I mean, I daren't look myself!
0:43:11 > 0:43:17Somehow fumbling around being embarrassed is what
0:43:17 > 0:43:19he seems to do best, is what we love him for.
0:43:19 > 0:43:20SHE GASPS
0:43:20 > 0:43:22Oh, how embarrassing!
0:43:23 > 0:43:26So, it was risque but acceptable.
0:43:26 > 0:43:28I think that's the kind of humour.
0:43:28 > 0:43:31I think it's in the same genre as the Carry Ons,
0:43:31 > 0:43:36although the story is very solid with No Sex Please, We're British.
0:43:36 > 0:43:39Then, of course, there's the typical Ronnie Corbett moment.
0:43:39 > 0:43:41Gotcha!
0:43:41 > 0:43:43Awkward about women, trying to escape
0:43:43 > 0:43:46the attitudes of his parents' generation.
0:43:46 > 0:43:48He's a little guy, having a hard time.
0:43:48 > 0:43:51That was always his great speciality.
0:43:51 > 0:43:55Desperately thrashing about, to get out of the situation he was in.
0:43:55 > 0:43:59And that's what we wrote to, that quality he had.
0:44:01 > 0:44:04He continued the frustrated mummy's boy theme
0:44:04 > 0:44:07in his biggest sitcom success, Sorry!
0:44:11 > 0:44:13Fantastic, even though
0:44:13 > 0:44:16it was incredibly painful to watch at times.
0:44:16 > 0:44:211980s BBC sitcom from Ian Davidson and Peter Vincent.
0:44:21 > 0:44:24- Is that you, Timothy?- Yes, Mother.
0:44:24 > 0:44:26Sorry is the story of Timothy Lumsden,
0:44:26 > 0:44:29a librarian in his 40s who still lives at home
0:44:29 > 0:44:33with his domineering mother, Phyllis, and henpecked father, Sidney.
0:44:33 > 0:44:35That was obviously a huge hit.
0:44:35 > 0:44:38Ran for seven series throughout the 1980s.
0:44:38 > 0:44:43It's this great sitcom with a slightly weird edge to it.
0:44:43 > 0:44:46Look at you! Anyone would think you hadn't got a mother.
0:44:46 > 0:44:48I think they know.
0:44:48 > 0:44:51Who else would comb my hair and give me a lick wash in public?
0:44:51 > 0:44:52It could be,
0:44:52 > 0:44:54Hitchcock could have filmed that story
0:44:54 > 0:44:56and given it a rather different vibe.
0:44:56 > 0:44:59There's something I've never told you, Timothy.
0:44:59 > 0:45:02I don't think you're my son!
0:45:03 > 0:45:07Very vague in that nursing home.
0:45:07 > 0:45:10They were always mixing up the babies.
0:45:10 > 0:45:12And the woman in the bed next to me was tiny.
0:45:15 > 0:45:16What are you saying, Mother?
0:45:16 > 0:45:18And she wore glasses.
0:45:19 > 0:45:23I loved Sorry. I used to love watching Sorry.
0:45:23 > 0:45:28And just like the sketches in the Two Ronnies had become a thing that
0:45:28 > 0:45:32you'd do at home, so did Sorry, you know, "Language, Timothy!"
0:45:32 > 0:45:34Language, Timothy!
0:45:34 > 0:45:36We used to say that round the house.
0:45:36 > 0:45:39Timothy dreams of finding love and leaving home,
0:45:39 > 0:45:43but his mother always finds a way to bring him back under her wings.
0:45:45 > 0:45:46- It's her.- Ah, right, right.
0:45:46 > 0:45:48That's the end of the party, then.
0:45:48 > 0:45:52No, Frank, no. Different these days. Just listen.
0:45:52 > 0:45:54Mother? Be quiet, please, be quiet.
0:45:54 > 0:45:55Yes.
0:45:55 > 0:45:58No, Mother, I'm staying here for my supper.
0:45:58 > 0:46:00Yes, I'm not coming home for my supper.
0:46:00 > 0:46:05No... Anyway, I don't like the brawn, Mother, so I'm staying here.
0:46:05 > 0:46:06All right?
0:46:06 > 0:46:09Yes, goodbye, Mother, goodbye.
0:46:09 > 0:46:11My God, Tim, you did it!
0:46:11 > 0:46:13Yes, but I think I better go.
0:46:13 > 0:46:14Oh! Useless!
0:46:14 > 0:46:17I vault into the saddle!
0:46:17 > 0:46:23Sorry ran until 1988, clocking up 42 episodes before,
0:46:23 > 0:46:28in an enigmatic ending, Timothy was finally allowed to fly the nest.
0:46:28 > 0:46:31I'm flying! Flying at last!
0:46:31 > 0:46:33Hang on, Timothy!
0:46:33 > 0:46:34Bye!
0:46:36 > 0:46:40Ronnie Corbett was 58 years old.
0:46:40 > 0:46:43I hope there's a grown-up in charge!
0:46:43 > 0:46:46Yes, there is.
0:46:46 > 0:46:48It's me, Mother!
0:46:48 > 0:46:50Goodbye. Good luck.
0:46:51 > 0:46:53Goodbye!
0:46:53 > 0:46:56Sorry closed a chapter on Ronnie's career.
0:46:56 > 0:46:58Bye!
0:46:58 > 0:47:00The Two Ronnies were a memory,
0:47:00 > 0:47:03and this was his last starring sitcom role.
0:47:04 > 0:47:07But Ronnie wasn't up for retirement quite yet.
0:47:07 > 0:47:10Small Talk! And here's the man in charge...
0:47:12 > 0:47:13..me!
0:47:14 > 0:47:17This time, his size made him an ideal candidate
0:47:17 > 0:47:20for a new game show challenge.
0:47:20 > 0:47:22First of all, let's meet the children this week.
0:47:22 > 0:47:26- Hello, boys and girls. - ALL:- Hello, Ronnie!
0:47:26 > 0:47:29So, Sue, you have managed to match with Tammy and Caroline
0:47:29 > 0:47:31but of course you've failed
0:47:31 > 0:47:33to match with Anthony, Rachel and Grant.
0:47:33 > 0:47:36A hundred!
0:47:36 > 0:47:37Ah, that's not too bad.
0:47:37 > 0:47:39When everything was totted up,
0:47:39 > 0:47:43there were more than 50 episodes of Small Talk and four series,
0:47:43 > 0:47:45taking Ronnie Corbett's run in television
0:47:45 > 0:47:46into its fourth decade.
0:47:46 > 0:47:49Let's see what the children have won for you this evening, Sue.
0:47:49 > 0:47:51The good news is that you win a night on the town
0:47:51 > 0:47:55with theatre tickets and a slap-up meal for you and your family,
0:47:55 > 0:47:56and the sad news is,
0:47:56 > 0:47:58of course, that the town is Wilmsley.
0:48:01 > 0:48:06It was 1994. Ronnie had spent a lifetime in entertainment.
0:48:06 > 0:48:08Never mind the game shows,
0:48:08 > 0:48:09he'd been in cutting-edge satire,
0:48:09 > 0:48:12he'd been in family entertainment
0:48:12 > 0:48:15with more than 20 million viewers on Saturday night,
0:48:15 > 0:48:18and he'd been a sitcom star.
0:48:18 > 0:48:21Surely now it was time to put his feet up,
0:48:21 > 0:48:24and see out years of retirement on the golf course.
0:48:25 > 0:48:29But invitations to stay on our screens have kept coming
0:48:29 > 0:48:31from some unexpected directions.
0:48:33 > 0:48:36Ladies and gentlemen, we have a very special treat for you now.
0:48:36 > 0:48:37This is special.
0:48:37 > 0:48:40It's a man, I'm so happy to be working with him,
0:48:40 > 0:48:42because he's so talented, he's brilliant,
0:48:42 > 0:48:45he's a horizontally-challenged farty-four-eyes like myself.
0:48:45 > 0:48:50When I invited Ronnie to grace,
0:48:50 > 0:48:52you know, to be our guest star,
0:48:52 > 0:48:56but obviously a wonderful, iconic figure,
0:48:56 > 0:49:00on my show in the '90s, there was a lot of,
0:49:00 > 0:49:03"Oh, is this some kind of play on the idea that, you know,
0:49:03 > 0:49:04"Ben Elton is supposed to be
0:49:04 > 0:49:07"a little bit edgy and Ronnie is supposed to be mainstream?"
0:49:07 > 0:49:11That was not remotely in my mind. It really, really wasn't.
0:49:11 > 0:49:13I just wanted one of my heroes,
0:49:13 > 0:49:15a very, very funny man,
0:49:15 > 0:49:18to appear on my show.
0:49:18 > 0:49:21There was nothing more complicated about it than that.
0:49:21 > 0:49:25I went along on the first recording, and of course, you know Ben, hammer, hammer...
0:49:25 > 0:49:26..Hubba-hubba.
0:49:26 > 0:49:27..ripple ripple...
0:49:27 > 0:49:29- ..Whoo-whoo... - Motor on, motor on...
0:49:29 > 0:49:33And being the usual sort of Ben,
0:49:33 > 0:49:36you know, area, rather raunchy but very funny material.
0:49:36 > 0:49:39Copy of Fulsome Funbags, please!
0:49:39 > 0:49:41And I was standing behind the flap with my chair side down
0:49:41 > 0:49:43and I thought, "How can I go on and sit down and say,
0:49:43 > 0:49:46"Good evening, this happened at the golf club, and...
0:49:46 > 0:49:48And our twee, twee jokes.
0:49:48 > 0:49:51Please will you welcome the wonderful, oh,
0:49:51 > 0:49:53big respect for Ronnie Corbett!
0:49:53 > 0:49:54CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:49:59 > 0:50:02Sorry, am I getting a signal?
0:50:02 > 0:50:05Is that the middle finger? Oh!
0:50:12 > 0:50:15I think it means, "one minute to go".
0:50:15 > 0:50:18Funny, it used to be two minutes in the old days!
0:50:18 > 0:50:21If you were a young comedian today, if you knew
0:50:21 > 0:50:23anything about the business at all,
0:50:23 > 0:50:27you'd be honoured to be working with some of the greats
0:50:27 > 0:50:29that are still with us. No question about it.
0:50:29 > 0:50:31And Ronnie's one of those.
0:50:34 > 0:50:36To celebrate his birthday,
0:50:36 > 0:50:38a new generation of comics came together
0:50:38 > 0:50:41to create The One Ronnie in 2010.
0:50:41 > 0:50:45Ronnie's career had been resurrected at the age of 80.
0:50:46 > 0:50:48CHEERING
0:50:54 > 0:50:57It was just a sort of delight from start to finish because,
0:50:57 > 0:51:00doing a sketch with Ronnie Corbett.
0:51:02 > 0:51:05Sorry I'm late. Asda was heaving.
0:51:05 > 0:51:08Got some fancy fondants for tea.
0:51:08 > 0:51:11By the time I did that with him, I'd got to know him.
0:51:11 > 0:51:14We've become friends, and he's someone I think of as a friend.
0:51:14 > 0:51:19He's someone, we will phone each other up, just to chat.
0:51:19 > 0:51:23So, there wasn't perhaps the trepidation that
0:51:23 > 0:51:28I might have had if I didn't know him as well as I do.
0:51:28 > 0:51:29Live!
0:51:33 > 0:51:35Lionel Blair was in it as well, wasn't he?
0:51:35 > 0:51:38He popped up at the end, doesn't he?
0:51:38 > 0:51:39HE CHUCKLES
0:51:39 > 0:51:40THUNDERCLAP
0:51:40 > 0:51:42Behold! Pure evil!
0:51:42 > 0:51:44THUNDERCLAP
0:51:47 > 0:51:49It's great.
0:51:49 > 0:51:52Oh, I love those curtains.
0:51:52 > 0:51:54Do you? I made them myself!
0:51:54 > 0:51:56Knitty-fingers!
0:51:56 > 0:51:59You know what this place is crying out for?
0:51:59 > 0:52:03- Scatter cushions.- Don't think I haven't told them.- Can you do this?
0:52:03 > 0:52:05RAPID RHYTHM
0:52:05 > 0:52:07RONNIE IMITATES
0:52:07 > 0:52:10Ye Gods! What have I done?!
0:52:10 > 0:52:12- BOTH:- Ho-ho!
0:52:13 > 0:52:15We should get on Strictly! Ha-ha!
0:52:16 > 0:52:19The best sketch on that show was the one that Harry Enfield did.
0:52:19 > 0:52:21That is...
0:52:21 > 0:52:25That sketch is up there, I think, with the Two Ronnies,
0:52:25 > 0:52:31because of course, they were, it was a sort of homage to Four Candles.
0:52:31 > 0:52:33It better be good, and it was.
0:52:34 > 0:52:39I bought something from you last week, and I'm very disappointed.
0:52:39 > 0:52:41Oh, yeah? What's the problem?
0:52:41 > 0:52:43Well, my blackberry is not working.
0:52:49 > 0:52:50APPLAUSE
0:52:50 > 0:52:51SHOPKEEPER CLEARS THROAT
0:52:51 > 0:52:53What's the matter, it run out of juice?
0:52:55 > 0:52:57No, no, it's completely frozen.
0:53:01 > 0:53:02Oh, yeah, I can see that.
0:53:02 > 0:53:06That was wonderfully written and fantastically performed.
0:53:06 > 0:53:07It was kind of perfect.
0:53:09 > 0:53:11I tell you what, let's try it on Orange.
0:53:15 > 0:53:18That's got a few blackspots.
0:53:18 > 0:53:21Oh, dear, yeah, sorry about that. Yeah.
0:53:22 > 0:53:26I think the reason he's so popular now is
0:53:26 > 0:53:28because people genuinely love him,
0:53:28 > 0:53:31and the people that have him on their shows genuinely love him
0:53:31 > 0:53:34and know that he remains sharp and talented
0:53:34 > 0:53:37and intrinsically funny, and so, he's going
0:53:37 > 0:53:40to grace their show in his 80s, just as he would have done in his 20s.
0:53:40 > 0:53:42That's why he still works.
0:53:45 > 0:53:49In 2005, Corbett and Barker made one last appearance together,
0:53:49 > 0:53:52hosting a celebration of their best sketches.
0:53:54 > 0:53:57It would be their last ever recording together.
0:53:59 > 0:54:03I was at the final Two Ronnies recording that they ever did
0:54:03 > 0:54:08together, Two Ronnies Christmas Sketchbook in summer, 2005.
0:54:08 > 0:54:10Went along to TV Centre.
0:54:13 > 0:54:15It was quite an amazing night.
0:54:22 > 0:54:25Thank you. Good evening.
0:54:25 > 0:54:27It's wonderful to be back with you
0:54:27 > 0:54:30for this special Christmas Sketchbook, isn't it, Ronnie?
0:54:30 > 0:54:33Indeed it is. And remember, we are still The Two Ronnies.
0:54:33 > 0:54:36We have been on your screens now for nearly 40 years.
0:54:36 > 0:54:43To be in the presence of two, two absolute legends, masters of
0:54:43 > 0:54:49the art of comedy, and to see just a glimmer of them working together...
0:54:49 > 0:54:52Having to compete against various comic double acts.
0:54:52 > 0:54:54Little and Large in the saucy '70s.
0:54:54 > 0:54:57Smith and Jones in the elegant '80s.
0:54:57 > 0:54:59Ant and Dec in the nifty '90s.
0:54:59 > 0:55:01And now Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.
0:55:08 > 0:55:13The atmosphere for both Ronnie Corbett and Ronnie Barker
0:55:13 > 0:55:17amongst the audience was palpable.
0:55:17 > 0:55:19So, once again, it only remains for me
0:55:19 > 0:55:21to say a Merry Christmas from me...
0:55:21 > 0:55:24- And a happy New Year from him. - Goodnight. Goodnight.
0:55:24 > 0:55:26CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:55:29 > 0:55:31It was... Yeah, it was incredibly emotional.
0:55:31 > 0:55:33It was quite clear...
0:55:33 > 0:55:38Although it was unspoken, it was clear that Ronnie Barker
0:55:38 > 0:55:42was very frail by that point and that would be quite probably
0:55:42 > 0:55:45the last time they ever worked together,
0:55:45 > 0:55:47and indeed it proved to be the case.
0:55:50 > 0:55:55Ronnie Corbett has been on our screens for more than 60 years...
0:55:55 > 0:55:56An absolute icon.
0:55:56 > 0:56:00He's one of the last of the great days of British variety.
0:56:00 > 0:56:04Eric and Ernie and Frankie Howerd and Tommy Cooper. He's up there.
0:56:04 > 0:56:07Look down, he's there with them all.
0:56:07 > 0:56:11He's like a sort of Dead Sea Scrolls. Everything is in there.
0:56:11 > 0:56:14By Jove, you've done well for yourself.
0:56:14 > 0:56:17You haven't done too badly, eh?
0:56:17 > 0:56:21People of my generation and generations that have come after me
0:56:21 > 0:56:25have really taken him to their hearts.
0:56:25 > 0:56:28Number one, just because he's so good.
0:56:28 > 0:56:30I mean, that's the bottom line of it.
0:56:30 > 0:56:35..but he will always be best remembered as one of The Two Ronnies.
0:56:36 > 0:56:37I was a wee baby.
0:56:37 > 0:56:41I spent the first two years of my life on a charm bracelet.
0:56:43 > 0:56:49There is a sort of naughtiness about him which we all love and admire.
0:56:49 > 0:56:51We know a little smirk is coming.
0:56:51 > 0:56:55We know that if he says anything then that naughty laugh will just
0:56:55 > 0:56:59break out in the middle of a sentence and he'll push his
0:56:59 > 0:57:04glasses back on his nose and, you know, look at us slightly beadily.
0:57:04 > 0:57:09- Well, we've known each other for, what,- 5...?- 10. 15.- 20.
0:57:09 > 0:57:1120 minutes.
0:57:11 > 0:57:13- Months.- Months.
0:57:13 > 0:57:1520 years. 20 years, man and boy.
0:57:15 > 0:57:17I've known him since he was that high.
0:57:17 > 0:57:21Sometimes things that are very, very popular do not get ranked
0:57:21 > 0:57:24as culturally or artistically important,
0:57:24 > 0:57:25and The Two Ronnies is like that.
0:57:25 > 0:57:28It's like, well, it was watched by 20 million people and obviously
0:57:28 > 0:57:31it can't be artistically or comically important, but it is.
0:57:31 > 0:57:35The funeral took place today of Mr Spencer P Dobson,
0:57:35 > 0:57:38the famous compiler of crossword puzzles.
0:57:38 > 0:57:39After a short service,
0:57:39 > 0:57:42he was buried six down and three across.
0:57:42 > 0:57:46And it stuck out a mile he was going to be a star
0:57:46 > 0:57:48because of one word - class.
0:57:48 > 0:57:50He had total class.
0:57:50 > 0:57:51Take that.
0:57:57 > 0:57:59"Christmas time is here again
0:58:00 > 0:58:02"And joy, this day be yours
0:58:02 > 0:58:04"With mistletoe upon the tree
0:58:04 > 0:58:05"And holly on the doors
0:58:05 > 0:58:07"I wish you all you wish yourself
0:58:07 > 0:58:10"And may your day be jolly."
0:58:10 > 0:58:11The other side of the card.
0:58:14 > 0:58:15"I swear to
0:58:15 > 0:58:17"tell the truth, the whole truth
0:58:17 > 0:58:19"and nothing but the truth.
0:58:19 > 0:58:21"Love, Dennis and Mabel."