Ronnie Corbett The Many Faces of...


Ronnie Corbett

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-Well, hello, everyone!

-He's been on our screen for over 60 years.

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Sometimes in the most unexpected places.

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Corbett!

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Unforgettable, as Ronnie in The Two Ronnies.

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One of the funniest things that has ever been on television.

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Yes, absolutely correct.

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They had a fantastic formula.

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He mastered the art of stand up, sitting down.

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I know what you're thinking. I know what you're thinking.

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That's the first time I've seen a garden mole wearing glasses.

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He spent an awful lot of his career in dresses.

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I mean, who wasn't a fan of The Two Ronnies?

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He could shuffle a bit. Didn't mind a little dance,

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which was great.

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You just want to stroke him, put him in a little pouch and take him home.

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He won the adoration of a new comedy generation.

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One of the true greats.

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People genuinely love him.

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Ronnie Corbett unquestionably is a national treasure.

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The man is a born, brilliant reactor.

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All-singing, all-dancing. He's Britain's smallest big star.

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A bit of confetti hit me in the back of the head...

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An icon of British TV and comedy.

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I was rushed to hospital with concussion.

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These are the many faces of Ronnie Corbett.

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"How did you start in the business?" they say.

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"What made you decide to become a comedian?"

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Which is what I am.

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-And...

-LAUGHTER

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I always mention that. Always mention that very early, you know.

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Just in case!

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You know, there might be some foreigners in the audience

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who think I'm a glove puppet.

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Ronnie was born in Edinburgh in 1930.

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The family were keen churchgoers and it was on a pantomime

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stage in the local church hall that Ronnie first got the acting bug.

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I was in this youth club, this church youth club,

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cos our life was built very much round the church.

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Church of Scotland.

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And I did this youth club pantomime and I played the wicked aunt.

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I was in drag straightaway.

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And...

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And it was just a revelation to me cos I hadn't been any

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good at anything and suddenly, I just felt this immediate comfort.

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But the comforting applause was soon a memory.

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After the Second World War,

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young men were obliged to enter National Service.

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At only 5ft 1 inch, Ronnie was reputedly the shortest

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commissioned officer in the Royal Air Force.

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Back in Civvy Street after his regulation 18 months,

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his diminutive stature opened the door to small parts in films.

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He found a niche, playing boys and young men.

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You're Only Young Twice!

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was a 1952 British film shot mainly around the University of Glasgow.

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Are you staying here long?

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-I don't know. Yes, perhaps.

-Oh, good! I think you'll like it here.

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It's a bit cold at first, of course,

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but I always find that after a week or two, I never notice the cold.

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Come on, we'll be late.

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Being awkward around women would become

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something of a trademark in years ahead.

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-Au revoir then.

-Au revoir. I have enjoyed our little chat.

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Quiet!

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Have to raise my voice.

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Ronnie was big on ambition, but in the '50s,

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his boyish looks kept dragging him back to the classroom.

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'Ere, Titch. What you going to do in the school concert tomorrow night?

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-Nothing.

-Nothing? I thought you were going to be a comic.

-A comic?!

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Yes, you know, a wit.

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I don't know a wit. I know a couple of halfwits though.

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-You and who else?

-Get out of it!

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He does a lot of schoolboy parts.

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He's in a film called Fun At St Fanny's,

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which is set in one of those schools where everybody looks

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a bit...rather older than they should be.

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All of these middle aged men in short trousers.

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Cardew.

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This is going to hurt me far more than it's going to hurt you.

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-Oh! Oh!

-Think of it, 16 years at St Fanny's

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and you don't know anything about William the Conqueror.

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Fun At St Fanny's was a bizarre 1956 concoction with all

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the ingredients to be a totally forgettable moment in British film.

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We think we've found an improvement on the hydrogen bomb.

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Never mind that. Will someone get me out of here?

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EXPLOSION

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Thank you.

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Ronnie had had enough.

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Ronnie was also getting regular television work

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on account of his height, or lack of it.

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Crackerjack was a children's show, hosted by Eamonn Andrews

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and performed before a live audience of excitable youngsters.

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Yes, it's Crackerjack!

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THEY CHEER EXCITEDLY

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-Ronnie...

-Yes.

-Ronnie...

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-Have you ever made a record?

-No.

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-No? Would you like to?

-I'd love to, yes!

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One of the things that I suffered from a bit in my early days

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was that being small, people thought I was sort of more constructed

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to do the knockabout stuff, hit on the head, little comedian.

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So they would say - now we're going to cover you with flour

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and water and then hit you in the head,

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but really, I wasn't that kind of performer at all.

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-Do you want to record?

-Well, stand up. Oh, you are standing up.

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'Although I was little, I worked tall.'

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I didn't go on working in television.'

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It was a little spat of... And then nothing happened afterwards.

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It didn't lead to anything because I wasn't really truly right for it.

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After almost ten years on the fringe of an acting career,

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Ronnie Corbett was struggling and he was being typecast.

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Being short meant being the butt of the wrong kind of jokes.

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Terry Thomas promised another film part, but Operation Snatch

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cast Ronnie as a diminutive soldier impersonating a monkey.

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Something had to change.

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It was now the '60s and London was in full swing.

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Ronnie did television by day, worked in a bar in the evening,

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and performed cabaret late into the night.

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But he struggled to be more than a support act for newer stars.

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The younger comedians of the day, Jimmy Tarbuck for example,

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had come up with the kind of Liverpool, Beatles,

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people couldn't get enough of the Scousers.

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Ronnie didn't fit any particular...

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Any particular box that you could put him in and it...

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I think that held him back quite a bit.

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But eventually, talent will out.

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Ronnie's cabaret comedy talent was being noticed.

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He made regular appearances supporting Jimmy Tarbuck in the '60s.

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-I recognise you, don't I?

-You can't prove a thing.

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Just a moment, that little chin, that same little nose,

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that hint of mascara around the eyes...

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I know you. Conrad from Carnaby Street.

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Call me Connie.

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And even in those days, he had class.

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I thought - he does well, this fella, and he's funny

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and did sketches and all that and did what we call quickies.

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APPLAUSE

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He's away changing,

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time for a quick rhyme from Mr Fuller of Rickmansworth.

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There was a young girl called Cilla...

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LAUGHTER

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..who looked as if nothing could fill her

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To make her look plumper

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She stuffed up her jumper

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-Two melons wrapped in a pillar.

-HONKS HORN

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-Ho-ho!

-And he was a joy to work with.

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Solid as a rock when he was working, cos he'd worked with lots of people.

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Ronnie was busy, if not big time.

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He had been in films, he'd been in cabaret and on television.

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He even had a growing career on stage.

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In 1963, he appeared with Bob Monkhouse in The Boys From Syracuse.

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that led to a part in a much anticipated new musical - Twang.

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Maybe this would be his big break.

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If you saw the running order

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and the credits of Twang, you'd go,

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"Well, this has got to be a huge success."

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The hand of fate was hovering.

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But while the West End beckoned, Ronnie still felt most comfortable

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doing comedy in clubs, particularly the cabaret stage at Danny La Rue's.

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My earliest memory of Ronnie was seeing him

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stooging at Danny La Rue's club in the West End, in Hannover Square.

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And he was on and off all night long.

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And what a funny man.

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The 17th edition of our cabaret, devised

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and produced by Danny La Rue, written by Barry Cryer,

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starring Jenny Logan, Ronnie Corbett, Tony Farmer,

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and Danny, who says - keep it moving!

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Come to me, my little sugar plum.

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-Sugar plum's a fairy!

-Any questions?

-LAUGHTER

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'The fun was that there was this glamorous, statuesque lady,'

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who was Dan, and this busy bee of a little soul with short

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legs like me, buzzing about, playing all heroes to his heroines.

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It worked very well because you see on stage, in all the gear,

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I can be anything from 6ft 2 to 7ft.

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# Happy feet, we've got those happy feet... #

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Danny was sophisticated, glamorous,

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rather than a sort of pantomime dame type, which we'd been used to.

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And he had this little company of players,

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who he fed off and who did gags. And it was the place in London.

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Everybody went to Danny La Rue's club.

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It was the place to go, the place to be seen,

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and the place to have a bloody good laugh.

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-I leapt over the fence, I was caught by the Cossacks.

-Oh, my goodness!

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He had a wonderful crew around him, feeding him

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and that and he, Corbett, the little guy, and the difference with Danny

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with the huge knockers on and the little fella who came up to them...

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I mean, it was funny for a start.

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# Up on point, we're always up on point

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# And straight in... #

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I can't make it! I can't make it!

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That's where Ronnie, along with the other clubs,

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served his apprenticeship.

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I mean, you could go in and be sat in the dark

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and you'd look who was sat there, it might be Princess Margaret or

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Laurence Olivier, or people of that ilk, you know...

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The grandees of this life. They'd be in there, roaring laughing at Danny.

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And certainly at the little guy. Yeah.

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The people who came, and Ron was in it and a whole gang of us,

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and I was in it and wrote the shows,

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and Danny was a great mentor.

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The gang. We were the gang.

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He really looked after us and we all united against opposition.

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It was hard not to be discovered there, if you were any good,

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because everybody in the business went there, every TV boss,

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every theatre boss, booker... Everybody went there.

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And Ronnie was absolutely a standout.

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David Frost came in one night and had a drink with me and Ronnie.

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David Frost was a rising star, but his cult television satire,

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That Was The Week That Was, had come and gone.

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# That was the week that was

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# It's over, let it go... #

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David Frost had said -

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if Twang runs, you won't be able to do this, but in

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six weeks, I am starting recording a series called The Frost Report.

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Twang was the biggest flop in West End history.

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It sank Ronnie's hopes of a future in musical theatre after

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only 43 performances.

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In life, there's a thing, isn't there?

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One door closes and another door opens

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and that might have been the case in the Twang thing cos it

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came off and Ronnie was available to do other things.

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That was a major, major turning point in my life really.

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David Frost's topical weekly show took the edgy

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atmosphere of late night revue and put it on television.

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Live.

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Thank you very much indeed.

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He had recruited university talent who wanted everything to be

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something completely different

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and stage talent who had the discipline to pull it together.

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The stage talent was Ronnie Corbett

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and a newcomer from repertory theatre, Ronnie Barker.

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The chemistry between the two Ronnies happened very early on.

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There's a classic police station sketch, written by Mike Palin

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and Terry Jones and they only use the first two lines.

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-Good morning, Super.

-Morning, wonderful.

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And that's all it was. And you sensed at the time...

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We got the impression - we've got something here.

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A nine second exchange brought Ronnie Corbett

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and Ronnie Barker together for the very first time.

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Although it would be another five years before the two Ronnies

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starred in their own show, their unique comedy chemistry is

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there in The Frost Report from day one.

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I'd never worked with Ron before that, but I'd met him

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because I used to work in a bar called The Buxton Club,

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which is an actors' club off Haymarket.

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And Ron always reckoned the first time I served him

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behind the bar, I was standing on a beer crate.

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No, that was wrong.

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Both he and Ronnie Barker,

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having done all these last minute jobs

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and last minute line learning, running from place to place,

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doing a bit of cabaret, filling in for people,

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Ronnie Barker had had a long career in rep,

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they knew about learning lines right at the last minute,

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but some of those other people, those Cambridge people, they didn't

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have a clue about that,

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so if we look back at footage of those shows, I think if you look

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carefully, you can see that the two Ronnies are rather at ease with this

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kind of stuff, but I think you can see the fear in John Cleese's eyes.

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Now, what exactly were you doing on the night of the 14th of October?

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Well, we pulled some birds, slapped them back to the Drum,

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you know, bit of a giggle, all down to Larkin, and all that carry on...

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Now, look here!

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It was a ground-breaking show and won the coveted

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Golden Rose at the Montreaux Television festival in 1967.

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Ronnie was at the cutting edge of the comedy of the day.

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I think people forget that he was effectively an alternative

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comedian in his day. I mean, he was... He was at some...

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Involved in what was definitely cutting edge comedy...

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The Frost Report, was connected with That Was The Week That Was,

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that had come before it, and the very famous three class sketch.

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I look down on him because I am upper class.

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I look up to him because he is upper class.

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But I look down on him because he is lower class.

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I am middle class.

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I know my place.

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It's clever that the short man

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is playing, you know,

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the working class man

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because you might think that being working class,

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he'd be a manual labourer and so therefore big, or whatever,

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but they work the height thing really brilliantly.

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I look up to them both, but I don't look up to him

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as much as I look up to him.

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I think it's a sketch that pervades the British consciousness, that one.

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We're still obsessed with class.

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I have got innate breeding, but I have not got any money.

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So sometimes, I look up...to him.

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It was seen as a template of the development of satire

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and I think it's quite interesting to think that Ronnie, who is...

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Because he's at the heart of mainstream light entertainment and

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it's interesting that he played his role in what was

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seen as a more edgy part of the industry as well.

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David Frost moved to ITV in 1968 and took his A Team of stars

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and writers with him.

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He packaged shows, he put performers under contract,

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he was a real entrepreneur, year ahead of his time.

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And for Ronnie Corbett, it was great for him

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to be part of that cos David had a lot of clout.

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Frost was more than a frontman.

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He was a producer who kept his talent busy.

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He had faith in both Ronnies and created new TV shows for them

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as individuals.

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The sitcom No That's Me Over Here was Ronnie Corbett's first

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starring role. It ran from 1967 to 1970.

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David Frost, a practising catalyst, had put me

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and Graham Chapman together and we wrote Ronnie Corbett's first sitcom.

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The first series, I think it was me and Graham and Eric Idle.

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Taking his real name for the lead character,

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the action is split between Ronnie's home life and office politics.

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It's fast-moving and often unexpected.

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Yes, we had some surreal moments.

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Ronnie would be discovered IN a filing cabinet.

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If you examine that, there's no logic in that at all.

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How did he get in there?!

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Ronnie would get even smaller and his boss, played by Ivor Dean,

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would become a giant looming over him.

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-I was on my way to see if you were in.

-Well, I'm out here now.

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-What did you want to see me about?

-But we had a great time doing that.

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It's a prolific time for both Ronnies, as producers

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and broadcasters test their appeal in different formats.

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Corbett went on to another sitcom, Now Look Here.

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Barker made the Ronnie Barker Playhouse, Hark At Barker

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and Six Dates With Barker.

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While Corbett got his own named shows - The Corbett Follies

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and Ronnie Corbett In Bed.

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All of this and another two series of sketches in Frost On Sunday.

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In just five years, Ronnie had become a very familiar face.

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-Ronnie Corbett, this is your life.

-Oh, my God!

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By 1970, Ronnie Corbett was so well known,

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he was big enough to feature in the star tribute show This Is Your Life.

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Both Ronnies had served their time, but at 40 years of age,

0:19:330:19:37

Ronnie's television career was only just beginning.

0:19:370:19:40

In 1971, the BBC created The Two Ronnies.

0:19:500:19:54

The Two Ronnies became required family entertainment for 16 years.

0:19:540:19:58

I just remember certain things that were on telly

0:20:000:20:04

and that you watched and The Two Ronnies was one of them.

0:20:040:20:07

Good evening. It's nice to be with you again, isn't it, Ronnie?

0:20:070:20:10

Yes, it is. Very nice indeed.

0:20:100:20:11

You would have the audience all

0:20:110:20:13

watching at the same time, which

0:20:130:20:15

they don't do now,

0:20:150:20:16

and watching in great numbers, so it became a shared experience.

0:20:160:20:20

So the next day, there was

0:20:200:20:21

a fair chance you could talk to your friend and they'd seen it.

0:20:210:20:25

THEY PLAY TUNE

0:20:250:20:30

You just knew it was a guaranteed time of the weekend where

0:20:420:20:47

you were going to have a bloody good laugh with the whole family.

0:20:470:20:51

Wonderful!

0:20:510:20:53

-Hello, George. Nice to see you.

-Hello.

0:20:550:20:57

-Have a sausage roll.

-Uh... Ah-ah-atchoo!

0:20:570:21:00

Oh, I'm sorry. A cheese straw?

0:21:000:21:03

Oh...

0:21:030:21:04

Uh-atchoo!

0:21:040:21:05

-Oh, bless you.

-I'm awfully sorry. Awfully sorry.

0:21:050:21:08

Just that whenever anyone mentions food, I sneeze, you see?

0:21:080:21:11

-Oh, dear. I am sorry about that.

-Sorry.

-Have a little drink.

0:21:110:21:13

-Thanks very much.

-Drink to your better health.

0:21:130:21:16

-Yes.

-A little toast.

0:21:160:21:17

Atchoo!

0:21:170:21:18

Sorry!

0:21:180:21:20

-I'm sorry!

-Oh, dear.

0:21:200:21:22

The Two Ronnies were a double act created for television.

0:21:220:21:26

Both Ronnies were equal comedy partners.

0:21:260:21:29

Classic double acts,

0:21:290:21:30

generally tend to have something physical going on between them.

0:21:300:21:34

Obviously, Laurel and Hardy, Abbott and Costello as well,

0:21:340:21:37

Morecambe and Wise as well...

0:21:370:21:39

You know, the tall one and the short one.

0:21:390:21:42

And that's happening too with The Two Ronnies.

0:21:420:21:45

What's interesting about The Two Ronnies,

0:21:450:21:47

from that point of view, is it's not straight man and funny man.

0:21:470:21:52

Ah, thank you, Groucho.

0:21:520:21:54

Oh, that's good! Oh, that's very, very good!

0:21:540:21:57

Yes, I don't think we've got a Sooty.

0:21:570:21:59

I beg your pardon! I haven't come as Sooty!

0:22:010:22:04

-Oh, haven't you?

-No.

0:22:040:22:05

-Certainly not.

-It's just as well, isn't it, really?

0:22:050:22:08

You don't want to spend the rest of the party with someone's hand

0:22:080:22:10

up your jumper all night, do you?

0:22:100:22:13

For me, The Two Ronnies were deeply formative. Um...

0:22:130:22:18

I don't think Ronnie's going to mind

0:22:180:22:21

when I say that my personal all-time personal heroes of comedy

0:22:210:22:24

were Morecambe and Wise, but then Morecambe and Wise were much more

0:22:240:22:28

specific than talents like Ronnie and Ronnie because Ronnie and Ronnie

0:22:280:22:31

did sitcoms, they worked apart, they worked together,

0:22:310:22:34

The Two Ronnies was part of their lives,

0:22:340:22:36

but they weren't a double act in the way that Morecambe and Wise were.

0:22:360:22:39

Ronnie always went along with Ronnie Barker's opinions on shape

0:22:390:22:43

and form and whatever. And it did evolve a format.

0:22:430:22:47

They've got the news items at the beginning and then there'd be

0:22:470:22:50

a sketch where they're both at a party or dinner or in a bar.

0:22:500:22:54

And there would always be a song medley at the end.

0:22:540:22:57

It was a solid formula that hardly ever changed.

0:22:570:23:00

And worked.

0:23:000:23:02

We knew that we couldn't do an opening thing in front of an

0:23:020:23:06

audience with Ron and I talking to each other and to the audience.

0:23:060:23:11

So we knew that there had to be a device whereby we could both talk to

0:23:110:23:14

the audience separately and have a little passing glance between us,

0:23:140:23:18

so what developed out of that was the news items.

0:23:180:23:22

And we'll be demonstrating the very latest brassiere.

0:23:220:23:25

It's called the Sheepdog.

0:23:250:23:27

It rounds them up and points them in the right direction.

0:23:270:23:30

Towards the end of every show, Ronnie Corbett takes to

0:23:340:23:38

a chair for a rambling monologue, leading to a simple joke.

0:23:380:23:41

I was doing some decorating.

0:23:410:23:43

I fell off a ladder while painting the skirting board.

0:23:430:23:46

He's kind of the first stand up comedian my generation ever

0:23:460:23:51

saw, even though he was sitting down.

0:23:510:23:54

Because people then didn't

0:23:540:23:57

really come on telly

0:23:570:24:00

and do a comic monologue.

0:24:000:24:02

Tonight, I would like,

0:24:020:24:05

if I may, to relate a very funny story that I heard when I...

0:24:050:24:10

BANG

0:24:100:24:12

Sorry, what's that? I think the producer's just shot himself.

0:24:170:24:20

Plenty of time for that when we get to the joke.

0:24:260:24:29

I remember standing watching him rehearsing one afternoon

0:24:290:24:32

and Ronnie Barker was standing next to me.

0:24:320:24:34

And Ronnie Barker was watching his friend in the chair

0:24:340:24:37

and he turned to me and said, "How does he do that?"

0:24:370:24:41

Cos Ronnie was ostensibly playing himself

0:24:410:24:44

and Ronnie Barker was always a character.

0:24:440:24:47

He said, "I want to smell the spirit gum on my upper lip,

0:24:470:24:50

"part my hair, I'll wear a wig." But it was mutual admiration society.

0:24:500:24:54

I mean, Ronnie admired Ronnie Barker very much,

0:24:540:24:57

but always remember Ronnie Barker saying that, "How's he do that?"

0:24:570:25:01

Sitting in that chair, waffling away,

0:25:010:25:03

written by the great Spike Mullins.

0:25:030:25:06

Ronnie's chair monologues grew out of his natural improvising skills,

0:25:060:25:10

but they became a wholly scripted routine.

0:25:100:25:13

When Spike's scripts used to come at the beginning of the week, for that

0:25:130:25:18

week's show, I always knew they'd arrived because he'd have his cup of

0:25:180:25:23

tea in bed and he'd start laughing and I could hear him laughing.

0:25:230:25:26

The words were just there, you know.

0:25:260:25:29

Sheer... You know, affection. Sounding like me.

0:25:290:25:33

The fact is that it's a popular

0:25:330:25:34

fallacy that men of my diminutive stature don't make great lovers.

0:25:340:25:38

As I pointed out in my recent book on the subject -

0:25:380:25:41

How To Make A Little Go A Long Way.

0:25:410:25:43

Over the 16 year run, there were many great sketches,

0:25:450:25:49

and one particular classic moment.

0:25:490:25:52

Fork handles.

0:25:540:25:57

Four candles?

0:25:570:25:59

If you look at that sketch carefully with

0:25:590:26:02

a sort of semi-professional eye, what makes that sketch

0:26:020:26:08

work in three dimensions is Ronnie Corbett's acting in that sketch.

0:26:080:26:15

Fork handles...

0:26:150:26:18

Got any plugs?

0:26:180:26:20

Plugs?

0:26:200:26:22

-Yeah.

-What kind of plugs?

0:26:220:26:23

A rubber one, bathroom.

0:26:230:26:26

Who is the straight man in Fork Handles? Because it's...

0:26:270:26:32

Well, it is Ronnie Corbett, isn't it? It's Ronnie Corbett

0:26:320:26:35

because Ronnie Corbett is playing the shopkeeper who is getting angry.

0:26:350:26:40

What size?

0:26:400:26:42

13 amp.

0:26:420:26:44

You just watch the way the man is reacting.

0:26:510:26:54

Every nuance, every touch, brilliant.

0:26:540:26:57

-Got an 'ose?

-Os?

0:26:570:26:58

'Ose.

0:26:580:27:00

It's beautiful. It's just beautiful. And it never ages.

0:27:020:27:06

You can watch it again and again. Even though you know what's coming.

0:27:060:27:10

And I suppose a lot of that is just to do with the rhythm.

0:27:100:27:13

And it's two masters, you know, playing it just perfectly.

0:27:130:27:19

-Many do you want?

-Two.

-Two.

0:27:340:27:37

All right?

0:27:400:27:41

Yes?

0:28:030:28:04

Got any Ps?

0:28:040:28:05

LAUGHTER

0:28:050:28:06

Gawd's sake, why didn't you bleedin' tell me

0:28:090:28:11

that when I'm up there, then?

0:28:110:28:13

I'm up and down the shop already,

0:28:130:28:15

it's up and down the shop all the time.

0:28:150:28:17

Honestly, I've got all this shop, up and down here...

0:28:190:28:22

That background activity

0:28:220:28:25

of him going to get stuff and Ronnie Barker waiting for it,

0:28:250:28:28

and then you just know it's going to be still wrong,

0:28:280:28:30

it's still going to be a pun, gets funnier and funnier.

0:28:300:28:33

How many do you want?

0:28:380:28:39

No, tins of peas!

0:28:410:28:43

UPROARIOUS LAUGHTER

0:28:430:28:45

Three tins of peas.

0:28:490:28:51

Of course, the words are brilliant.

0:28:530:28:56

But, to bring that sketch to life,

0:28:560:28:59

Ronnie Corbett's performance in that sketch

0:28:590:29:03

is a masterclass in comic...comic genius.

0:29:030:29:06

Through the 16 years of Two Ronnies,

0:29:090:29:11

there were mini form series, parodies that ran from week to week.

0:29:110:29:15

One of the great landmarks in Ronnie Corbett's career,

0:29:190:29:22

The Worm That Turned.

0:29:220:29:23

It's a brilliant insight into the gender politics of that period,

0:29:280:29:32

because you've got this picture of this England, turned upside down...

0:29:320:29:36

The dateline is 2012.

0:29:380:29:39

England is in the grip of a new and terrifying regime.

0:29:390:29:42

The country is being run by women.

0:29:420:29:45

The secret police are everywhere.

0:29:480:29:49

Ruled by women. Terrifying idea!

0:29:490:29:53

Men, downtrodden and subjugated,

0:29:530:29:55

are forced to wear dresses

0:29:550:29:57

and to have only feminine lives.

0:29:570:29:59

Ruled, in fact, by Diana Dors in a kind of commandant's uniform,

0:29:590:30:05

which, I dare say, excited an awful lot of people.

0:30:050:30:09

What the hell do you think you're doing?

0:30:090:30:11

I'm dusting the desk.

0:30:110:30:13

Sitting down?!

0:30:130:30:15

Dusting the chair.

0:30:150:30:16

It's a new directive from the Efficiency Department.

0:30:160:30:20

There's something rather gripping about this.

0:30:200:30:22

Just a minute.

0:30:220:30:23

Name?

0:30:230:30:24

DRAMATIC MUSIC

0:30:240:30:25

It's utterly bizarre,

0:30:280:30:29

but I can remember being totally beguiled by this world.

0:30:290:30:33

Julie.

0:30:340:30:36

Julie Andrews.

0:30:360:30:37

LAUGHTER

0:30:370:30:38

Sounds familiar.

0:30:390:30:41

And almost seeing what they were doing in it as a version of,

0:30:410:30:43

you know, I used to watch Secret Army.

0:30:430:30:45

My great-grandmother was very, very famous in showbusiness.

0:30:450:30:48

Really?

0:30:480:30:49

Yes. Eamonn Andrews.

0:30:490:30:51

Andrews?

0:30:510:30:52

You will report to this office nine o'clock on Monday

0:30:540:30:56

when you will be disciplined.

0:30:560:30:58

And, actually, I think The Worm That Turned

0:30:580:31:00

in its own way, was as gripping as Secret Army.

0:31:000:31:02

HARP GLISSANDO

0:31:020:31:04

And, as the programme's success soared, so did the budgets,

0:31:070:31:11

with ever more elaborate sets and high production values.

0:31:110:31:15

It was a golden age for television entertainment.

0:31:150:31:18

-# I'm the Hare

-# He's the Hare

0:31:200:31:21

# He's the Hatter

0:31:210:31:23

# And the former is as loony as the latter

0:31:230:31:26

# Your hat is on fire

0:31:260:31:28

# I'm smouldering with desire for Alice in her winter underwear... #

0:31:280:31:32

-Winter Wonderland!

-Didn't I say that?

0:31:320:31:34

-You said underwear.

-Under where?

0:31:340:31:37

No, no, no, underwear, ladies' lingerie, peek-a-boo bras,

0:31:370:31:40

garters and bodices.

0:31:400:31:41

-Did I say all that?

-Well, you had that in mind.

0:31:410:31:44

Well, I'm not as mad as I look! Ha-ha!

0:31:440:31:46

I think it was a golden age of television.

0:31:460:31:48

Money was plentiful, the BBC had lots of money,

0:31:480:31:52

ITV had a monopoly, had lots of money.

0:31:520:31:54

# There's the duke.

0:31:540:31:56

# And there's the duchess

0:31:560:31:58

# Praying hard to fall into some fella's clutches

0:31:580:32:01

# I don't fancy yours

0:32:010:32:03

# No, I'd sooner be indoors

0:32:030:32:04

# With Alice in her winter underwear

0:32:040:32:07

Wonderland!

0:32:070:32:08

# With Alice in a winter wonderland. #

0:32:080:32:10

Say goodbye, Angelique.

0:32:110:32:13

The Two Ronnies are remembered as a family-friendly show,

0:32:150:32:19

but the comedy often has a more adult appeal.

0:32:190:32:22

Cheeky innuendo was popular at the time.

0:32:250:32:28

Have you seen my pair of spectacles?

0:32:290:32:32

Yes, they're very, very nice indeed.

0:32:320:32:33

LAUGHTER

0:32:330:32:35

By the way, you know you left your glasses, Professor?

0:32:350:32:38

Thanks!

0:32:380:32:39

The Two Ronnies were offered to us as family entertainment.

0:32:390:32:42

That's what they were. I used to watch it with my mum and dad.

0:32:420:32:45

At Ascot, the water will only be turned on on Ladies' Day

0:32:450:32:48

but we hope the ladies will be turned on every day.

0:32:480:32:52

A lot of it is quite dirty.

0:32:520:32:54

My big end's blown.

0:32:540:32:57

A lot of it is quietly filthy, I think.

0:32:570:32:59

We've got two bottles of elixir.

0:33:010:33:03

Why don't we wake her up and give her one?

0:33:030:33:06

What, at a time like this?

0:33:070:33:09

There were what you might call adult jokes slipped in there,

0:33:100:33:15

that went over their heads of the children watching, and that's fine.

0:33:150:33:19

That's like if you go to see a really good pantomime, there

0:33:190:33:22

are adult jokes in there, but they don't get in the way of the show.

0:33:220:33:25

The children aren't aware of them.

0:33:250:33:27

It's, you know, testament to the skill of writers.

0:33:270:33:29

Allow me to introduce you to Snivelling and Gragg's

0:33:290:33:33

Extract of Rhinosahaurus.

0:33:330:33:35

Puts lead back in your quill pen, as they say.

0:33:370:33:40

-I can't wait!

-Don't worry, you won't have time.

0:33:410:33:44

But by the early '80s, a new generation of television viewers

0:33:480:33:52

was beginning to find that style of comedy past its sell-by date.

0:33:520:33:56

Attack, attack!

0:33:560:33:58

The Two Ronnies continue, but gradually,

0:34:050:34:08

they lose the mantle of being entertainment for the whole family.

0:34:080:34:11

Younger audiences are drifting off to new channels and new faces.

0:34:110:34:15

What happens at the end of the '70s, beginning of the '80s,

0:34:170:34:20

you get a generation of comedians

0:34:200:34:23

who were influenced by things other than the cabaret,

0:34:230:34:28

the satire boom and that broader end-of-the-pier,

0:34:280:34:32

Palladium kind of light entertainment.

0:34:320:34:35

You get comedians who are university comedians,

0:34:350:34:38

but they've been influenced by things like punk

0:34:380:34:40

and they want to kind of shake things up, rather.

0:34:400:34:44

"Alternative". I think the word was coined by journalist.

0:34:440:34:47

It's sort of meaningless, really.

0:34:470:34:50

And you had Ben Elton sounding off about Margaret Thatcher,

0:34:500:34:53

and there was a political flavour creeping in.

0:34:530:34:56

But the old pillars,

0:34:560:35:00

the Frankie Howerds and Two Ronnies, sort of survived that.

0:35:000:35:03

Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones

0:35:030:35:05

did a very funny parody of the Two Ronnies.

0:35:050:35:09

# We like birds, we're ornithologists

0:35:100:35:13

# 'Orny, porno-thologists

0:35:130:35:16

# I've got a nice pair of binaculocul-ars

0:35:160:35:19

# You can stick them up...on the tripod... #

0:35:190:35:22

The main object of the attack was the fact that, in those songs,

0:35:220:35:27

there would always be a rhyme, and the rhyme would always be rude,

0:35:270:35:30

and at the last minute, that rude word would be avoided,

0:35:300:35:33

and they made much of that on the Not The Nine O'clock News

0:35:330:35:36

sketch, and that is funny, to parody that.

0:35:360:35:39

And I think, you know, I see that sketch now, maybe you wouldn't be

0:35:390:35:43

able to see it at the time, but I see it now as essentially homage.

0:35:430:35:47

What was called alternative comedy,

0:35:470:35:49

which I suppose was effectively The Young Ones, Saturday Live,

0:35:490:35:53

the show I hosted, which gave a platform to new variety performers,

0:35:530:35:56

and the Comic Strip series, was somehow,

0:35:560:35:59

was being presented by us

0:35:590:36:02

as some kind of attack on traditional stand-up

0:36:020:36:05

and this really is a heinous lie.

0:36:050:36:08

# We're marching up and down on the spot, spot, spot

0:36:080:36:11

# Cos the sodding choreographer's a twot, twot, twot

0:36:110:36:14

# Couldn't care a jot if we've never been there or not

0:36:140:36:16

-# With a bum

-Tit

0:36:160:36:17

-# How's your father

-Oop

-Tiddly aye-doh!... #

0:36:170:36:20

Every single person I've ever met in what you might call

0:36:200:36:22

"my" generation of performers has nothing

0:36:220:36:25

but admiration for the previous generation.

0:36:250:36:27

We don't love 'em all, but, mainly, they were brilliant.

0:36:270:36:29

And Ronnie Corbett, correct me if I'm wrong, he's,

0:36:290:36:33

"What is this, what is this?" and then he started laughing.

0:36:330:36:37

Tonight, you'll be reassured to know we'll be using exactly the same sort of material...

0:36:370:36:41

As we've used for the last 20 years.

0:36:410:36:43

I shall be, I shall be talking incredibly quickly,

0:36:430:36:45

making spousands of thoonerisms and dressing up in women's clothing.

0:36:450:36:48

And I shan't be getting any laughs, because he writes

0:36:480:36:51

most of the scripts and makes sure I get all the crappy bits.

0:36:510:36:54

Ronnie Barker was furious!

0:36:540:36:57

"These two are not the Two Ronnies for their age, we are

0:36:570:37:00

"the Two Ronnies of this age. We're still here."

0:37:000:37:02

Ronnie Barker was not amused. It was very funny, actually.

0:37:020:37:06

The Two Ronnies had been together for nearly 20 years, but Ronnie Barker

0:37:060:37:11

had health concerns, and worried his writing was past its best.

0:37:110:37:15

In 1985, he decided it was time to retire.

0:37:150:37:19

Slowly...

0:37:190:37:21

Unending cries, crushing your will.

0:37:210:37:23

Breaking your soul!

0:37:240:37:26

Cries.

0:37:280:37:29

God.

0:37:310:37:33

# Chick, chick, chick, chicken

0:37:400:37:43

# Lay a little egg for me

0:37:430:37:45

# Chick, chicky chick, chicky chicken... #

0:37:450:37:49

We were aware at the time that,

0:37:490:37:51

well, probably had to be, but this is sad. It's an end of an era,

0:37:510:37:54

because it had come through the whole Frost background then

0:37:540:37:57

it was The two Ronnies in their own right and, yeah, it's a bit sad.

0:37:570:38:04

And we were losing work, of course, so that was even sadder.

0:38:040:38:08

# Let's face the music and dance... #

0:38:080:38:12

ORCHESTRA TAKES UP TUNE

0:38:140:38:17

The Two Ronnies' epic journey ended in the UK in 1986.

0:38:190:38:24

But, as the final series was aired,

0:38:240:38:27

the pair did make six more programmes on the other side of the world.

0:38:270:38:31

George?

0:38:310:38:33

Sid?

0:38:350:38:37

You still got two wishes left?

0:38:370:38:40

Yeah?

0:38:400:38:41

Better wish for a bucket and spade!

0:38:410:38:43

Eh?!

0:38:430:38:45

The Two Ronnies had been a successful export for the BBC

0:38:540:38:57

and was especially popular in Australia.

0:38:570:38:59

The Two Ronnies was cult viewing.

0:39:010:39:05

Everybody would come to our place

0:39:050:39:06

because we would be the only ones locally who had a TV.

0:39:060:39:09

So all the kids would pile in, the neighbourhood kids, the parents.

0:39:090:39:12

They would drink the home-brew that dad had made in the garage.

0:39:120:39:16

Mum passed round the lemon teas.

0:39:160:39:17

And we'd all hang onto every single word,

0:39:170:39:20

and even though, as kids, we didn't get all of the references,

0:39:200:39:23

it was just, being part of that comic camaraderie was so important,

0:39:230:39:27

and it was a definite lifeline to us.

0:39:270:39:30

In 1986,

0:39:320:39:33

the Two Ronnies recorded sketches which had not yet been

0:39:330:39:36

seen down under for the Channel 9 network.

0:39:360:39:39

# I knew a girl called Jennifer Goafer

0:39:390:39:42

# She had hips like a well-stuffed sofa

0:39:430:39:47

# If she sat on you, she'd squash you flat

0:39:470:39:49

# Boy, I sure kept outta that... #

0:39:510:39:53

Australians took Ronnie Corbett to our hearts because he's

0:39:540:39:58

so irrepressibly buoyant and optimistic.

0:39:580:40:02

You know, a lot of British people think optimism is our disease, and

0:40:020:40:06

then Ronnie Corbett, he's so bouncy he could almost be a marsupial.

0:40:060:40:10

You know, he could be in a kangaroo family.

0:40:190:40:21

And that's what we love about him, this little bonsai comic genius.

0:40:210:40:24

And he only stayed on and did his own show for a year

0:40:240:40:26

and he became an honorary Aussie.

0:40:260:40:28

We definitely wanted to put him on a postage stamp.

0:40:280:40:31

I don't think they'd been to Australia very much.

0:40:340:40:36

They just kind of threw in the odd "G'Day"

0:40:360:40:38

and a couple of local references to a few comedians,

0:40:380:40:41

but it was still pretty much their standard British fare with

0:40:410:40:45

a couple boomerangs and kangaroos chucked in for good measure.

0:40:450:40:48

We will also be talking to Angus McTavish

0:40:480:40:51

of the Sydney Caledonian Society

0:40:510:40:54

who, when asked to do something Glaswegian on Burns Night,

0:40:540:40:57

was sick in a phone box.

0:40:570:40:59

So it's goodnight from me...

0:41:020:41:03

-And it's g'day from him.

-G'day!

0:41:030:41:06

Back in Britain, The Two Ronnies were parting company,

0:41:080:41:11

but Ronnie Corbett had no intention of following Barker into retirement.

0:41:110:41:16

When Ronnie Barker retired, it wasn't

0:41:160:41:21

a problem for Ronnie Corbett, because he had a career

0:41:210:41:24

as a solo performer before he teamed up with Ronnie Barker.

0:41:240:41:28

It wasn't like Morecambe and Wise, when Eric died,

0:41:280:41:32

Ernie was left really bereft.

0:41:320:41:34

Ronnie had a fabulous career.

0:41:350:41:37

He was a stand-up comedian. He was in demand. He packed theatres.

0:41:370:41:41

It wasn't a problem for him.

0:41:410:41:43

It wasn't a problem for him at all.

0:41:430:41:46

In his solo acting career,

0:41:460:41:47

Ronnie Corbett was best playing variations of the same character -

0:41:470:41:51

a man trapped by his boyish appearance,

0:41:510:41:54

struggling to assert his maturity.

0:41:540:41:56

In 1973, he had starred in a film, No Sex Please, We're British,

0:41:590:42:05

where his stuttering, red-faced embarrassment over sex

0:42:050:42:08

perfectly matched the social attitudes of the '70s.

0:42:080:42:11

No Sex Please, We're British, is a landmark in the landscape.

0:42:120:42:16

There he is in the film version of this as this rather odd

0:42:160:42:21

character who suddenly finds himself inundated with porn.

0:42:210:42:24

-A parcel for you, Penny.

-Thank you.

0:42:240:42:27

It's about a mix-up of addresses.

0:42:270:42:29

A bundle of pornographic literature arrives at a flat above a bank

0:42:290:42:35

where Ron, of course, Ronnie Corbett works.

0:42:350:42:38

Oh, this knot's so tight.

0:42:380:42:39

Oh, I've got my penknife with me With me. Be prepared. Ha-ha-ha!

0:42:390:42:44

It's a farce.

0:42:440:42:45

It's a good old traditional, quintessential British farce

0:42:450:42:50

with, you know, postcard humour, end-of-the-pier humour.

0:42:500:42:56

By God, it's a dirty picture!

0:42:580:42:59

Corbett's rather interesting in this area, because, in a way,

0:42:590:43:02

what he does is the comedy embarrassment and blushing

0:43:020:43:06

and confusion and hesitation.

0:43:060:43:08

Well, you couldn't look at this. As for this, well, I mean, I daren't look myself!

0:43:080:43:11

Somehow fumbling around being embarrassed is what

0:43:110:43:17

he seems to do best, is what we love him for.

0:43:170:43:19

SHE GASPS

0:43:190:43:20

Oh, how embarrassing!

0:43:200:43:22

So, it was risque but acceptable.

0:43:230:43:26

I think that's the kind of humour.

0:43:260:43:28

I think it's in the same genre as the Carry Ons,

0:43:280:43:31

although the story is very solid with No Sex Please, We're British.

0:43:310:43:36

Then, of course, there's the typical Ronnie Corbett moment.

0:43:360:43:39

Gotcha!

0:43:390:43:41

Awkward about women, trying to escape

0:43:410:43:43

the attitudes of his parents' generation.

0:43:430:43:46

He's a little guy, having a hard time.

0:43:460:43:48

That was always his great speciality.

0:43:480:43:51

Desperately thrashing about, to get out of the situation he was in.

0:43:510:43:55

And that's what we wrote to, that quality he had.

0:43:550:43:59

He continued the frustrated mummy's boy theme

0:44:010:44:04

in his biggest sitcom success, Sorry!

0:44:040:44:07

Fantastic, even though

0:44:110:44:13

it was incredibly painful to watch at times.

0:44:130:44:16

1980s BBC sitcom from Ian Davidson and Peter Vincent.

0:44:160:44:21

-Is that you, Timothy?

-Yes, Mother.

0:44:210:44:24

Sorry is the story of Timothy Lumsden,

0:44:240:44:26

a librarian in his 40s who still lives at home

0:44:260:44:29

with his domineering mother, Phyllis, and henpecked father, Sidney.

0:44:290:44:33

That was obviously a huge hit.

0:44:330:44:35

Ran for seven series throughout the 1980s.

0:44:350:44:38

It's this great sitcom with a slightly weird edge to it.

0:44:380:44:43

Look at you! Anyone would think you hadn't got a mother.

0:44:430:44:46

I think they know.

0:44:460:44:48

Who else would comb my hair and give me a lick wash in public?

0:44:480:44:51

It could be,

0:44:510:44:52

Hitchcock could have filmed that story

0:44:520:44:54

and given it a rather different vibe.

0:44:540:44:56

There's something I've never told you, Timothy.

0:44:560:44:59

I don't think you're my son!

0:44:590:45:02

Very vague in that nursing home.

0:45:030:45:07

They were always mixing up the babies.

0:45:070:45:10

And the woman in the bed next to me was tiny.

0:45:100:45:12

What are you saying, Mother?

0:45:150:45:16

And she wore glasses.

0:45:160:45:18

I loved Sorry. I used to love watching Sorry.

0:45:190:45:23

And just like the sketches in the Two Ronnies had become a thing that

0:45:230:45:28

you'd do at home, so did Sorry, you know, "Language, Timothy!"

0:45:280:45:32

Language, Timothy!

0:45:320:45:34

We used to say that round the house.

0:45:340:45:36

Timothy dreams of finding love and leaving home,

0:45:360:45:39

but his mother always finds a way to bring him back under her wings.

0:45:390:45:43

-It's her.

-Ah, right, right.

0:45:450:45:46

That's the end of the party, then.

0:45:460:45:48

No, Frank, no. Different these days. Just listen.

0:45:480:45:52

Mother? Be quiet, please, be quiet.

0:45:520:45:54

Yes.

0:45:540:45:55

No, Mother, I'm staying here for my supper.

0:45:550:45:58

Yes, I'm not coming home for my supper.

0:45:580:46:00

No... Anyway, I don't like the brawn, Mother, so I'm staying here.

0:46:000:46:05

All right?

0:46:050:46:06

Yes, goodbye, Mother, goodbye.

0:46:060:46:09

My God, Tim, you did it!

0:46:090:46:11

Yes, but I think I better go.

0:46:110:46:13

Oh! Useless!

0:46:130:46:14

I vault into the saddle!

0:46:140:46:17

Sorry ran until 1988, clocking up 42 episodes before,

0:46:170:46:23

in an enigmatic ending, Timothy was finally allowed to fly the nest.

0:46:230:46:28

I'm flying! Flying at last!

0:46:280:46:31

Hang on, Timothy!

0:46:310:46:33

Bye!

0:46:330:46:34

Ronnie Corbett was 58 years old.

0:46:360:46:40

I hope there's a grown-up in charge!

0:46:400:46:43

Yes, there is.

0:46:430:46:46

It's me, Mother!

0:46:460:46:48

Goodbye. Good luck.

0:46:480:46:50

Goodbye!

0:46:510:46:53

Sorry closed a chapter on Ronnie's career.

0:46:530:46:56

Bye!

0:46:560:46:58

The Two Ronnies were a memory,

0:46:580:47:00

and this was his last starring sitcom role.

0:47:000:47:03

But Ronnie wasn't up for retirement quite yet.

0:47:040:47:07

Small Talk! And here's the man in charge...

0:47:070:47:10

..me!

0:47:120:47:13

This time, his size made him an ideal candidate

0:47:140:47:17

for a new game show challenge.

0:47:170:47:20

First of all, let's meet the children this week.

0:47:200:47:22

-Hello, boys and girls.

-ALL:

-Hello, Ronnie!

0:47:220:47:26

So, Sue, you have managed to match with Tammy and Caroline

0:47:260:47:29

but of course you've failed

0:47:290:47:31

to match with Anthony, Rachel and Grant.

0:47:310:47:33

A hundred!

0:47:330:47:36

Ah, that's not too bad.

0:47:360:47:37

When everything was totted up,

0:47:370:47:39

there were more than 50 episodes of Small Talk and four series,

0:47:390:47:43

taking Ronnie Corbett's run in television

0:47:430:47:45

into its fourth decade.

0:47:450:47:46

Let's see what the children have won for you this evening, Sue.

0:47:460:47:49

The good news is that you win a night on the town

0:47:490:47:51

with theatre tickets and a slap-up meal for you and your family,

0:47:510:47:55

and the sad news is,

0:47:550:47:56

of course, that the town is Wilmsley.

0:47:560:47:58

It was 1994. Ronnie had spent a lifetime in entertainment.

0:48:010:48:06

Never mind the game shows,

0:48:060:48:08

he'd been in cutting-edge satire,

0:48:080:48:09

he'd been in family entertainment

0:48:090:48:12

with more than 20 million viewers on Saturday night,

0:48:120:48:15

and he'd been a sitcom star.

0:48:150:48:18

Surely now it was time to put his feet up,

0:48:180:48:21

and see out years of retirement on the golf course.

0:48:210:48:24

But invitations to stay on our screens have kept coming

0:48:250:48:29

from some unexpected directions.

0:48:290:48:31

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a very special treat for you now.

0:48:330:48:36

This is special.

0:48:360:48:37

It's a man, I'm so happy to be working with him,

0:48:370:48:40

because he's so talented, he's brilliant,

0:48:400:48:42

he's a horizontally-challenged farty-four-eyes like myself.

0:48:420:48:45

When I invited Ronnie to grace,

0:48:450:48:50

you know, to be our guest star,

0:48:500:48:52

but obviously a wonderful, iconic figure,

0:48:520:48:56

on my show in the '90s, there was a lot of,

0:48:560:49:00

"Oh, is this some kind of play on the idea that, you know,

0:49:000:49:03

"Ben Elton is supposed to be

0:49:030:49:04

"a little bit edgy and Ronnie is supposed to be mainstream?"

0:49:040:49:07

That was not remotely in my mind. It really, really wasn't.

0:49:070:49:11

I just wanted one of my heroes,

0:49:110:49:13

a very, very funny man,

0:49:130:49:15

to appear on my show.

0:49:150:49:18

There was nothing more complicated about it than that.

0:49:180:49:21

I went along on the first recording, and of course, you know Ben, hammer, hammer...

0:49:210:49:25

..Hubba-hubba.

0:49:250:49:26

..ripple ripple...

0:49:260:49:27

-..Whoo-whoo...

-Motor on, motor on...

0:49:270:49:29

And being the usual sort of Ben,

0:49:290:49:33

you know, area, rather raunchy but very funny material.

0:49:330:49:36

Copy of Fulsome Funbags, please!

0:49:360:49:39

And I was standing behind the flap with my chair side down

0:49:390:49:41

and I thought, "How can I go on and sit down and say,

0:49:410:49:43

"Good evening, this happened at the golf club, and...

0:49:430:49:46

And our twee, twee jokes.

0:49:460:49:48

Please will you welcome the wonderful, oh,

0:49:480:49:51

big respect for Ronnie Corbett!

0:49:510:49:53

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

0:49:530:49:54

Sorry, am I getting a signal?

0:49:590:50:02

Is that the middle finger? Oh!

0:50:020:50:05

I think it means, "one minute to go".

0:50:120:50:15

Funny, it used to be two minutes in the old days!

0:50:150:50:18

If you were a young comedian today, if you knew

0:50:180:50:21

anything about the business at all,

0:50:210:50:23

you'd be honoured to be working with some of the greats

0:50:230:50:27

that are still with us. No question about it.

0:50:270:50:29

And Ronnie's one of those.

0:50:290:50:31

To celebrate his birthday,

0:50:340:50:36

a new generation of comics came together

0:50:360:50:38

to create The One Ronnie in 2010.

0:50:380:50:41

Ronnie's career had been resurrected at the age of 80.

0:50:410:50:45

CHEERING

0:50:460:50:48

It was just a sort of delight from start to finish because,

0:50:540:50:57

doing a sketch with Ronnie Corbett.

0:50:570:51:00

Sorry I'm late. Asda was heaving.

0:51:020:51:05

Got some fancy fondants for tea.

0:51:050:51:08

By the time I did that with him, I'd got to know him.

0:51:080:51:11

We've become friends, and he's someone I think of as a friend.

0:51:110:51:14

He's someone, we will phone each other up, just to chat.

0:51:140:51:19

So, there wasn't perhaps the trepidation that

0:51:190:51:23

I might have had if I didn't know him as well as I do.

0:51:230:51:28

Live!

0:51:280:51:29

Lionel Blair was in it as well, wasn't he?

0:51:330:51:35

He popped up at the end, doesn't he?

0:51:350:51:38

HE CHUCKLES

0:51:380:51:39

THUNDERCLAP

0:51:390:51:40

Behold! Pure evil!

0:51:400:51:42

THUNDERCLAP

0:51:420:51:44

It's great.

0:51:470:51:49

Oh, I love those curtains.

0:51:490:51:52

Do you? I made them myself!

0:51:520:51:54

Knitty-fingers!

0:51:540:51:56

You know what this place is crying out for?

0:51:560:51:59

-Scatter cushions.

-Don't think I haven't told them.

-Can you do this?

0:51:590:52:03

RAPID RHYTHM

0:52:030:52:05

RONNIE IMITATES

0:52:050:52:07

Ye Gods! What have I done?!

0:52:070:52:10

-BOTH:

-Ho-ho!

0:52:100:52:12

We should get on Strictly! Ha-ha!

0:52:130:52:15

The best sketch on that show was the one that Harry Enfield did.

0:52:160:52:19

That is...

0:52:190:52:21

That sketch is up there, I think, with the Two Ronnies,

0:52:210:52:25

because of course, they were, it was a sort of homage to Four Candles.

0:52:250:52:31

It better be good, and it was.

0:52:310:52:33

I bought something from you last week, and I'm very disappointed.

0:52:340:52:39

Oh, yeah? What's the problem?

0:52:390:52:41

Well, my blackberry is not working.

0:52:410:52:43

APPLAUSE

0:52:490:52:50

SHOPKEEPER CLEARS THROAT

0:52:500:52:51

What's the matter, it run out of juice?

0:52:510:52:53

No, no, it's completely frozen.

0:52:550:52:57

Oh, yeah, I can see that.

0:53:010:53:02

That was wonderfully written and fantastically performed.

0:53:020:53:06

It was kind of perfect.

0:53:060:53:07

I tell you what, let's try it on Orange.

0:53:090:53:11

That's got a few blackspots.

0:53:150:53:18

Oh, dear, yeah, sorry about that. Yeah.

0:53:180:53:21

I think the reason he's so popular now is

0:53:220:53:26

because people genuinely love him,

0:53:260:53:28

and the people that have him on their shows genuinely love him

0:53:280:53:31

and know that he remains sharp and talented

0:53:310:53:34

and intrinsically funny, and so, he's going

0:53:340:53:37

to grace their show in his 80s, just as he would have done in his 20s.

0:53:370:53:40

That's why he still works.

0:53:400:53:42

In 2005, Corbett and Barker made one last appearance together,

0:53:450:53:49

hosting a celebration of their best sketches.

0:53:490:53:52

It would be their last ever recording together.

0:53:540:53:57

I was at the final Two Ronnies recording that they ever did

0:53:590:54:03

together, Two Ronnies Christmas Sketchbook in summer, 2005.

0:54:030:54:08

Went along to TV Centre.

0:54:080:54:10

It was quite an amazing night.

0:54:130:54:15

Thank you. Good evening.

0:54:220:54:25

It's wonderful to be back with you

0:54:250:54:27

for this special Christmas Sketchbook, isn't it, Ronnie?

0:54:270:54:30

Indeed it is. And remember, we are still The Two Ronnies.

0:54:300:54:33

We have been on your screens now for nearly 40 years.

0:54:330:54:36

To be in the presence of two, two absolute legends, masters of

0:54:360:54:43

the art of comedy, and to see just a glimmer of them working together...

0:54:430:54:49

Having to compete against various comic double acts.

0:54:490:54:52

Little and Large in the saucy '70s.

0:54:520:54:54

Smith and Jones in the elegant '80s.

0:54:540:54:57

Ant and Dec in the nifty '90s.

0:54:570:54:59

And now Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.

0:54:590:55:01

The atmosphere for both Ronnie Corbett and Ronnie Barker

0:55:080:55:13

amongst the audience was palpable.

0:55:130:55:17

So, once again, it only remains for me

0:55:170:55:19

to say a Merry Christmas from me...

0:55:190:55:21

-And a happy New Year from him.

-Goodnight. Goodnight.

0:55:210:55:24

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

0:55:240:55:26

It was... Yeah, it was incredibly emotional.

0:55:290:55:31

It was quite clear...

0:55:310:55:33

Although it was unspoken, it was clear that Ronnie Barker

0:55:330:55:38

was very frail by that point and that would be quite probably

0:55:380:55:42

the last time they ever worked together,

0:55:420:55:45

and indeed it proved to be the case.

0:55:450:55:47

Ronnie Corbett has been on our screens for more than 60 years...

0:55:500:55:55

An absolute icon.

0:55:550:55:56

He's one of the last of the great days of British variety.

0:55:560:56:00

Eric and Ernie and Frankie Howerd and Tommy Cooper. He's up there.

0:56:000:56:04

Look down, he's there with them all.

0:56:040:56:07

He's like a sort of Dead Sea Scrolls. Everything is in there.

0:56:070:56:11

By Jove, you've done well for yourself.

0:56:110:56:14

You haven't done too badly, eh?

0:56:140:56:17

People of my generation and generations that have come after me

0:56:170:56:21

have really taken him to their hearts.

0:56:210:56:25

Number one, just because he's so good.

0:56:250:56:28

I mean, that's the bottom line of it.

0:56:280:56:30

..but he will always be best remembered as one of The Two Ronnies.

0:56:300:56:35

I was a wee baby.

0:56:360:56:37

I spent the first two years of my life on a charm bracelet.

0:56:370:56:41

There is a sort of naughtiness about him which we all love and admire.

0:56:430:56:49

We know a little smirk is coming.

0:56:490:56:51

We know that if he says anything then that naughty laugh will just

0:56:510:56:55

break out in the middle of a sentence and he'll push his

0:56:550:56:59

glasses back on his nose and, you know, look at us slightly beadily.

0:56:590:57:04

-Well, we've known each other for, what,

-5...?

-10. 15.

-20.

0:57:040:57:09

20 minutes.

0:57:090:57:11

-Months.

-Months.

0:57:110:57:13

20 years. 20 years, man and boy.

0:57:130:57:15

I've known him since he was that high.

0:57:150:57:17

Sometimes things that are very, very popular do not get ranked

0:57:170:57:21

as culturally or artistically important,

0:57:210:57:24

and The Two Ronnies is like that.

0:57:240:57:25

It's like, well, it was watched by 20 million people and obviously

0:57:250:57:28

it can't be artistically or comically important, but it is.

0:57:280:57:31

The funeral took place today of Mr Spencer P Dobson,

0:57:310:57:35

the famous compiler of crossword puzzles.

0:57:350:57:38

After a short service,

0:57:380:57:39

he was buried six down and three across.

0:57:390:57:42

And it stuck out a mile he was going to be a star

0:57:420:57:46

because of one word - class.

0:57:460:57:48

He had total class.

0:57:480:57:50

Take that.

0:57:500:57:51

"Christmas time is here again

0:57:570:57:59

"And joy, this day be yours

0:58:000:58:02

"With mistletoe upon the tree

0:58:020:58:04

"And holly on the doors

0:58:040:58:05

"I wish you all you wish yourself

0:58:050:58:07

"And may your day be jolly."

0:58:070:58:10

The other side of the card.

0:58:100:58:11

"I swear to

0:58:140:58:15

"tell the truth, the whole truth

0:58:150:58:17

"and nothing but the truth.

0:58:170:58:19

"Love, Dennis and Mabel."

0:58:190:58:21

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