0:00:05 > 0:00:08He was one of Britain's favourite funny men.
0:00:08 > 0:00:10Good evening.
0:00:10 > 0:00:13One of the giants of British television.
0:00:13 > 0:00:17You paint a very pretty picture. They could use you on Jackanory.
0:00:17 > 0:00:20Everything he did had class about it.
0:00:20 > 0:00:22A master of monologue.
0:00:22 > 0:00:25The Football Association announced today that any league player
0:00:25 > 0:00:29who changes his sex before half-time will be allowed to finish the match.
0:00:33 > 0:00:38Provided, of course, that there is alternative dressing room accommodation.
0:00:38 > 0:00:41He was an absolutely great comic actor.
0:00:44 > 0:00:45Good evening.
0:00:45 > 0:00:47Every kid in every school knew all the shows.
0:00:47 > 0:00:49He was a clown and a wordsmith.
0:00:49 > 0:00:52Sometimes you get stuck on one letter such as wubbleyou.
0:00:52 > 0:00:57And I said, "Well, I've got a tin of woup, a woucumber, two packets of wheese and a walliflower."
0:00:57 > 0:01:01A great chameleon, really, as well as a great comedian.
0:01:01 > 0:01:03And a prolific comedy writer.
0:01:05 > 0:01:09You can't believe the same man in Porridge
0:01:09 > 0:01:11is the same man as Open All Hours.
0:01:11 > 0:01:15He is rooted in being a first-rate actor.
0:01:15 > 0:01:20These are the many faces of Ronnie Barker.
0:01:30 > 0:01:35Ronnie Barker became one of the best loved comedy faces of the 1980s.
0:01:35 > 0:01:37Oh, really?
0:01:37 > 0:01:41He was sensational in variety shows as one half of The Two Ronnies.
0:01:41 > 0:01:46Sir Laurence Olivier is appearing in 'No, No, Nanette' at the Trellis Theatre, Totnes.
0:01:46 > 0:01:50And Nanette is appearing in 'No, No, Sir Laurence Olivier' at the Globe Theatre, Gosport.
0:01:50 > 0:01:55And as a solo star in sitcoms like Porridge.
0:01:55 > 0:01:59You know, Fletcher, this is the part of the job that I hate.
0:01:59 > 0:02:03Locking men up, caging them in.
0:02:03 > 0:02:06Yeah, it is a pity too, just when the good telly is starting and all.
0:02:06 > 0:02:09It's a shame, isn't it, eh? All we ever see is the news, isn't it?
0:02:09 > 0:02:13News and Nationwide. What's the good of bleeding Nationwide when you're stuck in here?
0:02:14 > 0:02:19He shone from an early age but almost missed the stage for a career in banking.
0:02:19 > 0:02:23In private it was an image he never really shook off.
0:02:23 > 0:02:25If you met him you would never ever think
0:02:25 > 0:02:27he was anything to do with the theatre.
0:02:27 > 0:02:32You would think he is a very witty, very witty, bank manager.
0:02:33 > 0:02:37But Barker on-screen was an inspiration for a generation of British comedy.
0:02:39 > 0:02:42Ronnie Barker was a superstar in all our lives.
0:02:42 > 0:02:45'70s comedy was hugely important.
0:02:45 > 0:02:48Every kid in every school knew all the shows.
0:02:49 > 0:02:51Ronnie's fame was international,
0:02:51 > 0:02:53the famous Four Candles sketch
0:02:53 > 0:02:55wowing audiences all around the world.
0:02:56 > 0:03:00In every English-speaking country in the world they were huge.
0:03:00 > 0:03:02Saw tips.
0:03:02 > 0:03:03Sore tips?
0:03:11 > 0:03:13What do you want? Ointment or something like that?
0:03:15 > 0:03:19It was a work of genius, that sketch was.
0:03:20 > 0:03:23Ronnie Barker turned a desk job in theatre
0:03:23 > 0:03:25into a stage job at the Oxford Playhouse,
0:03:25 > 0:03:27and instantly made his mark.
0:03:27 > 0:03:32Only gradually I realised that whenever I had a little part,
0:03:32 > 0:03:35Ronnie would come up to me
0:03:35 > 0:03:39and give me, what I realise now, were wonderful notes.
0:03:39 > 0:03:43I did always leap on them and said, "Oh, I see what I'm doing now."
0:03:43 > 0:03:45But he was a brilliant actor.
0:03:45 > 0:03:50I can remember thinking how good he was in things.
0:03:50 > 0:03:54But in this very quiet way. There was no bombast about him.
0:03:54 > 0:03:57You wouldn't have known he was an actor.
0:03:58 > 0:04:01Ronnie was good but in the early 1950s
0:04:01 > 0:04:04a career in television was a million miles away.
0:04:05 > 0:04:07We didn't speak about television.
0:04:07 > 0:04:12Television was a very downmarket thing that some people did for money.
0:04:12 > 0:04:16I don't remember anybody speaking about television.
0:04:17 > 0:04:20Would you like to sit there, please?
0:04:20 > 0:04:23Television was still the vulgar cousin of stage,
0:04:23 > 0:04:26but Ronnie had his eye on glamour.
0:04:26 > 0:04:30His first film appearance was as a waiter being upstaged by Frankie Vaughan.
0:04:30 > 0:04:33Very nice to see you here.
0:04:33 > 0:04:36Buenos dias, senor. Senorita.
0:04:36 > 0:04:39What is all this, eh? Why all this argumentation?
0:04:39 > 0:04:43Well, I'm very sorry, Sir, but for seven years now Sir Bertram has been my special customer
0:04:43 > 0:04:46and I will not have him taken away from me by this foreigner.
0:04:46 > 0:04:47Foreigner?
0:04:47 > 0:04:51- I am British through and through. - Now, now, now.
0:04:53 > 0:04:56The movie, Wonderful Things, turned out to be nothing special
0:04:56 > 0:04:58and Ronnie's cinema debut came to nothing.
0:04:59 > 0:05:04But in 1958 the wireless was the mass medium of the day,
0:05:04 > 0:05:09and it was here that Ronnie Barker began to get noticed in the comedy The Navy Lark.
0:05:09 > 0:05:16Betty Marsden told me about this very funny actor who was in a radio show,
0:05:16 > 0:05:18The Navy Lark.
0:05:22 > 0:05:26- I want two halves. - Do you mind? I've only got one pair of hands, you know.
0:05:26 > 0:05:28Yeah, I had noticed.
0:05:28 > 0:05:31They performed at the Playhouse Cinema
0:05:31 > 0:05:36which was taken over by the BBC, so I went along and I saw Ronnie Barker
0:05:36 > 0:05:40and was knocked out by him. I thought he was brilliant.
0:05:41 > 0:05:48Radio was the place where comedians, star comedians, had their shows
0:05:48 > 0:05:53and when television gradually took over, they created their own stars.
0:05:53 > 0:05:57When radio star Jimmy Edwards moved to television
0:05:57 > 0:05:59Ronnie Barker was part of the team.
0:06:00 > 0:06:05It's 1961 and already somebody has noticed that Ronnie looks good behind a desk.
0:06:08 > 0:06:11And here is the news. The sports.
0:06:11 > 0:06:13There is no sign of any decrease
0:06:13 > 0:06:15in the widespread changing of gender.
0:06:17 > 0:06:19The clothing exchange centres
0:06:19 > 0:06:21set up by the WBS
0:06:21 > 0:06:24will now remain open until 10pm.
0:06:24 > 0:06:29Muir and Norden were the top comedy writers on radio.
0:06:29 > 0:06:33And they'd done this series with Jimmy Edwards
0:06:33 > 0:06:36which they'd asked me to do,
0:06:36 > 0:06:42and in that series we had Ronnie Barker,
0:06:42 > 0:06:47and as soon as Muir and Norden saw Ronnie Barker in one episode
0:06:47 > 0:06:51they started rewriting the scripts to bring him in more,
0:06:51 > 0:06:54because he was obviously a major talent.
0:06:57 > 0:07:00Jimmy Edwards was very much a traditional comedy performer
0:07:00 > 0:07:06but now, in the 1960s, the new kids wanted to make their own radical shows.
0:07:06 > 0:07:10Jimmy Gilbert was to produce the landmark review The Frost Report.
0:07:10 > 0:07:15We had John Cleese, Ronnie Corbett,
0:07:15 > 0:07:20and I was looking for a third member of the cast.
0:07:20 > 0:07:23And of course I didn't have to look very far.
0:07:23 > 0:07:27I rang up Ronnie Barker and asked him if he would do it.
0:07:27 > 0:07:33But he was appearing in a play at Stratford East, with Robert Atkins,
0:07:33 > 0:07:38but he asked if he could be released and they let him go.
0:07:38 > 0:07:40So we got him. We nearly didn't get him,
0:07:40 > 0:07:42in which case where would The Two Ronnies have been?
0:07:42 > 0:07:46Because it was The Frost Report where Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett met, of course,
0:07:46 > 0:07:48and they were marvellous together.
0:07:48 > 0:07:52Good evening. Tonight in the studio we have the chairman
0:07:52 > 0:07:55of The League Of Television Decency, Mr Whitewood. Good evening.
0:07:55 > 0:07:57Good evening.
0:07:57 > 0:08:02Now, Mr Whitewood, I understand that the purpose of your campaign
0:08:02 > 0:08:04is in fact to clean up television.
0:08:04 > 0:08:08Yes, we take exception most strongly to some of the double entendre
0:08:08 > 0:08:12and suggestive dialogue in BBC plays, for example.
0:08:12 > 0:08:13Would you like to give us an example?
0:08:13 > 0:08:15Yes, willingly.
0:08:15 > 0:08:21The other night a character was heard to say, and I quote, "Look here."
0:08:21 > 0:08:24That sounds perfectly harmless to me.
0:08:24 > 0:08:26It depends on which way you look at it, doesn't it?
0:08:26 > 0:08:29I mean, to me, "look here" suggests
0:08:29 > 0:08:32look here through this keyhole
0:08:32 > 0:08:33at this young female person
0:08:33 > 0:08:35divesting herself of her clothing.
0:08:35 > 0:08:37It was fresh, it was different,
0:08:37 > 0:08:40and it was topical as well, and fairly cutting.
0:08:40 > 0:08:42There were some really, you know...
0:08:42 > 0:08:46And there were some very silly, sharp, little silly bits.
0:08:46 > 0:08:50Waiter, could I have the baked jam roll, please?
0:08:50 > 0:08:53Not till you've finished your cabbage.
0:08:55 > 0:08:59The Frost Report was live, and that was very frightening.
0:08:59 > 0:09:05But it actually... You know, adrenaline running around.
0:09:05 > 0:09:09I remember John Cleese was absolutely petrified.
0:09:09 > 0:09:12You go ahead.
0:09:12 > 0:09:14I think I'll begin with a little Dubrovnik caviar
0:09:14 > 0:09:17with just a twist of lemon.
0:09:17 > 0:09:20Then the lobster without dressing, please,
0:09:20 > 0:09:23covered with a mixture of mushrooms and onions the way the chef knows I like it.
0:09:23 > 0:09:27The Ronnies had so much experience and I had none.
0:09:27 > 0:09:29None at all.
0:09:29 > 0:09:34And I do remember looking into the mirror in the bathroom one day
0:09:34 > 0:09:37where I'd gone to wash my hands just before the show
0:09:37 > 0:09:39and thinking, "I could not be more frightened
0:09:39 > 0:09:42"if I was a matador going into a ring with a bull."
0:09:42 > 0:09:47After that a small cup of Brazilian coffee, not the Cuban
0:09:47 > 0:09:50and a glass of Courvoisier 21.
0:09:50 > 0:09:52Thank you, sir. And Madam?
0:09:54 > 0:09:55I'll have a plain omelette.
0:09:57 > 0:09:59Sounds rather nice. Do you mind if I change?
0:10:02 > 0:10:04The terror is drying, you know.
0:10:04 > 0:10:11We had a live audience, it was going out live, and it was really scary.
0:10:15 > 0:10:18A lot of it was David sitting and looking into camera
0:10:18 > 0:10:23and reading lots of jokes off the Teleprompter, the autocue.
0:10:23 > 0:10:26Of course, the traditional standard of cooking
0:10:26 > 0:10:29we used to associate with the British
0:10:29 > 0:10:32was that of a guest house at a certain unnamed seaside resort
0:10:32 > 0:10:34famous for its Blackpool rock.
0:10:36 > 0:10:39With his experience of repertory theatre, Ronnie Barker
0:10:39 > 0:10:43brought acting skills to the increasingly dramatic sketches.
0:10:45 > 0:10:48Ronnie was in on an exciting revolution in television.
0:10:48 > 0:10:50The Frost Report brought together
0:10:50 > 0:10:52old school and new school musical comedy
0:10:52 > 0:10:55in a fast-moving sketch format.
0:10:55 > 0:10:57Enjoying your steak, are you?
0:10:57 > 0:10:59Yes, thank you very much.
0:10:59 > 0:11:03What he did was put together the intellectual mob,
0:11:03 > 0:11:04the university people,
0:11:04 > 0:11:07with more traditional performers.
0:11:07 > 0:11:09The Chinese eat pussycats...
0:11:12 > 0:11:15..covered all over in melted chocolate. It's a well-known fact.
0:11:16 > 0:11:18I don't care and I'm not interested.
0:11:18 > 0:11:19And monkeys.
0:11:21 > 0:11:24It is an amalgam of different backgrounds,
0:11:24 > 0:11:30and that was a clever thing to do, sort of comedy fusion, almost.
0:11:34 > 0:11:36- Gone off it, have you?- Yes.
0:11:36 > 0:11:38- Just going to eat vegetables, are you?- Yes.
0:11:40 > 0:11:43Vegetables have nervous systems too, you know.
0:11:44 > 0:11:47Scientists have recorded their screams of agony
0:11:47 > 0:11:50as they are torn out the ground by their roots.
0:11:50 > 0:11:52Carrots shriek.
0:11:52 > 0:11:54HE SQUEAKS
0:11:54 > 0:11:57Ronnie Barker extraordinarily sort of crossed...
0:11:57 > 0:12:00He could work with the university types
0:12:00 > 0:12:04and he could work with the lowbrow types,
0:12:04 > 0:12:06Ronnie Corbett amongst others.
0:12:06 > 0:12:10He was amazing
0:12:10 > 0:12:17at bridging those two class distinctions, if you like.
0:12:17 > 0:12:20But he was essentially an actor. He wasn't a comedian.
0:12:27 > 0:12:31I look down on him because I am upper-class.
0:12:31 > 0:12:33I look up to him because he is upper-class.
0:12:33 > 0:12:38But I look down on him because he is lower-class.
0:12:38 > 0:12:40I am middle-class.
0:12:43 > 0:12:45I know my place.
0:12:47 > 0:12:49I look up to them both,
0:12:49 > 0:12:51but I don't look up to him
0:12:51 > 0:12:53as much as I look up to him.
0:12:55 > 0:12:58Cos he has got innate breeding.
0:12:58 > 0:13:02I have got innate breeding but I have not got any money.
0:13:02 > 0:13:05That famous sketch that illustrates class difference
0:13:05 > 0:13:07with Cleese, Corbett and Barker together,
0:13:07 > 0:13:13it has become the lazy shorthand for all debate about class in the '60s.
0:13:13 > 0:13:16Every time you see a TV documentary that refers to the idea of class
0:13:16 > 0:13:19or a Newsnight discussion, let's say, about class,
0:13:19 > 0:13:23that image is projected up on the screen.
0:13:23 > 0:13:26In a way, it is because it's brilliant.
0:13:26 > 0:13:29It captures that idea of social mobility,
0:13:29 > 0:13:33or in fact the lack of it in the '60s that people were talking about.
0:13:33 > 0:13:35Barker is in the middle
0:13:35 > 0:13:38but actually Barker could have been anywhere in the line-up.
0:13:38 > 0:13:43Rather hard to imagine John Cleese playing the working-class guy at the end,
0:13:43 > 0:13:46rather hard to imagine Ronnie Corbett
0:13:46 > 0:13:50embodying that kind of upper-class hauteur that Cleese does so effortlessly.
0:13:50 > 0:13:52Barker could have been anywhere in that.
0:13:52 > 0:13:55I shall now pronounce sentence.
0:14:02 > 0:14:04There were two series of The Frost Report on the BBC
0:14:04 > 0:14:07before the show moved to ITV as Frost On Sunday.
0:14:08 > 0:14:11John Cleese had already decided to leave the show.
0:14:11 > 0:14:14He would go on to create Monty Python
0:14:14 > 0:14:16after his first attempt at a dream team,
0:14:16 > 0:14:19including Ronnie Barker, failed.
0:14:23 > 0:14:25Silence in court.
0:14:26 > 0:14:30If there is any more noise I shall have to ask the orchestra to leave.
0:14:32 > 0:14:36I can't remember quite why we went our different ways.
0:14:36 > 0:14:40I do know that at one stage I tried to put them all together.
0:14:40 > 0:14:47Graham Chapman and I wrote a movie for the Frost organisation
0:14:47 > 0:14:50which was called Piglust And Company.
0:14:50 > 0:14:56And Ronnie Barker was Mr Piglust, and I liked the script very much.
0:14:56 > 0:14:59And it had Ronnie Barker, Ronnie Corbett,
0:14:59 > 0:15:01Marty, Tim, Graham and me in it
0:15:01 > 0:15:04so it was very much an attempt to put the group together.
0:15:04 > 0:15:08Unfortunately Frost sold it to Ned Sherrin.
0:15:08 > 0:15:11I thought he'd brought Ned Sherrin in as producer,
0:15:11 > 0:15:15and Ned, who I didn't like very much as a person, or professionally,
0:15:15 > 0:15:18I thought there was a coarseness to his taste,
0:15:18 > 0:15:22he would not use Charlie Crichton, who was of course the director for A Fish Called Wanda,
0:15:22 > 0:15:25and so Graham and I walked away from the project
0:15:25 > 0:15:29and so did Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett, and we just went off.
0:15:29 > 0:15:31I would love to have got us together.
0:15:31 > 0:15:34The Frost shows were hungry for scripts
0:15:34 > 0:15:37and attracted some of the best comedy talent of the generation.
0:15:37 > 0:15:39Hello?
0:15:39 > 0:15:43British Hormone Company here. Miss Thompkin speaking.
0:15:45 > 0:15:50We wrote hundreds of sketches, so many.
0:15:50 > 0:15:54The pressure is therefore huge.
0:15:54 > 0:15:57You can't sort of... You can't hang around.
0:15:57 > 0:16:00There are certain rules, techniques.
0:16:00 > 0:16:03You can't hang around without a laugh for too long.
0:16:03 > 0:16:06The worst of the lot was you've got to have a punchline.
0:16:06 > 0:16:13I mean, look, it says here in the paper "intimacy took place".
0:16:13 > 0:16:16Now why can't they come straight out with it
0:16:16 > 0:16:17and say he gave her a jolly good...
0:16:17 > 0:16:19Did you see the cricket?
0:16:21 > 0:16:24- Why can't they say he gave her a jolly good...- Cricket!
0:16:25 > 0:16:27Why can't they just say he gave her a jolly good dinner
0:16:27 > 0:16:30then he took her home and then...
0:16:30 > 0:16:32And then what?
0:16:32 > 0:16:36And then intimacy took place.
0:16:36 > 0:16:39Ronnie also knew a good script when he saw it.
0:16:39 > 0:16:44I think that's one of the key things of a genius performer.
0:16:44 > 0:16:49Out of all the comedy people almost in British comedy history
0:16:49 > 0:16:53he is probably the one who has done the least crap.
0:16:53 > 0:17:00He, by and large, everything he did had class about it.
0:17:03 > 0:17:06Many of the writers on the show would go on to be household names -
0:17:06 > 0:17:09Michael Palin, Graeme Garden, Barry Cryer.
0:17:09 > 0:17:12There was another writer, though, who was as prolific
0:17:12 > 0:17:16and would have been revered if he hadn't been a complete enigma.
0:17:16 > 0:17:22Some sketches started coming in that were really classy, very funny,
0:17:22 > 0:17:24and the writer was never there.
0:17:24 > 0:17:29And we started to ask, "Where is he?"
0:17:29 > 0:17:33They said, "He just sends them in. Don't know who it is."
0:17:33 > 0:17:36The notorious episode of Gerald Wiley
0:17:36 > 0:17:40who we were told was a recluse.
0:17:40 > 0:17:43And he started submitting sketches.
0:17:43 > 0:17:46And we used to say, "Anything from Gerald Wiley this week?"
0:17:46 > 0:17:48Disappointed if there wasn't.
0:17:48 > 0:17:52And then at the very end - nobody knew -
0:17:52 > 0:17:53we were all taking bets who it was,
0:17:53 > 0:17:57because you thought, this person is too good, he is too good at writing,
0:17:57 > 0:17:59he must be a writer or something.
0:17:59 > 0:18:03The first one they ever did was set in a doctor's waiting room,
0:18:03 > 0:18:05had a very big part for Ronnie Corbett,
0:18:05 > 0:18:07and a small one for Ronnie Barker.
0:18:07 > 0:18:09And I was going to say they both liked the sketch,
0:18:09 > 0:18:11but of course they both did.
0:18:11 > 0:18:14Ronnie Corbett didn't know who Gerald Wiley was.
0:18:14 > 0:18:18And then Wiley starts submitting.
0:18:18 > 0:18:22The funny thing was Ronnie Barker sometimes turned down a Gerald Wiley sketch.
0:18:22 > 0:18:25He'd say, "No, it's not up to his usual standard."
0:18:25 > 0:18:27It got to the end of the series
0:18:27 > 0:18:32and David took us all out for a Chinese meal, big table,
0:18:32 > 0:18:34and they invited this man.
0:18:34 > 0:18:37It was like Agatha Christie. We were all there.
0:18:37 > 0:18:42We all turned up and Frank Muir popped his head in as our boss
0:18:42 > 0:18:45and we thought, "It was you having a laugh." No!
0:18:45 > 0:18:48We thought it was Tom Stoppard who was with that agent.
0:18:48 > 0:18:52We're sitting there agog waiting for this bloke to arrive,
0:18:52 > 0:18:58and all of a sudden up jumps Ronnie Barker
0:18:58 > 0:19:02and says, "I am sorry to disappoint you all but it's me."
0:19:02 > 0:19:04I think most of us laughed and thought, "Very good gag,"
0:19:04 > 0:19:06and kept looking around for Gerald Wiley.
0:19:06 > 0:19:08He then said, "No, it is me."
0:19:08 > 0:19:12I stood up and said the toast is nobody loves a smart arse.
0:19:12 > 0:19:15That was Wiley revealed.
0:19:15 > 0:19:17And then of course he'd lost his cover.
0:19:17 > 0:19:19I respected why he did it in the first place.
0:19:19 > 0:19:22He didn't want sketches accepted just cos he'd written them.
0:19:22 > 0:19:25But then his cover was blown.
0:19:25 > 0:19:27Rather embarrassingly,
0:19:27 > 0:19:31Gerald Wiley began to take ideas from other writers
0:19:31 > 0:19:33and use them for himself.
0:19:33 > 0:19:36The famous sketch with the spoonerisms in it,
0:19:36 > 0:19:42not originated by Ronnie Barker or Gerald Wiley,
0:19:42 > 0:19:45but added to sequels written to this sketch.
0:19:45 > 0:19:50Good evening. I am the President Of The Loyal Society For The Relief Of Sufferers From Pismronunciation.
0:19:50 > 0:19:53People who can't say their worms correctly.
0:19:53 > 0:19:55Or who use the wrong worms entirely,
0:19:55 > 0:19:59so that other people cannot underhand a bird they are spraying.
0:19:59 > 0:20:01The pismronunciation of worms,
0:20:01 > 0:20:04one of the most famous of those sketches
0:20:04 > 0:20:06where Barker talks directly to camera
0:20:06 > 0:20:09and gives you a kind of Ministry Of Information lecture.
0:20:09 > 0:20:11The first one was not written by him,
0:20:11 > 0:20:13but all the subsequent others were.
0:20:13 > 0:20:16It's just that you open your mouse and the worms come turbling out
0:20:16 > 0:20:19in wuck a say that you dick not what you're thugging to be.
0:20:19 > 0:20:22And I know that there was a little bit of tension,
0:20:22 > 0:20:25because I think they felt sometimes
0:20:25 > 0:20:28that Ronnie kind of rewrote ideas of theirs
0:20:28 > 0:20:30without them really getting any credit.
0:20:30 > 0:20:34And sometimes they felt he changed the material.
0:20:37 > 0:20:39David Frost had taken the show to ITV
0:20:39 > 0:20:42and was keen to make the most of his stable of comedy thoroughbreds.
0:20:42 > 0:20:45Ronnie would be tried out in longer formats
0:20:45 > 0:20:47including a film he both wrote and produced,
0:20:47 > 0:20:49Futtocks End.
0:20:49 > 0:20:51It was a slapstick movie of sound effects
0:20:51 > 0:20:53with no dialogue.
0:20:53 > 0:20:55And was not his finest moment.
0:20:57 > 0:21:01There's only one criticism I would make of Ronnie.
0:21:01 > 0:21:05He had a little bit of the Benny Hill streak of humour.
0:21:06 > 0:21:09He could put in a bosom or bottom joke
0:21:09 > 0:21:11when it just slightly lowered the tone
0:21:11 > 0:21:14of the absolutely excellent work he was doing everywhere else.
0:21:14 > 0:21:22It was 1970 and Futtocks End was at one extreme of a very wide spectrum of acting roles for Ronnie.
0:21:22 > 0:21:26At the other end was an offer of Shakespeare.
0:21:26 > 0:21:29"It is sad," he said. "I'm not going to be able to do this. I have been offered this."
0:21:29 > 0:21:31I said, "Why can't you do it?"
0:21:31 > 0:21:33He said, "It's during the school holiday."
0:21:33 > 0:21:35I thought, "What has that got to do with it?"
0:21:35 > 0:21:38He said, "Well, Joy and I and the kids always go to Littlehampton."
0:21:38 > 0:21:44I said, "Yes, but it's television! It's not doing a play every night where you can't get there."
0:21:44 > 0:21:48"Course you can. You can rehearse during the day and they'll give you the weekend off."
0:21:48 > 0:21:50He said, "No, it's the school holiday."
0:21:50 > 0:21:57I'd have given them au pairs to die for down in Littlehampton to look after them all.
0:21:57 > 0:22:01Ronnie did in fact play Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream
0:22:01 > 0:22:04with his old colleague Eileen Atkins.
0:22:04 > 0:22:07HE BRAYS
0:22:07 > 0:22:10I suppose I might have thought whether
0:22:10 > 0:22:15because he had been doing these sketches on television
0:22:15 > 0:22:18I wondered whether he would have, when he played with you,
0:22:18 > 0:22:23you would still feel the engagement with what you were doing as well.
0:22:23 > 0:22:26But it was all there, absolutely.
0:22:26 > 0:22:32He is rooted in being a first-rate actor and nothing had shifted.
0:22:32 > 0:22:35No, he was lovely.
0:22:35 > 0:22:37I've had a dream.
0:22:38 > 0:22:41Past the wit of man to say what dream it was.
0:22:43 > 0:22:46Man is but an ass if he go about t'expound this dream.
0:22:49 > 0:22:53While at ITV Ronnie appeared in six plays, The Ronnie Barker Playhouse,
0:22:53 > 0:22:54and Six Dates With Barker,
0:22:54 > 0:22:59each intended to but failing to find a sitcom for the rising star.
0:22:59 > 0:23:02The character of Lord Rustless did emerge
0:23:02 > 0:23:05and featured regularly in the sketch show Hark At Barker.
0:23:05 > 0:23:08He would go on to make regular appearances throughout Ronnie's career.
0:23:08 > 0:23:10There you are.
0:23:10 > 0:23:14I suppose some of you must be wondering why I have sent for you.
0:23:14 > 0:23:22The point is the television people thought that you might like to have a look around.
0:23:24 > 0:23:28Ronnie was named ITV Personality Of The Year in 1969.
0:23:28 > 0:23:31ITV must have known they had a star in Barker
0:23:31 > 0:23:34but his destiny was about to be forged,
0:23:34 > 0:23:36not by his talent, but by his contract.
0:23:38 > 0:23:42There was a very poor decision made at London Weekend Television.
0:23:42 > 0:23:46There was a lot of politics and David Frost,
0:23:46 > 0:23:50an absolutely brilliant entrepreneur, apart from anything,
0:23:50 > 0:23:54who helped to create London Weekend Television,
0:23:54 > 0:23:56had The Two Ronnies under contract,
0:23:56 > 0:23:59and there was some politics that went on,
0:23:59 > 0:24:03and the management at London Weekend Television
0:24:03 > 0:24:07said they wouldn't continue with The Two Ronnies
0:24:07 > 0:24:11by buying them through David Frost's company.
0:24:11 > 0:24:14Which was a ridiculous decision.
0:24:14 > 0:24:17And so they left and the BBC couldn't believe their luck.
0:24:17 > 0:24:19And they signed The Two Ronnies.
0:24:19 > 0:24:22ITV had The Two Ronnies, and lost them,
0:24:22 > 0:24:26in the same way the BBC had Stanley Baxter, and lost him.
0:24:31 > 0:24:34The BBC launched The Two Ronnies TV show in 1971.
0:24:34 > 0:24:36Their trademark opening address
0:24:36 > 0:24:40would welcome millions of families in Britain for the next 16 years.
0:24:42 > 0:24:45Thank you. Good evening and welcome to the show.
0:24:45 > 0:24:47- It's very nice to be with you all, isn't it?- It is.
0:24:47 > 0:24:49- It's very nice to be with you. - Thank you, Ron.
0:24:54 > 0:24:56Every Two Ronnies show was closely formatted.
0:24:56 > 0:24:58Viewers expected to see the newsreaders,
0:24:58 > 0:25:01sketches and song parodies.
0:25:05 > 0:25:08# I would love to eat anything I wanted
0:25:08 > 0:25:12# Bangers and beans and enormous lumps of fried bread
0:25:12 > 0:25:16# Fed chop and chips and steak and kidney pies
0:25:16 > 0:25:18# By a girl who likes cooking who's big and good-looking
0:25:18 > 0:25:20# Whose dumplings are double the size
0:25:20 > 0:25:24# We'll all have a damn good time
0:25:24 > 0:25:26# All peaches and cream. #
0:25:26 > 0:25:29They complement each other very well.
0:25:29 > 0:25:31There's the physical thing going on, of course,
0:25:31 > 0:25:33the big chubby man with the short man.
0:25:33 > 0:25:38We've seen that from time immemorial in comedy.
0:25:38 > 0:25:40But there's something about the way...
0:25:40 > 0:25:43The rhythm of their performances together,
0:25:43 > 0:25:45there is a naturalness about it.
0:25:45 > 0:25:49In those sketches where they meet at a party
0:25:49 > 0:25:51you can almost believe that those people are real,
0:25:51 > 0:25:55no matter how absurd their afflictions and their verbal ticks are.
0:25:55 > 0:25:58Hello. I don't believe we've met. Clive Winfrey.
0:25:58 > 0:25:59Hello, my name is...
0:25:59 > 0:26:01No, no, no, don't tell me, don't tell me.
0:26:01 > 0:26:04It is a little game I like to play at parties, guessing people's names.
0:26:04 > 0:26:08I'm very good at it too. I always guess their name by what they look like.
0:26:08 > 0:26:15It might be partly because Ronnie Corbett accepted his secondary role in that partnership
0:26:15 > 0:26:19that he wasn't trying to muscle in on the writing process as well
0:26:19 > 0:26:22and was in a way happy to let Ronnie Barker
0:26:22 > 0:26:25be kind of the originator in that act.
0:26:25 > 0:26:29I am so sure you will not be able to guess my name,
0:26:29 > 0:26:31if you get it right I will allow you
0:26:31 > 0:26:35to spend the night with my wife, the beautiful lady in the red.
0:26:35 > 0:26:38She's smiling, looking...
0:26:38 > 0:26:39How many guesses can I have?
0:26:39 > 0:26:42You can have as many as you like.
0:26:42 > 0:26:46All right, well, you look to me like a prat.
0:26:50 > 0:26:52Sidney Pratt.
0:26:52 > 0:26:53No. No.
0:26:53 > 0:26:56Perhaps you're more like a wally.
0:26:56 > 0:27:00- Are you a Wally Partington-Smythe? - No.
0:27:00 > 0:27:01Monty Rothermere.
0:27:01 > 0:27:03No. Look, I'll give you a clue.
0:27:03 > 0:27:06My surname sounds like something that comes out at night.
0:27:06 > 0:27:09Malcolm Dentures.
0:27:11 > 0:27:14But actually I think what makes it work
0:27:14 > 0:27:17is that they just seem to like each other.
0:27:17 > 0:27:21There is a sort of ease about the way they work with each other
0:27:21 > 0:27:24when they are sitting out as the village idiots on the wall
0:27:24 > 0:27:27or the two old guys in the allotment.
0:27:27 > 0:27:31- You know we live in the same sort of house?- Yes?
0:27:31 > 0:27:36- Same road, same shape, same size rooms?- Yes.
0:27:36 > 0:27:41You know when you papered your front room you told me
0:27:41 > 0:27:44you bought eight rolls of wallpaper?
0:27:44 > 0:27:45That's right, yeah.
0:27:45 > 0:27:50- Well, I've just papered our front room.- Oh, yeah?
0:27:50 > 0:27:53I bought eight rolls of wallpaper.
0:27:53 > 0:27:56When I finished I had two over.
0:27:56 > 0:27:58That's funny.
0:28:00 > 0:28:02So did I.
0:28:02 > 0:28:04Together The Two Ronnies perfectly complemented each other,
0:28:04 > 0:28:07but they had a different approach to being on their own.
0:28:07 > 0:28:12I am feeling a little bit drained. I spent the weekend potholing.
0:28:12 > 0:28:14Ronnie Corbett's armchair monologues
0:28:14 > 0:28:17seemed a natural portrayal of the man himself.
0:28:19 > 0:28:22I say potholing. To be honest,
0:28:22 > 0:28:24actually I was in the back garden
0:28:24 > 0:28:27trying to pull up a worm and it got the better of me.
0:28:28 > 0:28:31But Ronnie Barker always appeared in character.
0:28:31 > 0:28:33What about that?
0:28:37 > 0:28:40- A?- A! I didn't help you at all with that one.
0:28:43 > 0:28:45- I.- No, that's the hatstand.
0:28:53 > 0:28:56- H.- No, you are reading all the furniture.
0:29:01 > 0:29:05See if you can grab the end of this long pole.
0:29:05 > 0:29:08- I've got it.- Got it? - Thank goodness for that.
0:29:11 > 0:29:18I think Ronnie was never comfortable performing as himself.
0:29:18 > 0:29:22He always had to be in character, something he always made very clear,
0:29:22 > 0:29:26which was why he would always have just a moustache
0:29:26 > 0:29:30if nothing else when he was playing those announcers at the desk.
0:29:30 > 0:29:32Always made him feel more comfortable.
0:29:32 > 0:29:38And yet in conversation and as himself he was supremely funny.
0:29:38 > 0:29:42In a very straight, very dry way.
0:29:42 > 0:29:45Do you ever experience a general feeling of wobbliness?
0:29:45 > 0:29:46A, yes. Or B, no.
0:29:46 > 0:29:50Yes, A. Yes, I do get wobbliness in the head.
0:29:52 > 0:29:56There are several possible causes of wobbliness. Please state number of legs.
0:29:57 > 0:29:59Two when I last looked.
0:30:00 > 0:30:02Oh, sorry, wrong button. Wait a minute.
0:30:02 > 0:30:03No! Oh, dear, wait a minute.
0:30:07 > 0:30:08You appear to have 12 legs.
0:30:10 > 0:30:11Are you A, the Nolan sisters?
0:30:14 > 0:30:17B, the Parliamentary Social Democratic Party?
0:30:17 > 0:30:20C, three teams of one-legged polo players?
0:30:20 > 0:30:22Or D, was this a mistake?
0:30:22 > 0:30:25Ronnie Barker was starring in The Two Ronnies
0:30:25 > 0:30:27and he wrote much of the material.
0:30:27 > 0:30:30Good evening, here is the news.
0:30:30 > 0:30:34But the sheer volume of scripts demanded outside writers
0:30:34 > 0:30:38and attracted contributions from all over the world.
0:30:38 > 0:30:40The news desk items famously came in
0:30:40 > 0:30:44from all quarters across the British Isles, maybe even the world.
0:30:44 > 0:30:52They had this vast sort of pool of submitters.
0:30:52 > 0:30:57Dentists from Aberdeen, I don't know who they were,
0:30:57 > 0:31:00as well as a core of more professional writers
0:31:00 > 0:31:01who did it for a living.
0:31:01 > 0:31:06In the divorce courts today an 85-year-old farmer divorced his 17-year-old wife
0:31:06 > 0:31:08because he couldn't keep his hands off her.
0:31:08 > 0:31:12He has now sacked all his hands and bought a combine harvester.
0:31:12 > 0:31:17They would whittle it down to 100 lines a week
0:31:17 > 0:31:19which they themselves would then rewrite anyway
0:31:19 > 0:31:22to give them a greater crispness.
0:31:22 > 0:31:27These 100 would be submitted to each of the two Ronnies,
0:31:27 > 0:31:31and from that 100 they would pick 12, 15 or something,
0:31:31 > 0:31:33that they would actually use on the show,
0:31:33 > 0:31:36and every one had to get two ticks from each of them. That was the rule.
0:31:36 > 0:31:39# With what anguish
0:31:39 > 0:31:44# I await my beloved
0:31:44 > 0:31:48# My poor frail body
0:31:48 > 0:31:51# Is wasting away. #
0:31:51 > 0:31:55It was a kind of seemingly bottomless well of characterisation,
0:31:55 > 0:31:58particularly that Ronnie Barker managed to achieve,
0:31:58 > 0:32:01which was just marvellous to behold, really.
0:32:01 > 0:32:05# In yon gloomy tower
0:32:05 > 0:32:09# The cause of my pinings at present reclining
0:32:09 > 0:32:10# In her chamber
0:32:10 > 0:32:14# Ah, me, when will she
0:32:14 > 0:32:19# Be free to be mine own?
0:32:19 > 0:32:23LAUGHTER DROWNS SINGING
0:32:24 > 0:32:28Good evening. I'm from the Ministry Of Sex Equality.
0:32:30 > 0:32:34I'm here tonight to explain the situation man to man.
0:32:34 > 0:32:37Or as we have to say, person to person.
0:32:37 > 0:32:39My name is Mr stroke Mrs Barker.
0:32:41 > 0:32:45But I don't advise any of you to try it - stroking Mrs Barker.
0:32:45 > 0:32:49He is absolutely brilliant at those lectures to camera.
0:32:49 > 0:32:55He can just turn on that pomposity, that silliness,
0:32:55 > 0:32:57but still make it sort of convincing.
0:32:57 > 0:33:00He had such a good ear for these things,
0:33:00 > 0:33:03his wordplay was so dexterous,
0:33:03 > 0:33:07he knew how to kind of copy the rhythms of the sermon
0:33:07 > 0:33:09or the public information film,
0:33:09 > 0:33:12and twist them until they became utterly preposterous.
0:33:12 > 0:33:14The recent idea by the ministry, to avoid confusion,
0:33:14 > 0:33:17is to call a man a doings and a woman a thingy.
0:33:17 > 0:33:21This offends no-one and makes conversation clearer,
0:33:21 > 0:33:24thus we instantly recognise the book called Little Thingies
0:33:24 > 0:33:27or the musical called My Fair Thingy,
0:33:27 > 0:33:32or the play by George Bernard Shaw called Doings and Superdoings.
0:33:34 > 0:33:38ITV had tried Ronnie Barker in sitcom showcases twice without success.
0:33:38 > 0:33:43The BBC also realised they had an extraordinary talent.
0:33:43 > 0:33:48In 1973 they commissioned a series of one-off comedy pilots, 7 Of 1,
0:33:48 > 0:33:53with the intention of finding that elusive sitcom blockbuster.
0:33:53 > 0:34:00Ronnie must have been pretty special on the sixth floor at the Beeb
0:34:00 > 0:34:03and in the eyes of the viewers by the time he did 7 Of 1.
0:34:03 > 0:34:05Alan, tea?
0:34:05 > 0:34:08One Man's Meat paired Barker with Prunella Scales
0:34:08 > 0:34:10making much of the man's rotund stature.
0:34:14 > 0:34:17Just about a man who was on an enforced diet.
0:34:17 > 0:34:20His wife emptied the fridge, took all his clothes away
0:34:20 > 0:34:22and he couldn't eat a thing.
0:34:22 > 0:34:25She even got the inside out of a boiled egg
0:34:25 > 0:34:27so when he thought he had got a boiled egg it was empty.
0:34:27 > 0:34:31It was very funny, and it was written by a man called Jack Goetz,
0:34:31 > 0:34:33who turned out to be Ronnie.
0:34:35 > 0:34:39Oh, I'm awfully sorry. I accidentally spilt them all over your nice trousers.
0:34:39 > 0:34:42Why don't we take them off? I'll dry them on the radiator.
0:34:44 > 0:34:46One Man's Meat failed to impress,
0:34:46 > 0:34:48but two of the seven experiments
0:34:48 > 0:34:51would eventually make extended series.
0:34:51 > 0:34:55Open All Hours introduced a young David Jason
0:34:55 > 0:34:58when first broadcast in 1973.
0:35:01 > 0:35:03Hey, Granville, have you been courting again?
0:35:03 > 0:35:07Fat chance. We don't close till nine.
0:35:07 > 0:35:10Mrs Sculley said it could have been you she saw coming out of their Margaret...
0:35:10 > 0:35:14- You what?- ..'s place on Frith Street. Let me finish!
0:35:14 > 0:35:16Go and get them papers in.
0:35:16 > 0:35:20I told you not to go and see that Ken Russell film.
0:35:20 > 0:35:21BELL RINGS
0:35:21 > 0:35:25You've hardly got your spots cleared up from the last one.
0:35:30 > 0:35:32Another pilot, Prisoner And Escort,
0:35:32 > 0:35:35led directly to a sitcom some people consider to be
0:35:35 > 0:35:38the pinnacle of Ronnie Barker's career.
0:35:38 > 0:35:41Don't give me any of your facetious lip, Fletcher.
0:35:41 > 0:35:44I know you were trying to work one last night.
0:35:44 > 0:35:46On what do you base that supposition, Mr MacKay?
0:35:46 > 0:35:49On the evidence of our motor mechanic's report on the van.
0:35:54 > 0:35:59It appears that the petrol tank had more in it after our journey than before.
0:36:01 > 0:36:05Only what was in the tank was certainly not 5-star.
0:36:08 > 0:36:12Now, I'm going to be watching you, Fletcher.
0:36:12 > 0:36:15I'm going to be watching you like a hawk,
0:36:15 > 0:36:19because nobody, nobody goes over the wall in my prison.
0:36:19 > 0:36:23Oh no, Mr MacKay, no-one would dare take the petrol out of you.
0:36:28 > 0:36:29Norman Stanley Fletcher.
0:36:31 > 0:36:34Small-time villain Norman Stanley Fletcher is convicted.
0:36:34 > 0:36:36He takes his sentence one day at a time,
0:36:36 > 0:36:39winning minor victories against the system
0:36:39 > 0:36:42and in particular the stern warder, Mr MacKay,
0:36:42 > 0:36:45played by Fulton MacKay.
0:36:47 > 0:36:49Morning, Mr MacKay.
0:36:49 > 0:36:50Thanks again, mate, see you.
0:36:52 > 0:36:55Thanks. What was all that about?
0:36:55 > 0:36:58That was just a bit of friendly advice, Mr MacKay, that's all.
0:36:58 > 0:37:02Just a bit of friendly advice on matters of the heart between him and me.
0:37:02 > 0:37:08Tell me, Fletcher, is it true this is the office of Slade Prison's Miss Lonely Hearts?
0:37:08 > 0:37:11Is that why you're here, then? Problems of that nature?
0:37:11 > 0:37:13I have no problems of that nature.
0:37:13 > 0:37:16h, come off it, Mr MacKay. All screws - beg your pardon -
0:37:16 > 0:37:19all prison officers have problems in that area, don't they?
0:37:19 > 0:37:22Matrimonially you and me is very similar.
0:37:22 > 0:37:23Because while we are both stuck in here
0:37:23 > 0:37:26we can't be sure what our old ladies are up to. There's no difference.
0:37:26 > 0:37:29There is a major difference, Fletcher.
0:37:29 > 0:37:32Your wives are criminals' wives,
0:37:32 > 0:37:34they belong to the criminal classes
0:37:34 > 0:37:37with all their hidden traits of slovenliness and promiscuity.
0:37:37 > 0:37:41Our wives are the wives of uniformed men,
0:37:41 > 0:37:45used to a life of service, duty, decency and moral fibre.
0:37:47 > 0:37:51- My house, my house reflects my wife. - Big, is it?- Spotless.
0:37:51 > 0:37:55Ronnie just disappeared, you know,
0:37:55 > 0:37:58inside those people that he played.
0:37:58 > 0:38:01Fletcher! I mean, what a wonderful creation.
0:38:01 > 0:38:07He did say to me once, he said, "It's me, Sam, really. It's me, really. It's easy."
0:38:07 > 0:38:12But, you know, it was a complete full-blooded character,
0:38:12 > 0:38:16and that's what he was so brilliant at.
0:38:16 > 0:38:19I think there was a touch of genius really.
0:38:20 > 0:38:23- Hello. What do you want? - Will you do the honours?
0:38:23 > 0:38:26- What, read it out to you, do you mean?- Yes.- Yeah, all right. From the wife, is it?
0:38:26 > 0:38:29Yeah, know her perfume anywhere.
0:38:29 > 0:38:31Oh, yes, very distinctive.
0:38:31 > 0:38:34I should think this kills 99% of household germs.
0:38:36 > 0:38:39I knew it was good, it was really good and the scripts were great,
0:38:39 > 0:38:43but I didn't know it was going to be a huge hit as it turned out to be,
0:38:43 > 0:38:46I mean with books written about it,
0:38:46 > 0:38:54and the top viewing figures one Sunday night in 1976 or '75 or something, of 22 million.
0:38:54 > 0:38:56I will get Saturday morning off at the laundry.
0:38:56 > 0:38:58I miss you and think of us
0:38:58 > 0:39:01when you was at home and you used to take my...
0:39:04 > 0:39:05Used to what?
0:39:06 > 0:39:10Well, it's a bit personal, the next bit, you know what I mean?
0:39:10 > 0:39:15I don't think I should really read it out, aloud, not in front of me.
0:39:18 > 0:39:21- Well, you know, it's intimate. - What does she say?
0:39:21 > 0:39:24You read it. Oh, you can't read, can you?
0:39:24 > 0:39:26'Half past seven, eight o'clock, whenever it was,
0:39:26 > 0:39:28'was a bit of an event. We'll be there for that.'
0:39:28 > 0:39:30Did you see Porridge last night?
0:39:30 > 0:39:33That episode of Porridge where he and Richard Beckinsale
0:39:33 > 0:39:35are confined in their cell
0:39:35 > 0:39:39fantasising about a day out that they will never have...
0:39:39 > 0:39:41Dreams is your escape, ain't they?
0:39:41 > 0:39:45There's no locked doors, barriers, frontiers,
0:39:45 > 0:39:46dreams is freedom.
0:39:46 > 0:39:51..is one of the most brilliant examples of acting control
0:39:51 > 0:39:57and writing too, that I think '70s TV ever produced. It is absolutely perfect.
0:39:57 > 0:40:03And there is something about the way Barker can conjure those fantasies,
0:40:03 > 0:40:06the way he narrates that day of pleasure,
0:40:06 > 0:40:11fantasising about being out in the countryside when they're within the prison walls,
0:40:11 > 0:40:14it is just a masterclass in acting.
0:40:14 > 0:40:17Kids like you, they shouldn't be in prison, not really.
0:40:17 > 0:40:20It's the system, isn't it?
0:40:20 > 0:40:24You're not here to be reformed or rehabilitation, are you?
0:40:24 > 0:40:26You're just here for public revenge, ain't you?
0:40:26 > 0:40:31With me it's a different kettle of fish. It's occupational hazard.
0:40:31 > 0:40:36Being as how my occupation is breaking the law.
0:40:36 > 0:40:39Still, my family has never gone short.
0:40:39 > 0:40:43I've got a wife and three kids. Want a bit of this?
0:40:43 > 0:40:45Ta.
0:40:45 > 0:40:48Wife and three kids, I'll show you their picture when it gets light.
0:40:48 > 0:40:51Now my youngest, he's just got into grammar school.
0:40:51 > 0:40:53Has he?
0:40:53 > 0:40:56Yeah. Very expensive school it is. Nice, though.
0:40:56 > 0:40:57But costs a lot.
0:40:57 > 0:40:59Books, equipment, all that sort of thing.
0:40:59 > 0:41:03When my son went there on the first day he didn't want for nothing.
0:41:03 > 0:41:06Rugby boots, blazer, cap, scarf, the lot.
0:41:06 > 0:41:10He wouldn't have had them if his father had just been a struggling clerk, would he, now?
0:41:10 > 0:41:16Reason he had them was because his father had just robbed a school outfit.
0:41:17 > 0:41:21Any actor who'd never done comedy or TV,
0:41:21 > 0:41:24who perhaps played the Royal Shakespeare Company
0:41:24 > 0:41:25and the National Theatre,
0:41:25 > 0:41:27would look at those performances
0:41:27 > 0:41:33and say, "My God, that is acting of the highest calibre."
0:41:33 > 0:41:35Take one.
0:41:37 > 0:41:39Action.
0:41:41 > 0:41:45The character of Fletcher had broken into the hearts of the public
0:41:45 > 0:41:49and Porridge was a huge success with a cinema feature film spin-off.
0:41:50 > 0:41:52Oh, dear.
0:41:52 > 0:41:55Where's Elaine work? Tarpaulin factory?
0:41:55 > 0:41:56Read it.
0:41:56 > 0:41:58All right, I'll just give you the highlights.
0:41:58 > 0:42:03"Dearest bunny, blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah."
0:42:03 > 0:42:05Blah blah blah, what?
0:42:05 > 0:42:06It's all trivia, it's nothing.
0:42:06 > 0:42:09It's the weather, her mother's catarrh,
0:42:09 > 0:42:12she's retiled the lav, the canary's got haemorrhoids,
0:42:12 > 0:42:15she met a welder at the Fiesta Club, she's thinking of moving in with him.
0:42:15 > 0:42:17I must be off. I can't hang about.
0:42:17 > 0:42:20We haven't got a canary.
0:42:20 > 0:42:21Cut.
0:42:22 > 0:42:26# I'm going straight
0:42:26 > 0:42:29# I am straight as an arrow. #
0:42:29 > 0:42:31And when Fletcher had served his time,
0:42:31 > 0:42:33there was a sequel following his release.
0:42:33 > 0:42:36# I'm going straight, I am
0:42:36 > 0:42:40# Along the straight and narrow. #
0:42:40 > 0:42:45- Left something behind, have you? - Yes, three and a half years of my life.
0:42:45 > 0:42:47- You'd better move on a bit sharpish. - All right, all right.
0:42:58 > 0:42:59Oi!
0:42:59 > 0:43:01Oi! Let me in!
0:43:04 > 0:43:09Porridge won a Royal Television Society Award for outstanding achievement.
0:43:09 > 0:43:12Barker would win four BAFTAs over his career.
0:43:12 > 0:43:17In 1975, accepting a Best Light Entertainment Performance Award,
0:43:17 > 0:43:20he was moved by the sudden death of his Porridge co-star.
0:43:20 > 0:43:25Ladies and gentlemen,
0:43:25 > 0:43:27the tragic and untimely death
0:43:27 > 0:43:31of my good friend and colleague, Richard Beckinsale, three days ago,
0:43:31 > 0:43:34has robbed me of the joy of this award,
0:43:34 > 0:43:37but the pride in winning it still remains.
0:43:37 > 0:43:40Richard's contribution to Going Straight will always be remembered,
0:43:40 > 0:43:43but this award is also for The Two Ronnies
0:43:43 > 0:43:46and I would also like to pay tribute
0:43:46 > 0:43:50to my equally close friend and colleague Mr Ronnie Corbett.
0:43:50 > 0:43:52Thank you very much.
0:43:53 > 0:43:57Later in life Ronnie would achieve a BAFTA Lifetime Achievement Award
0:43:57 > 0:44:04but The Two Ronnies received their biggest double act accolade with two OBEs in 1978.
0:44:04 > 0:44:06Can you describe the ceremony?
0:44:06 > 0:44:09It was rather moving.
0:44:09 > 0:44:11I thought the bride's father looked wonderful.
0:44:11 > 0:44:15It was lovely and nerve wracking and moving. You got very nervous.
0:44:15 > 0:44:19- We both had to spend a penny. - I had to use the royal we, twice.
0:44:20 > 0:44:24Through the '70s, Ronnie acted in both Porridge and Open All Hours.
0:44:24 > 0:44:27He later claimed Fletcher in Porridge was his favourite creation,
0:44:27 > 0:44:30but he was worried about typecasting,
0:44:30 > 0:44:32so he moved between the two series.
0:44:42 > 0:44:44I'll kill that flaming mouse.
0:44:46 > 0:44:47What gets me is
0:44:47 > 0:44:51if he can move like that why hasn't he got a number on his jersey?
0:44:52 > 0:44:54He's faster than you are.
0:44:54 > 0:44:55Well, I know that, don't I?
0:44:55 > 0:44:59It's no good hanging around here waiting for a cheese-eating tortoise.
0:45:01 > 0:45:04By the 1980s, television had moved on.
0:45:05 > 0:45:07Traditional family light entertainment
0:45:07 > 0:45:11was being challenged by young, alternative comedians.
0:45:12 > 0:45:16The tide did turn against this kind of humour.
0:45:16 > 0:45:20I think we've forgotten now that rather awkward moment
0:45:20 > 0:45:23when the two Ronnies were doing shows
0:45:23 > 0:45:28at the same time as the alternative comedians coming through,
0:45:28 > 0:45:31and there was a kind of battle between those people,
0:45:31 > 0:45:37and Barker and Corbett did become whipping boys for these comedians.
0:45:39 > 0:45:42Not The Nine O'Clock News saw The Two Ronnies as an easy target.
0:45:43 > 0:45:47It was a very legitimate pastiche and extremely affectionate and very well done.
0:45:47 > 0:45:52But Ronnie Barker really didn't like it at all and wrote a letter.
0:45:52 > 0:45:55I have this from John Lloyd who produced the sketch.
0:45:55 > 0:46:02He said it was excrement. He basically complained to the BBC.
0:46:02 > 0:46:04That wasn't Ronnie's finest hour
0:46:04 > 0:46:07but we are all very sensitive to criticism.
0:46:07 > 0:46:11It is hard to see yourself as others see you and I'm sure...
0:46:11 > 0:46:13I think I did get the chance to ask him about it.
0:46:13 > 0:46:16I think he realised later it was legitimate and fun.
0:46:16 > 0:46:18But probably he felt threatened,
0:46:18 > 0:46:22I think everybody feels threatened in show business. It's a bit of a paranoid career.
0:46:23 > 0:46:26New wave comedians had grown up watching family entertainment
0:46:26 > 0:46:30but now wanted their own comedy to be less like their dads'.
0:46:30 > 0:46:34The two generations collided at a BBC Christmas party.
0:46:34 > 0:46:39It was a magical thing for me to go into this room, Russ Abbot over there,
0:46:39 > 0:46:42and suddenly, my goodness, there's Ronnie Barker.
0:46:42 > 0:46:46I was with Stephen Fry and we edged into his orbit
0:46:46 > 0:46:50because we were both extremely starstruck. Out of admiration.
0:46:50 > 0:46:53This is a man who is a comedy great.
0:46:53 > 0:46:57Anyway, he sort of turned to us and looked rather imperial
0:46:57 > 0:46:59and pointed at Stephen and said, "Like you."
0:46:59 > 0:47:02And he pointed at me and said, "Don't much like you."
0:47:02 > 0:47:04Jolly nice party this, isn't it?
0:47:06 > 0:47:10That was it. I wasn't... It's not so much I wasn't having it,
0:47:10 > 0:47:12everybody was kind of, "That was a bit much!"
0:47:12 > 0:47:14Rather nice wine.
0:47:17 > 0:47:22And we began to talk and of course I was completely besotted
0:47:22 > 0:47:26and he was pleased that I knew his catalogue pretty comprehensively.
0:47:26 > 0:47:29Anyway, at the end of it he kind of nodded and said, "Well, I like you better now."
0:47:29 > 0:47:33Supposing I kept an eye on that hand of yours,
0:47:33 > 0:47:37and every time it came up, you know, to give me a thing,
0:47:37 > 0:47:40I duck my head? We could have quite a reasonable conversation.
0:47:40 > 0:47:42He wasn't pompous
0:47:42 > 0:47:46but there was a touch of the Captain Mainwarings about him, there really was,
0:47:46 > 0:47:51and he could be prickly. He decided, "There's a young punk and I'm going to tell him off."
0:47:51 > 0:47:56In the end he liked me better and eventually we became friends.
0:47:58 > 0:48:04There had been 16 years of success in The Two Ronnies, Porridge and Open All Hours.
0:48:04 > 0:48:09But in the '80s Barker realised his magic touch was failing.
0:48:09 > 0:48:13The sitcom Magnificent Evans about a Welsh photographer did badly.
0:48:13 > 0:48:18- It's not working out right at all, this.- Is it the light? - No, it's not the light.
0:48:18 > 0:48:21Ronnie came to see me privately when I was controller of BBC One,
0:48:21 > 0:48:23he asked to see me privately.
0:48:23 > 0:48:29I thought, "Oh, there's a problem. Doesn't like the script, doesn't want to work with Ronnie."
0:48:29 > 0:48:31I didn't know what to expect.
0:48:31 > 0:48:33And he came in and shut the door and said,
0:48:33 > 0:48:37"I haven't told anybody else, but I'm going to retire. I've had enough."
0:48:37 > 0:48:40He said, "I just want to plan the next year.
0:48:40 > 0:48:44"I want to know what you want me to do,
0:48:44 > 0:48:46"this is what I'd like to do, can we just plan it now?
0:48:46 > 0:48:52"Then I've got that banked in my mind and then that's it, finished."
0:48:52 > 0:48:53He was running low on ideas
0:48:53 > 0:48:56and wrote Clarence under the name Bob Ferris
0:48:56 > 0:48:58about a shortsighted removal man
0:48:58 > 0:49:03recycling a character and a script from his time at ITV,
0:49:03 > 0:49:05some 16 years earlier.
0:49:06 > 0:49:09Look at the old Chelsea pensioner over there.
0:49:12 > 0:49:15What's that? Nice day for the Coronation, isn't it?
0:49:18 > 0:49:20I love to see them old Chelsea pensioners, don't you?
0:49:20 > 0:49:24I though I might nip off and have a look at the procession.
0:49:24 > 0:49:27He absolutely had his life balance.
0:49:27 > 0:49:30Family came first, theatre came next,
0:49:30 > 0:49:34and I think that is why when he eventually retired,
0:49:34 > 0:49:37I don't honestly think it worried him.
0:49:37 > 0:49:40The rest of us old troopers go on as long as we possibly can,
0:49:40 > 0:49:43but he'd done everything he wanted to do. That's what he said.
0:49:46 > 0:49:48Stop! Those are goldfish.
0:49:50 > 0:49:53Oh, yes, that is another thing about you women.
0:49:53 > 0:49:56You're all soft when it comes to animals, you're all soft.
0:49:56 > 0:49:57Go on, flush them down the lav.
0:49:57 > 0:50:00I will certainly not flush them down the lav!
0:50:00 > 0:50:01PHONE RINGS
0:50:01 > 0:50:04Here he comes now. Now we've done half the packing he's turned up.
0:50:04 > 0:50:08It's just a lot of Mr Magoo jokes recycled,
0:50:08 > 0:50:13and almost that form is dying, really,
0:50:13 > 0:50:15by the time that comes along.
0:50:15 > 0:50:21The trunk and suitcases are going with the master and mistress to Rangoon. They aren't to be touched.
0:50:21 > 0:50:25Righto. I'll just move this standard lamp out me way.
0:50:27 > 0:50:29- What are you doing? Put me down. - Who's this then?
0:50:29 > 0:50:32Somehow he began to crumble, I think,
0:50:32 > 0:50:36when he was robbed of really good writing.
0:50:36 > 0:50:39Either his writing or somebody else's writing.
0:50:39 > 0:50:43He couldn't quite lift that material.
0:50:43 > 0:50:45It's Miss Angela. Do please put her down.
0:50:45 > 0:50:48She's going through an unhappy time.
0:50:48 > 0:50:51Oh, dear. I'm sorry, no harm done.
0:50:51 > 0:50:53I was just guessing your weight. 9 stone 5.
0:50:53 > 0:50:55I'm never wrong. Used to lifting wardrobes.
0:50:55 > 0:50:59There is something faintly depressing, actually,
0:50:59 > 0:51:01about those late sitcom vehicles,
0:51:01 > 0:51:03and the absence of laughs
0:51:03 > 0:51:06and the broadness of the characters in them.
0:51:06 > 0:51:08Look at that. My old granny had a piece just like that.
0:51:10 > 0:51:12You will be careful, won't you?
0:51:12 > 0:51:15Careful? I've got hands like a surgeon, me.
0:51:15 > 0:51:17- What's that?- I cut myself.
0:51:19 > 0:51:20There is always a dip,
0:51:20 > 0:51:23there is always a point when you have been around a long time,
0:51:23 > 0:51:26everybody loved you, and then they're kind of... Not bored,
0:51:26 > 0:51:30but you're the big guy, nobody is going to give you plaudits.
0:51:30 > 0:51:32And then comes the next phase, as did happen with Ronnie Barker,
0:51:32 > 0:51:37finally when he gets the full old man glory stuff.
0:51:37 > 0:51:40I don't know whether... I wish he hadn't retired
0:51:40 > 0:51:44and I think if he had decided to just reduce his workload and keep going,
0:51:44 > 0:51:46I'm certain there would have been another great sitcom.
0:51:46 > 0:51:51By that stage he'd already had a bit of a scare,
0:51:51 > 0:51:53a few alarm bells about his weight.
0:51:53 > 0:51:56He had been told he'd got to lose weight.
0:51:56 > 0:51:58And he was determined that wasn't going to happen to him
0:51:58 > 0:52:01and Tommy Cooper had gone around that time as well.
0:52:01 > 0:52:04He wasn't just going to keep performing until he dropped.
0:52:04 > 0:52:08So it was... I applauded him for it at the time.
0:52:08 > 0:52:12I thought that decision was very laudable.
0:52:12 > 0:52:15Quite surprised, I have to say,
0:52:15 > 0:52:20when he then came back to do Churchill's butler much later on.
0:52:22 > 0:52:25Ronnie was tempted back with a small part in a feature film
0:52:25 > 0:52:27alongside the great Albert Finney.
0:52:27 > 0:52:32The Gathering Storm told the story of Winston Churchill's pre-war years.
0:52:32 > 0:52:34Ronnie Barker played his long-suffering butler, Inches.
0:52:34 > 0:52:37Mr Churchill, sir? Mr Churchill?
0:52:37 > 0:52:39It is a drunk.
0:52:39 > 0:52:42She's here, sir. She's here.
0:52:42 > 0:52:43What?
0:52:43 > 0:52:46- The taxi's coming down the drive. - What on earth are you talking about?
0:52:46 > 0:52:50- Mrs Churchill, sir. - She's here?- Yes, sir.
0:52:50 > 0:52:53Ronnie had retired, I think quite a few years...
0:52:53 > 0:52:56I think four or five at least, maybe more.
0:52:56 > 0:52:59He was running his antique shop with Joy, his wife, in Gloucestershire.
0:52:59 > 0:53:04And I went to meet him and he just... We got on, I suppose.
0:53:04 > 0:53:07And listen, anyone...
0:53:07 > 0:53:11To have the opportunity to work with Finney, you don't turn it down.
0:53:11 > 0:53:13Out. I'm in the middle of a letter.
0:53:13 > 0:53:16- Telephone, sir.- Out. - The man says it's important, sir.
0:53:16 > 0:53:19- Get him to call back later. - Really important.
0:53:19 > 0:53:22- Who is it?- Major Sankey, sir. - Who the hell is Major Sankey?
0:53:22 > 0:53:25One of your constituency workers. I think you should talk to him.
0:53:25 > 0:53:28- What, now?- Yes, Mr Churchill, he's been ringing all morning. - All right.
0:53:28 > 0:53:31You're the most irritating clod that ever walked the earth.
0:53:31 > 0:53:33I was in the middle of a letter to my wife.
0:53:33 > 0:53:35Now I have completely lost my train of thought. Idiot.
0:53:35 > 0:53:37Have you no sensitivity whatsoever?
0:53:37 > 0:53:40There is no need to be insulting, sir. I was merely passing on a message.
0:53:40 > 0:53:42Shut up. How dare you?
0:53:42 > 0:53:45Tell the girl to put the call through up here.
0:53:45 > 0:53:48- She's gone to lunch. - Do it yourself.
0:53:48 > 0:53:51I am not acquainted with the mechanism, sir.
0:53:51 > 0:53:54Bloody hell. You are very rude to me.
0:53:54 > 0:53:56You are very rude to me, sir.
0:53:56 > 0:53:59Yes. But I'm a great man.
0:54:01 > 0:54:02You're a stupid old bugger.
0:54:02 > 0:54:05He stood out because not only could he just do the job,
0:54:05 > 0:54:07it was effortless.
0:54:07 > 0:54:09It's like the old thing of the tightrope walker
0:54:09 > 0:54:12that can walk along and do a trick fall,
0:54:12 > 0:54:14because it makes it look like it's more difficult.
0:54:14 > 0:54:17Ronnie could just do anything he wanted to on that acting tightrope.
0:54:17 > 0:54:20Mr Inches, I think a glass of champagne might be in order.
0:54:20 > 0:54:24With respect, sir, I think we might save that for happier days.
0:54:24 > 0:54:28It was a small part, and a return to his serious acting roots.
0:54:28 > 0:54:32Just a year later the same team travelled to Italy to film My House In Umbria,
0:54:32 > 0:54:37another straight role for one of Britain's funniest actors, now in his twilight years.
0:54:39 > 0:54:43Well, the situation, as it were, my staying here...
0:54:43 > 0:54:46Umbria was hard, it was hard for all of us. It was incredibly hot,
0:54:46 > 0:54:48we were in the middle of Tuscany,
0:54:48 > 0:54:52and the temperatures were unbelievably hot,
0:54:52 > 0:54:54you've got lights as well,
0:54:54 > 0:54:58and they were wearing quite heavy clothes,
0:54:58 > 0:55:01because some of it was meant to be set in the winter.
0:55:01 > 0:55:06I think everybody found it tough and I think Ronnie did as well. But he never complained.
0:55:06 > 0:55:08I was wondering whether it's not time for me to pack my bags.
0:55:08 > 0:55:11'He said he wasn't going to do anything after The Gathering Storm.
0:55:11 > 0:55:16'I slightly bullied him coming back. But I'm pleased I did.
0:55:16 > 0:55:21'He was happy. We found him a nice little villa, not grand,
0:55:21 > 0:55:23"but we used to go round and barbecue in the evenings
0:55:23 > 0:55:25"and he was always pleased to see me,"
0:55:25 > 0:55:27wearing his Panama hat
0:55:27 > 0:55:30and sitting under an umbrella and doing a bit of barbecuing with Joy.
0:55:30 > 0:55:34I think he enjoyed the time out in Italy.
0:55:35 > 0:55:40He's no fool. He knows Francine will be jealous.
0:55:40 > 0:55:44I doubt very much whether he'll ever come back.
0:55:44 > 0:55:50On the other hand, he may very well come back next month.
0:55:50 > 0:55:52I may be dead next month,
0:55:52 > 0:55:54the moon may have crashed into the earth,
0:55:54 > 0:55:57who knows what dreadful things may come to pass?
0:55:57 > 0:56:03But at the moment I'm happy. What else matters?
0:56:03 > 0:56:05Carpe diem.
0:56:05 > 0:56:08I am never really sure what that means.
0:56:08 > 0:56:11Seize the day, embrace the present,
0:56:11 > 0:56:14enjoy life while you've got the chance.
0:56:17 > 0:56:19Ronnie Barker passed away just two years later,
0:56:19 > 0:56:25a master of comedy, at home on stage, television, and big screen.
0:56:27 > 0:56:30I wrote a book about him recently,
0:56:30 > 0:56:34and Ronnie Corbett said that in 40 years they'd never had an argument,
0:56:34 > 0:56:38and that was my experience. He was a delight to work with.
0:56:40 > 0:56:42Your game, m'lady.
0:56:42 > 0:56:46When you look at the 20th century in terms of what we laughed at
0:56:46 > 0:56:47and what brought us all together
0:56:47 > 0:56:51and what gave us a wonderful warm feeling of being part of the same community,
0:56:51 > 0:56:52sharing a sense of humour,
0:56:52 > 0:56:55Ronnie Barker will be without question
0:56:55 > 0:56:57a member of a small and elite group.
0:56:57 > 0:57:00I have to keep my hands at room temperature
0:57:00 > 0:57:04in case I ever have to decant any of that sparkling vintage of a full-bodied white,
0:57:04 > 0:57:07known locally as Nurse Gladys Emmanuel.
0:57:07 > 0:57:11He certainly would rank alongside
0:57:11 > 0:57:15people like Spike Milligan and Eric Morecambe.
0:57:15 > 0:57:19I'm the only bloke that keeps the tone of this place up.
0:57:19 > 0:57:23Those monologues, tongue-tripping lines and everything,
0:57:23 > 0:57:26I didn't know anybody who was as good as he was.
0:57:26 > 0:57:28Good ovening.
0:57:30 > 0:57:32Horo is the nows at ton.
0:57:33 > 0:57:35At the Primo Minister's country household, Choqours...
0:57:37 > 0:57:44He was in the best sense a comic actor where you can put the "comic" in brackets.
0:57:44 > 0:57:46He was a terrific actor.
0:57:46 > 0:57:50Dreams is your escape, ain't they? No locked doors, no barriers, no frontiers.
0:57:51 > 0:57:53Dreams is freedom.
0:57:53 > 0:57:56There aren't many people who slot into that kind of tradition,
0:57:56 > 0:57:59because he could do so much more than that too.
0:57:59 > 0:58:02But I think that's essentially what he is.
0:58:02 > 0:58:06He was a great actor who was very good at comedy.
0:58:06 > 0:58:10And we've just been told the police are desperately seeking the man
0:58:10 > 0:58:13who steals the ends of news items.
0:58:13 > 0:58:16The man is described as tall and grey-haired with a very big...
0:58:17 > 0:58:20That's all we have time for this evening so it's good night from me.
0:58:20 > 0:58:24- And it's good night from him. Good night.- Good night.
0:58:32 > 0:58:36Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd