The Two Ronnies
The Two Ronnies is a British television comedy sketch show starring Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett. It was created by Bill Cotton and aired on BBC1 from 10 April 1971 to 25 December 1987. The usual format included sketches, solo sections, serial stories and musical finales.
The Two Ronnies
United Kingdom
English
12
93
40–58 minutes
10 April 1971 –
25 December 1987
Origins[edit]
Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett met in 1963 at the Buckstone Club in the Haymarket, London, where Corbett was serving drinks between acting jobs. At the time, Barker was beginning to establish himself as a character actor in the West End and on radio. They were invited by David Frost to appear in his new show, The Frost Report, with John Cleese,[1] but the pair's big break came when they filled in, unprepared and unscripted, for eleven minutes during a technical hitch at a British Academy of Film and Television Arts awards ceremony at the London Palladium in 1970.[2] In the audience was Bill Cotton, the Head of Light Entertainment for the BBC, and Paul Fox, the Controller of BBC1. Cotton was so impressed by the duo that he turned to Fox and asked: "How would you like those two on your network?" Unknown to the pair, the renewal of their contract had just been declined by London Weekend Television of rival network ITV, freeing them to change channels.[2] Barker and Corbett were given their own show by the BBC.[3]
Production[edit]
Writing[edit]
The show was based on the complementary personalities of Barker and Corbett, who never became an exclusive pairing, but continued to work independently in television outside of the editions of the Two Ronnies. The show was produced annually between 1971 and 1987. It had many notable writers including Ray Alan, John Cleese, Barry Cryer, Spike Milligan, David Nobbs, David Renwick, Terry Ravenscroft, Eric Idle, John Sullivan, Michael Palin, Bryan Blackburn,Terry Jones and Laurie Rowley. In addition, Barker used the pseudonym Gerald Wiley when writing sketches. Barker and Corbett would often structure each show themselves, alongside scriptwriters Ian Davidson and Peter Vincent.
Theme music[edit]
The main theme music for the show was composed by Ronnie Hazlehurst.[4] Although opening and closing credits appear to use different themes, they are respectively the first & third sections of a longer piece.
Another track associated with the show is the stock track The Detectives by Alan Tew (also known as the theme to 1975 Yorkshire TV series The Hanged Man). This was used for the Charlie Farley & Piggy Malone story Stop You're Killing Me.[5]
Format[edit]
Newsdesk[edit]
The Two Ronnies always opened and closed at the newsdesk, which featured the Ronnies as newsreaders, reading spoof news items. This gave rise to the famous catchphrase at the end of each show:
Revivals and comebacks[edit]
The show resurfaced in 1999 for a Two Ronnies Night. Ronnie Corbett also presented a Two Ronnies at the Movies special that same year. In 2000 A Tribute to the Two Ronnies was hosted by Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett themselves.
In 2004, Barker announced that he and Corbett would return to make new episodes, entitled The Two Ronnies Sketchbook. This involved the two sitting at the newsdesk introducing their classic sketches. A Christmas special was recorded in July 2005 due to Barker's failing health.
Whilst the Sketchbook series was transmitted, The Two Ronnies was also the subject of an episode of the BBC documentary Comedy Connections. Ronnie Corbett, producers James Gilbert, Terry Hughes and Michael Hurll, as well as writers Ian Davidson, Peter Vincent, David Renwick and Barry Cryer, all spoke about the making of the series. Ronnie Barker did not appear, but excerpts from an interview he gave in 1997 were included.
In 2012, full shows of The Two Ronnies were repeated on ITV3 and Gold. Over Christmas 2006, the ITV3 channel devoted three days to the show, interspersed with Ronnie Corbett's reminiscences of the show and Ronnie Barker. On 28 May 2007 many more episodes new to ITV3 were broadcast as well a showing of The Picnic and By the Sea.