Ronnie Corbett and Ronnie Barker in 2005
Credit: BBC
Ronnie Corbett said “there was never a cross word” with Ronnie Barker, during four decades of what he called a close and “very British friendship”. Barker described their partnership as “even more amicable than a marriage – wedlock without the bad patches”. During the heyday of The Two Ronnies, which was first transmitted on April 10 1971, more than 20 million viewers regularly tuned in every Saturday night; it was more national institution than television show.
The two men, both christened Ronald, met in London in 1963, when Corbett was a part-time barman at the Buckstone Club in Suffolk Street, near the Haymarket Theatre, a basement drinking hole where stars such as Sean Connery and John Gielgud would hang out. Corbett, who had previously worked with Barker’s stage manager wife Joy Tubb, was in the process of seeking new acting roles at the time he served Barker, then playing a roly-poly French gangster in the
Monday, 5th April 2021 at 8:00 am
It was a world of Fork Handles and Raspberry Blowers, one that rejoiced in witty wordplay and made a mockery of social norms, and its floodgates of fun opened on 10th April 1971.
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Following The Saturday Western and before A Man Called Ironside, The Two Ronnies brought together the immense individual talents of Ronnies Barker and Corbett on the suggestion of BBC head of light entertainment Bill Cotton.
Their packed programme of colourful comedy came to be synonymous with Saturday nights on BBC One (though it did flirt with Thursdays and BBC Two for a few series). When I hear the big-band, “you’re in for a good time” theme tune by Ronnie Hazlehurst now, it brings back a flood of happy memories: two suited gentlemen sitting behind a desk to open the show; a few snappy two-handers founded on a quickly established theme; Barker punching out a monologue with breathtaking precision; the occasional “Ladies and gentlemen, Miss Barbar
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All right, ladies and gents, let s be having you, it s Christmas quiz time.
Today s special prize is a one-legged turkey hold it up, Rodders, let the customers have a good gander at the bird.
This magnificent bit of festive poultry is free for £10 to the first person who can tell me which of these unlikely facts about David Jason is actually true.
It s Christmas quiz time. It should be easy, if you were paying attention during Britain s Favourite TV Star (C5), a celebration of the Del Boy actor at 80
It should be easy, if you were paying attention during Britain s Favourite TV Star (C5), a celebration of the Del Boy actor at 80. So which is it: