MorecambeAndWise
what do you think about it so far, Ern?
PERFORMERS: ERIC MORECAMBE & ERNIE WISE
(BIOGRAPHY by Peter Tatchell, from LAUGH MAGAZINE #24, 2005)
Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise were the most successful and best-loved double act in the history of British comedy.
In their peak years of the 1970s their television shows achieved huge audiences and attracted the biggest show business names as guest stars.
For their last B.B.C. Christmas special nearly half the country watched the two men who had become Royal favourites and national treasures.
Eric (born John Eric Bartholomew in 1926) and Ernie (born Ernest Wiseman six months earlier, in 1925) had come a long way since their humble early years in the north of England.
They first met as performers in the stage production Youth Takes A Bow in 1940, with Eric’s mother Sadie eventually taking charge of both youngsters and suggesting they form a double act. It lasted until Eric’s death over forty years later.
Taking inspiration from their movie heroes Laurel and Hardy and the wordplays of the more recently successful Abbott and Costello, the duo was soon featured in the West End production Strike A New Note and were able to witness the nightly routines of the legendary Sid Field and his straight man Jerry Desmonde.
Field’s “overnight success” with the show had taken years of hard work to achieve, and Morecambe and Wise would spend an equally long period climbing their way up the show business ladder.
After a short break for war service (Ernie in the Merchant Marine and Eric down the mines) the pair struggled to secure dates with touring shows and in variety theatres but by the early 1950s was popular enough to gain radio spots on Variety Fanfare and Worker’s Playtime.
By 1953, engagements in pantomimes and summer seasons also included their own radio series on the Nothern Home Service You’re Only Young Once which ran to three seasons and a number of episodes were rebroadcast nationally on the Light Programme.
At the same time, the B.B.C. starred Morecambe And Wise in their first television series, Running Wild, but the venture was a huge disappointment and they retreated to radio work.
Commercial television began in Britain soon after and A.T.V. signed them as comedy support to Winifred Atwell in mid-1957, performing scripts by Johnny Speight.
The future Till Death Us Do Part writer saw enormous potential in Eric and Ernie, and was probably the first to create material that concentrated on their characters.
A year later they were back on B.B.C. screens making appearances on Double Six, before embarking on a successful six month tour of Australia.
Upon their return Eric and Ernie were shocked to note the change the coming of commercial television had caused to to the variety stage with theatres closing across the country as audiences stayed home to watch the electronic box in their living rooms.
With their futures uncertain, they hired a new agent, Billy Marsh, whose drive and expertise soon had them booked for dozens of appearances on such shows as Star Time, Saturday Spectacular and Sunday Night At The London Palladium.
The most tumultuous decade of their careers had begun and Morecambe And Wise were on the threshold of national stardom.
Initial approaches to Lew Grade for a series at A.T.V. were unsuccessful, while at the same time the B.B.C. appeared keen to sign the pair (and even had six scripts prepared).
But in 1961 Grade suddenly changed his mind and agreed to sign them for a prime weekly timeslot.
For their part, Eric and Ernie insisted the show engage the writers Sid Green and Dick Hills (who’d been recommended to them by Jimmy Jewell and Ben Warriss).
The first episode of Two Of A Kind (in October 1961) found the stars lost in a procession of sketches surrounded by army of support actors.
Fearing a repeat of the Running Wild failure, Morecambe And Wise decided to take a stand but, in a moment of serendipity, Actors Equity suddenly went out on strike.
The result was a much less cluttered presentation with Eric and Ernie (who, as members of the Variety Artists’ Federation, were still able to appear) squarely in the spotlight.
There was even a touch of irony with writers Sid and Dick forced to appear as bit players in some sketches. As the series progressed, audience figures increased and the two north country comics (after twenty years together) finally had a hit on their hands.
Each half hour edition of Two Of A Kind had a strong variety flavour, including a band number and a vocal spot to separate a couple of lengthy comedy routines, with shorter pieces at the opening and closing.
By the second season, the following June, the show was moved to a regular Saturday evening timeslot where it stayed for all but its last A.T.V. season.
Two Of A Kind opened the door for Eric and Ernie to gain international stardom, to a degree.
In February 1964 several seasons of the show began appearing on Australian television screens, with the A.B.C. eventually airing all episodes from series 2, 3 and 4. Later that year an ethusiastic Ed Sullivan was in the audience of their London Palladium season (in support of Bruce Forsyth) and signed them for appearances on his top-rated Sunday night C.B.S. series.
Thus began a strenuous period of transatlantic flights which would continue until May 1968 (and a total of some 17 guest spots).
Morecambe And Wise’s television popularity led to their 1964 movie debut in a big screen sendup of the James Bond phenomenon,
The Intelligence Men (also known as Spylarks).. Written by Hills and Green (who could also be seen in brief walk-ons), it was an enjoyable if unexceptional outing that made enough money to be followed by That Riviera Touch a couple of years later and The Magnificent Two in 1967.
After five increasingly successful seasons on A.T.V., Lew Grade capitalized on Eric and Ernie’s ongoing exposure to the Americans (via The Ed Sullivan Show) by signing a deal with the U.S. ABC Network to screen their new season of one hour programmes which, as a result, would be made in colour.
Rechristened Picadilly Palace there, they were scheduled as the summer replacement for the Hollywood Palace timeslot, and aired several months before the ten shows could finally seen by British viewers (where I.T.V. was still only able to transmit the recordings in black and white).
Though the American venture did not lead to a followup season, Eric and Ernie were keen to continue appearing in colour and when Lew Grade vetoed the idea, they signed with Britain’s only channel then transmitting such programming … BBC2.
It was a momentous decision that would result in some of the finest television Britain had seen, but Eric would first have to survive a serious health crisis.
A fortnight after the season of eight half hour shows was aired in late 1968, Eric suffered a serious heart attack driving home from a live performance near Leeds, and was lucky to reach a hospital in time.
His recovery was slow and frustrating and for a time there was doubt whether the act would be able to continue.
When doctors finally gave Eric the go ahead to return to work (to a great sigh of relief from Ernie and the B.B.C.) there was a further complication – contractual problems with scriptwriters Green and Hills had resulted in their signing an exclusive contract back at A.T.V.
Their unlikely replacement, Eddie Braben, was best known for supplying one-liners in various Ken Dodd shows, but his contribution to the careers of Morecambe And Wise from that point on turned out to be monumental.
Far from merely supplying jokes for the team, Braben reshaped their public personas, replacing the previous comic and straight man roles with humorous character roles for Ernie as well as Eric.
The little man with the short, fat, hairy legs was now portrayed as miserly, pompous and childlike whenever the subject of sex. was involved.
And he was now a writer of gramatically-incorrect plays … a plethora of them. The addition of Braben and producer John Ammonds took Morecambe and Wise to the next level.
To lessen Eric’s workload following the heart attack , the B.B.C. scheduled a season of only four 45-minute programmes to air on a fortnightly basis from late July 1969.
As before, the format included a traditional variety mix of guest vocalists, a regular offering by Kenny Ball and His Jazzmen, a handful of short blackouts (often involving the antics of a couple of monks) and lengthier pieces set in the living room or bedroom of the flat where they supposedly lived.
The highlight of that first programme was a “play what Ernie wrote” about King Arthur, with movie great Peter Cushing taking the lead role, and launching an ongoing saga in pursuit of payment for the appearance.
Subsequent participants in those early Ernest Wise theatrical offerings included Juliet Mills and Edward Woodward.
Also seen at the end of each programme was the ample figure of Janet Webb who (for no apparent reason) suddenly burst forth on to centre stage waving and blowing kisses at the audience.
The series was an enormous success and the only downside to the team’s comeback was that year’s festive special, which was almost abandoned with both Eric and Ernie laid low with flu, leaving producers to stitch together a handful of pre-recorded segments and musical items by guest stars.
In subsequent years The Morecambe And Wise Christmas Show would become essential viewing for half the nation and a ratings goliath but that first venture was a travesty.
Despite being screened by Britain’s third channel (which could not be received by large numbers of viewers), subsequent BBC1 repeats ensured Morecambe And Wise were not lost to those late-1960s audiences and as the new decade began their popularity increased enormously.
A dozen new episodes were shown throughout 1970 (in two fortnightly seasons) with notable guests including Fenella Fielding, Diane Cilento, Ian Carmichael and Richard Greene.
There was also a special half hour edition entered for the prestigious Montreux festival and a Christmas offering. It was a remarkable turnaround.
A heart attack and a change of writers had propelled Eric and Ernie to the top of British television.
The golden era of Morecambe And Wise was underway.
The fourteen editions produced throughout 1971 included some of their best work.
Guests included Flora Robson, Arthur Lowe (and cameo walk ons from the Dad’s Army cast), Francis Matthews, Keith Michel, John Mills and Glenda Jackson as Cleopatra.
And that Christmas saw Shirley Bassey in boots and Andre Previn conducting Grieg’s Piano Concerto. It was also the year Janet Webb began thanking everyone for watching her little show and loving us all.
After twelve months out of the spotlight, the 1972 Christmas special brought back some favourite guest stars and featured a throwaway jibe about their friend Des O’Connor during a World War 1 sketch. It was the start of a celebrated fued that would last to the end of their career and include a memorable retaliation by Des on their 1975 Christmas Show.
(The team had not produced a traditional festive programme in 1974, feeling they didn’t have enough high quality material so a chat with Michael Parkinson was aired instead).
As the decade progressed Eric and Ernie began exploiting their musical talents more and more.
Throughout their A.T.V. years they had performed the memorable Boom-Oo-Yatta-Ta-Ta (with Sid and Dick), a clever dance sendup of Puttin’ On The Ritz and even Grieg’s Piano Concerto (with Ernie as conductor).
Their B.B.C. shows always ended with fairly straight renditions of ballads inspired by the Flanagan And Allen songbook like Following You Around, Don’t You Agree?, Just Around The Corner and the song which would become their signature tune, Bring Me Sunshine.
By the 1973 season, Ernest Maxin was creating occasional production numbers which sprinkled humorous bits amongst the song and dance routines.
Along with the historical sendups, famous guests and the sketches set in living room or bedroom of their flat, these musical offerings would soon become some of their most fondly remembered work.
By the end of 1975, Maxin had replaced Ammonds as the show’s producer and the consequent increased musical content lead to the classic pieces where they prepared breakfast to The Stripper and parodied Singin’ In The Rain.
Their Christmas editions of 1975 and 1976 also offered memorable versions of The Liar Song (with Diana Rigg) and Elton John trying in vain to teach Eric how to sing Play A Simple Melody.
Then, the incredibly popular festive edition of 1977 when an estimated 28 million people tuned in to see a chorus line of B.B.C. personalities and Penelope Keith awkwardly climbing down the scaffolding from an unfinished stairway.
A daring conclusion to the show featured the unexpected return of Elton John for a vocal after the end credits had rolled.
Though unknown at the time, the careers of Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise had peaked with that final B.B.C. show.
Weeks later, newspaper headlines announced the pair had signed with Thames Television and were headed back to I.T.V.
A major factor in negotiations had been the desire by Eric and Ernie to return to the big screen, with Thames (unlike the B.B.C.) then producing movies as well as TV shows.
But the fates began working against the team. Writer Eddie Braben was not willing to move across with them and the duo’s first two programmes (aired as one hour specials in late 1978) didn’t capture the usual magic.
Then, in early 1979, Eric suffered more life threatening heart troubles and was out of action for the whole year, being barely able to take part in a predominantly talk programme with David Frost that Christmas.
And their promised return to cinema screens was put on hold.
By the time he had recovered fully (a further six months later) both Eddie Braben and John Ammonds had been signed by Thames for the proposed series of half hour programmes.
Disappointingly, these consisted of almost total reworkings of old B.B.C. sketches, with little new material being included.
Eric and Ernie did four seasons for Thames in as many years with original scripting taking second place to the tried and true “old favourites”.
At least most of the musical offerings were being done for the first time.
Even their prestigious Christmas specials were not immune to the practice, and also fell victim to programming problems from the early 1980s.
With the lucrative commercial franchise for London being split between two companies, December the 25th fell outside the evenings covered by Thames from 1981 to 1983.
Unwilling to allow their stars’ annual ratings winner to be telecast on London Weekend’s days of operation, it was no longer scheduled on Christmas Day.
The 1983 Christmas show was notable for including two particularly successful pieces written by their old scriptwriters Sid Green and Dick Hills, amongst the inevitable updating of old Eddie Braben B.B.C. scripts.
Sadly, it was the last programme Morecambe And Wise would ever present.
As 1984 commenced, Eric’s health was once again causing concern and he was seriously considering devoting his talents to writing books (he’d already written an handful of novels).
He was also unhappy at the lack of originality in their Thames shows and the disappointing quality of a telemovie called Night Train To Murder they had recently recorded.
On May 27th Eric took part (without Ernie) in an evening of reminisces at a theatre in Tewkesbury as a favour to his friend Stan Stennett.
The show went well but as he walked off stage, he suddenly collapsed in the wings.
Five hours later in hospital, Eric Morecambe died.
The double act that the British public had taken to their hearts was no more.
Though Ernie continued performing (a nostalgic one-man tour of Australia, appearances in the West End musical The Mystery Of Edwin Drood and the longrunning farce Run For Your Wife, plus TV panel games and pantomimes) it could never be the same without his beloved partner.
He retired after a series of strokes in the mid-1990s and died in 1999 (aged 73).
Thanks to the video taped copies of nearly all of their television work since the 1960s, the magic of Eric Morecambe And Ernie Wise lives on.
what do you think about it so far, Ern?
PERFORMERS: ERIC MORECAMBE & ERNIE WISE
(BIOGRAPHY by Peter Tatchell, from LAUGH MAGAZINE #24, 2005)
Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise were the most successful and best-loved double act in the history of British comedy.
In their peak years of the 1970s their television shows achieved huge audiences and attracted the biggest show business names as guest stars.
For their last B.B.C. Christmas special nearly half the country watched the two men who had become Royal favourites and national treasures.
Eric (born John Eric Bartholomew in 1926) and Ernie (born Ernest Wiseman six months earlier, in 1925) had come a long way since their humble early years in the north of England.
They first met as performers in the stage production Youth Takes A Bow in 1940, with Eric’s mother Sadie eventually taking charge of both youngsters and suggesting they form a double act. It lasted until Eric’s death over forty years later.
Taking inspiration from their movie heroes Laurel and Hardy and the wordplays of the more recently successful Abbott and Costello, the duo was soon featured in the West End production Strike A New Note and were able to witness the nightly routines of the legendary Sid Field and his straight man Jerry Desmonde.
Field’s “overnight success” with the show had taken years of hard work to achieve, and Morecambe and Wise would spend an equally long period climbing their way up the show business ladder.
After a short break for war service (Ernie in the Merchant Marine and Eric down the mines) the pair struggled to secure dates with touring shows and in variety theatres but by the early 1950s was popular enough to gain radio spots on Variety Fanfare and Worker’s Playtime.
By 1953, engagements in pantomimes and summer seasons also included their own radio series on the Nothern Home Service You’re Only Young Once which ran to three seasons and a number of episodes were rebroadcast nationally on the Light Programme.
At the same time, the B.B.C. starred Morecambe And Wise in their first television series, Running Wild, but the venture was a huge disappointment and they retreated to radio work.
Commercial television began in Britain soon after and A.T.V. signed them as comedy support to Winifred Atwell in mid-1957, performing scripts by Johnny Speight.
The future Till Death Us Do Part writer saw enormous potential in Eric and Ernie, and was probably the first to create material that concentrated on their characters.
A year later they were back on B.B.C. screens making appearances on Double Six, before embarking on a successful six month tour of Australia.
Upon their return Eric and Ernie were shocked to note the change the coming of commercial television had caused to to the variety stage with theatres closing across the country as audiences stayed home to watch the electronic box in their living rooms.
With their futures uncertain, they hired a new agent, Billy Marsh, whose drive and expertise soon had them booked for dozens of appearances on such shows as Star Time, Saturday Spectacular and Sunday Night At The London Palladium.
The most tumultuous decade of their careers had begun and Morecambe And Wise were on the threshold of national stardom.
Initial approaches to Lew Grade for a series at A.T.V. were unsuccessful, while at the same time the B.B.C. appeared keen to sign the pair (and even had six scripts prepared).
But in 1961 Grade suddenly changed his mind and agreed to sign them for a prime weekly timeslot.
For their part, Eric and Ernie insisted the show engage the writers Sid Green and Dick Hills (who’d been recommended to them by Jimmy Jewell and Ben Warriss).
The first episode of Two Of A Kind (in October 1961) found the stars lost in a procession of sketches surrounded by army of support actors.
Fearing a repeat of the Running Wild failure, Morecambe And Wise decided to take a stand but, in a moment of serendipity, Actors Equity suddenly went out on strike.
The result was a much less cluttered presentation with Eric and Ernie (who, as members of the Variety Artists’ Federation, were still able to appear) squarely in the spotlight.
There was even a touch of irony with writers Sid and Dick forced to appear as bit players in some sketches. As the series progressed, audience figures increased and the two north country comics (after twenty years together) finally had a hit on their hands.
Each half hour edition of Two Of A Kind had a strong variety flavour, including a band number and a vocal spot to separate a couple of lengthy comedy routines, with shorter pieces at the opening and closing.
By the second season, the following June, the show was moved to a regular Saturday evening timeslot where it stayed for all but its last A.T.V. season.
Two Of A Kind opened the door for Eric and Ernie to gain international stardom, to a degree.
In February 1964 several seasons of the show began appearing on Australian television screens, with the A.B.C. eventually airing all episodes from series 2, 3 and 4. Later that year an ethusiastic Ed Sullivan was in the audience of their London Palladium season (in support of Bruce Forsyth) and signed them for appearances on his top-rated Sunday night C.B.S. series.
Thus began a strenuous period of transatlantic flights which would continue until May 1968 (and a total of some 17 guest spots).
Morecambe And Wise’s television popularity led to their 1964 movie debut in a big screen sendup of the James Bond phenomenon,
The Intelligence Men (also known as Spylarks).. Written by Hills and Green (who could also be seen in brief walk-ons), it was an enjoyable if unexceptional outing that made enough money to be followed by That Riviera Touch a couple of years later and The Magnificent Two in 1967.
After five increasingly successful seasons on A.T.V., Lew Grade capitalized on Eric and Ernie’s ongoing exposure to the Americans (via The Ed Sullivan Show) by signing a deal with the U.S. ABC Network to screen their new season of one hour programmes which, as a result, would be made in colour.
Rechristened Picadilly Palace there, they were scheduled as the summer replacement for the Hollywood Palace timeslot, and aired several months before the ten shows could finally seen by British viewers (where I.T.V. was still only able to transmit the recordings in black and white).
Though the American venture did not lead to a followup season, Eric and Ernie were keen to continue appearing in colour and when Lew Grade vetoed the idea, they signed with Britain’s only channel then transmitting such programming … BBC2.
It was a momentous decision that would result in some of the finest television Britain had seen, but Eric would first have to survive a serious health crisis.
A fortnight after the season of eight half hour shows was aired in late 1968, Eric suffered a serious heart attack driving home from a live performance near Leeds, and was lucky to reach a hospital in time.
His recovery was slow and frustrating and for a time there was doubt whether the act would be able to continue.
When doctors finally gave Eric the go ahead to return to work (to a great sigh of relief from Ernie and the B.B.C.) there was a further complication – contractual problems with scriptwriters Green and Hills had resulted in their signing an exclusive contract back at A.T.V.
Their unlikely replacement, Eddie Braben, was best known for supplying one-liners in various Ken Dodd shows, but his contribution to the careers of Morecambe And Wise from that point on turned out to be monumental.
Far from merely supplying jokes for the team, Braben reshaped their public personas, replacing the previous comic and straight man roles with humorous character roles for Ernie as well as Eric.
The little man with the short, fat, hairy legs was now portrayed as miserly, pompous and childlike whenever the subject of sex. was involved.
And he was now a writer of gramatically-incorrect plays … a plethora of them. The addition of Braben and producer John Ammonds took Morecambe and Wise to the next level.
To lessen Eric’s workload following the heart attack , the B.B.C. scheduled a season of only four 45-minute programmes to air on a fortnightly basis from late July 1969.
As before, the format included a traditional variety mix of guest vocalists, a regular offering by Kenny Ball and His Jazzmen, a handful of short blackouts (often involving the antics of a couple of monks) and lengthier pieces set in the living room or bedroom of the flat where they supposedly lived.
The highlight of that first programme was a “play what Ernie wrote” about King Arthur, with movie great Peter Cushing taking the lead role, and launching an ongoing saga in pursuit of payment for the appearance.
Subsequent participants in those early Ernest Wise theatrical offerings included Juliet Mills and Edward Woodward.
Also seen at the end of each programme was the ample figure of Janet Webb who (for no apparent reason) suddenly burst forth on to centre stage waving and blowing kisses at the audience.
The series was an enormous success and the only downside to the team’s comeback was that year’s festive special, which was almost abandoned with both Eric and Ernie laid low with flu, leaving producers to stitch together a handful of pre-recorded segments and musical items by guest stars.
In subsequent years The Morecambe And Wise Christmas Show would become essential viewing for half the nation and a ratings goliath but that first venture was a travesty.
Despite being screened by Britain’s third channel (which could not be received by large numbers of viewers), subsequent BBC1 repeats ensured Morecambe And Wise were not lost to those late-1960s audiences and as the new decade began their popularity increased enormously.
A dozen new episodes were shown throughout 1970 (in two fortnightly seasons) with notable guests including Fenella Fielding, Diane Cilento, Ian Carmichael and Richard Greene.
There was also a special half hour edition entered for the prestigious Montreux festival and a Christmas offering. It was a remarkable turnaround.
A heart attack and a change of writers had propelled Eric and Ernie to the top of British television.
The golden era of Morecambe And Wise was underway.
The fourteen editions produced throughout 1971 included some of their best work.
Guests included Flora Robson, Arthur Lowe (and cameo walk ons from the Dad’s Army cast), Francis Matthews, Keith Michel, John Mills and Glenda Jackson as Cleopatra.
And that Christmas saw Shirley Bassey in boots and Andre Previn conducting Grieg’s Piano Concerto. It was also the year Janet Webb began thanking everyone for watching her little show and loving us all.
After twelve months out of the spotlight, the 1972 Christmas special brought back some favourite guest stars and featured a throwaway jibe about their friend Des O’Connor during a World War 1 sketch. It was the start of a celebrated fued that would last to the end of their career and include a memorable retaliation by Des on their 1975 Christmas Show.
(The team had not produced a traditional festive programme in 1974, feeling they didn’t have enough high quality material so a chat with Michael Parkinson was aired instead).
As the decade progressed Eric and Ernie began exploiting their musical talents more and more.
Throughout their A.T.V. years they had performed the memorable Boom-Oo-Yatta-Ta-Ta (with Sid and Dick), a clever dance sendup of Puttin’ On The Ritz and even Grieg’s Piano Concerto (with Ernie as conductor).
Their B.B.C. shows always ended with fairly straight renditions of ballads inspired by the Flanagan And Allen songbook like Following You Around, Don’t You Agree?, Just Around The Corner and the song which would become their signature tune, Bring Me Sunshine.
By the 1973 season, Ernest Maxin was creating occasional production numbers which sprinkled humorous bits amongst the song and dance routines.
Along with the historical sendups, famous guests and the sketches set in living room or bedroom of their flat, these musical offerings would soon become some of their most fondly remembered work.
By the end of 1975, Maxin had replaced Ammonds as the show’s producer and the consequent increased musical content lead to the classic pieces where they prepared breakfast to The Stripper and parodied Singin’ In The Rain.
Their Christmas editions of 1975 and 1976 also offered memorable versions of The Liar Song (with Diana Rigg) and Elton John trying in vain to teach Eric how to sing Play A Simple Melody.
Then, the incredibly popular festive edition of 1977 when an estimated 28 million people tuned in to see a chorus line of B.B.C. personalities and Penelope Keith awkwardly climbing down the scaffolding from an unfinished stairway.
A daring conclusion to the show featured the unexpected return of Elton John for a vocal after the end credits had rolled.
Though unknown at the time, the careers of Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise had peaked with that final B.B.C. show.
Weeks later, newspaper headlines announced the pair had signed with Thames Television and were headed back to I.T.V.
A major factor in negotiations had been the desire by Eric and Ernie to return to the big screen, with Thames (unlike the B.B.C.) then producing movies as well as TV shows.
But the fates began working against the team. Writer Eddie Braben was not willing to move across with them and the duo’s first two programmes (aired as one hour specials in late 1978) didn’t capture the usual magic.
Then, in early 1979, Eric suffered more life threatening heart troubles and was out of action for the whole year, being barely able to take part in a predominantly talk programme with David Frost that Christmas.
And their promised return to cinema screens was put on hold.
By the time he had recovered fully (a further six months later) both Eddie Braben and John Ammonds had been signed by Thames for the proposed series of half hour programmes.
Disappointingly, these consisted of almost total reworkings of old B.B.C. sketches, with little new material being included.
Eric and Ernie did four seasons for Thames in as many years with original scripting taking second place to the tried and true “old favourites”.
At least most of the musical offerings were being done for the first time.
Even their prestigious Christmas specials were not immune to the practice, and also fell victim to programming problems from the early 1980s.
With the lucrative commercial franchise for London being split between two companies, December the 25th fell outside the evenings covered by Thames from 1981 to 1983.
Unwilling to allow their stars’ annual ratings winner to be telecast on London Weekend’s days of operation, it was no longer scheduled on Christmas Day.
The 1983 Christmas show was notable for including two particularly successful pieces written by their old scriptwriters Sid Green and Dick Hills, amongst the inevitable updating of old Eddie Braben B.B.C. scripts.
Sadly, it was the last programme Morecambe And Wise would ever present.
As 1984 commenced, Eric’s health was once again causing concern and he was seriously considering devoting his talents to writing books (he’d already written an handful of novels).
He was also unhappy at the lack of originality in their Thames shows and the disappointing quality of a telemovie called Night Train To Murder they had recently recorded.
On May 27th Eric took part (without Ernie) in an evening of reminisces at a theatre in Tewkesbury as a favour to his friend Stan Stennett.
The show went well but as he walked off stage, he suddenly collapsed in the wings.
Five hours later in hospital, Eric Morecambe died.
The double act that the British public had taken to their hearts was no more.
Though Ernie continued performing (a nostalgic one-man tour of Australia, appearances in the West End musical The Mystery Of Edwin Drood and the longrunning farce Run For Your Wife, plus TV panel games and pantomimes) it could never be the same without his beloved partner.
He retired after a series of strokes in the mid-1990s and died in 1999 (aged 73).
Thanks to the video taped copies of nearly all of their television work since the 1960s, the magic of Eric Morecambe And Ernie Wise lives on.