Morecambe & Wise

Eric Morecambe & Ernie Wise remain Britain's best loved comedy double act. So famous, they're often just referred to just as Eric & Ernie. Ernie being the straight man, the earnest playwright, who Eric happily put down, while Eric himself was totally madcap.

It was no rocket science, regarding formula, but with a combination of high quality writing, brilliantly delivered by Eric, Ernie, and high calibre guest stars such as Glenda Jackson, Vanessa Redgrave, Diana Rigg, André Previn, and Peter Cushing, it's easy to see why it has endured - two decades after the partnership came to an end with Eric's death in 1984.

The innocence of Eric & Ernie sharing the same bed is endearing somehow. Mary Whitehouse never picked on 'em for that! The long-running gag of the guest stars demanding their money never seemed to grow stale, and it was such a prestigious gig, in the '70s particularly, that you kind of suspect a lot of stars would have paid to have been on the show - as it would have been a big boost to their careers!

Memorable moments included Angela Rippon displaying her shapely pins, André Previn getting a music lesson from Eric, the 'Singin' In The Rain Sketch', and Morecambe & Wise grapefruit squeezing to David Rose's 'The Stripper' tune.

Both Eric & Ernie seemed unaffected people, and didn't seem that dissimilar to their on screen personas, though I did once see Eric lose his temper at a Junior Hatters (Luton Town FC Junior Supporters Club) do in the early '70s, and rightly so. Someone was being obnoxious, and you could have heard a pin drop after that - testament to the respect even children had for the great man.

- Paul Rance/booksmusicfilmstv.com.