The Two Ronnies

Two Ronnies is a British television sketch comedy show created by Bill Cotton for the BBC, which aired on BBC1 from April 1971 to December 1987. It featured Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett, the two Ronnies of the title. The usual format included skits, solo parts, serials, and musical finales.

Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett met in 1963 at the Buckstone Club in Haymarket, London, where Corbett served drinks in between acting jobs. At that time Barker was beginning to become a character actor in the West End and in radio. They were invited by David Frost to appear on his new show, The Frost Report, with John Cleese, but the big break for the pair came when they filled in, unprepared and unprepared, for eleven minutes during a technical hiccup at the British Academy of Film and Film. Television Arts awards ceremony at London’s Palladium in 1970. Bill Cotton, head of BBC light entertainment, and Sir Paul Fox, head of BBC1, were in attendance. Cotton was so impressed with the duo that he turned to Fox and asked: “What do you think of these two on the network?” What they didn’t know was that the pair’s contract extension had just been rejected by London’s weekend television network, rival ITV, so they were free to change channels. The BBC hosted Barker and Corbett’s own show.

The program became one of the most successful and longest-running light entertainment shows on British television, airing in prime time at 8 p.m. on Saturday nights, and at the height of its popularity, the show was watched by 18.5 million viewers. After Morkamb and Wise left the BBC in 1978, The Two Ronnies became the BBC’s flagship light entertainment program, regularly gaining the lead in the critical audience battle at Christmas. The two double artists appeared side-by-side on the memorable cover of the extended 1973 Christmas issue of Radio Times.

The show was revived in 1999 for “Two Ronnie Nights.” That same year, Ronnie Corbett presented a “Two Ronnies in the Movies” special. In 2000, “A Tribute to Two Ronnies” was hosted by Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett themselves.

In 2004, Barker announced that he and Corbett would return to film a new series called “Two Ronnies Drawing Album.” In doing so, the two sat at the news desk and presented their classic sketches. The Christmas issue was recorded in July 2005 due to Barker’s failing health.

While the Sketchbook series was broadcast, the Two Ronnies were also the subject of an episode of the BBC Comedy Connections documentary. Ronnie Corbett, producers James Gilbert, Terry Hughes and Michael Hurll, and writers Ian Davidson, Peter Vincent, David Renwick and Barry Cryer spoke about the making of the series. Ronnie Barker did not appear, but excerpts from an interview he gave in 1997 were included.

After Ronnie Barker’s death on October 3, 2005, Ronnie Corbett reportedly said that there was not a single angry word between them in the many years of their collaboration.

In September 2006, they were recognized by the general public as No. 6 in a poll of television’s greatest stars.

As of 2012, full shows of The Two Ronnies are repeated on ITV3 and Gold. On December 24, 25 and 26, 2006, ITV3 devoted three whole days to the show, interspersed with memories of Ronnie Corbett on the show and Ronnie Barker. May 28, 2007 aired many more episodes new to ITV3, as well as screenings of “Picnic” and “By the Sea.”