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 April 1971 to December 1987. The usual format included sketches, solo sections, serial stories and musical finales.
The two Ronnies 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, but the pair’s big break came when they filled in, unprepared and unscripted, for eleven minutes during a technical hitch at a BAFTA awards ceremony at the London Paladium in 1970. In the audience was Bill Cotton, the Head of Light Entertainment for the BBC, and Sir 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 them the pair had just had the renewal of their contract declined by LWT of rival network ITV, and so were free to change channels. Barker and Corbett were given their own show by the BBC.
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 John Cleese, Barry Cryer, Spike Milligan, Eric Idle, John Sullivan, Michael Palin, and Terry Jones. 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.
The show featured comic sketches in which Barker and Corbett appeared both together and separately, with various additions giving the programme the feeling of a variety show. The sketches often involved complex word-play, much of it written by Barker, who also liked to parody officialdom and establishment figures, as well as eccentrics. Corbett appeared quieter, more often acting as a foil for Barker, but remained an important part of the chemistry. Many of the jokes revolved around his lack of height, with him delivering many of them himself: when Barker said that the next part “does suit Ronnie C. right down to the ground”, Corbett replied “Mind you, that’s not far is it?”. Other jokes could be of a sexual nature of the sort found on seaside postcards.
Another regular feature of the shows was an elaborate musical finale in which Barker and Corbett – often in drag – and company would sing a medley of songs in character, in barbershop. music hall, Gilber & Sullivan or other styles, with the original words altered to suit whatever comic situation they were portraying.
