Ronnie Barker 1929-2005 RIP

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― Alba (Alba), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 07:15 (twenty years ago)

Oh no! :-(

― Panther Pink (Pinkpanther), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 07:20 (twenty years ago)

Damn! v sad....

― mzui (mzui), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 07:24 (twenty years ago)

Fork handles :(

― Mädchen (Madchen), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 07:26 (twenty years ago)

Aw, hell what a shitty start to the day.

― Billy Dods (Billy Dods), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 07:34 (twenty years ago)

He was the best Ronnie. RIP :(

― robster (robster), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 07:36 (twenty years ago)

goodnight from him then innit. i adored his wordplay stuff from a very early age.

― CharlieNo4 (Charlie), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 07:38 (twenty years ago)

He originally retired at 58 because of his heart trouble - maybe he should have resisted the urge to return but not everyone does once they're out of the loop. Nevertheless one of Britain's very finest comic character actors - who else could have essayed both Arkwright and Norman Stanley Fletcher - in at the birth of Python via The Frost Report (and most of the Pythons were on the writing team for The Two Ronnies, as was Barker himself as Gerald Wiley), discovered and/or mentored everyone from David Jason to the League of Gentlemen. His strange but very funny mini-features of the early '70s (Futtock's End, e.g.) were minor masterpieces of lateral surrealism. He will be much missed.

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 07:39 (twenty years ago)

"Futtock's End" and "The Picnic" were awesome. Sadly missed, etc.

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 07:41 (twenty years ago)

Marcello summed up how I feel, but I'll reiterate something I've said before: Fletcher is one of the greatest feats of acting I've ever seen. I hope the BBC gives Ronnie the send-off he deserves, a proper season covering the whole range of his work.

― Don King of the Mountain (noodle vague), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 07:46 (twenty years ago)

Fletcher, absolutely.

"Open All Hours" was made good, great even, by Barker/Jason, but it wasn't classic. (If you think so, name one 'classic' episode! They are all much the same!)

― mark grout (mark grout), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 07:49 (twenty years ago)

That's part of the coolness of Open All Hours, the way it lives in an unclear space of time (it could be anywhere between the 50s and 80s, the visual clues are kept deliberately minimal) and the way nothing really happens. Roy Clarke can do mundanity brilliantly, as the early series of Last of the Summer Wine show.

Still, the episodes with Arkwright's money-belt and the delivery van are pretty Klassik.

― Don King of the Mountain (noodle vague), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 07:53 (twenty years ago)

oh no.

― leigh (leigh), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 08:00 (twenty years ago)

When I was younger I always assumed that Open All Hours was set in the early '30s. Then when you watch the repeats you notice the Super Mousse chocolate bars and the copies of Disco 45 magazine and you realise the setting was contemporary. Then again, many newsagents/corner shops in the early-mid '70s still looked pre-war, both in terms of design and the people who ran them.

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 08:00 (twenty years ago)

You don't still get shops like in Open All Hours, do you? At least not 'round here, it's all 24/7 Co-ops and Tesco Locals and shit like that.

Poor old Gerald Wiley... I just know that when The Sun covers the funeral - where obviously the headline will be "THE ONE RONNIE" - there's going to be a half-page paparazzi shot of Ronnie Corbett looking terrible and old and it'll be captioned something horrible like "Little Ron's Sad Day Without His Best Pal" and a made up "friend" will imply that he's also not long for this world.

― James Mitchell (James Mitchell), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 08:06 (twenty years ago)

I think it was shot in Doncaster, and you can still find plenty of those streets round there.

― Don King of the Mountain (noodle vague), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 08:07 (twenty years ago)

Poor old Ronnie Corbett currently has prostate cancer so I'm not sure how much longer he's going to be around... :-(

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 08:12 (twenty years ago)

I worked on the subtitles for the fairly poor Clarence recently, so unfortunately that's my freshest memory of the man.

I'm not sure there's ever been anything better on British TV than Porridge. At least Peter Vaughan's still around.

― Michael Jones (MichaelJ), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 08:15 (twenty years ago)

One of the few from Porridge who's still around. Richard Beckinsale, Fulton Mackay, Brian Glover...all gone and none of them really old.

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 08:16 (twenty years ago)

This is a terrible loss. An absolute genius. And I love Corbett too.

― Markelby (Mark C), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 08:17 (twenty years ago)

(I didn't think it was worth mentioning Christopher Biggins; Sam Kelly and Tony Osoba still going...)

― Michael Jones (MichaelJ), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 08:21 (twenty years ago)

What about Brian Wilde? Is he still around?

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 08:22 (twenty years ago)

Horrible Ives is probably still alive somewhere.

x post, Apparently he's alive but not working.

― Don King of the Mountain (noodle vague), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 08:23 (twenty years ago)

I've begun a week of personal mourning. Not only a great actor but a great WRITER, go out and buy this:

http://flaming.arsecandle.org/~rod/DeliciousExported/images/390

― Dadaismus (Dada), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 08:23 (twenty years ago)

... and discover that 90% of the good stuff on "The Two Ronnies" was written by Ronnie B.

― Dadaismus (Dada), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 08:24 (twenty years ago)

I know this is totally off track, but:

When Harry H Corbett died, I remember Wilfred Brambell being on Nationwide, all sad and forlorn.

It was a long time later that I found out that Wilf hated Harry, and basically was a very good actor!

― mark grout (mark grout), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 08:27 (twenty years ago)

Another Porridger, Tony Osoba (McClaren) is currently touring regional theatres with The King & I.

― Alba (Alba), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 08:29 (twenty years ago)

No doubt it is only me who remembers Tony Osoba playing Iain Cuthbertson's right-hand man/fall guy in Charles Endell Esq, the seldom-recalled sequel to the ITV series Budgie.

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 08:32 (twenty years ago)

The opening episode of Porridge is the epitomy of laugh-a-minute comedy and the standard was maintained throughout. One of the all time great comedy series.

I loved his wordplay in The Two Ronnies - everything from spoonerisms through puns to alliteration all done with silly voices and/or speech impediments. The credits for the show read like a Who's Who of British comedy writing. Mostly quite brilliant, though I could never quite take to the musical numbers, and I didn't fully appreciate Wee Ronnie's Chair until I was older and watched the repeats.

Going Straight was a disappointment, and I'd completely forgotten about Clarence, but aside from those there's an amazing body of work there that anyone would be proud of.

A great writer, a master of voices and a wonderful character actor.

RIP

― Onimo (GerryNemo), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 08:34 (twenty years ago)

x posts

I remember Wilfred Brambell on Nationwide, and up until I read yr post I thought he was heartbroken. Still, he was a great actor.

― Don King of the Mountain (noodle vague), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 08:37 (twenty years ago)

What everyone else said. A true great.

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 08:37 (twenty years ago)

This makes me so sad. He was an absolutely charming and delightful man - I used to pop into the antique shop he owned in Chipping Norton sometimes, and he was always happy to chat. He contributed a recipe to the celebrity cookbook I compiled to raise money for the NSPCC, too.

He will be sadly missed :(

― C J (C J), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 08:39 (twenty years ago)

Oh yes, I was going to mention his antiques shop. My parents live nearby.

― Alba (Alba), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 08:44 (twenty years ago)

I made a special lunchtime trip to Waterstones to buy the book above for work a couple of years ago when we were doing the Best Of Barker box-set! I'm not sure I was ever reimbursed. Ah, doesn't matter.

― Michael Jones (MichaelJ), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 08:49 (twenty years ago)

I got it for my birthday a couple of years back!

― Dadaismus (Dada), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 08:50 (twenty years ago)

I bought that book for my Other Half a couple of Christmases ago. A signed copy, too!

― C J (C J), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 08:52 (twenty years ago)

RIP Ronnie. Thanks for all the laughs that have brightened up my life as a kid until now... and for the rest of my life. Your genius will live on forever.

― Last Of The Famous International Pfunkboys (Kerr), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 09:05 (twenty years ago)

Off-topic, but what was the secret to appreciating Wee Ronnie's Chair?

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 09:11 (twenty years ago)

Eh?

― Dadaismus (Dada), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 09:13 (twenty years ago)

I think the secret was in listening to the words he was saying.

Sorry to hear about Ronnie B passing. He's left behind an amazing body of comedy, both in his acting and his writing. RIP.

― scotstvo (scotstvo), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 09:24 (twenty years ago)

The book is on my desk now, Michael. Would you like me to write your name in it?

"Kid Coal-Hole and the Monkeynuts"

"So doff
So doff
So doff
So doff your hat I pray"

― PJ Miller (PJ Miller 68), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 09:34 (twenty years ago)

I think the secret was in listening to the words he was saying.

Something like that, aye :-)

I remember when I was younger I used to get really annoyed with that bit. Every time he wandered off topic I'd be thinking "Can't you just tell the joke?" I didn't realise the tangents/asides were deliberate - and usually much funnier than the lame punchline he eventually got around to.

― Onimo (GerryNemo), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 09:36 (twenty years ago)

...my producer...

― foxy boxer (stevie), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 09:37 (twenty years ago)

I always loved Ronnie Corbett's bits, even as a wee boy

― Dadaismus (Dada), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 09:46 (twenty years ago)

DON'T DRAG ME INTO YOUR PRIVATE HELL

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 09:49 (twenty years ago)

.... I was asking for that really, your honour

― Dadaismus (Dada), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 09:51 (twenty years ago)

It's weird, when stevem mentioned the possibility of an ILM Top 100 TV shows poll circa Xmas, I knew straight away that I wanted to nominate and blurb Porridge. I really don't think there was a weak episode of it, and stuff like the night-in episode, and the coal one, are some of the best moments of British television ever.

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 10:40 (twenty years ago)

RIP

: ((

― RJG (RJG), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 10:44 (twenty years ago)

"Jumping Jim Jehosophat and Fat-Belly Jones"

Ronnie B was the best comic actor we've ever had, by miles. Only Leonard Rossiter and David Jason come within sight. The Two Ronnies was part of my childhood - winter nights in front of the TV, post-Dr. Who, pre-Kojak and MoTD. It seemed like genius then, and every repeat confirms this. Porridge has the best ensemble cast ever, as well as Glover (only in 3 episodes!), Vaughan, Mackay, don't forget the great Brian Wilde, Sam Kelly's excellent Warren and Tony Osoba's McLaren. But it was all about Fletch, the funniest, most moving character in British comedy. In some of his scenes with Mackay the comic timing is just sublime and the interplay between them subtle and clever.

More than all of this he seemed like a good man, who did comedy as it should be done, with warmth and humanity and not a trace of nastiness.

― Dr. C (Dr. C), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 11:02 (twenty years ago)

the night-in episode

Dom, you'll be happy to know that's just been scheduled to show on BBC2 tonight at 8.30!

― CharlieNo4 (Charlie), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 11:19 (twenty years ago)

I'm glad the Ronnies did that little comeback series. "Ant and Dec after a heavy night out" indeed!

― PJ Miller (PJ Miller 68), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 11:21 (twenty years ago)

RIP, Ron.

― Ally C (Ally C), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 11:55 (twenty years ago)

― marianna lcl (marianna lcl), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 11:56 (twenty years ago)

What I perhaps liked most about Ronnie Barker is that he reputedly wrote that Two Ronnies pisstake sketch on Not The Nine O'Clock News.

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 12:10 (twenty years ago)

... oh if that was true it would be great, because that was funny!

― Dadaismus (Dada), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 12:12 (twenty years ago)

This book is a godsend for the harrassed subtitler. Pity I'm working on sodding Magnum.

― PJ Miller (PJ Miller 68), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 12:15 (twenty years ago)

That is funny! - I think.

The Standard's headline saddened me. - I liked him, I thought: liked the persona, liked what I saw and knew - of the late, later Barker as well as what I saw of the earlier. I agree with the Doc about warmth - I think.

I like Ron Corbett too: he makes me laugh. He will be sadder than any of us, now.

― the bellefox, Tuesday, 4 October 2005 13:01 (twenty years ago)

Funny how Marcello hasn't mentioned anything about Ronnie B. being a Tory!

― Dadaismus (Dada), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 13:04 (twenty years ago)

what was the standard's headline?

― foxy boxer (stevie), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 13:28 (twenty years ago)

The BBC have Porridge clips on their website. Here is "Barraclough is duped":

http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/guide/articles/p/video_clips/porridge_66600460_4.shtml

― PJ Miller (PJ Miller 68), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 13:49 (twenty years ago)

Programme Information

...and it's goodnight from him.

Tue 4 Oct, 22:35 - 23:30 55 mins

A tribute to Ronnie Barker.

Widescreen Stereo

Subject:
Entertainment; Comedy

(BBC 1)

― PJ Miller (PJ Miller 68), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 13:55 (twenty years ago)

Awww, I used to stay up late (past 8!) to watch the Two Ronnies on CBC when I was young. I don't remember any of it, other than the two of them sitting behind a desk, but I know that I really liked it, and probably didn't actually get any of it.

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 14:12 (twenty years ago)

Very sad. I feel sorry for Corbett - nothing sadder than the surviving half of a double act. Perhaps they can draft in a sub? I suggest Ronnie "Christopher" Walken.

― Jerry the Nipper (Jerrynipper), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 14:29 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, but Corbett's been solo for quite a long time, apart from the 'highlights' progs of recent.

― mark grout (mark grout), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 14:30 (twenty years ago)

Yeah they did enough work individually of each other to avoid being definitively though of as inseparable i'd say, even if they are best loved as a duo.

― Sociah T Azzahole (blueski), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 14:33 (twenty years ago)

I'm pretty sure I liked the Two Ronnies when I was a kid, but when I look at it now, it is a bit tit-bum-willy, and sketches like The Phantom Raspberry Blower of Old London Town don't really hold up very well. However, Porridge was the greatest British sitcom ever. And I always liked Open All Hours as well.

― accentmonkey (accentmonkey), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 15:43 (twenty years ago)

My father used to be an avid Two Ronnies fan (Thank you, PBS in Buffalo!). He taped all the shows, and even compiled a special tape of all their musical numbers, which he was really into. So by default I got to appreciate RB's comedic genius. I actually wanted to get pops some sort of DVD set of the shows, which to my disappointment doesn't exist. BBC sells a 'best of', but it's in PAL - nothing available in NTSC...

Very sad. RIP.

― Rob Bolton (Rob Bolton), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 16:04 (twenty years ago)

I still find a lot of Two Ronnies stuff funny - the Mastermind sketch for example (not Fork Handles though).

― Sociah T Azzahole (blueski), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 16:14 (twenty years ago)

I think there's usually about one brilliant sketch on an average episode of the Two Ronnies. I am sad at this news. I second all the superlatives thrown at his performance in Porridge here - I nominated that when someone recently started a thread about best comedy performances some weeks back.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 16:53 (twenty years ago)

Various best lines and bits as suggested by folks.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 22:02 (twenty years ago)

Apparently they have lit four candles at Westminster Cathedral as a tribute.

― James Mitchell (James Mitchell), Tuesday, 4 October 2005 22:09 (twenty years ago)

I enjoyed Porridge last night.

I hope they show John Noakes's visit for Blue Peter.

Perhaps they did, on the tribute programme, which I didn't stay up late for.

― PJ Miller (PJ Miller 68), Wednesday, 5 October 2005 06:45 (twenty years ago)

Funny how Marcello hasn't mentioned anything about Ronnie B. being a Tory!

-- Dadaismus (dadaismu...), October 4th, 2005.

I can't remember him ever talking about his politics, but wouldn't be surprised if he were.

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Wednesday, 5 October 2005 06:47 (twenty years ago)

I don't normally give praise to the Murdoch press, but when I saw the front cover of the Sun this morning I had to catch my breath.

― Billy Dods (Billy Dods), Wednesday, 5 October 2005 07:55 (twenty years ago)

Something about all upper case for such things just doesn't seem very appropriate though.

― Sociah T Azzahole (blueski), Wednesday, 5 October 2005 08:17 (twenty years ago)

I am sorry no one managed to incoporate "naff off" into their headline. PORRIDGE MAN NAFFS OFF TO GREAT CORNER SHOP IN SKY or something. Possibly something a bit better.

― PJ Miller (PJ Miller 68), Wednesday, 5 October 2005 08:27 (twenty years ago)

The sun got it right. The Mail/Express had to get his son's problems into the story with finger pointing...

― mark grout (mark grout), Wednesday, 5 October 2005 08:31 (twenty years ago)

It is the Mail/Express.

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Wednesday, 5 October 2005 08:34 (twenty years ago)

Wow, that Sun front page is...something.

I wonder do overseas visitors think we've gone a bit mental? Lead story on the BBC news, page 1 of every newspaper... I'm not sure Phil Hartman got this sort of coverage in the US in '98 and he got shot, poor fella. (I'm sure Hartman doesn't occupy the same role in the US comic consciousness as Barker does here, but, y'know...)

The story in last night's tribute show about introducing the mysterious "Gerald Wiley" at the wrap party for The Frost Report (and Barker on Parky talking about how he'd feign incomprehension at Wiley's scripts) was lovely.

― Michael Jones (MichaelJ), Wednesday, 5 October 2005 09:05 (twenty years ago)

My overseas wife thought it was sad, despite referring to them as The Two Rooneys throughout the comeback series.

― PJ Miller (PJ Miller 68), Wednesday, 5 October 2005 09:07 (twenty years ago)

That Wiley story reminds me of when McGoohan wrote the "Once Upon A Time" episode of The Prisoner, submitted the screenplay as being written by "Archie Schwartz" and likewise feigned incomprehension. It was the penultimate episode with McGoohan and McKern yelling at each other in an underground bunker for an hour.

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Wednesday, 5 October 2005 09:09 (twenty years ago)

Mickey and Wayne: what a great double act that would be.

― Mädchen (Madchen), Wednesday, 5 October 2005 09:11 (twenty years ago)

that mail cover is just....

sorry i think i might spew.

― piscesboy, Wednesday, 5 October 2005 14:15 (twenty years ago)

I'm not sure Phil Hartman got this sort of coverage in the US in '98 and he got shot, poor fella. (I'm sure Hartman doesn't occupy the same role in the US comic consciousness as Barker does here, but, y'know...)

Yeah, just not as ingrained -- undeniably influential, loved by those who followed him though his death received heavy coverage but not a national institution quite yet, more was the pity.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 5 October 2005 14:20 (twenty years ago)

That was "Paddy Fitz" if i recall as such...

― mark grout (mark grout), Wednesday, 5 October 2005 14:25 (twenty years ago)

two years pass...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7155024.stm

― Dom Passantino, Thursday, 20 December 2007 23:17 (eighteen years ago)

Jeez, I better hold on to the typewritten Sorry! S2 script I've got stashed under my desk then.

― Michael Jones, Friday, 21 December 2007 07:32 (eighteen years ago)

Language, Timothy

― Dom Passantino, Friday, 21 December 2007 09:23 (eighteen years ago)

Sorry, Father.

― Michael Jones, Friday, 21 December 2007 09:32 (eighteen years ago)

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