Ronnie Barker

Robin Hood, aging none too gracefully, returns exhausted from the Crusades to woo and win Maid Marian one last time.

Entirely silent, with a musical score, sound effects and incoherent mutterings, the story revolves around a weekend gathering at the decaying country home of the eccentric and lewd General Futtock (Ronnie Barker) and the series of saucy mishaps between the staff (Michael Hordern plays the lecherous butler) and his guests.

Emily Delahunty is an eccentric British romance novelist who lives in Umbria in central Italy. One day while travelling, the train she is on is bombed by terrorists. After she wakes up in a hospital, she invites three of the other survivors of the disaster to stay at her Italian villa for recuperation. Of these are The General, a retired British Army veteran, Werner, a young German man, and Aimee, a young American girl who has now become mute after her parents were both killed in the explosion.

Times are hard for habitual guest of Her Majesty Norman Stanley Fletcher. The new prison officer, Beale, makes MacKay look soft and what's more, an escape plan is hatching from the cell of prison godfather Grouty and Fletcher wants no part of it.

After a lock-keeper entrusts his daughter to a canal Casanova, he is shocked to learn that she is pregnant. He then refuses to open his locks - causing barges to pile up in every direction until the guilty party confesses.

A crusty old General leads his dotty family on a relaxing weekend at the seaside, and comic chaos ensues.

A crusty old English General leads his eccentric family on a family picnic trip, and comic chaos ensues.

When Dexter Munro and his new wife Juliet get married, they decide to escape Juliet's meddling father by buying a rundown cottage and doing it up themselves. But when the cottage proves to be more ramshackle than they thought, and the scale of the repairs needed far out of their budget, the newlyweds are forced into calling on Juliet's father after all. Before long he's employed incompetent builder Josh Wicks, and the situation goes from bad to worse.

Ernest Wright's peerless prowess as a locksmith comes to the attention of a tough big-time crook, who feels that the little man would be a valuable asset to his crime kingdom. In order to inveigle him into a series of jobs, he sets up a beautiful hostess as a trap, into which the hapless Ernest inevitably falls..!

On Christmas Eve in 1874, the turkey has been stolen from Sir Giles and Lady Hampton. What are they going to serve their guests? They call in the detectives Piggy Malone and Charley Farley to find who stole it.

Adaptation of the play by Brandon Thomas.

Set in a beautiful fishing village in Gibraltar, Wonderful Things! stars Frankie Vaughan as Carmello, a young fisherman who, unable to earn enough from fishing to marry his tempestuous fiancée, decides to come to England to seek his fortune and finds fortunes are not quite so easy to come by.

Spoof documentary looking at the life of Normal Stanley Fletcher, the star of 1970s sitcom Porridge played by Ronnie Barker. Featuring fictional footage and interviews with the character's family, friends and associates, the film documents Fletcher's chequered career.

"Doctor in Distress" is the fifth of the seven films in the "Doctor" series, and focuses on Sir Lancelot Spratt, Simon Sparrow's old teacher and sometimes nemesis. When the eternal bachelor Sir Lancelot injures his back and falls in love with his physiotherapist Iris Marchant, he becomes very distressed and turns to Simon for help. Simon, who now is a senior doctor at fictional Hampden Cross Hospital and hopelessly in love with aspiring actress Delia, sends him to a nature cure clinic in a vain attempt to help him lose weight, but Sir Lancelot can't get Iris off his mind and has her followed, first by a private investigator and eventually by himself. When he finally proposes, she rejects him and marries an old army major, which distresses Sir Lancelot even more.

Three children try to fight against the destruction of a local historic landmark. They are helped by a group of friendly ghosts.

A group of young railway enthusiasts attempt to stop the closure of the local railway by trying to raise money to buy it and the steam engine "Matilda." They get help from a pair of men claiming to be enthusiasts but who turn out to be robbers who plan to hold up the mail train

A love story offering an intimate look inside the marriage of Winston and Clementine Churchill during a particularly troubled, though little-known, moment in their lives.

A BAFTA tribute to Ronnie Barker

A young boy who lives in an old folks' home strikes up a friendship with a retired magician.

A tribute to a legendary duo from the golden age in television variety. From 1971 to 1987, and over the course of twelve series and eight specials, The Two Ronnies was one of the nation's favourite television comedy shows. The show was practically an institution, with Christmas and Easter holidays only really being complete for most families, with a Two Ronnies special. This compilation features favourite sketches from sixteen years of the much-loved and much-missed programme, including: * The Vagaband Lover (before he died of drink, women and horses) * Swedish Made Simple * Mastermind (answering the question before last) and * The St. Botolph's Country Dance Team

Programme telling the story of Ronnie Barker, a quiet dedicated actor who might have been a bank manager but went on to become one of the country's favourite comedy stars. Ben Elton, Michael Grade, David Renwick and Josephine Tewson are among friends and colleagues who remember his genius. Famed as one half of the Two Ronnies and the likeable convict Fletcher in Porridge, he was also a prolific writer and admired actor in serious roles.

A pair of irreverent shorts. In "Masks," a sad man hides behind a happy mask. In "Happenings," a bored man stands around waiting for something to happen.

A Home of Your Own is a 1964 British comedy film which is a brick-by-brick account of the building a young couple’s dream house. From the day when the site is first selected, to the day – several years and children later – when the couple finally move in, the story is a noisy but wordless comedy of errors as the incompetent labourers struggle to complete the house. It may well have been inspired by the success of Bernard Cribbins' classic song of the same vein from two years earlier, "Right Said Fred". In this satirical look at British builders, many cups of tea are made, windows are broken and the same section of road is dug up over and over again by the water board, the electricity board and the gas board. Ronnie Barker’s put-upon cement mixer, Peter Butterworth’s short-sighted carpenter and Bernard Cribbins’ hapless stonemason all contribute to the ensuing chaos.

The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins is a 1971 British comedy film directed and produced by Graham Stark. Its title is a conflation of The Magnificent Seven and the seven deadly sins. It comprises a sequence of seven sketches, each representing a sin and written by an array of British comedy-writing talent. The sketches are linked by animation sequences. The music score is by British jazz musician Roy Budd, cinematography by Harvey Harrison and editing by Rod Nelson-Keys and Roy Piper. It was produced by Tigon Pictures and distributed in the U.K. by Tigon Film Distributors Ltd..

This special programme relates how, just before Ronnie Barker's retirement in 1986, the Two Ronnies travelled to Sydney to make a series for Australia's Channel Nine. Their regular British show had been a huge hit down under, and now they were to create a new version especially for Australia.

Compilation of classic British comedy moments

Bill MacLean is a former CIA agent living in London. He had been fired when he stuck up for one of the men in his command who turned out to be branded a Russian defector. The embittered ex-agent combines forces with another operative to deliver a top Russian secret police official for a price. Before he can deliver the Russian, a trail of corpses and double crosses changes his plans. When his partner who concocted the scheme is murdered, MacLean returns the check to the CIA. They offer him his old job back, but the proud man refuses.

Super-talented comic Ronnie Corbett pulls out all the stops to entertain a celebrity audience including on-screen sidekick Ronnie Barker, Damien Hirst and Frank Skinner in this 1997 special.

An homage to the prison comedy series Porridge, created by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais. This documentary examines how Ronnie Barker’s Fletch influenced Slade Prison’s characters. There is also a look at 1978’s Going Straight, Porridge: The Movie, the US remake On the Rocks, and the 2017 reboot starring Kevin Bishop and Ricky Grover.

Fletcher and Godber are in trouble for brewing liquor in the lead-up to Christmas, but are caught up in a hostage situation in the Governor's office.

Fletcher discovers that his fellow inmates are planning to escape.

A documentary about the portrayal of Adolf Hitler in popular culture.

A private eye is hired to go undercover at a health farm, but before he can find out why his client is murdered.

A tribute to a legendary duo from television comedy's golden age. From 1971 to 1987, and over the course of twelve series and eight specials,THE TWO RONNIES was one of the UK's favourite television shows. During this golden age of television comedy, the show was practically an institution, with Christmas and Easter only really being complete, with a TVVO RONNIES special.

An evening at Wilton's Music-Hall, Grace's Alley, Wellclose Square, London, 1860 starring Peter Sellers, Spike Milligan, Keith Michell, Pat Kirkwood, Warren Mitchell, Ronnie Barker, Bill Fraser, Gina Astralita, Eric Robinson. Introduced by Billy Russell. Tonight, 90 years after it closed, this famous Music-Hall opens again to bring you a picture of the stars, the singers, the dancers, and the people who once went there.

Just Like That! is a celebration of the comic genius of Tommy Cooper] - just like that! But nobody could do it just like that apart from the unique Mr Cooper himself, and despite his claim never to have used those words. Was Tommy really Henry Coper's brother? Can Tommy's performance as Hamlet, clown prince, compare with the greats? Was Tommy a ventriloquist at heart? Rare and classic routines and contributions from famous fans help solve the mystery. The friends and fans who take part (many of them confirming that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery) include Adrian Edmondson, Lenny Henry, Henry Cooper, former Goons Harry Secombe and Spike Milligan, writer Dick Hills, Tommy's brother David Cooper (who has himself sadly since died), alternative comedian Steve Murray, The Wow Show and magician Paul Scott. A title montage sequence features further impersonations of the great man from Alexei Sayle, Bob Todd, Patricia Hayes, and Jess Conrad.

Mistaken identity, unrequited love, and the supernatural are combined in Shakespeare's classic set in the woods of Greece on a moonlit night.

Going Straight is a BBC sitcom which was a direct spin-off from Porridge, starring Ronnie Barker as Norman Stanley Fletcher, newly released from the fictional Slade Prison where the earlier series had been set. It sees Fletcher trying to become an honest member of society, having vowed to stay away from crime on his release. The title refers to his attempt, 'straight' being a slang term meaning being honest, in contrast to 'bent', i.e., dishonest. Also re-appearing was Richard Beckinsale as Lennie Godber, who was Fletcher's naïve young cellmate and was now in a relationship with his daughter Ingrid. Her brother Raymond was played by a teenage Nicholas Lyndhurst. Only one series, of six episodes, was made in 1978. It attracted an audience of over 15 million viewers and won a BAFTA award in March 1979, but hopes of a further series had already been dashed by Beckinsale's premature death earlier in the same month.

Open All Hours is a BBC sitcom written by Roy Clarke and starring Ronnie Barker as a miserly shop keeper and David Jason as his put-upon nephew who works as his errand boy.

Porridge is a British situation comedy broadcast on BBC1 from 1974 to 1977, running for three series, two Christmas specials and a feature film also titled Porridge. Written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, it stars Ronnie Barker and Richard Beckinsale as two inmates at the fictional HMP Slade in Cumberland. "Doing porridge" is British slang for serving a prison sentence, porridge once being the traditional breakfast in UK prisons. The series was followed by a 1978 sequel, Going Straight, which established that Fletcher would not be going back to prison again. Porridge was voted number seven in a 2004 BBC poll of the 100 greatest British sitcoms.

Faces of Jim was a black-and-white British comedy television series starring Jimmy Edwards, June Whitfield and Ronnie Barker, with each episode being an individual half-hour sitcom. The first series aired as The Seven Faces of Jim, the second as Six More Faces of Jim and the third series as More Faces of Jim. All the episodes were written by Frank Muir and Denis Norden.

Six hour-long episodes of The Two Ronnies Sketchbook aired on BBC 1 in March and April 2005. It saw the Two Ronnies back behind their famous news desk, introducing some of their favourite sketches and re-reading some of the classic news items that began and ended every episode of The Two Ronnies. Much was made of the fact that the sketches chosen were shown in their entirety. Each week an episode of the classic Spike Milligan-scripted serial The Phantom Raspberry Blower of Old London Town was shown, and each episode featured a new performance by a popular singer.

The Frost Report was a satirical television show hosted by David Frost. It ran for 28 episodes on the BBC from 1966 to 1967. It is notable for introducing John Cleese, Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett to television, and also launching the careers of other writers and performers.

The Big Show is an American comedy-variety-musical television series produced and broadcast by NBC for several months in 1980. The series aimed to revitalize the moribund variety television genre, which had been in a downward spiral since the cancellations of The Ed Sullivan Show and The Carol Burnett Show a few years earlier. The Big Show took its title seriously, using a huge stage set and filling a 90-minute time-slot, with at least one two-hour installment broadcast. Although the first broadcast received high ratings, poor reviews and low ratings of succeeding episodes resulted in the program being cancelled after only a few months. The series nonetheless was nominated for six Emmy Awards, winning for Outstanding Costume Design. Regular performers included Joe Baker, Graham Chapman, Mimi Kennedy, Shabba-Doo and Pamela Myers. Guest hosts included Steve Allen, Nell Carter, David Copperfield, Geoffrey Holder, Gary Coleman, and Sid Caesar. Skaters who performed in the show included Peggy Fleming, Dorothy Hamill, John Curry, and Toller Cranston.

Hark at Barker was a 1969 British comedy series combining elements of sitcom and sketch show, which starred Ronnie Barker. It was made for the ITV network by LWT. Each show began with a spoof news item read by Barker as a continuity announcer. He would then introduce the main part of the programme, a lecture to be given by Lord Rustless on a different topic each week from his stately home, Chrome Hall. Helped and hindered by Rustless' secretary Bates, his Butler Badger, his bad-tempered Cook, his incoherent gardener Dithers and his buxom, near-mute maid Effie, these lectures invariably degenerated into farce, and were frequently interrupted by comic sketches on film or videotape which also starred Barker in various roles. Barker reprised the role of Lord Rustless in the BBC series His Lordship Entertains, and played very similar characters in Futtock's End and the Two Ronnies specials The Picnic and By the Sea.

Frost on Sunday

Before The Fringe

Seven of One was a British comedy series that aired on BBC2 in 1973. Starring Ronnie Barker, 7 of One is a series of seven separate comedies that would serve as possible pilots for sitcoms. Originally it was to be called Six of One, which Barker planned to follow up with another series called Half Dozen of the Other. This was a BBC version of a similar showcase for LWT called Six Dates with Barker created in 1971.

His Lordship Entertains was Ronnie Barker's second sitcom vehicle for his Lord Rustless character, first seen three years earlier in Hark at Barker on ITV. This time though, Rustless had switched channels and was now appearing on BBC2. Hark at Barker had also included sketch inserts, whereas His Lordship Entertains was a regular sitcom. Set again in the aristocratic Chrome Hall, which had now become a hotel. It again also starred David Jason as the 100 year old Dithers and Josephine Tewson as Mildred Bates. Two actors who would go on to have a long working relationship with Barker. In fact all of the regular cast reprised their roles from Hark at Barker. Barker wrote all the scripts under the pseudonym Jonathan Cobbald. He liked to refer to the show as "Fawlty Towers mark one" as it appeared on television three years before that other hotel bound sitcom. Four episodes of the sitcom were recently performed on stage by Nottingham University's New Theatre.

Simon Templar is The Saint, a handsome, sophisticated, debonair, modern-day Robin Hood who recovers ill-gotten wealth and redistributes it to those in need.

The Ronnie Barker Playhouse was a series of six comedy half hours showcasing the talents of Ronnie Barker. All were broadcast by Associated-Rediffusion in 1968. The series was written by Brian Cooke, Hugh Leonard, Johnnie Mortimer and Alun Owen. The producers were Stella Richman and actress Stella Tanner. The executive producer was David Frost.

Six Dates with Barker is a series of six one-off, half hour situation comedies showcasing the talents of Ronnie Barker. All were broadcast by London Weekend Television early in 1971. Writers on the series included John Cleese and Spike Milligan. The producer was Humphrey Barclay.

The Magnificent Evans is a 1984 BBC situation comedy written by Roy Clarke and starring Ronnie Barker, Sharon Morgan and Myfanwy Talog.

Play of the Month is a BBC television anthology series featuring productions of classic and contemporary stage plays which were usually broadcast on BBC1. Each production featured a different work, often using prominent British stage actors in the leading roles. The series was transmitted from October 1965 to September 1983; the producer most associated with the Play of the Month was Cedric Messina. Some of the 121 episodes are missing from the archives, having been junked in the 1960s and 1970s. Unless stated otherwise, the indication that the play is "lost" is taken from the lostshows.com website page as of 25 May 2013.

An Audience with... is a British entertainment television show produced by London Weekend Television, in which a host, usually a singer or comedian, performs for an invited audience of celebrity guests, interspersed with questions from the audience, in a light hearted revue/tribute style.

A tribute to a legendary duo from the golden age in television variety. From 1971 to 1987, and over the course of twelve series and eight specials, The Two Ronnies was one of the nation's favourite television comedy shows. The show was practically an institution, with Christmas and Easter holidays only really being complete for most families, with a Two Ronnies special. This compilation features favourite sketches from sixteen years of the much-loved and much-missed programme, including: * The Vagaband Lover (before he died of drink, women and horses) * Swedish Made Simple * Mastermind (answering the question before last) and * The St. Botolph's Country Dance Team

Wogan is a British television chat show

The Avengers is a British television series created in the 1960s. It initially focused on Dr. David Keel and his assistant John Steed. Hendry left after the first series and Steed became the main character, partnered with a succession of assistants. His most famous assistants were intelligent, stylish and assertive women: Cathy Gale, Emma Peel and Tara King. Later episodes increasingly incorporated elements of science fiction and fantasy, parody and British eccentricity.

Clarence is a 1988 BBC situation comedy starring Ronnie Barker and Josephine Tewson, written by Ronnie Barker under the pseudonym "Bob Ferris". It was Barker's final sitcom appearance before his retirement. Barker had previously faced some criticism over his employment of a stammer for comedic effect in Open All Hours. However, the slapstick potential of a short-sighted furniture shifter must have seemed irresistible. The series was inspired by The Removals Person by Hugh Leonard, an earlier programme in the 1971 LWT comedy series, Six Dates With Barker. The house of Jane Travers, which inspired the opening titles, is located on Malvern Road in Cheltenham.

Sketches and clips from his greatest television comedy performances

A gala programme broadcast each Christmas night by the BBC from 1958 to 1972 and also revived in 1994. It was hosted by a leading star and featured specially made short, seasonal editions of the previous year's most popular sitcoms and light entertainment programmes.

Comedic British History

The Two Ronnies is a British sketch show which aired on BBC1 from 1971 to 1987. It featured the double act of Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett, the "Two Ronnies" of the title.