Morecambe & Wise Show (1968) Episodes

This is an episode summary of British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

TV comedy show The Morecambe & Wise Show
The Morecambe & Wise Show (1968)
The Morecambe & Wise Show that began airing in 1968 was the second TV series for comedy duo Morecambe and Wise.-Beginnings:The first series of the "new" Morecambe & Wise Show was broadcast in colour on BBC Two in 1968 and was deemed to be a success. Though now established as a popular star, Eric...

.

The nine series of 50 minute programmes produced between 1968 and 1976 by Eric Morecambe

Eric Morecambe

John Eric Bartholomew OBE , known by his stage name Eric Morecambe, was an English comedian who together with Ernie Wise formed the award-winning double act Morecambe and Wise. The partnership lasted from 1941 until Morecambe's death of a heart attack in 1984...

and Ernie Wise

Ernie Wise

Ernest Wiseman OBE , known by his stage name Ernie Wise, was an English comedian, best known as one half of the comedy duo Morecambe and Wise, who became an institution on British television, especially for their Christmas specials.-Career:Ernest Wiseman was the eldest of five children, and changed...

are generally considered to be their best output; From series two all are penned by Eddie Braben

Eddie Braben

Eddie Braben is a comedy writer and performer who has provided material for such figures as David Frost and Ronnie Corbett, and who is most famous for having written for Ken Dodd and Morecambe and Wise....

(save for the 1976 Christmas Show which was penned by John Junkin

John Junkin

John Francis Junkin was an English radio, television and film performer and scriptwriter.In 1960 Junkin joined Joan Littlewood's Stratford East Theatre Workshop, and played the lead in the original production of Sparrows Can't Sing...

and Barry Cryer

Barry Cryer

Barry Charles Cryer OBE is a British writer and comedian. Cryer has written for many noted performers, including Dave Allen, Stanley Baxter, Jack Benny, Rory Bremner, George Burns, Jasper Carrott, Tommy Cooper, Les Dawson, Dick Emery, Kenny Everett, Bruce Forsyth, David Frost, Bob Hope, Frankie...

) these programmes used a familiar format of opening spot with the duo in front of their familiar "tabs", followed by a musical guest, sketches, another musical guest followed by a scene in the fictional flat, either in bed or in the lounge greeting star guests, usually a play "What Ern Wrote" and the closing song and credits. This format was occasionally not used but was considered the "norm" during the pair's BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

years. Until 1973, unlike other shows episodes were broadcast every fortnight rather than weekly.

Series One (1968)

The first series was penned by the duo's previous writing partnership of Sid Green and Dick Hills

Dick Hills

Richard Hills was the writing partner of Sid Green , both of whom wrote extensively for Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise, for their first starring show Two Of A Kind , for ATV and subsequently the first series of The Morecambe & Wise Show for the BBC...

who also appeared in the show, sometimes in flat scenes, embryonic of what was to follow in later seasons. As part of the BBC's policy to wipe and re-use videotape in this era, most of the programme content was lost but a remaining fragment exists and was released on DVD together with the complete second series in 2007. Originally recorded in colour, only black and white footage remains which is taken from episode seven and features Edmund Hockridge

Edmund Hockridge

Edmund Hockridge was a Canadian baritone and actor who had an active performance career in musicals, operas, concerts, plays, and on radio...

and the shadow puppets sketch, unseen for nearly forty years.

Episode One

Broadcast: 2 September 1968

Guests: Dick Hills and Sid Green

Dick Hills and Sid Green

Richard Michael Hills, , and Sidney Green, , were a British partnership of comedy writers, most notable for their work on TV in the 1960s...

, Georgia Brown

Georgia Brown (English singer)

Georgia Brown was a British singer and actress.Born Lillian Claire Laizer Getel Klot in the East End of London to Mark and Annie Kirschenbaum Klot, Jewish immigrants to the United Kingdom, she was dispatched to Wales during the Blitz to escape the bombings in London...

, Los Zafiros

Los Zafiros

Los Zafiros were a Cuban close-harmony vocal group working from 1961–1970. The group was part of the filín movement, inspired by American doo-wop groups such as The Platters...

Episode Two

Broadcast: 9 September 1968

Guests: Dick Hills and Sid Green, Acker Bilk, Roy Budd

Roy Budd

Roy Frederick Budd , was a British jazz musician and composer, known for his film scores.Born in Mitcham, Surrey, Budd became interested in music from an early age and had built up a vast musical repertoire by the age of eight...

Episode Three

Broadcast: 16 September 1968

Guests: Dick Hills and Sid Green, Trio Athenee, Paper Dolls

Episode Four

Broadcast: 23 September 1968

Guests: Dick Hills and Sid Green, Bruce Forsyth

Bruce Forsyth

Sir Bruce Joseph Forsyth-Johnson, CBE , commonly known as Bruce Forsyth, or Brucie, is an English TV personality...

, Kenny Ball

Kenny Ball

Kenny Ball is an English jazz musician, best known as the lead trumpet player in Kenny Ball and his Jazzmen.-Career:...

Episode Five

Broadcast: 30 September 1968

Guests: Dick Hills and Sid Green, Ronnie Carroll

Ronnie Carroll

Ronnie Carroll is a Northern Irish singer and entertainer.-Career:...

, Kenny Ball

Episode Six

Broadcast:87 September 1968

Guests: The Kinks

The Kinks

The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, North London, by brothers Ray and Dave Davies in 1964. Categorised in the United States as a British Invasion band, The Kinks are recognised as one of the most important and influential rock acts of the era. Their music was influenced by a...

, Engelbert Humperdinck

Engelbert Humperdinck (singer)

Engelbert Humperdinck is a British pop singer, best known for his hits including "Release Me " and "After the Lovin'" as well as "The Last Waltz" .-Early life:...

, Millicent Martin

Millicent Martin

Millicent Mary Lillian Martin is an English actress, singer and comedienne.Martin was born in Romford, England. She made her Broadway debut opposite Julie Andrews in The Boy Friend in 1954...

Episode Seven

Broadcast: 7 October 1968

Guests: Dick Hills and Sid Green, Edmund Hockridge

Edmund Hockridge

Edmund Hockridge was a Canadian baritone and actor who had an active performance career in musicals, operas, concerts, plays, and on radio...

, Kenny Ball

Episode Eight

Broadcast: 14 October 1968

Guests: Dick Hills and Sid Green, Michael Aspel

Michael Aspel

Michael Terence Aspel, OBE is an English television presenter, known for his reserved demeanour and rich speaking voice. He has been a high-profile TV personality in the United Kingdom since the 1960s, presenting programmes such as Crackerjack, Aspel and Company, This is Your Life, Strange But...

, Chris Langford, Kenny Ball

Episode Nine

Broadcast: 21 October 1968

Guests: Dick Hills and Sid Green, Matt Monro

Matt Monro

Matt Monro was an English singer who became one of the most popular entertainers on the international music scene during the 1960s...

, Kenny Ball

Series Two (1969)

The second series was shown on BBC2 and like the first was recorded in colour but here most of the colour VT survives; the opening credits see the duo in a projection room attempting to reproduce the opening credits onto a screen with little success. It was the first series written by Eddie Braben

Eddie Braben

who honed the individual personas of Eric ("the buffoon") and Ernie ("the playwright"). This series also saw the introduction of Janet Webb as "the lady who comes down at the end" and the first performance of Bring Me Sunshine
Bring Me Sunshine
"Bring Me Sunshine" was the best-known signature of Morecambe & Wise. The duo regularly used the song to close their shows for the BBC in the 1970s...

which was to become their signature tune.

Episode One

Broadcast: 27 July 1969

Guests: Janet Webb

Janet Webb

Janet Webb was an English actress. Born on 1 July 1930 as Janet Patricia Webster in Liverpool, she was most famous for appearing on The Morecambe & Wise Show where she made anonymous appearances and came to be known as "the lady who comes down at the end", first appearing in a non-speaking part...

, Peter Cushing

Peter Cushing

Peter Wilton Cushing, OBE was an English actor, known for his many appearances in Hammer Films, in which he played the handsome but sinister scientist Baron Frankenstein and the vampire hunter Dr. Van Helsing, amongst many other roles, often appearing opposite Christopher Lee, and occasionally...

, Bobbie Gentry

Bobbie Gentry

Roberta Lee Streeter , professionally known as Bobbie Gentry, is a former American singer-songwriter notable as one of the first female country artists to compose and produce her own material...

, Vince Hill

Vince Hill

Vince Hill is an English traditional pop music singer, songwriter and record producer.-Biography:...

, Kenny Ball

Episode Two

Broadcast: 10 August 1969

Guests: Janet Webb, Trio Athenee, Malcolm Roberts

Malcolm Roberts

Malcolm Roberts was an English traditional pop music singer, who enjoyed three hit singles from 1967 to 1969 in the UK Singles Chart.-Career:...

, Kenny Ball

Episode Three

Broadcast: 24 August 1969

Guests: Juliet Mills, Moira Anderson

Moira Anderson

Moira Anderson, OBE is a Scottish singer.- Life and career :Following an education at Lenzie Academy, Anderson quickly established herself at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow before getting her big break in the media after a successful audition at the BBC.She landed her...

, The Pattersons

The Pattersons

The Pattersons were an Irish folk band from County Donegal during the 1960s and 1970s. Originally consisting of Billy, Ronnie, Christine and Dorothy, they became a trio in 1969 when Dorothy left...

, Kenny Ball, Janet Webb

Episode Four

Broadcast: 7 September 1969

Guests: Edward Woodward

Edward Woodward

Edward Albert Arthur Woodward, OBE was an English stage and screen actor and singer. After graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art , Woodward began his career on stage, and throughout his career he appeared in productions in both the West End in London and on Broadway in New York...

, Kenneth McKellar

Kenneth McKellar (singer)

Kenneth McKellar was a Scottish tenor.-Career:McKellar studied forestry at the University of Aberdeen, after graduation working for the Scottish Forestry Commission. He later trained at the Royal College of Music as an opera singer...

, The Pattersons, Kenny Ball, Janet Webb

Christmas Show 1969

This was the first of several highly successful festive editions made by the BBC and is available in its entirety in the archives but strangely was not included on the DVD release of the complete second series, although this did feature the remaining footage from the first series. This edition is less frequently repeated than the later shows, a fact that has been attributed to its lack of "big" guest stars. Although all the guests were high profile at the time, they have since become less prominent in the public eye.

Broadcast: 25 December 1969

Guests: Frankie Vaughan

Frankie Vaughan

Frankie Vaughan, CBE, DL was an English singer of traditional pop music, who issued more than 80 recordings in his lifetime. He was known as "Mr. Moonlight" after one of his early hits.-Life and career:...

, Nina, The Pattersons, Fenella Fielding

Fenella Fielding

Fenella Fielding — "England's first lady of the double entendre" — is an English actress, popular in the 1950s and 1960s. She is known for her seductive image and distinctively husky voice.-Family:...

, Sacha Distel

Sacha Distel

Sacha Distel was a French singer and guitarist who had hits with a cover version of the Academy Award-winning "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head" , "Scoubidou", and "The Good Life". He was born in Paris.-Career:Sacha Distel, born Alexandre Distel, was a son of Russian White émigré Leonid Distel...

Series Three (1970)

The third season saw the characters settle into place even more, with regular appearances from Kenny Ball and, of course, Janet Webb as well as the expansion of plays to close each show. Also of note is the guest appearance of Eddie Braben

Eddie Braben

himself in episode five and the special edition which was screened as episode six but was, in fact, the BBC's entry into the Golden Rose Of Montreaux

Rose d'Or

The Rose d’Or is one of the most important international festivals in entertainment television. It was founded in Montreux in 1961 and has taken place in Lucerne since 2004. Producers, executives from independent and public service broadcasters and heads of production companies from over 40...

competition that year and was specially made for this purpose. The production values on this particular show are notably high. This complete season was released on DVD in 2007.

Episode One

Broadcast: 14 January 1970

Guests: Herman's Hermits

Herman's Hermits

Herman's Hermits are an English beat band, formed in Manchester in 1963 as Herman & The Hermits. The group's record producer, Mickie Most , emphasized a simple, non-threatening, clean-cut image, although the band originally played R&B numbers...

, The Pattersons

The Pattersons

The Pattersons were an Irish folk band from County Donegal during the 1960s and 1970s. Originally consisting of Billy, Ronnie, Christine and Dorothy, they became a trio in 1969 when Dorothy left...

, Kenny Ball & His Jazzmen, Ann Hamilton

Ann Hamilton (British actress)

Ann Hamilton is an English actress.Hamilton is known for her appearances on both incarnations of the Morecambe & Wise Show .-External links:*...

, Robert Webber

Robert Webber

Robert L. Webber was an American actor who starred as Juror #12 in the 1957 film 12 Angry Men.Webber was born in Santa Ana, California, the son of Alice and Robert Webber, who was a merchant seaman. He was a U.S. Marine during World War II serving on Guam and Okinawa...

, Janet Webb, Jenny Lee-Wright

Jenny Lee-Wright

Jenny Lee-Wright is a British actress and dancer who later became a Foley artist.At age 16, she left school to train with the Ballet Rambert. Within a year, she became part of a French cabaret group that travelled the world...

Episode Two

Broadcast: 28 January 1970

Guests: Ian Carmichael

Ian Carmichael

Ian Gillett Carmichael, OBE was an English film, stage, television and radio actor.-Early life:Carmichael was born in Hull, in the East Riding of Yorkshire. The son of an optician, he was educated at Scarborough College and Bromsgrove School, before training as an actor at RADA...

, Nina, The Pattersons, Kenny Ball & His Jazzmen, Ann Hamilton, Janet Webb

Episode Three

Broadcast: 11 February 1970

Guests: Fenella Fielding

Fenella Fielding

, Sacha Distel

Sacha Distel

, The Pattersons, Kenny Ball & His Jazzmen, Ann Hamilton, Janet Webb, Alan Curtis

Alan Curtis (British actor)

-Background:He was born in Coulsdon, Surrey and he has led a long career in the cinema, television and theatre.He has also acted for the MCC as an announcer at Lord's Cricket Ground.Alan now lives in West London.-Cinema appearances:...

, Rex Rashley

Rex Rashley

Rex Rashley was a British character actor who appeared regularly on The Morecambe & Wise Show often dressed in familiar stars' attire as part of a joke. For instance, he appeared in cowboy hat, spurs and sheriff's star on stage, with Morecambe advising Wise that he was "John Wayne's Son" - the...

, Diane Keen

Diane Keen

Diane Keen is an English actress.Keen is possibly best known for her starring roles in the British TV drama Doctors which she has been in since 2003 , and in the 1970s comedy series The Cuckoo Waltz and Rings on Their Fingers.-Personal life:Keen has one daughter, actress Melissa Greenwood, from...

Episode Four

Broadcast: 11 March 1970

Guests: Diane Cilento

Diane Cilento

Diane Cilento was an Australian theatre and film actress and author.-Biography:Cilento's parents, Sir Raphael Cilento and Lady Phyllis Cilento, were both distinguished medical practitioners....

, Vince Hill

Vince Hill

Vince Hill is an English traditional pop music singer, songwriter and record producer.-Biography:...

, The Pattersons, Kenny Ball & His Jazzmen, Deryck Guyler

Deryck Guyler

Deryck Guyler was an English actor, best known for his portrayal of officious, short-tempered middle-aged men in sitcoms such as Please Sir! and Sykes.-Early life:...

, Frank Thornton

Frank Thornton

Frank Thornton is an English actor who is best known for playing Captain Peacock in Are You Being Served? and its sequel Grace & Favour and as Truly in Last of the Summer Wine.-Early life:...

, Janet Webb

Episode Five

Broadcast: 25 March 1970

Guests: Edward Chapman

Edward Chapman (actor)

Edward Chapman was an English actor who starred in many films and television programmes, but is chiefly remembered as "Mr. Wilfred Grimsdale", the officious superior and comic foil to Norman Wisdom's character of Pitkin in many of his films from the late 1950s and 1960s.Chapman was born in...

, Clodagh Rodgers

Clodagh Rodgers

Clodagh Rodgers is a singer and actress from Northern Ireland, best known for her hit single, "Jack in the Box".-Career:...

, The Pattersons, Kenny Ball & His Jazzmen, Ann Hamilton, Janet Webb, Alan Curtis, Eddie Braben

Eddie Braben

, Leslie Murphy

Episode Six

Broadcast: 8 April 1970 "Montreux Edition"

Guests: Nina

Episode Seven

Broadcast: 22 April 1970

Guests: Richard Greene

Richard Greene

Richard Marius Joseph Greene was a noted English film and television actor. A matinee idol who appeared in more than 40 films, he was perhaps best known for the lead role in the long-running British TV series The Adventures of Robin Hood, which ran for 143 episodes from 1955 to 1960.It has been...

, Nana Mouskouri

Nana Mouskouri

Nana Mouskouri , born Ioánna Moúschouri on October 13, 1934, in Chania, Crete, Greece, is a Greek singer who has sold about 300 million records worldwide in a career spanning over five decades, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time. She was known as Nána to her friends and...

& The Athenians, The Pattersons, Kenny Ball & His Jazzmen, Ann Hamilton, Rex Rashley, Janet Webb

Series Four (1970)

Owing to their ever-growing popularity, this was the second series to be produced in 1970 and was in production as the previous series was on air. Whilst still featuring Janet Webb as "the lady who comes down at the end" (now an expanded speaking role), this series was notable for the introduction of the largely silent "Monk Sketches" that became a weekly feature. By this time, long-term collaborator Ann Hamilton

Ann Hamilton (British actress)

Ann Hamilton is an English actress.Hamilton is known for her appearances on both incarnations of the Morecambe & Wise Show .-External links:*...

who would go on to provide her services for the remainder of the boys careers, was fully on board and featured in many of their sketches. Series four was released on DVD in April 2008 but only features the first five episodes of this series - the sixth episode, made to herald a repeat run on BBC1, no longer exists.

Episode One

Broadcast: 1 July 1970

Guests: Janet Webb, Kenny Ball, Eric Porter

Eric Porter

Eric Richard Porter was an English actor of stage, film and television.-Early life:Porter was born in Shepherd's Bush, London, to Richard John Porter and Phoebe Elizabeth Spall...

, Jan Daley, Trio Athenee, Michael Ward

Michael Ward (actor)

Michael Ward was an English character actor who appeared in nearly eighty films between 1947 and 1978.-Early life:...

Episode Two

Broadcast: 15 July 1970

Guests: Janet Webb, Kenny Ball, George A. Cooper

George A. Cooper

George A. Cooper is an English actor.One of his best-known roles was as the caretaker Mr. Griffiths in the long-running children's TV series Grange Hill...

, Kenneth McKellar

Kenneth McKellar (singer)

, Samantha Jones

Samantha Jones (singer)

-External links:*...

, Margery Mason

Margery Mason

Margery E. Mason is an English actress and director. She was the Artistic Director of the Repertory Theatre in Bangor, Northern Ireland in the 1960s....

, Jenny Lee-Wright

Jenny Lee-Wright

, Rex Rashley

Rex Rashley

Episode Three

Broadcast: 29 July 1970

Guests: Nina, Craig Douglas

Craig Douglas

Craig Douglas is an English pop singer, who was popular in the late 1950s and early 1960s...

, Kenny Ball & His Jazzmen, Ann Hamilton

Ann Hamilton (British actress)

Ann Hamilton is an English actress.Hamilton is known for her appearances on both incarnations of the Morecambe & Wise Show .-External links:*...

, Jenny Lee-Wright

Jenny Lee-Wright

, Thelma Bignell, Lillian Padmore, Melita Clarke, Penny Beeching, Janet Webb

Episode Four

Broadcast: 12 August 1970

Guests: Fenella Fielding

Fenella Fielding

, Ray Stevens

Ray Stevens

Ray Stevens is an American country music, pop singer-songwriter who has become known for his novelty songs.-Early career:...

, Sylvia McNeil, Kenny Ball & His Jazzmen, Ann Hamilton, Janet Webb, Frank Tregar, Leslie Noyes

Episode Five

Broadcast: 26 August 1970

Guests: Barbara Murray

Barbara Murray

Barbara Ann Murray is an English actress. She was married to the actor John Justin and had three daughters, but they divorced in 1964....

, Dusty Springfield

Dusty Springfield

Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'BrienSources use both Isabel and Isobel as the spelling of her second name. OBE , known professionally as Dusty Springfield and dubbed The White Queen of Soul, was a British pop singer whose career extended from the late 1950s to the 1990s...

, Michael Redgrave

Michael Redgrave

Sir Michael Scudamore Redgrave, CBE was an English stage and film actor, director, manager and author.-Youth and education:...

, Flora Robson

Flora Robson

Dame Flora McKenzie Robson DBE was an English actress, renowned as a character actress, who played roles ranging from queens to villainesses.-Early life:...

, Felix Aylmer

Felix Aylmer

Sir Felix Edward Aylmer Jones, OBE was an English stage actor who also appeared in the cinema and on television.-Early life and career:...

, Robin Day

Robin Day

Sir Robin Day, OBE was a British political broadcaster and commentator. His obituary in the Guardian stated that "he was the most outstanding television journalist of his generation...

, Kenny Ball & His Jazzmen, Bruce & Peter Davis, Ann Hamilton, Alan Curtis

Alan Curtis (British actor)

, Janet Webb, Penelope Beeching

Episode Six

Broadcast: 8 October 1970

Guests: Janet Webb, Kenny Ball, Paul Anka

Paul Anka

Paul Albert Anka, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and actor.Anka first became famous as a teen idol in the late 1950s and 1960s with hit songs like "Diana'", "Lonely Boy", and "Put Your Head on My Shoulder"...

, Patricia Lambert

The programme was screened some three months after the first five episodes of the series, as a new production to introduce a run of repeats. This episode no longer exists, as information provided by the BBC to website www.lostshows.com proved.

Christmas Show 1970

The second seasonal offering saw the return of recurring guest star Peter Cushing who still hadn't been paid (a joke that was to continue well into their Thames Television

Thames Television

Thames Television was a licensee of the British ITV television network, covering London and parts of the surrounding counties on weekdays from 30 July 1968 until 31 December 1992....

days); also starring was William Franklyn who, at the time, fronted an advertising campaign for Schweppes tonic water with his "Shhh, You Know Who..." tagline. Much comedy was drawn from this, especially in light of the fact that the BBC was forbidden to advertise products. He appears in one of the duo's legendary plays at the end of the show in which the Three Musketeers are parodied. Well-known actor Edward Woodward also sang The Way You Look Tonight
The Way You Look Tonight
"The Way You Look Tonight" is a song featured in the film Swing Time, originally performed by Fred Astaire. It won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1936. The song was sung to Ginger Rogers as Penelope "Penny" Carroll by Astaire's character of John "Lucky" Garnett while Penny was busy...

rather than appearing within a sketch has he had done in previous appearances.

Broadcast: 25 December 1970

Guests: Peter Cushing

Peter Cushing

, William Franklyn

William Franklyn

William Leo Franklyn was a British actor, perhaps best known for voicing the "Schhh... You Know Who" adverts for Schweppes from 1965 to 1973...

, Nina, Eric Porter

Eric Porter

Eric Richard Porter was an English actor of stage, film and television.-Early life:Porter was born in Shepherd's Bush, London, to Richard John Porter and Phoebe Elizabeth Spall...

, Edward Woodward

Edward Woodward

, Kenny Ball & His Jazzmen, Ann Hamilton, Alan Curtis, Rex Rashley, George Day

George Day

George Day may refer to:*George Day , Bishop of Chichester, 1543–1551, and vice-chancellor of the University of Cambridge in 1537*George S. Day, marketing specialist in the 1970s...

, John Higgins

John Higgins

John Higgins MBE is a Scottish professional snooker player and the reigning World Champion. With four world titles in all he is fourth overall in the modern era, behind Stephen Hendry , Steve Davis and Ray Reardon...

, Clinton Morris, Janet Webb

Series Five (1971)

The plays what Ern wrote were now well into their stride and from series five were given their own spoof opening credits, recalled by many fans and regularly parodied to this day; the monk sketches continued and guest stars such as Flora Robson, Arthur Lowe and Ian Carmichael lined up to appear in the plays that closed many of the shows. In common with the previous year, 1971 saw two series of the show being produced, with the second being made at the time the first was screened. Series 5 was released on DVD in May 2009.

Episode One

Broadcast: 8 April 1971

Guests: Flora Robson

Flora Robson

Dame Flora McKenzie Robson DBE was an English actress, renowned as a character actress, who played roles ranging from queens to villainesses.-Early life:...

, Esther Ofarim, Kenny Ball & His Jazzmen, Peter & Alex, Ann Hamilton

Ann Hamilton (British actress)

Ann Hamilton is an English actress.Hamilton is known for her appearances on both incarnations of the Morecambe & Wise Show .-External links:*...

, Alan Curtis, David March, Janet Webb

Episode Two

Broadcast: 22 April 1971

Guests: Arthur Lowe

Arthur Lowe

Arthur Lowe was a BAFTA Award winning English actor. He was best known for playing Captain George Mainwaring in the popular British sitcom Dad's Army from 1968 until 1977.-Early life:...

, Susan Maughan

Susan Maughan

Susan Maughan is an English singer who released successful singles in the 1960s.-Career:...

, Robert Young

Robert Young (actor)

Robert George Young was an American television, film, and radio actor, best known for his leading roles as Jim Anderson, the father of Father Knows Best and as physician Marcus Welby in Marcus Welby, M.D. .-Early life:Born in Chicago, Illinois, Young was the son of an Irish immigrant father...

, Kenny Ball & His Jazzmen, Ann Hamilton, Frank Tregar, Rex Rashley

Rex Rashley

, Janet Webb, John Le Mesurier

John Le Mesurier

John Le Mesurier was a BAFTA Award-winning English actor. He is most famous for his role as Sergeant Arthur Wilson in the popular 1970s BBC comedy Dad's Army.-Career:...

, John Laurie

John Laurie

John Paton Laurie was a British actor born in Dumfries, Scotland. Although he is now probably most recognised for his role as Private James Frazer in the sitcom Dad's Army , he appeared in hundreds of feature films, including films by Alfred Hitchcock, Michael Powell and Laurence Olivier...

, James Beck

James Beck

Stanley James Carroll Beck was a British actor best remembered for his role as Private Joe Walker, the cockney spiv in the popular BBC sitcom Dad's Army. The cast was mainly composed of older actors, but Beck was one of the younger members.-Early life:Beck was born in Islington, North London and...

, Ian Lavender

Ian Lavender

Arthur Ian Lavender , better known as Ian Lavender, is an English stage, film and television actor, best known for his role as Private Frank Pike in the BBC comedy series Dad's Army.-Early life and career:...

, Arnold Ridley

Arnold Ridley

Major William Arnold Ridley, OBE was an English playwright and actor, first notable as the author of the play The Ghost Train and later in life for portraying the elderly Private Charles Godfrey in the popular British sitcom Dad's Army .-Early life:Ridley was born in Walcot, Bath, England where...

Episode Three

Broadcast: 6 May 1971

Guests: Frank Ifield

Frank Ifield

Francis Edward Ifield is an early Australian-English easy listening and country music singer. He achieved considerable success in the early 1960s, especially in the UK Singles Chart, where he had four Number 1 hits between 1962 and 1963....

, The Settlers

The Settlers (band)

The Settlers were a folk-oriented group from the English West Midlands , who formed in the mid 1960s. They started out as a trio comprising Cindy Kent , Mike Jones and John Fyffe , but added a bassist, Mansel Davies.-Formation...

, Kenny Ball & His Jazzmen, Richard Caldicot

Richard Caldicot

Richard Caldicot was a British actor famed for his role of Commander Povey in the BBC radio series The Navy Lark. He also appeared often on television, memorably as the obstetrician delivering Betty Spencer's baby in Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em.His father was a civil servant and he attended Dulwich...

, Michael Ward

Michael Ward (actor)

Michael Ward was an English character actor who appeared in nearly eighty films between 1947 and 1978.-Early life:...

, Gordon Clyde, Ann Hamilton, Grazina Frame, Brychan Powell, Janet Webb

Episode Four

Broadcast: 20 May 1971

Guests: Jack Jones

Jack Jones (singer)

John Allan "Jack" Jones is an American jazz and pop singer. He was one of the most popular vocalists of the 1960s.-Overview:...

, Sheila Southern, Kenny Ball & His Jazzmen, Ann Hamilton, Gordon Clyde, Rex Rashley, Grazina Frame, Frank Tregar, Lillian Padmore, Michael Mulcaster, Stanley Mason, Janet Webb

Episode Five

Broadcast: 3 June 1971

Guests: Glenda Jackson

Glenda Jackson

Glenda May Jackson, CBE is a British Labour Party politician and former actress. She has been a Member of Parliament since 1992, and currently represents Hampstead and Kilburn. She previously served as MP for Hampstead and Highgate...

, Mary Hopkin

Mary Hopkin

Mary Hopkin , credited on some recordings as Mary Visconti, is a Welsh folk singer best known for her 1968 UK number one single "Those Were The Days". She was one of the first musicians to sign to The Beatles' Apple label....

, Ronnie Hilton

Ronnie Hilton

Ronnie Hilton was an English singer and radio presenter. According to his obituary in The Guardian newspaper, "Hilton was one of those 1950s vocalists whose career coincided with rock and roll's 1956 onslaught on the ballad dominated hit parade...

, Ann Hamilton, Janet Webb

Episode Six

Broadcast: 17 June 1971

Guests: Ian Carmichael

Ian Carmichael

, Matt Monro

Matt Monro

Matt Monro was an English singer who became one of the most popular entertainers on the international music scene during the 1960s...

, Kiki Dee

Kiki Dee

Kiki Dee is an English singer with a career spanning more than 40 years....

, Peter & Alex, Ann Hamilton, Charles Rayford, Melanie Fraser, Janet Webb

Episode Seven

Broadcast: 15 July 1971

Guests: Trio Athenee, Design

Design (UK band)

Design was a British vocal group of the early 1970s and its members were Barry Alexander, Gabrielle Field, Kathy Manuell, Jeff Matthews, John Mulcahy-Morgan and Geoff Ramseyer. Their musical style has been described as folk rock 'with intricate and appealing harmonies and an interesting psychedelic...

, Kenny Ball & His Jazzmen, Ann Hamilton, Rex Rashley, Gerald Case

Gerald Case

-Selected filmography:* Museum Mystery * The Lion Has Wings * In Which We Serve * Jean's Plan * Night Boat to Dublin * Horrors of the Black Museum * Vampyres * The Elephant Man...

, Janet Webb

Series Six (1971)

The second of the 1971 series was to feature further classic sketches such as Tom Jones's rendition of Exactly Like You with Eric and Ernie as backing singers; respected actor John Mills in the prisoner of war play, with Eric advising him "and we've got your Mother on too" referring to the popular pianist of the period Mrs. Mills who also appeared that week; Keith Michell in the French Foreign Legion sketch; and Francis Matthews appearing in the House of Terror. This series also marked the last regular appearances of Janet Webb; although she would make return appearances later, she ceased to close the show. Series 6 was released on DVD in August 2009.

Episode One

Broadcast: 19 September 1971

Guests: Francis Matthews

Francis Matthews (actor)

-Early life:Matthews attended St Michael's Jesuit College, Leeds and started his acting career with Leeds repertory theatre before service in the Royal Navy.-Career:...

, Anita Harris

Anita Harris

Anita Harris is an English actress, singer and entertainer....

, Robert Young

Robert Young (actor)

, Kenny Ball & His Jazzmen, Ann Hamilton

Ann Hamilton (British actress)

Ann Hamilton is an English actress.Hamilton is known for her appearances on both incarnations of the Morecambe & Wise Show .-External links:*...

, A.J. Brown, Bert Palmer, Ann Way

Ann Way

Ann Way was an English character actress in film and television. Born in Wiveliscombe, she began her career in repertory in Dundee in the 1960s....

, Janet Webb

Episode Two

Broadcast: 26 September 1971

Guests: Keith Michell

Keith Michell

Keith Michell is an Australian actor, particularly noted for his television and film performances as King Henry VIII of England.- Early life :He was born in Adelaide and brought up in Warnertown, near Port Pirie...

, Design

Design (UK band)

, Kenny Ball & His Jazzmen, Angie Grant, Janet Webb

Episode Three

Broadcast: 3 October 1971

Guests: Janet Webb, Kenny Ball, Cilla Black

Cilla Black

Cilla Black OBE is an English singer, actress, entertainer and media personality, who has been consistently popular as a light entertainment figure since 1963. She is most famous for her singles Anyone Who Had A Heart, You're My World, and Alfie...

, Ronnie Carroll, Percy Thrower

Percy Thrower

Percy John Thrower MBE was a British gardener, horticulturist, broadcaster and writer born at Horwood House in the village of Little Horwood in Buckinghamshire....

Episode Four

Broadcast: 10 October 1971

Guests: John Mills

John Mills

Sir John Mills CBE , born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills, was an English actor who made more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades.-Life and career:...

, Mrs Mills

Mrs Mills

Gladys Mills, née Gladys Jordan , better known as Mrs Mills, was a British popular pianist who was active in the 1960s and who released many records...

, Trio Athenee, Kenny Ball & His Jazzmen, Arnold Diamond, Tony Melody

Tony Melody

Anthony John "Tony" Melody was an English television actor who appeared in a number of long running comedies and soap operas. He was a prolific character actor with over 100 television roles.-Early life:...

, Janet Webb

Episode Five

Broadcast: 17 October 1971

Guests: Nina, The Pattersons

The Pattersons

The Pattersons were an Irish folk band from County Donegal during the 1960s and 1970s. Originally consisting of Billy, Ronnie, Christine and Dorothy, they became a trio in 1969 when Dorothy left...

, Kenny Ball & His Jazzmen, Ann Hamilton, Frank Tregar, John Scott Martin

John Scott Martin

John Scott Martin was an English actor born in Toxteth, Liverpool. He made many film, stage and television appearances, but one of his most famous, though unseen, roles was as a Dalek operator in the long-running BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who.Martin operated Daleks from 1965's...

, Christine Shaw, Jennifer Watts, Janet Webb

Episode Six

Broadcast: 31 October 1971

Guests: Janet Webb, Kenny Ball, Tom Jones

Tom Jones (singer)

Sir Thomas John Woodward, OBE , known by his stage name Tom Jones, is a Welsh singer.Since the mid 1960s, Jones has sung many styles of popular music – pop, rock, R&B, show tunes, country, dance, techno, soul and gospel – and sold over 100 million records...

, Design

Design (UK band)

Christmas Show 1971

Considered by many to be their finest hour, the festive edition for 1971 contains several all-time classics such as Shirley Bassey singing Smoke Gets in Your Eyes
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes
"Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" is a show tune written by American composer Jerome Kern and lyricist Otto Harbach for their 1933 operetta Roberta. It was originally recorded by Gertrude Niesen, on 13 October 1933 on the Victor label 24454. It was performed by Irene Dunne for the 1935 film adaptation,...

whilst the boys re-arrange the scenery, with Bassey memorably ending with Eric's boots on, the Hollywood Melody with Glenda Jackson and the BBC newsreaders and, of course, André Previn conducting Eric's rendition of Greig's Piano Concerto

Piano Concerto (Grieg)

The Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16, composed by Edvard Grieg in 1868, was the only concerto Grieg completed. It is one of his most popular works and among the most popular of all piano concerti.-Structure :The concerto is in three movements:...

(by Grieg!). The BBC's other headlining star Dick Emery also makes a brief but memorable cameo appearance in the opening spot of the show. Bassey also sang Diamonds Are Forever which of course had been the titular song

Diamonds Are Forever (film)

Diamonds Are Forever is the seventh spy film in the Eon Productions James Bond series, and the sixth and final Eon Productions film to star Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The film is based on Ian Fleming's 1956 novel of the same name, and is the second of four James Bond films...

to the James Bond

James Bond

James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...

film of the same years' release.

Broadcast: 25 December 1971

Guests: Shirley Bassey

Shirley Bassey

Dame Shirley Bassey, DBE , is a Welsh singer. She found fame in the late 1950s and was "one of the most popular female vocalists in Britain during the last half of the 20th century"...

, Glenda Jackson

Glenda Jackson

, André Previn

André Previn

André George Previn, KBE is an American pianist, conductor, and composer. He is considered one of the most versatile musicians in the world, and is the winner of four Academy Awards for his film work and ten Grammy Awards for his recordings. -Early Life:Previn was born in...

, Francis Matthews

Francis Matthews (actor)

-Early life:Matthews attended St Michael's Jesuit College, Leeds and started his acting career with Leeds repertory theatre before service in the Royal Navy.-Career:...

, Dick Emery

Dick Emery

Richard Gilbert "Dick" Emery was an English comedian and actor. Beginning on radio in the 1950s, an eponymous television series ran from 1963 to 1981. He was the brother of Ann Emery.-Life and career:...

, Frank Bough

Frank Bough

Frank Bough is a retired British television presenter who is best known as the former host of BBC sports and current affairs shows including Grandstand, Nationwide and Breakfast Time, which he fronted alongside Selina Scott.-Early life:...

, Robert Dougall

Robert Dougall

Robert Dougall MBE was a British broadcaster and ornithologist, mainly known as a newsreader and announcer.-Television news:...

, Cliff Michelmore

Cliff Michelmore

Arthur Clifford "Cliff" Michelmore CBE is a British television presenter and producer. He is best known for the BBC television programme Tonight, which he presented from 1957 to 1965....

, Patrick Moore

Patrick Moore

Sir Patrick Alfred Caldwell-Moore, CBE, FRS, FRAS is a British amateur astronomer who has attained prominent status in astronomy as a writer, researcher, radio commentator and television presenter of the subject, and who is credited as having done more than any other person to raise the profile of...

, Michael Parkinson

Michael Parkinson

Sir Michael Parkinson, CBE is an English broadcaster, journalist and author. He presented his interview programme, Parkinson, from 1971 to 1982 and from 1998 to 2007.- Early life :...

, Eddie Waring

Eddie Waring

Edward Marsden "Eddie" Waring was a British rugby league football coach, commentator and television presenter....

Christmas Show 1972

No series was produced in 1972 with the duo concentrating on a high-quality spectacular for Christmas Night, by this time their show had become a staple part of festive viewing and the pressure was on to deliver the goods. Braben had suffered a breakdown and was not producing material for some time, but they bounced back with another successful show. This show is a curious mix, showing that the by now established formula worked. For instance, the ridiculing of a guest singer by providing backing vocals and/or dancers is featured twice here, once with Vera Lynn and once with Jack Jones in what are basically similar routines. Also, there are two "plays", one with Pete Murray in the Great War epic Dawn Patrol
The Dawn Patrol (1938 film)
The Dawn Patrol is a 1938 American war film, a remake of the pre-Code 1930 film of the same name. Both were based on the short story "The Flight Commander" by John Monk Saunders, an American writer said to have been haunted by his inability to get into combat as a flyer with the U.S...

and of course, the Prince Albert spoof at the conclusion of the show. Several guests from previous shows returned, as well as Vera Lynn singing Pass Me By with Eric and Ernie as backing, and Kenny Ball joining in the fun with the Cabaret finale to the Victoria & Albert play with Glenda Jackson.

Broadcast: 25 December 1972

Guests: Glenda Jackson

Glenda Jackson

, Jack Jones

Jack Jones (singer)

John Allan "Jack" Jones is an American jazz and pop singer. He was one of the most popular vocalists of the 1960s.-Overview:...

, Vera Lynn

Vera Lynn

Dame Vera Lynn, DBE is an English singer-songwriter and actress whose musical recordings and performances were enormously popular during World War II. During the war she toured Egypt, India and Burma, giving outdoor concerts for the troops...

, Pete Murray, Ian Carmichael

Ian Carmichael

, Fenella Fielding

Fenella Fielding

, Eric Porter

Eric Porter

Eric Richard Porter was an English actor of stage, film and television.-Early life:Porter was born in Shepherd's Bush, London, to Richard John Porter and Phoebe Elizabeth Spall...

, André Previn

André Previn

, Flora Robson

Flora Robson

Dame Flora McKenzie Robson DBE was an English actress, renowned as a character actress, who played roles ranging from queens to villainesses.-Early life:...

, Kenny Ball and his Jazz Men.

Series Seven (1973)

The opening credits heralded a colourful rainbow of entertainment for the pair's return to regular shows, and 1973 saw a bumper twelve episode series with many memorable plays such as The Curse Of Tutankhamen with Robert Morley, The Mighty Kong with Susan Hampshire and the riotous health food shop sketch with Frank Williams, best known as the Reverend Timothy Farthing on Dad's Army. The series opened with Cliff Richard joining in for The Fleets' In Town after some persuasion! Series 7 was released in May 2010.

Episode One

Broadcast: 5 January 1973

Guests: Cliff Richard

Cliff Richard

Sir Cliff Richard, OBE is a British pop singer, musician, performer, actor, and philanthropist who has sold over an estimated 250 million records worldwide....

, Vicki Carr

The series opened with a visit from pop star Cliff Richard to the pair's fictional flat, interrupting Eric's painting of his model Spitfire; whilst Ernie tries valiantly to be "hip" and "with it" sporting a terrible purple-flared trouser suit and red kaftan, the scene concludes with the three appearing as sailors for one of their most memorable routines based on The Fleet's In Town ending with Morecambe stepping off the ship and notable for the Playschool parody mid-way through.

Episode Two

Broadcast: 12 January 1973

Guests: Robert Morley

Robert Morley

Robert Adolph Wilton Morley, CBE was an English actor who, often in supporting roles, was usually cast as a pompous English gentleman representing the Establishment...

, Vicky Leandros

Vicky Leandros

Vicky Leandros is a Greek singer with a long international career. She is the daughter of singer, musician and composer Leandros Papathanasiou...

, New World

New World (band)

New World was an Australian pop group that existed from the mid 1960s to the late 1970s. They are best known for their Top 10 hit single, "Tom-Tom Turnaround", which was released in 1971...

, Ann Hamilton

Ann Hamilton (British actress)

Ann Hamilton is an English actress.Hamilton is known for her appearances on both incarnations of the Morecambe & Wise Show .-External links:*...

, Reg Lye, Janet Webb

Respected thespian Robert Morley appears in The Curse Of Tutankhamen in which it is discovered that the mighty king took some unusual items to his grave including a fan belt and a packet of salt and vinegar crisps! It is also revealed that his had a sister (Tutantesi, a parody on Two-Ton Tessie

Tessie O'Shea

Teresa Mary "Tessie" O'Shea was a Welsh entertainer and actress.Born in Cardiff to Nellie Theresa and James Peter O'Shea, a soldier who was the son of Irish emigrants, Tessie was reared in the British music hall tradition, appearing on stage as "The Wonder of Wales" as early as the age of six...

) who is revealed to still be alive and played by none other than Janet Webb otherwise known as the lady who comes down at the end.

Episode Three

Broadcast: 19 January 1973

Guests: Lulu

Lulu (singer)

Lulu Kennedy-Cairns, OBE , best known by her stage name Lulu, is a Scottish singer, actress, and television personality who has been successful in the entertainment business from the 1960s through to the present day...

, Rostal & Schaefer, Percy Edwards

Percy Edwards

Percy Edwards MBE , was an English animal impersonator, ornithologist, and entertainer.-Biography:...

, Allan Cuthbertson

Allan Cuthbertson

Allan Cuthbertson was a naturalised Anglo-Australian actor.-Early life:Born Allan Darling Cuthbertson in Perth, Western Australia, son of Ernest and Isobel Ferguson Cuthbertson, he performed on stage and radio from an early age.During World War II, he served as a Flight Lieutenant with the RAAF...

, Damaris Hayman

Damaris Hayman

Damaris Hayman is an actress best known for character roles on television. She was educated at Cheltenham Ladies' College....

, Les Rawlings, Johnny Shannon, Henry Cooper

Henry Cooper (boxer)

Sir Henry Cooper OBE KSG was an English heavyweight boxer known for the effectiveness of his left hook, "Enry's 'Ammer", and his knockdown of the young Muhammad Ali...

Episode Four

Broadcast: 26 January 1973

Guests: Susan Hampshire

Susan Hampshire

Susan Hampshire, Lady Kulukundis, OBE is an English actress, best-known for her many television and film roles.-Early life:Susan Hampshire was born in Kensington, London, the youngest of four children. She had two sisters and one brother...

, Georgie Fame

Georgie Fame

Georgie Fame is a British rhythm and blues and jazz singer and keyboard player. The one-time rock and roll tour musician, who had a string of 1960s hits, is still a popular performer, often working with contemporaries such as Van Morrison and Bill Wyman.-Early life:Fame took piano lessons from the...

& Alan Price

Alan Price

Alan Price is an English musician, best known as the original keyboardist for the English band The Animals, and for his subsequent solo work....

, The Settlers

The Settlers (band)

, Ann Hamilton, Janet Webb, Jenny Lee-Wright

Jenny Lee-Wright

, Percy Edwards

Percy Edwards

Percy Edwards MBE , was an English animal impersonator, ornithologist, and entertainer.-Biography:...

This show featured The Mighty Kong as the closing play and featured the actress Susan Hampshire as the love interest; the comedically crude special effects including a chimpanzee wreaking havoc on a terrible scale model city (complete with biplane on string!) is a memorable moment, and the blue-screened

Chroma key

Chroma key compositing is a technique for compositing two images together. A color range in the top layer is made transparent, revealing another image behind. The chroma keying technique is commonly used in video production and post-production...

apes at the back of the set are also one of their most fondly-recalled scenes. Fame & Price sang You Are My Sunshine
You Are My Sunshine
"You Are My Sunshine" is a popular song first recorded in 1939. It has been declared one of the state songs of Louisiana as a result of its association with former state governor and country music singer Jimmie Davis. The song is copyright 1940 Peer International Corporation, words and music by...

and the show closed in the familiar way, with Bring Me Sunshine and an appearance from the amply-proportioned lady who comes down at the end.

Episode Five

Broadcast: 2 February 1973

Guests: Frank Finlay

Frank Finlay

Francis Finlay, CBE is an English stage, film and television actor.-Personal life:Finlay was born in Farnworth, Lancashire, the son of Margaret and Josiah Finlay, a butcher. A devout Catholic, he belongs to the British Catholic Stage Guild. He was educated at St...

, Wilma Reading

Wilma Reading

Wilma Reading is a singer from Cairns, Queensland.Reading begun her singing career in 1959 after singing for friends in a Brisbane jazz club. She has performed on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, had a residency at New York's Copacabana nightclub, and toured with Duke Ellington...

, Design

Design (UK band)

, Ann Hamilton, Janet Webb, Maryetta Midgley

Maryetta Midgley

Maryetta Midgley is an English soprano.Maryetta was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, the daughter of the International Operatic tenor Walter Midgley and the pianist, Gladys Vernon. Her brother is the international tenor Vernon Midgley. She was educated at the Holy Cross Convent, New Malden, Surrey,...

, Vernon Midgley

Vernon Midgley

Vernon Midgley born 28 May 1940, is an English tenor.Vernon was born in Worcester Park, Surrey. His parents were the tenor Walter Midgley and the pianist Gladys Vernon...

Fresh from his appearance in the BBC's own adaptation of Casanova
Casanova (1971 TV serial)
Casanova is a British television drama serial, written by television playwright Dennis Potter. Directed by Mark Cullingham and John Glenister, the serial was made by the BBC and screened on the BBC2 network in November and December 1971. It is loosely based on Italian adventurer Giacomo Casanova's...

in which he played the title role, Frank Finlay appears in the play Lust Of London which centres around the main characters of Casanova and (of course!) Moveova with long-time collaborator Ann Hamilton providing the love interest. With music from Design and Wilma Reading who sang I Don't Know How to Love Him
I Don't Know How to Love Him
"I Don't Know How to Love Him" is a song from the 1970 rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice , a torch ballad sung by the character of Mary Magdalene who in Jesus Christ Superstar is presented as bearing an unrequited love for the title character...

the show concluded with the usual appearance by the guest stars and Janet Webb.

Episode Six

Broadcast: 9 February 1973

Guests: Helen Reddy

Helen Reddy

Helen Reddy , often referred to as "The Queen of 70s Pop", is an Australian-American singer and actress. In the 1970s, she enjoyed international success, especially in the United States, where she placed fifteen singles in the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100. Six of those 15 songs made the Top 10...

, Alex Welsh & His Band

Alex Welsh

Alex Welsh was a Scottish jazz musician, who played the cornet, trumpet and sang.-Biography:Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, Welsh started playing in the teenage 'Leith Silver Band' and gigged with Archie Semple's 'Capital Jazz Band'. After moving to London in the early 1950s, Welsh formed his own band...

, Allan Cuthbertson

Allan Cuthbertson

, Frank Williams

Frank Williams (actor)

Frank Williams is an English actor.Williams was educated at Ardingly College. He starred in The Army Game and as the Vicar in Dad's Army. In 1970, he starred in the short-lived sitcom As Good Cooks Go...

, Michael Brennan

Michael Brennan (actor)

Michael Brennan was an English film and television actor.Born in London, Brennan was married to actress Mary Hignett. He appeared in such films as Nicholas Nickleby, Thunderball, The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders, Tom Jones, and The 39 Steps...

, Raymond Mason, Mike Yarwood

Mike Yarwood

Mike Yarwood, OBE is an English impressionist and comedian. He was one of Britain's top-rated entertainers, regularly appearing on television from the mid 1960s to the early 1980s. He left Bredbury Secondary Modern School in 1956 and worked as a messenger and then salesman at a garment warehouse...

(Voice only), Grazina Frame, Christine Shaw

Not all the shows concluded with a play What Ern Wrote and this is one notable case; instead there is a riotous scenario with Ernie deciding to get healthy, appearing at the flat with a large box of supposed health foods which were in vogue at the time. Eric fishes out a tin of "Sugar-Raspa" which of course turns out to be an asparagus tin upside down (!) before they both visit the associated shop, run by Frank Williams, at the time famous for playing the vicar in Dad's Army
Dad's Army
Dad's Army is a British sitcom about the Home Guard during the Second World War. It was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft and broadcast on BBC television between 1968 and 1977. The series ran for 9 series and 80 episodes in total, plus a radio series, a feature film and a stage show...

.

Episode Seven

Broadcast: 16 February 1973

Guests: Anita Harris

Anita Harris

Anita Harris is an English actress, singer and entertainer....

, Anthony Sharp

Anthony Sharp

Anthony Sharp was an English actor cast for roles on television and film principally from the 1950s onwards....

, Ann Hamilton, Reg Lye

This programme was the subject of a documentary made by the BBC's Omnibus
Omnibus (TV series)
Omnibus was an arts-based BBC television documentary series, broadcast on BBC1 in the United Kingdom. It ran from 1967 until 2003, usually being transmitted on Sunday evenings....

team entitled Fools Rush In which traced the production of a Morecambe & Wise show from its inception at the script read-through stage, through to the filming of the final product. It featured a scene set in 10 Downing Street which was closely followed in the documentary, with music from Anita Harris. The show was written by Eddie Braben, as was the majority of their output, and he is featured on the accompanying documentary being interviewed, as is producer John Ammonds

John Ammonds

John Ammonds MBE is a British television producer of light entertainment programmes. He produced shows in the 1960s and 1970s for such performers as Val Doonican, Lulu, Frankie Howerd, Marti Caine, Les Dawson, Harry Worth and Morecambe and Wise.Ammonds was appointed a Member of the Order of the...

among others.

Episode Eight

Broadcast: 23 February 1973

Guests: Wilma Reading, Springfield Revival, Allan Cuthbertson

Allan Cuthbertson

, Ann Hamilton, Jan Rossini

Episode Nine

Broadcast: 2 March 1973

Guests: Hannah Gordon

Hannah Gordon

Hannah Cambell Grant Gordon is a Scottish actress who is well known in the United Kingdom for her television work, including Upstairs, Downstairs, Telford's Change, My Wife Next Door, Joint Account and an appearance in the final episode of One Foot in the Grave.-Early life:Gordon was born in...

, Mary Travers

Mary Travers (singer)

Mary Allin Travers was an American singer-songwriter and member of the folk music group Peter, Paul and Mary, along with Peter Yarrow and Noel Stookey...

, Christopher Neil

Christopher Neil

Christopher Neil is a British record producer, songwriter, singer and actor.He has worked with Celine Dion, a-ha, Dollar, Paul Nicholas, Kim Criswell, Morten Harket, Mike + The Mechanics, Johnny Logan, Marillion, The Moody Blues, The Other Ones, Paul Carrack, Rod Stewart, Gerry Rafferty, Cher,...

, Anthony Sharp

Anthony Sharp

Anthony Sharp was an English actor cast for roles on television and film principally from the 1950s onwards....

, Raymond Mason, Christine Shaw, Hatti Riemer

Episode Ten

Broadcast: 9 March 1973

Guests: Roy Castle

Roy Castle

Roy Castle OBE was an English dancer, singer, comedian, actor, television presenter and musician. He attended Honley High School, where there is now a building in his name...

, Pete Murray, Anne Murray

Anne Murray

Morna Anne Murray CC, ONS is a Canadian singer in pop, country and adult contemporary styles whose albums have sold over 54 million copies....

, The Pattersons

The Pattersons

The Pattersons were an Irish folk band from County Donegal during the 1960s and 1970s. Originally consisting of Billy, Ronnie, Christine and Dorothy, they became a trio in 1969 when Dorothy left...

, Raymond Mason, Les Rawlings, Johnny Vyvyan, John East, Hugh Elton, Charles Finch, Eric French

Episode Eleven

Broadcast: 16 March 1973

Guests: Nana Mouskouri

Nana Mouskouri

, The Black & White Minstrels

The Black and White Minstrel Show

The Black and White Minstrel Show was a British light entertainment show that ran on BBC television from 1958-1978 and was a popular stage show. It was a weekly light entertainment and variety show presenting traditional American minstrel and Country songs, as well as show and music hall numbers,...

, Sooty

Sooty

Sooty is a British glove puppet bear and TV character popular in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and other countries. The children's television show which bears his name has continued in various forms since the 1950s and, according to the Guinness Book of Records, is the...

with Harry Corbett

Harry Corbett

Harry Corbett OBE was a British puppeteer, known as the creator in 1948 of the long running 'Sooty' glove puppet character.He was born in Bradford to coal miner James W...

, George Hamilton IV

George Hamilton IV

George Hege Hamilton IV is an American country musician. He began performing in the late 1950s as a teen idol, later switching to country music in the early 1960s.-Biography:Hamilton was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina...

, Grazina Frame, Constance Carling, Johnny Vyvyan

Episode Twelve

Broadcast: 23 March 1973

Guests: Peter Cushing

Peter Cushing

, Bernie Winters

Bernie Winters

Bernie Winters was an English comedian and the comic relief of the double act, Mike and Bernie Winters with his brother, Mike. He later performed solo, often with the aid of his St...

, Wilma Reading, Alan Price

Alan Price

Alan Price is an English musician, best known as the original keyboardist for the English band The Animals, and for his subsequent solo work....

, Georgie Fame

Georgie Fame

Christmas Show 1973

By this time, an established running gag was the fact that our intrepid duo could not get stars to work with them, and this show features four cameo appearances from Yehudi Menuhin, Rudolf Nureyev, Laurence Olivier and André Previn all making excuses not to appear. Perhaps the most memorable is Lord Olivier who pretends to be a Chinese Laundry attendant over the telephone! Vanessa Redgrave joins in the Latin American Extravaganza, and the Napoleon & Josephine play, with music (suitably interrupted!) by John Hanson. The other memorable scene from this show is Hannah Gordon's effort to sing the song The Windmills of Your Mind
The Windmills of Your Mind
"The Windmills of Your Mind" is a song performed by Noel Harrison, with music composed by Michel Legrand and English lyrics written by Alan Bergman and Marilyn Bergman, which was used as the theme for the 1968 film, The Thomas Crown Affair, starring Steve McQueen alongside and ultimately versus...

used in the film The Thomas Crown Affair
The Thomas Crown Affair (1968 film)
The Thomas Crown Affair is a 1968 film by Norman Jewison starring Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway. It was nominated for two Academy Awards and won the Award for Best Song with Michel Legrand's "Windmills of Your Mind"...

against a wind generator with "help"...

Broadcast: 25 December 1973

Guests: Vanessa Redgrave

Vanessa Redgrave

Vanessa Redgrave, CBE is an English actress of stage, screen and television, as well as a political activist.She rose to prominence in 1961 playing Rosalind in As You Like It with the Royal Shakespeare Company and has since made more than 35 appearances on London's West End and Broadway, winning...

, Hannah Gordon

Hannah Gordon

, John Hanson

John Hanson (singer)

John Hanson was a Canadian-born British tenor and actor, who starred in several West End musicals during the 1950s and 1960s....

, The New Seekers

The New Seekers

The New Seekers are a British-based pop group, formed in 1969 by Keith Potger after the break-up of his group, The Seekers. The idea was that the New Seekers would appeal to the same market as the original Seekers, but their music had rock as well as folk influences...

, Yehudi Menuhin

Yehudi Menuhin

Yehudi Menuhin, Baron Menuhin, OM, KBE was a Russian Jewish American violinist and conductor who spent most of his performing career in the United Kingdom. He was born to Russian Jewish parents in the United States, but became a citizen of Switzerland in 1970, and of the United Kingdom in 1985...

, Rudolf Nureyev

Rudolf Nureyev

Rudolf Khametovich Nureyev was a Russian dancer, considered one of the most celebrated ballet dancers of the 20th century. Nureyev's artistic skills explored expressive areas of the dance, providing a new role to the male ballet dancer who once served only as support to the women.In 1961 he...

, Laurence Olivier

Laurence Olivier

Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century. He married three times, to fellow actors Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright...

, André Previn

André Previn

Series Eight (1974)

Having been devoid of "the lady who comes down at the end" for some time, this series saw the introduction of Arthur Tolcher

Arthur Tolcher

Arthur Tolcher , born Arthur John Stone-Tolcher in Bloxwich, Staffordshire, England, was a virtuoso British harmonica player and child star who started his career in the British Music halls in the 1930s. He appeared at the London Palladium at 15 and was an early friend and colleague of Morecambe...

as the harmonica player who would interrupt sketches and routines at the most critical moment only to be told "Not Now, Arthur" inevitably by Morecambe who would then sidle off stage grinning. There was no Christmas show this year but a compilation show was presented by the BBC on Christmas Night instead. The stand-out moment of the series is David Dimbleby

David Dimbleby

David Dimbleby is a British BBC TV commentator and a presenter of current affairs and political programmes, most notably the BBC's flagship political show Question Time, and more recently, art, architectural history and history series...

's interview with the Salvation Army.

Episode One

Broadcast: 27 September 1974

Guests: André Previn

André Previn

in a sketch that sees him lured back to perform with the duo after the memorable performance in 1971 of Grieg's Piano Concerto, Magnús Magnússon

Magnus Magnusson

Magnus Magnusson KBE was a television presenter, journalist, translator and writer. He was born in Iceland but lived in Scotland for almost all of his life, although he never took British citizenship...

who referees the duo in an episode of Mastermind

Mastermind (TV series)

Mastermind is a British quiz show, well known for its challenging questions, intimidating setting and air of seriousness.Devised by Bill Wright, the basic format of Mastermind has never changed — four and in later contests five contestants face two rounds, one on a specialised subject of the...

, Wilma Reading, Mrs Mills

Mrs Mills

Gladys Mills, née Gladys Jordan , better known as Mrs Mills, was a British popular pianist who was active in the 1960s and who released many records...

, who appears as the "queen of the ivories" as part of the musical number, and Arthur Tolcher

Arthur Tolcher

Episode Two

Broadcast: 7 October 1974

Guests: Ludovic Kennedy

Ludovic Kennedy

Sir Ludovic Henry Coverley Kennedy was a British journalist, broadcaster, humanist and author best known for re-examining cases such as the Lindbergh kidnapping and the murder convictions of Timothy Evans and Derek Bentley, and for his role in the abolition of the death penalty in the United...

, Wilma Reading, Allan Cuthbertson

Allan Cuthbertson

, Gordon Gostelow

Gordon Gostelow

Gordon Gostelow was a New Zealand actor. He was educated in Australia at North Sydney Boys High School and Sydney University where he graduated in Economics....

, Anita Tibbles, Arthur Tolcher

Episode Three

Broadcast: 11 October 1974

Guests: The Syd Lawrence Orchestra

Syd Lawrence

Syd Lawrence , was a British bandleader from Chester, England, who became famous in the UK for his orchestra's Big Band sound, which drew on the 1940s style of music of Glenn Miller and Count Basie amongst others....

, Wilma Reading, Jo Rowbottom

Jo Rowbottom

Jo Rowbottom is a British character actress, best known for guest roles in numerous British TV series, and as James Beck's wife in Romany Jones.-Selected television credits:*Dixon of Dock Green*Z-Cars*The Baron*Mogul...

, Aimee Delamain, Grazina Frame, Roy Sampson, Arthur Tolcher. This episode has a fault on the master recording resulting in the film freezing whilst the sound remains; it was released on DVD in July 2010 in this format.

Episode Four

Broadcast: 18 October 1974

Guests: Richard Baker

Richard Baker (broadcaster)

Richard Baker OBE is a British broadcaster best known as a newsreader for the BBC News from 1954 to 1982. He was a contemporary of Kenneth Kendall and Robert Dougall and was the first person to read the BBC Television News in 1954. At one time he lived in Barnet, North London...

, Wilma Reading, A.J. Brown, Raymond Mason, Arthur Tolcher, Frank Finlay

Frank Finlay

, Susan Hampshire

Susan Hampshire

, Glenda Jackson

Glenda Jackson

, Francis Matthews

Francis Matthews (actor)

-Early life:Matthews attended St Michael's Jesuit College, Leeds and started his acting career with Leeds repertory theatre before service in the Royal Navy.-Career:...

Episode Five

Broadcast: 25 October 1974

Guests: Hughie Green

Hughie Green

Hughie Green was the host of numerous British television shows.-Early life:Hugh H. Green was born in London; his Scottish father was a former British Army Major who made his fortune supplying tinned fish to the Allied forces in World War I, while his mother Violet was the Surrey-born daughter of...

, David Dimbleby

David Dimbleby

, Arthur Tolcher, Ann Hamilton

Ann Hamilton (British actress)

Ann Hamilton is an English actress.Hamilton is known for her appearances on both incarnations of the Morecambe & Wise Show .-External links:*...

, Wilma Reading

Episode Six

Broadcast: 1 November 1974

Guests: June Whitfield

June Whitfield

June Rosemary Whitfield, CBE is an English actress, well known in the United Kingdom since the 1950s for roles in radio and television comedy series....

, Arthur Tolcher, Wilma Reading, John Quayle

John Quayle (actor)

John Quayle is an English actor who is best remembered for his roles in many sitcoms including All Gas and Gaiters, Terry and June, Steptoe and Son and The Liver Birds.-Career:...

, Jenny Lee-Wright

Jenny Lee-Wright

Parkinson Takes A Christmas Look At Morecambe & Wise 1974

This was the only year that the duo were with the BBC that no festive programme was made and there was a decrease in their output after this time. Instead of a brand new show the pair were instead interviewed by Michael Parkinson

Michael Parkinson

Sir Michael Parkinson, CBE is an English broadcaster, journalist and author. He presented his interview programme, Parkinson, from 1971 to 1982 and from 1998 to 2007.- Early life :...

who also introduced some of their most memorable clips from previous shows. Again, the programme was broadcast on the evening on 25 December but, other than the interview, there was no new footage available. Their slot was filled by the Mike Yarwood

Mike Yarwood

Show and the interview shown at 11.20pm.

Christmas Show 1975

After no regular shows at all in 1975 and no Christmas Show in 1974 the pair made a welcome return with a memorable festive offering penned by Eddie Braben

Eddie Braben

; the opening routine which features the much maligned Des O'Connor

Des O'Connor

Des O'Connor, CBE is an English comedian and singer. A former talkshow host, he was the presenter of the long-running Channel 4 gameshow Countdown for two years...

is the most repeated piece of material still today, aside from Grieg's Piano Concerto from 1971. The show concludes with the historical romp Nell Gwynne
Nell Gwyn
Eleanor "Nell" Gwyn was a long-time mistress of King Charles II of England. Called "pretty, witty Nell" by Samuel Pepys, she has been regarded as a living embodiment of the spirit of Restoration England and has come to be considered a folk heroine, with a story echoing the rags-to-royalty tale of...

which is a brilliant finale to the show and features the first location shots used for an end-of-show play with Diana Rigg in the title role and Gordon Jackson parodying his own character from Upstairs, Downstairs
Upstairs, Downstairs
Upstairs, Downstairs is a British drama television series originally produced by London Weekend Television and revived by the BBC. It ran on ITV in 68 episodes divided into five series from 1971 to 1975, and a sixth series shown on the BBC on three consecutive nights, 26–28 December 2010.Set in a...

effectively. The show is interspersed with Robin Day who, over the course of the programme has his "friendly" discussion turned into a brawl, at the end of the programme, as Morecambe and Wise close with the song Positive Thinking, he is seen to stagger past with the aid of a walking stick. The show also features a parody of Big Spender
Big Spender
"Big Spender" is a song written by Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields for the musical Sweet Charity, first performed in 1966. It is sung, in the musical, by the dance hostess "girls"; it was choreographed by Bob Fosse for the Broadway musical and the film...

with the two as dancers.

Broadcast: 25 December 1975

Guests: Diana Rigg

Diana Rigg

Dame Enid Diana Elizabeth Rigg, DBE is an English actress. She is probably best known for her portrayals of Emma Peel in The Avengers and Countess Teresa di Vicenzo in the 1969 James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service....

, Des O'Connor

Des O'Connor

Des O'Connor, CBE is an English comedian and singer. A former talkshow host, he was the presenter of the long-running Channel 4 gameshow Countdown for two years...

, Gordon Jackson

Gordon Jackson (actor)

Gordon Cameron Jackson, OBE was a Scottish Emmy Award-winning actor best remembered for his roles as the butler Angus Hudson in Upstairs, Downstairs and George Cowley, the head of CI5, in The Professionals....

, Robin Day

Robin Day

Sir Robin Day, OBE was a British political broadcaster and commentator. His obituary in the Guardian stated that "he was the most outstanding television journalist of his generation...

, Diane Solomon

Diane Solomon

Diane Solomon is an American singer, songwriter and nutritionist, who was part of the group who represented Luxembourg in the Eurovision Song Contest 1985, in which they sang "Children, Kinder, Enfants"...

, Brenda Arnau, Ann Hamilton

Ann Hamilton (British actress)

Ann Hamilton is an English actress.Hamilton is known for her appearances on both incarnations of the Morecambe & Wise Show .-External links:*...

, Pan's People

Pan's People

Pan's People were a British TV dance troupe, who are usually associated with the BBC TV music chart show Top of the Pops.In an era before pop videos, they danced to songs whose original artists were not available to perform them live...

, Reg Turner, Debbie Ash, Fiona Grey

Series Nine (1976)

What was to be the last series of shows for the BBC had some stand-out moments, including the supposed appearance of Frank Sinatra

Frank Sinatra

Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...

which of course turned out to be part of the joke. This series also saw the making breakfast routine to the music of The Stripper
The Stripper
"The Stripper" is an instrumental composed by David Rose and recorded in 1962. It evinces a jazz influence with especially prominent trombone lines, and evokes the feel of music used to accompany striptease artists....

which stands out as some of their finest work, and a trio with Lena Zavaroni. The Ernest Wise Players also present The Handyman & M'Lady with Michele Dotrice's unforgettable drivable bed!

Episode One

Broadcast: 7 January 1976

Guests: Gilbert O'Sullivan

Gilbert O'Sullivan

Gilbert O'Sullivan is an Irish-English singer-songwriter, best known for his early 1970s hits "Alone Again ", "Clair" and "Get Down". The music magazine, Record Mirror, voted him the No...

, Dilys Watling

Dilys Watling

Dilys Watling is an English actress, possibly best known for appearing on British television ....

, The Vernons, Peter O'Sullevan

Peter O'Sullevan

Sir Peter O'Sullevan is a retired horse racing commentator for the BBC from 1947 to 1997, and correspondent for the Press Association, Daily Express and Today.-Early life:...

, Arthur Tolcher

Arthur Tolcher

, Clare Russell, Eve Blanchard

Episode Two

Broadcast: 14 January 1976

Guests: Michele Dotrice

Michele Dotrice

Michele Dotrice is an English actress best known for her portrayal of Betty, the long-suffering wife of Frank Spencer, played by Michael Crawford, in the BBC sitcom Some Mothers Do ’Ave ’Em, which ran from 1973 to 1978....

, Frankie Vaughan

Frankie Vaughan

, Patrick Moore

Patrick Moore

, Tammy Jones

Tammy Jones

Tammy Jones , is a singer from Bangor, Gwynedd, North Wales.-Musical career:Jones began singing at an early age, and was soon established as a regular on both radio and television in her native Wales....

, Jenny Lee-Wright

Jenny Lee-Wright

, David Prowse

David Prowse

David Prowse, MBE is an English former bodybuilder, weightlifter and actor, most widely known for playing the role of Darth Vader in physical form. In Britain, he is also remembered as having played the Green Cross Code man...

Episode Three

Broadcast: 11 January 1976

Guests: Lena Zavaroni

Lena Zavaroni

Lena Hilda Zavaroni was a Scottish child singer and a television show host. With her album Ma! He's Making Eyes At Me at ten years of age, she is the youngest person in history to have an album in the UK album chart top ten. Later in life she hosted TV shows and appeared on stage...

, The Spinners

The Spinners (UK band)

The Spinners were a 1960s folk group from Liverpool, England formed in September 1958. They consisted of:* Hughie Jones...

, Ann Hamilton

Ann Hamilton (British actress)

Ann Hamilton is an English actress.Hamilton is known for her appearances on both incarnations of the Morecambe & Wise Show .-External links:*...

, Allan Cuthbertson

Allan Cuthbertson

Episode Four

Broadcast: 10 March 1976

Guests: Jackie Darnell, Kenny Ball, Allan Cuthbertson

Allan Cuthbertson

, Ann Hamilton, The Geraldine Yates Dancers

Episode Five

Broadcast: 24 March 1976

Guests: The Karlins, Vincent Zarra, Ann Hamilton, Steven Payne, Norman Percival, The Geraldine Yates Dancers

Episode Six

Broadcast: 19 April 1976

Guests: Diane Solomon

Diane Solomon

, Maggie Fitzgibbon

Maggie Fitzgibbon

Maggie Fitzgibbon, an Australian actress and singer, was born in Melbourne on 30 January 1929. Coming from a show-business family, Maggie is the sister of the late Smacka Fitzgibbon. She began her career as operatic soprano Margaret Fitzgibbon with the Tivoli Circuit in 1946 before graduating to...

, Champagne

Christmas Show 1976

The only BBC show that Eric and Ernie made (save for series one) that wasn't penned exclusively by Eddie Braben

Eddie Braben

. Instead, established writers Barry Cryer

Barry Cryer

and John Junkin

John Junkin

(among others) were drafted in to create what became another iconic show, with The Sweeney
The Sweeney
The Sweeney is a 1970s British television police drama focusing on two members of the Flying Squad, a branch of the Metropolitan Police specialising in tackling armed robbery and violent crime in London...

stars John Thaw and Dennis Waterman in the play, Elton John in the Won't You Play A Simple Melody? routine and, Angela Rippon's legs! The opening credits were a comic strip presentation, whilst closing credits had baby photographs of all the stars.

Broadcast: 25 December 1976

Guests: Elton John

Elton John

Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...

, John Thaw

John Thaw

John Edward Thaw, CBE was an English actor, who appeared in a range of television, stage and cinema roles, his most popular being police and legal dramas such as Redcap, The Sweeney, Inspector Morse and Kavanagh QC.-Early life:Thaw came from a working class background, having been born in Gorton,...

, Dennis Waterman

Dennis Waterman

Dennis Waterman is a British actor and singer, best known for his tough-guy roles in television series including The Sweeney, Minder and New Tricks.-Early life:...

, Kate O'Mara

Kate O'Mara

Kate O'Mara is an English film, stage and television actress. She is perhaps most widely known for her role as Caress Morell, the scheming sister of Alexis Colby in the 1980s American primetime soap opera Dynasty, though is also known for playing other villains such as The Rani in Doctor Who and...

, Marion Montgomery

Marion Montgomery

Marion Montgomery was a United States born jazz singer who lived in the United Kingdom.Born Maud Runnells in Natchez, Mississippi, she began her career in Atlanta working clubs, and then in Chicago where singer Peggy Lee heard her on an audition tape and suggested she should be signed up by...

, The Nolans

The Nolans

The Nolans are an Anglo-Irish all-female band consisting of a group of sisters. The group, best known for their song "I'm In the Mood for Dancing", gained prominence as guest performers on numerous television shows in the United Kingdom...

, Angela Rippon

Angela Rippon

Angela M. Rippon, OBE, born 12 October 1944, Plymouth, Devon, England, is an English television journalist, newsreader, writer and presenter. Rippon presented radio and television news programmes in South West England before moving to BBC One's Nine O'Clock News, becoming a regular presenter in 1975...

Eric & Ernie's Christmas Show 1977

The final BBC Christmas Show attracted audience figures of 28.5 million, a record that has still to be broken; this was also the first time that Christian names were used in the opening titles, the "boys" having become something of a national institution by this stage. The following opening sequence features a parody of Starsky and Hutch
Starsky and Hutch
Starsky and Hutch is a 1970s American cop thriller television series that consisted of a 90-minute pilot movie and 92 episodes of 60 minutes each; created by William Blinn, produced by Spelling-Goldberg Productions, and broadcast between April 30, 1975 and May 15, 1979 on the ABC...

, in which the comics star as 'Starkers' and 'Krutch', driving through the streets in a red Mini Clubman

Mini

The Mini is a small car that was made by the British Motor Corporation and its successors from 1959 until 2000. The original is considered a British icon of the 1960s, and its space-saving front-wheel-drive layout influenced a generation of car-makers...

emblazoned with the same white vector stripe as seen on the TV crimefighters' Ford Torino

Ford Torino

The Ford Torino is an intermediate automobile produced by the Ford Motor Company for the North American market between 1968 and 1976. The car was named after the city of Turin , which is considered the Detroit of Italy...

.

Boasting the longest guest list of all their shows, the casts of both Dad's Army
Dad's Army
Dad's Army is a British sitcom about the Home Guard during the Second World War. It was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft and broadcast on BBC television between 1968 and 1977. The series ran for 9 series and 80 episodes in total, plus a radio series, a feature film and a stage show...

(which by that time had finished its run) and The Good Life all appeared, as did Elton John (eventually!), and the classic There Is Nothing Like A Dame routine featuring a host of BBC news presenters. Angela Rippon also reprised her high-kicking role from the previous Christmas show and Angharad Rees struggled against the blizzards to duet with Ernie. It was a fine finale to Morecambe and Wise's career that was never quite the same at Thames Television

Thames Television

Thames Television was a licensee of the British ITV television network, covering London and parts of the surrounding counties on weekdays from 30 July 1968 until 31 December 1992....

.

Broadcast: 25 December 1977

Guests: Penelope Keith

Penelope Keith

Penelope Anne Constance Keith, CBE, DL is an English actress.Having started her television career in the 1950s, Penelope Keith became a household name in the United Kingdom in the 1970s when she played Margo Leadbetter in the sitcom The Good Life...

, Elton John

Elton John

Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...

, Angharad Rees

Angharad Rees

Angharad Mary Rees is a Welsh actress, best-known for her British television roles during the 1970s, garnering notice for her leading role as Demelza in the 1970s BBC drama series Poldark.-Career:...

, Francis Matthews

Francis Matthews (actor)

-Early life:Matthews attended St Michael's Jesuit College, Leeds and started his acting career with Leeds repertory theatre before service in the Royal Navy.-Career:...

, Arthur Lowe

Arthur Lowe

Arthur Lowe was a BAFTA Award winning English actor. He was best known for playing Captain George Mainwaring in the popular British sitcom Dad's Army from 1968 until 1977.-Early life:...

, John Le Mesurier

John Le Mesurier

John Le Mesurier was a BAFTA Award-winning English actor. He is most famous for his role as Sergeant Arthur Wilson in the popular 1970s BBC comedy Dad's Army.-Career:...

, John Laurie

John Laurie

, Richard Briers

Richard Briers

Richard David Briers, CBE is an English actor whose career has encompassed theatre, television, film and radio.He first came to prominence as George Starling in Marriage Lines in the 1960s, but it was in the following decade when he played Tom Good in the BBC sitcom The Good Life that he became a...

, Paul Eddington

Paul Eddington

Paul Eddington CBE was an English actor best known for his appearances in popular television sitcoms of the 1970s and 80s: The Good Life, Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister.-Early life:...

, James Hunt

James Hunt

James Simon Wallis Hunt was a British racing driver from England who won the Formula One World Championship in . Hunt's often action packed exploits on track earned him the nickname "Hunt the Shunt." After retiring from driving, Hunt became a media commentator and businessman...

, Stella Starr, Michael Parkinson

Michael Parkinson

Sir Michael Parkinson, CBE is an English broadcaster, journalist and author. He presented his interview programme, Parkinson, from 1971 to 1982 and from 1998 to 2007.- Early life :...

, Angela Rippon

Angela Rippon

, Michael Aspel

Michael Aspel

, Richard Baker

Richard Baker (broadcaster)

, Frank Bough

Frank Bough

, Philip Jenkinson

Philip Jenkinson

Philip Jenkinson is a British cinema specialist, journalist, BBC television presenter and film collector. His collection was known as Filmfinders.-Early life:...

, Kenneth Kendall

Kenneth Kendall

Kenneth Kendall is a retired British broadcaster. He was a contemporary of Richard Baker and Robert Dougall...

, Barry Norman

Barry Norman

Barry Leslie Norman, CBE is a British novelist, impresario, film critic and media personality. He was the BBC film critic on television from 1972 to 1998.-Early life:...

, Eddie Waring

Eddie Waring

Edward Marsden "Eddie" Waring was a British rugby league football coach, commentator and television presenter....

, Richard Whitmore

Richard Whitmore

Richard Whitmore is a broadcaster, writer and actor. Whitmore is best known for his work as a BBC newsreader in the 1970s and 1980s...

, Peter Woods

Peter Woods

Peter Holmes Woods was a British journalist, reporter and newsreader.-Early life and career:Born in Romford, Essex, Woods was educated at Hull Grammar School and Imperial Service College, Windsor...

, Sandra Dainty, Jenny Lee-Wright

Jenny Lee-Wright

, Valerie Leon

Valerie Leon

Valerie Leon is an English actress who had roles in a number of high profile British film franchises, including the Carry On series.-Early life:...

Availability on DVD

The first series of the show was wiped from the BBC archives and only 25 minutes of one episode now survives in poor quality; this was however included on the DVD release of the complete second series in 2007; also in 2007 the complete third series was released including the Golden Rose Of Montreux episode.

The complete set of Christmas Shows was released as a three-disc set in November 2007 but it is worth noting that the cover art of the pair, in white dinner suits and top hats, is actually a publicity still from their later years with Thames Television

Thames Television

Thames Television was a licensee of the British ITV television network, covering London and parts of the surrounding counties on weekdays from 30 July 1968 until 31 December 1992....

and one of the photographs on the back cover featuring Cliff Richard

Cliff Richard

Sir Cliff Richard, OBE is a British pop singer, musician, performer, actor, and philanthropist who has sold over an estimated 250 million records worldwide....

is taken from a sketch that doesn't appear in any of their festive programmes.

The fourth series was released on DVD in April 2008 but does not include the sixth episode of the series which no longer exists. The fifth series was released on 4 May 2009. The sixth series has been released on 3 August 2009. The seventh series was released on 3 May 2010. The eighth series was released on 5 July 2010, and the ninth series was released on 23 August 2010.

A complete box-set containing all nine series and all Christmas specials has been released on 4th October 2010.

External links

Eric And Ern - Keeping The Magic Alive **Book, Film, TV Reviews, Interviews**

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