By the Sea
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| By the Sea | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Situation Comedy |
| Running time | 55 minutes |
| Creator(s) | Dave Huggett Larry Keith |
| Starring | Ronnie Barker Ronnie Corbett Barbara New Madge Hindle Debbi Blythe |
| Country of origin | Britain |
| Original channel | BBC One |
| Original run | 12 April 1982– |
- For the Charlie Chaplin film of the same name, see By the Sea (1915)
By the Sea (full title The Two Ronnies Present - By the Sea), was a 1982 BBC film starring The Two Ronnies, and written by Ronnie Barker under the pseudonyms "Dave Huggett and Larry Keith".
[edit] Introduction
The film followed the extended family of "The General", played by Barker, as they went on an eventful seaside holiday. It was set on the Dorset coast in "Tiddly Cove", actually the coast between Bournemouth and Swanage. Ronnie Barker was a keen collector of saucy seaside postcards, and published several books of them. The humour of By the Sea was very much based on the colourful style of these. The film is notable for being completely free of speech, with the score by Ronnie Hazlehurst and various sound effects in their place. The humour is instead entirely visual, and relies on comic stereotypes (the old randy general, the busty girl, the cheeky schoolboy, etc.). It was the follow-up to another Two Ronnies film, The Picnic, featuring the same characters.
Before it was shown, the BBC commissioned producer Alan J.W. Bell, the director of Last of the Summer Wine, to improve the film. No scenes were re-shot, but he re-structured the film and commissioned Ronnie Hazlehurst to write an original music score. To add comic effect, the film was also slightly speeded-up.
The 55 minute film was shown on BBC 1 at Easter 1982, but has rarely been repeated, nor released on DVD, despite the renewed interest in the work of Ronnie Barker. A limited release VHS of By The Sea and The Picnic was available in 1990 and deleted in 1994.
[edit] External links
| Ronnie Barker |
|---|
| Situation Comedies |
| The Navy Lark | Six Dates With Barker | Hark at Barker | His Lordship Entertains |
Seven of One | Porridge | Going Straight | Open All Hours | The Magnificent Evans | Clarence |
| Sketch Shows |
| Lines From My Grandfather's Forehead | The Frost Report | The Ronnie Barker Playhouse | The Two Ronnies | The Two Ronnies Sketchbook |
| Short Films |
| A Home of Your Own | Futtock's End | The Picnic | By the Sea |
| Other Roles |
| Robin and Marian | The Gathering Storm | My House in Umbria |
| Notable Collaborators |
| Ronnie Corbett | David Jason | Richard Beckinsale | David Frost | Dick Clement | Ian Le Frenais | Roy Clarke |
