The Two Ronnies Sketchbook
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The Two Ronnies Sketchbook was a collection of classic sketches from the BBC comedy series The Two Ronnies, with newly filmed introductions by the stars, Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett. It was broadcast over 17 years after the final episode of The Two Ronnies was aired.
The show came about following the BBC's broadcast of Ronnie Barker: A Bafta Tribute in February 2004, a show which gained a large audience (7.2 million), proving there was still great interest in Barker's comedy work. The BAFTA lifetime achievement award was presented to Barker by Ronnie Corbett, and the two proved they still had great chemistry.
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 sketches chosen were true classics - the short-sighted optician, 'Nuts m'lord', the Mastermind spoof (Specialist subject: Answering the Question Before Last), and - of course - the sketch voted the nation's favourite, Fork 'andles (The Two Ronnies left this last sketch until the very end of the sixth episode, pretending they had forgotten about it). And the newly-recorded introductions provided an opportunity for plenty of good-humoured banter between the pair. Audiences loved the show - 7.9 million tuning in for the opening episode, many of them too young to have seen The Two Ronnies when it was first broadcast. Ronnie Corbett later said that Ronnie Barker was "delighted that the Two Ronnies Sketchbook had gone so well, bringing us to a new generation of audiences".
Sadly, this was to prove Barker's final television work. He appeared frail and had lost a lot of weight, and it later became clear that he had been very unwell with a heart condition whilst filming the show. However, he was determined to record one final Christmas special of The Two Ronnies, and so, on 5 August 2005, The Two Ronnies Christmas Sketchbook was recorded. It was broadcast on Christmas Day of the same year, two months after Barker's death (Ronnie Corbett paid tribute to him in a specially recorded introduction to the show), and saw the pair introduce their favourite sketches from their Christmas shows. Again, the show was a rousing success, and - with 7.93 million viewers - was the fourth most watched programme on Christmas Day.
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