Comic Collaborations

From slapstick sketches to satirical genius, the UK has produced some fabulous comedy partnerships over the years. We take a look at some of the finest duos to hit our screens

-  CLAIRE SAUL

The Two Ronnies

Clever wordplay was the calling card of The Two Ronnies. Backed by writers of the calibre of Barry Cryer, Michael Palin and Ronnie Barker himself, Barker and Corbett's brilliant sketches kept the nation laughing for 12 series across the 1970s and 1980s, and still entertain us today.

The duo met while established actor Ronnie Barker was at a London club where Ronnie Corbett was working as a barman between acting jobs. As a comic act their success was significantly boosted after the transmission of the 1970s BAFTA awards ceremony, when they gave an off-the-cuff performance while a technical glitch was being rectified. Two BBC VIPs were in the audience, and the result was the Ronnies' own show, which launched in April 1971.

The series delivered such comedy classics as the "Four Candles" sketch and their take on Mastermind, with Ronnie Corbett answering his questions out of sync. We enjoyed detectives Charley Farley and Piggy Malone, and the Victorian thriller parody "The Phantom Raspberry Blower of Old London Town".

And who can forget that musical finale each week? Morris dancers, Gilbert and Sullivan performers, brass band musicians... They delivered so much fun before their unique conclusion, delivered from the news desk:

Corbett: "That's all we've got time for, so it's goodnight from me..." Barker: "And it's goodnight from him."

"Goodnight!"

Little And Large