World of Chig   

5.10.05
And it’s goodnight from him

Better to regret the things you’ve done than the things you haven’t.

I’m so glad, with the sad news of Ronnie Barker’s death, announced today, that he was persuaded out of retirement after all these years to front ‘The Two Ronnies Sketchbook’ earlier this year. It’s almost as if he knew he didn’t have long left, isn’t it? Those Friday night programmes in the Spring made me laugh all over again at sketches I hadn’t seen for 30 years, along with some oft-repeated classics and some I didn’t remember at all. It was great to hear the bits of new material that they added to the show as well. Their comic touch was still very much there.

I have fond memories of Saturday night TV as a child; Doctor Who, The Generation Game, Seaside Special (if we were unlucky), The Two Ronnies, Parkinson and Match Of The Day when I was allowed to stay up. If it weren’t for the football, I might never have seen The Two Ronnies first time around. I was aware, even when I was under ten, that some of it was a bit rude. Even worse, when I understood the jokes and tried not to laugh too much in front of my parents! Happy days indeed, and I wonder whether any one person has made as many people in this country laugh via the TV as Ronnie Barker did, if you add in Porridge and Open All Hours. He was an amazing character actor, a comic with brilliant timing and, judging by the tributes on TV and radio today (from ordinary people on Radio 2 for example), a very caring and likeable man.

We’ll leave the final tribute to the man himself:

“I would like to be remembered as one of the funniest men that people have seen on television.”

Job done, I think.


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