Ernie Wise

Barry Cryer: 'Tommy Cooper had a sadistic streak'

Tommy Cooper had a 'sadistic streak' which made him relish making people uncomfortable, Barry Cryer has revealed.

In 1954, the telly critic for the People wrote that the definition of a TV set was "the box they buried Morecambe and Wise in". Some 23 years later, the duo's 1977 Christmas show drew 28 million viewers - roughly half the UK. This festive cracker traces the journey of the beloved Des O'Connor-baiting pair, the specs-waggling clown and his "short, fat, hairy-legged" foil, from variety theatre to big ratings.

DVD review - Morecambe and Wise: Two of a Kind

We all remember the classic Morecambe and Wise sketches and Christmas specials that they made for the BBC, but their first TV success was arguably over on commercial television, at ATV in the 1960s. This series was Two of a Kind and it spawned some of the double act's most famous routines.

Morecambe and Wise statue unveiled in Blackpool

A statue of legendary comedy duo Morecambe & Wise has been unveiled at a ceremony in Blackpool.

New exhibit shows archive pictures of BBC comedians

Compton Verney exhibition charts 60 years of comedy, from Hancock's Half Hour to Miranda Hart.

Radio Times review

Once upon a time the highlight of Christmas was settling down to watch Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise's sketch show. You can see in this compilation that the roll call of stars who were prepared to be humiliated by the duo was legendary: Glenda Jackson, Peter Cushing, Shirley Bassey, Des O'Connor and Angela Rippon among them.

The running gags were brilliant and even if you can recite the words of their sketches verbatim, they still make you laugh. Eric's assertion to "Andrew Preview" that "I'm playing all the right notes - but not necessarily in the right order" is as funny today as it was way back in 1971.

How Ernie Wise (almost) made the UK's first mobile call

This week marks the 30th anniversary of the first ever (civilian) mobile phone call made in the UK. The call was made from London's St Katharine Docks on 1 January 1985, via the Vodafone network, by comedian Ernie Wise. The patronage of Little Ern may seem a little incongruous, but Wise had already done an ad for Atari with Eric Morecambe earlier that decade, and was already well-versed in hawking grey, clunky pieces of tech, for presumably a neat little pay packet.

Toast of London is the funniest thing on telly, while also being blithering nonsense of the highest order. This week the travails of struggling actor Steven Toast (Matt Berry) involved an acid trip and a very funny running joke about the Masons. There's a bit of Father Ted in Toast -- no surprise, since it was co-created by Arthur Mathews, but it's most reminiscent of the plays what Ernie Wise used to write on The Morecambe and Wise Show. With added orgies.