Ernie Wise

Morecambe and Wise tribute plan revealed

A bronze piece of wall art paying tribute to both Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise could go on permanent display in Morecambe.

Eric Morecambe: Dad was just a big kid himself, really

The children of Eric Morecambe recall the TV history he made with Ernie Wise - and what he was like at home.

Morecambe and Wise blue plaque unveiled at Teddington

A blue plaque in tribute to comedy double act Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise has been unveiled at the studio where much of their best work was shot.

I was several minutes into my preview copy of My Hero: Miranda Hart on Eric Morecambe (9pm, BBC1) before something significant struck me.

Namely, the fact that, up to this point, there hadn't been a lot of Eric Morecambe in it.

Instead, it begins with Miranda reflecting, with her sister, on her own hit-and-miss beginnings in the comedy world - which, as some old clips confirm, offered no hint of the success that would eventually come her way.

The thing about Morecambe, though, is that he's always been Miranda's inspiration, even though she was only 11 when he died.

So although the show is very much her own personal take on a comedy legend and what he's meant to her, it also sees her travelling around the country on a kind of Eric Morecambe pilgrimage, visiting places where he and partner Ernie Wise performed, chatting with people who knew this great double act and digging out her favourite Morecambe and Wise clips.

Eddie Izzard crops up in the delayed second episode of Funny Business, in which the machinations of comedy agents and promoters fall under scrutiny. But the focus is largely on the rise during the last 30 years of stand-ups earning ludicrous sums of money from sell-out mega-tours, thanks in part to the heavily monopolised likes of Live at The Apollo.

The most fascinating portion of the programme by far is when a comedy historian delves into the BBC's Written Archive - housed in a modest bungalow in Berkshire, believe it or not - to contrast the earnings of today's top comics with those of the heroes of yesteryear. One particularly sobering revelation is that when Ernie Wise died, he left behind an estate worth over just half a million pounds. In 2011 alone, Peter Kay earned an estimated take of over £20 million from touring and DVD sales. As the formerly funny Boltonian might himself remark, what's all that about?

Ernie Wise's terrible plays and the A-listers they attracted to 70s staple The Morecambe and Wise Show are the focus of this week's raid on the sketch cabinet. There are marvellous clips of Arthur Lowe, Peter Cushing and Penelope Keith sending themselves up, but the icing on the guest-star cake was Oscar-winning Glenda Jackson. As M&W scriptwriter Eddie Braben says, "She brought out the best in them, as they did in her."

The Eric and Ern missteps aren't glossed over, however. One film - a deal-sweetener for the pair's migration to ITV and shown only once on telly - is fascinatingly terrible. But otherwise the deluge of punchlines will leave you satisfyingly soaked.

BBC told Morecambe to dump Wise if he wanted to make it

BBC chiefs initially believed Eric Morecambe would have a much better chance of TV stardom if he dumped Ernie Wise and went solo.

Eric & Ernie's preview of Mr Preview

Rare footage of Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise is to be aired tonight for the first time in 50 years.

Morecambe and Wise - comedy duo brilliance

The immense popularity of Eric Morcambe and Ernie Wise is evidenced by a December 1963 appearance by The Beatles (broadcast in April 1964) where they performed This Boy, All My Loving and I Want to Hold Your Hand ending with a classic performance of Moonlight Bay joined by Eric and Ernie.

Ernie Wise was one half of the most popular British comedy duo of the last century but rarely got his due credit, with most of the critical acclaim going to his partner Eric Morecambe. Using previously unseen footage and photos this documentary redresses the balance, revealing a man familiar with fame from an early age, for whom life off the stage was more important than the limelight.