Ronnie Barker

Ronnie Barker's 'boring' limerick book sells for £3,600

A book of Edward Lear's limericks that Ronnie Barker changed to make funnier has sold for £3,600 at auction.

Ronnie Barker rewrote 'boring' book of Lear limericks

A book of Edward Lear's limericks that comedian Ronnie Barker changed to make funnier is expected to sell for around £1,500 at auction.

Shopkeeper who inspired Arkwright dies aged 78

The shopkeeper who inspired Ronnie Barker's Arkwright character in the sitcom Open All Hours has died, his daughter revealed today.

Ronnie Barker limericks book found

A book once belonging to Ronnie Barker has been discovered - complete with his changes to famous limericks.

Ronnie Corbett awarded a CBE in the Queen's honours

Gong 33 years after OBE with his TV partner Ronnie Barker.

Originally broadcast in 2005, just months before Ronnie Barker died, and 34 years after the first-ever episode of The Two Ronnies, this "best of" sketch show proves The Two Ronnies never lost their chemistry. A thinner, rather frail looking Ronnie Barker and a buoyant Ronnie Corbett sit behind that famous desk to introduce their favourite sketches from a career spanning three decades. Unlike many compilation programmes, all the sketches are shown in full, and serve as a happy reminder of a time when comedy was just a bit of harmless fun. Fork handles anyone?

The second half of the diminutive veteran's fluffy history of comedy sees him snoop round Harry Hill's unique prop store - see if you can spot stuff used in TV Burp. Next Corbett takes afternoon tea with David Walliams and his mother. Cue copious talk of cross-dressing. He also joins Rob Brydon for a round of golf, visits Dara O'Briain's favourite comedy club and takes a ferry across the Mersey with Ken Dodd. Finally, Corbett retells one of his most loved, free-wheeling monologues from the chair made famous in The Two Ronnies - and gets touchingly dewy-eyed over the memories it brings back of former partner-in-mirth Ronnie Barker.

For just under two hours this afternoon, BBC Two devotes itself to a celebration of Porridge (the prison-based sitcom, not the breakfast). First up, at 4.20pm, is a repeat of Comedy Connections (Scot, 8.00pm), which traces the genesis of the show and includes contributions from Ronnie Barker, Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais. It's followed at 4.50pm by Life Beyond the Box (Scot, 4.20pm), a nicely made mockumentary about Norman Stanley Fletcher, the show's central character. Finally, there's a classic episode (Scot, 8.30pm) in which Fletcher and co set up an illicit sweepstake.

My Comedy Hero: Milton Jones on Rowan Atkinson

Growing up I was inspired by people in sitcoms such as Ronnie Barker and Leonard Rossiter. But, the hero I'd pick would be Rowan Atkinson. I became aware of him when he used to do sketches on Not the Nine O'Clock News and it was clear that he was the star. Although he was doing different characters there was always a Rowan Atkinson angle on them and his was the line that the audience waited for. And as with all great people, even if his line wasn't always the punchline, he managed to make each one funny. He has very good verbal and physical timing and it's rare for that to come together.

The 2012 team engages ex-athlete Dave Wellbeck (Darren Boyd) to front their Raising the Bar scheme to inspire young people. Unfortunately, his school assembly presentations in Basingstoke and Warwick soon establish the silver medallist now only bores for Britain. If you're a connoisseur of that tranche of comedy that deals in excruciating embarrassment, you may lap this up. Otherwise, I fear you'll find this week's Olympian effort limp hobbling towards lame. Hugh Bonneville remains peerless as a sort of modern-day Ronnie Barker, and we could do with a bit more screen time for Olivia Colman as Sally, Ian's scuttling, "not a problem" PA.