Eric & Ernie

Eric & Ernie: A minute with Jim Moir

Jim Moir, aka Vic Reeves, plays George Bartholomew, father of Eric Morecambe, in Eric & Ernie.

You can warm your hands on the waves of affection that waft from writer Peter Bowker's funny, sweet-natured look at the early years of our most beloved comic partnership, Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise.

We follow the duo just before they hit the really big time, from their first meeting when they were both child stars on the same bill, through the days touring grotty clubs and music halls, right up to their first, disastrous television appearance: "Northern comedy just doesn't play on television," says a snitty BBC exec, before forcing the lads into a series of lame, generic TV sketches.

The evolution of the surreally brilliant act that was to make them adored is nicely done, thanks to Bowker's light touch and to a smashing cast, particularly comedian Daniel Rigby as the genial, uncomplaining but sharp-witted Morecambe, who manages both to look and sound like Eric without resorting to caricature. Bryan Dick is grafter Ernie, whose forbearance is frequently tested by his partner.

It's more than a quarter of a century since Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise's double act was stopped in its tracks by Morecambe's untimely death - which, in the world of showbiz, is certainly enough time to be forgotten, usurped or found to be desperately unfashionable by a new generation of viewers and performers. But the pair retain enough comic sparkle to put most of their successors in the shade.

Eric and Ernie is a biopic that follows the pair from their beginnings on Jack Hylton's youth theatre circuit up until the brink of TV success in the 1950s. Written by Peter Bowker, and starring Bryan Dick as Ernie Wise, Daniel Rigby as Eric Morecambe and Victoria Wood as Morecambe's ambitious, plain-talking mother Sadie, it's a wonderful piece of drama: warm-hearted, clever, beautifully acted and funny enough to make your cheeks ache.

Gag writer Eddie Braben on helping Morecambe & Wise

As Morecambe and Wise's early years are dramatised, their gag writer Eddie Braben reveals: "How I made Britain love Eric and Ernie."

Eric and Ernie: Victoria Wood's Morecambe & Wise biopic

Eric Morecambe kept one review in his wallet for decades to remind him of where the duo had come from. It suggested the definition of TV as "the box in which they buried Morecambe and Wise". The clipping was still in his wallet when he died.

'You don't become a national treasure overnight'

Victoria Wood's new project tells the story of Morecambe and Wise's troubled early years. "You don't become a national treasure overnight", she says.

Victoria Wood tells all about Eric and Ernie

Victoria Wood insists her latest TV venture, which delves into the early career of Morecambe and Wise, "will not be one of those dark dramas."

Eric, Ernie... and Victoria

Victoria Wood has brought the story of the double act's early years to the screen - and she plays Morecambe's mother. Gerard Gilbert meets her.

Video: Daniel Rigby and Bryan Dick interview

Daniel Rigby and Bryan Dick, who play comic duo Morecambe & Wise in Victoria Wood's drama, say the story of their formative years will surprise audiences.

Eric and Ernie: Positive Thinking

Regular readers of this blog will know that I went on location during filming of BBC2's wonderful New Year's Day drama Eric & Ernie. It's a brilliant, life-affirming film. Do not miss it.