Morecambe and Wise

Sketches and stand-up comedy from Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise from 1968, remarkably restored after being feared lost for decades. Among Eric and Ernie's guests in this episode is Michael Aspel. Chris Langford, a new face to television, sings an old favourite - Old Devil Moon, and regulars Kenny Ball and his Jazzmen play Shine.

This was the first of several highly successful festive editions made by the BBC and is available in its entirety in the archives. This edition is less frequently repeated than the later shows, a fact that has been attributed to its lack of "big" guest stars. Although all the guests were high profile at the time, they have since become less prominent in the public eye. It is notable for the appearance of Frankie Vaughan who had initially been the butt of many jokes for the duo, although his dislike of this led them to redirect their comments famously to Des O'Connor after this point. Nina van Pallandt performed Do You Know How Christmas Trees Are Grown? which had featured in that year's James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service as well as a parody with the duo in which Christmas trees fell over mid-performance. This was a theme that they would return to many times and with many variations in the next years.

The second seasonal offering saw the return of recurring guest star Peter Cushing who still hadn't been paid (a joke that was to continue well into their Thames Television days); also starring was William Franklyn who, at the time, fronted an advertising campaign for Schweppes tonic water with his "Shhh, You Know Who..." tagline. Much comedy was drawn from this, especially in light of the fact that the BBC was forbidden to advertise products. He appears in one of the duo's legendary plays at the end of the show in which the Three Musketeers are parodied. Well-known actor Edward Woodward also sang The Way You Look Tonight rather than appearing within a sketch as he had done in previous appearances.

The festive edition for 1971 contains several memorable scenes, including Shirley Bassey singing Smoke Gets in Your Eyes whilst the boys re-arrange the scenery, (she also performed the theme song from that year's Bond film Diamonds Are Forever), the Hollywood Melody with Glenda Jackson and the BBC newsreaders and André Previn conducting Eric's rendition of Grieg's Piano Concerto. The BBC's other headlining star Dick Emery also makes a brief cameo appearance in the opening spot of the show. This episode is frequently repeated each December and excerpts regularly used as part of compilation shows.

No series was produced in 1972 with the duo concentrating on a high-quality spectacular for Christmas Night. Braben had suffered a breakdown and was not credited as working on the special, instead it was penned by John Junkin and Barry Cryer. Several guests from previous shows returned, as well as Vera Lynn singing Pass Me By with Eric and Ernie as backing, and Kenny Ball joining in with the Cabaret finale to the Victoria & Albert play with Glenda Jackson. Pete Murray appeared in the play "What Ern Wrote" entitled "Dawn Patrol", a World War One flying aces spoof. The show also featured cameos from various starts who had previously appeared, in pre-filmed inserts where they stated "I worked with Morecambe and Wise, and look what happened to me..." as the camera pulled back to show them in a variety of other jobs; they were:- Ian Carmichael (news vendor), Fenella Fielding (railway guard), Eric Porter (binman), André Previn (bus conductor) and Dame Flora Robson (tea lady)

A star-studded holiday special starring Eric Morecambe, Ernie Wise and special guests Vanessa Redgrave, Hannah Gordon, the New Seekers and John Hanson. With guest appearances from Yehudi Menuhin, Rudolf Nureyev, Laurence Olivier and Andre Previn.

This was the only year that the duo were with the BBC that no festive programme was made and there was a decrease in their output after this time. Instead of a brand new show the pair were instead interviewed by Michael Parkinson who also introduced some of their most memorable clips from previous shows. Again, the programme was broadcast on the evening on 25 December but, other than the interview, there was no new footage available.

After no Christmas Show in 1974 and no regular shows during 1975 when the duo had been presenting and appearing in the BBC show It's Child's Play, the pair made a welcome return to their established format with another festive offering; the opening routine which features the much-maligned Des O'Connor is one of the most repeated pieces of material. The show concludes with the historical romp Nell Gwynne which features the first location shots used for an end-of-show play with Diana Rigg in the title role and Gordon Jackson parodying his own character from Upstairs, Downstairs. The show is interspersed with Robin Day who, over the course of the programme has his "friendly" discussion turned into a brawl. At the end of the programme, as Morecambe and Wise close with the song Positive Thinking, he is seen to stagger past with the aid of a walking stick. The show also features a parody of Big Spender with Eric and Ernie as dancers. This show utilised the opening credits from the following years' series and did not feature the word "Christmas" in the title.

Cryer and Junkin replaced Eddie Braben for this special, which featured The Sweeney stars John Thaw and Dennis Waterman, Elton John, Angela Rippon, plus a cameo appearance by Des O'Connor. This show featured the famous "newsflash" in which Rippon's desk splits in two to reveal her legs, followed by a song and dance routine. The opening credits are in a cartoon style with the duo appearing as caricatures of themselves having a snowball fight, this title sequence was only used once, and the word Christmas does not appear, whilst closing credits featured baby photographs of the cast, a tradition carried on from the previous years' festive special.

The final BBC Christmas Show attracted audience figures of 27.5 million, a record for the show, although it was beaten in the ratings by The Mike Yarwood Show earlier in the evening schedule; this was also the first time that Christian names were used in the opening titles. The following opening sequence features a parody of Starsky and Hutch, in which the comics star as 'Starkers' and 'Krutch', driving through the streets in a red Mini Clubman emblazoned with the same white vector stripe as seen on the Ford Torino. Boasting the longest guest list of all their shows, stars from the casts of Dad's Army (although Clive Dunn, Arnold Ridley & Ian Lavender are not present and James Beck had died in 1973) and The Good Life appeared, as did Elton John and Angharad Rees (who performed Baby, It's Cold Outside). A host of news presenters took part in the There Is Nothing Like A Dame routine as listed above. Angela Rippon also made an appearance, which had been intended as a surprise. When news leaked of her contribution days before Christmas, the BBC began an investigation into how the leak occurred and contemporary press reports claimed that staff were fired from the corporation over the leak.

The show opens with Morecambe being stuck on one side of the stage with his suit on the other, resorting to increasingly absurd ways to cross the stage, whilst Wise reads out messages from Christmas cards received by the duo. The line-up for this first Thames Christmas Show featured several guest stars. A spoof dance routine featuring 'Anna Ford' opened the show, but since Ford herself had refused to appear, a stand in was used, with camera angles and slapstick comedy carefully concealing her face. Leonard Rossiter provided the third Andrews Sister in a "Fabulous Forties" segment; and a spoof This Is Your Life with the Royal Family opening the show. Former Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson made a surprise appearance, though this was leaked in the press in advance. In one sequence, Wilson manages to upset Morecambe by joking about his beloved Luton Town Football Club; Morecambe then disappears to the back of the flat, returning with a Maggie Rules O.K. banner, a reference to Conservative opposition leader Margaret Thatcher (who would become Prime Minister the following year). The show was written by Barry Cryer and John Junkin (who also make cameo appearances) with Eddie Braben still under contract to the BBC until the following year. The show closes with a song and dance routine rather than Bring Me Sunshine

This was the only television programme the duo made in this year, with Morecambe's heart attack ensuing a lull in their activities. To a certain extent, the duo's output was seen to be "playing it safe" by bringing back safe and established guest stars and this edition saw the return of actress Glenda Jackson and the inevitable Des O'Connor as well as newcomer to the show, David Frost, who interviewed the duo about their long career. The show was more of an interview on the whole, but there was some newly made material, the stand-out section being a mimed version of the novelty song I Tawt I Taw A Puddy Tat with Morecambe as the mischievous Sylvester the cat and Wise as Tweety Pie. Harking back to the duo's previous incarnation at the BBC the programme also featured Arthur Tolcher (not now, Arthur!) and Janet Webb who had appeared at the end of their show ten years previously as "the lady who comes down at the end." The show played heavily on the pair's previous success with their festive programmes, and further cemented their relationship with the viewing public by appearing despite Morecambe's poor health. As a joke on his recent heart by-pass operation, Morecambe was not permitted to descend the staircase in the studio and this duty was performed by Garfield Morgan. However, when Morecambe did appear, he ran up and down the same staircase several times to prove his fitness. When united with Wise the pair embraced and stated how good it was to be back together again. They returned to form the following year with another full series, their first since 1976.

Sketches include a number of Christmas carol jokes outside 10 Downing Street, which ends with Peter Cushing finally getting his money back, after 10 years, Eric gives Ernie a giant wallet, Bully on a Park Bench, Jill Gascoigne joins the guys for Christmas Dinner, the Dancing Police, Eric is Jake the Peg, the Ventriloquist who lost his Voice, Eric and Ernie go to see the Psychiatrist, Eric insults Peter Barkworth because he isn't a Sir, and Ernie's updated Hamlet

Magic from television's best-loved double act. Ernie re-writes 'Julius Ceasar' with Eric in the title role, the duo act as a backing group for Alvin Stardust.

Returning from the previous seasonal show was All Creatures Great & Small star Robert Hardy, joined by both Rula Lenska and Richard Vernon who had appeared in previous shows; the opening routine perhaps prophetically discussed the retiring of the double act but this in itself was a further reworking of BBC material but somehow the pace of the dialogue was becoming lost. In an update of several older sketches, the Video Shop was offered as well as a Lingerie Shop and a Chattanooga Choo Choo routine. The closing play was the Yukon Gold Rush and featured Rula Lenska in another reworking of a BBC idea. Notable of this and many other shows was the absence of the favourite signature tune over the end credits. Again, this show was not broadcast on Christmas Night but two evenings later.

What was to be the duo's final festive offering was billed once again as Eric & Ernie's Xmas Show and some re-hashed material from earlier BBC shows despite Eddie Braben's continued input. The most notable re-used ideas were the Harpenden Hot-Shots and the final play "What Ern Wrote" was entitled The Planter's Wife and featured Nanette Newman in the titular role. This sketch was set in Malaysia with the musical ending performed by puppets. The sketch that had aired originally in the 1976 seasonal show with Elton John ("sounds like an exit on the motorway...") was thinly re-worked here with Peter Skellern in the same role. A song-and-dance number of 'Swinging Down The Lane' remade from their ATV days closes the proceedings but there's no signature tune to be heard. Following the end of the show, Thames continuity announcer Philip Elsmore appears to introduce the next programme which is to feature Des O'Connor, the duo appear behind Elsmore to make derogatory remarks about the star in a long-standing in-joke; this would be the duo's final appearance as Morecambe died the following year.

Introduced by Ernie Wise Highlights from some of the earliest shows made by one of the greatest double-acts this century. Guests featured in this programme from the 1960s are: Millicent Martin The Fortunes

All the best bits from the BBC christmas specials

Ronnie Carroll joins Eric and Ernie in two sketches - Irish of course! - and sings Once Upon a Time. Kenny Ball plays Samantha from High Society.