The Morecambe & Wise Show (1961)
The Morecambe & Wise Show is the third TV series by English comedy double-act Morecambe and Wise. It began airing in 1968 on BBC2, specifically because it was then the only channel broadcasting in colour, following the duo's move to the BBC from ATV, where they had made Two of a Kind since 1961. The series was popular enough to be moved to BBC1, with its Christmas specials garnering prime-time audiences in excess of 20 million, some of the largest in British television history. After their 1977 Christmas special, retaining its title, the show moved over to ITV.
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Episode 1 - Episode 1
Release Date: 1970-07-01This Is Your Life, Moon landing, It’s over between us, Eric Porter’s dressing room, Tarzan’s last adventure, Six weeks to live, Bill-posting, The glove puppet, Monks: 007, Wuthering Heights
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Episode 2 - Episode 2
Release Date: 1970-07-15Fox hunting, Record shop: bird calls, Visiting Eric’s parents, Three in a bed, Boarding house, In the park with baby, Telephone clock, Barbers shop, Frankie Vaughan’s son, Monks: sign posts, Pregnant lady calls for Ernie
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Episode 3 - Episode 3
Release Date: 1970-07-29Health food, Contagious disease, Underwear shop, Miss Holiday resort, Nina’s cake, Monks: pay day, Writing in bed
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Episode 4 - Episode 4
Release Date: 1970-08-12Ernie’s ballet Accident, Christening, Fenella Fielding comes to the flat, Directions from a policeman, The big record, Monks: dice, Sing Something Simple, I’ll See You Again
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Episode 5 - Episode 5
Release Date: 1970-08-26The stool, The diet, Messing up Ernie’s plays/famous guest stars, Ticket collector, The drama critic, Monks: the organ, Barbara Murray introduction, There’s No Business Like Big Business, Politicians
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Episode 6 - Special (8 October 1970)
Release Date: 1970-10-08Moustache seeds, Ernie in hospital, Ear specialist, Honeymoon couple next door. This episode of The Morecambe and Wise Show, had been considered lost for over 50 years. Eric’s son Gary Morecambe discovered the programme in an unmarked film can last year, and now it has been lovely restored and was broadcast on 25th December 2021 for the first time since its original broadcast in 1970. The show, written by the legendary Eddie Braben, was episode one of Eric and Ernie’s first series to appear on BBC1, and was originally watched by over 14 million viewers. As well as some classic sketches from Eric and Ernie, the show also features songs and music from Paul Anka, Patricia Lambert, Kenny Ball and his Jazzmen, and the boys themselves rounding things off with a burst of Bring Me Sunshine
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Episode 7 - 1970 Christmas Special
Release Date: 1970-12-25The 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 lemonade 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 has he had done in previous appearances.