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The lowdown: 'The Two Ronnies' starred Ronnie Corbett and Ronnie Barker, and was one of the mainstays of the BBC1 schedule during the 1970s and 80s. A total of 98 episodes were broadcast between 10 April 1971 and 25 December 1987, including several Chrismas specials. Each episode generally followed the same format, with the opening segment featuring spoof news stories read by Corbett and Barker, followed by a series of sketches featuring one or both of the Ronnies, a performance by a guest singer, a musical number by the Ronnies, and Corbett's solo monologue in which he always starts out by telling a joke but gets sidetracked by telling the audience about incidents that have happened to him. A higlight of each series was the weekly comedy serial starring both Corbett and Barker and a number of guest actors. The 1984 Christmas special was broadcast, not surprisingly, on Christmas Day in 1984, and featured a guest appearance by Patrick Troughton as the judge in a spoof trial. Barker's character is on trial for murder, and the sketch is based on popular quiz shows and party games of the time, such as Mastermind, The Price is Right, Charades and Blankety Blanks. The
verdict: 'The Two Ronnies' was one
of the most popular sketch comedy/variety shows of its day, and despite
its age,
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