Morecambe & Wise (III) - We Get Along So Easily Quiz | Celebrities

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. In 1968, Morecambe & Wise, along with their writers, Hills & Green, had made the move to the BBC, with the only initial change to the format for the first series being that the show was broadcast in colour. However, Bill Cotton, the Head of Light Entertainment, had planned a major change for subsequent series. What was this change intended to be?

Answer: The shows would increase in duration.

During their time at ATV, Morecambe & Wise's shows were of 30 minutes duration, which was reduced to approximately 25 minutes without the ad break. Both Eric and Ernie, as well as Bill Cotton, felt this amount of time was too restrictive. So, although episodes of the initial series on the BBC were 30 minutes long (a full 30 minutes, as the BBC had no ad breaks), from Series 2 onwards it was intended that episodes should be between 45 and 50 minutes.

2. On 8 November 1968, less than three weeks after the end of the first series of "The Morecambe & Wise Show" on BBC2, Eric was returning to his hotel following a live performance when he suffered a massive heart attack. What town in Yorkshire were he and Ernie performing in at the time?

Answer: Batley

Despite the pressure of working on their TV show, first on ATV and then the BBC, Morecambe & Wise kept up a punishing schedule of live appearances throughout the 1960s. In November 1968, they were scheduled for a week of late night performances at the famous Batley Variety Club in Yorkshire.

However, during the time in Batley, Eric had felt increasingly unwell and, having left one night to return to his hotel in Leeds, he had to pull his car over and ask a passer by to help him get to hospital. Famously, the man who stopped to help, named Walter Butterworth, told Eric that his only driving experience was in a tank, but he managed to get to a hospital with an emergency department, and Eric was admitted to intensive care.

3. As a result of his heart attack, Eric was forced to take several months off to recuperate. During this time, it was unclear whether he would ever be fit enough to continue, and, as a result of this uncertainty, Hills & Green elected to end their partnership with Morecambe & Wise. Who told the duo that their writers had left?

Answer: An airline crew member

The first that either Eric or Ernie heard about the departure of Hills & Green came when Ernie was flying to Barbados following a business trip to the US, and a member of the cabin crew said how sorry he was to have heard that the writers had departed.

Despite this, Bill Cotton and the BBC retained the faith they had that Morecambe & Wise would be back, to the extent of reassuring the duo that not only would their original contract be honoured, but they were prepared to renegotiate it to put less stress on Eric and his health when he was ready to return.

4. In July 1969, eight months after Eric's near-fatal heart attack, Morecambe & Wise made a triumphant return to the screen with the first of their short second series on the BBC. The episodes were longer, featured a new writer in Eddie Braben, and saw the first of Ernie's famous "plays wot I wrote", a parody of the "Knights of the Round Table". Which great cinema actor, playing King Arthur, became the first guest star to appear in one of these productions?

Answer: Peter Cushing

The "plays wot Ernie wrote" became a staple of Morecambe & Wise's TV series under Eddie Braben, who subtly altered the relationship between the pair from what it had been under Hills & Green, notably enhancing the character of Ernie as the playwright who thought he was better than he actually was. Peter Cushing's appearance started a running gag of him periodically returning to enquire of Eric & Ernie when he would be paid for his initial appearance.

5. One of Morecambe & Wise's most famous sketches is "Antony & Cleopatra", featuring Glenda Jackson. In the sketch, Eric enters carrying a mocked-up Roman aquila (eagle) staff, which displays his support of which English football team?

Answer: Luton Town

The aquila that Eric enters with has a plate upon it on which is written SPQR (Sen�tus Populusque R�m�nus). This is flipped however to reveal written on the other side "Luton FC". Eric at the time was a director of Luton Town FC, the football club nearest to his home in Harpenden, and enthusiastically attended most home games, as well as many away games in that capacity.

He resigned from the club's board in 1975, after which he was made an honorary vice-president of the club. Today the main hospitality lounge at Luton Town's Kenilworth Road stadium is named after Eric.

6. In 1971, the "Morecambe & Wise Christmas Show" featured Andre Previn conducting Eric's infamous performance of Grieg's Piano Concerto (by Grieg). Which classical musician was Previn "supposed" to be performing with on the show?

Answer: Yehudi Menuhin

One of the stipulations that Morecambe & Wise made of their guest stars was that they be available for the extensive rehearsals the duo insisted on. For most, this would run to a minimum of five days worth of rehearsing, but, owing to his other commitments, Previn was only available for three days, which then had to be cut to just a day.

Although Eric was extremely worried, to the point of considering dropping the conductor from the sketch entirely, Previn, despite only learning the script fully in the back of a car on the way from Heathrow Airport to BBC Television Centre on the day of recording, put in what is considered a virtuoso performance of comic timing; upon finding out that he won't be performing Mendelsshon's Violin Concerto with Yehudi Menuhin, but Grieg's Piano Concerto with the less celebrated Eric Morecambe, he attempts to find a way out of the performance by leaving to retrieve his baton from Chicago. Previn's spot-on timing with this line caused Eric to visibly relax into the sketch, resulting in what is often regarded (including by Morecambe & Wise themselves) as the duo's finest piece of work.

7. Des O'Connor was famously the butt of many jokes delivered by Morecambe & Wise, particularly about his singing. However, he wasn't the first target of their humour. After their move to the BBC, which crooner did they first make jokes about?

Answer: Frankie Vaughan

Although intended as merely good natured banter, Frankie Vaughan eventually took exception to the treatment he received from Eric & Ernie, to the extent that he ordered his lawyers to draft a letter to the BBC. As a consequence, Eric & Ernie transferred their badinage to their old friend Des O'Connor. Vaughan eventually made up with the duo, to the extent of appearing on a show in their final BBC series, singing "Cabaret" with their "band", the Harpenden Hot Shots.

8. The year 1975 saw Eric & Ernie produce only a single episode of their own show, broadcast at Christmas. Instead of a series of their own, they had presented a series that allowed plays written by children to be performed by professional actors. What was this series called?

Answer: It's Child's Play

"It's Child's Play" (sometimes written as "It's Childsplay") featured a number of well-known actors of the time, with several, including Arthur Lowe, Penelope Keith and Angharad Rees, having made or subsequently making appearances on "The Morecambe & Wise Show".

The 1975 Christmas Show, the only edition of their own show that year, saw Eric & Ernie perform some of their most famous sketches, including the often-shown opening sequence with Des O'Connor ("if you want me to be a goner, get me an LP by Des O'Connor"); Robin Day's "Friendly Discussion", which eventually turns into a brawl between the duo and the respected news broadcaster; and Ernie's play "Nell Gwynne", starring Diana Rigg as the title character.

9. In 1976, Eric & Ernie performed a sketch in which they introduced a famous American crooner. Which famous singer is supposedly performing?

Answer: Frank Sinatra

The sketch sees Eric & Ernie watching "Sinatra" performing "Come Fly With Me" from the wings, discussing various aspects of the singer and his life, and the fact that Ernie had persuaded him to do the show for free. At the end of the sketch, "Sinatra" exits the stage, while the duo try and persuade him to return for a curtain call.

This ends with "Sinatra" hauling Eric behind the curtains and engaging in a brawl.

10. The 1977 Christmas Show turned out to be the final edition of "The Morecambe & Wise Show" produced by the BBC. The introduction featured a spoof of a popular crime-fighting show, but which show was being spoofed?

Answer: Starsky & Hutch

The introduction of the Christmas show featured Eric and Ernie in a spoofed version of the opening sequence of "Starsky & Hutch" (entitled "Starkers & Krutch"), with the famous Ford Torino replaced by an identically painted Mini Cooper. In addition, the show featured appearances by Elton John, Angela Rippon (the year after her famous appearance in the "newsflash") and the cast of "Dad's Army", and Penelope Keith famously walking down the unfinished staircase.

Source: Author Red_John

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor skunkee before going online.
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Morecambe & Wise (III) - We Get Along So Easily Quiz

In 1968, Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise switched from ITV to the BBC, and in the process began the move from top flight comedians to national treasures. How much do you know about their most celebrated period?

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