And It's Goodnight From Him Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Frost Report

Cleese: (looking down) "I look down on him because I am upper class."
Barker: (looking up) "I look up to him because he is upper class," (looking down) "but I look down to him because he is lower class." (looking straight) "I am middle class."
Corbett: "I know my place."
Cleese: (looking down) "I get a feeling of superiority over them."
Barker: (looking up) "I get a feeling of inferiority from him but a (looking down) feeling of superiority over him."
Corbett: (looking up) "I get a pain in the back of my neck."

Answer: Lord Rustless

Gerald Wiley, Ronnie's writing alter-ego, was one of the script-writers for these fifteen half-hour episodes. The main character first appeared in 'The Ronnie Barker Playhouse', but it was generally accepted that Lord Rustless grew into Ronnie's own adaptation as the series was filmed, and was no longer just the invention of playwright Alun Owen.

Answer: Four Candles

Here is the first part of the sketch. It goes to prove the genius of Ronnie and Corbett that such a simple few lines could remain so vivid and funny after so many years. But it did! If you have never seen this sketch, please do your best to see it!

Ronnie: "Four candles."
Corbett: "Four candles. There you are, four candles."
Ronnie: "No, four candles."
Corbett: "Well, there you are. Four candles."
Ronnie: "No, four candles. 'andles for forks."

Answer: Polly Parton

Apparently Ronnie did not like dressing up as a woman - but he and Corbett did it regularly. My favourites were the sketches when the men played husband and wife teams, where Mrs Ronnie was married to Mr Corbett and Mrs Corbett married to Mr Ronnie. We never saw them on split screen but for the introduction and close of these sketches when they would be walking along a sea front promenade.

Answer: Spoonerism

(Stammering is stuttering, where some letters are difficult to form. Cluttering is a disorder where a speaker has bursts of fast or slow speech, often without realisation. Apraxia sufferers have difficultly moving the muscles to form speech sounds.)

One of Ronnie's solos included this:

"I am secretary of the Loyal Society for the Relief of Suffers from Pisspronunciation. It's a terrible thung to be ting-tied, it's even worse when your wierds get all mucks up and come out in wucca-saying in dick-dock your thung to be."

How anyone can deliver such lines with the fluency that he did is beyond me!

Answer: Prisoner and Escort

David Jason first worked with Ronnie on 'Porridge', as an elderly lag called Blanco. The episode when Blanco and Fletcher were in the hospital wing was one of my favourites; they successfully turned the tables on another prisoner who was planning to con the old man out of what little he had.

Answer: BAFTA

Beckinsale continued to play the same character from 'Porridge', Lenny Godber, in this series; he was engaged to marry Fletcher's daughter, Ingrid. One of the lovely scenes contained this script:

Fletcher: "Where you going anyway?"
Ingrid: "I can never pronounce it. Where we going Len?"
Godber: "Lanzarote."
Ingrid: "That's it, Lanzarote."
Fletcher: "Lanzarote? Where's that?"
Ingrid: "Well, we're not quite sure coz we can't find it on the map, but it's out of the ordinary, you know, it's not too touristy."
Godber: "It's volcanic."
Fletcher: "Oh, that'll be nice won't it. That'll get you out of bed in the morning, won't it?"

Answer: Ronnie had not worked with any of the other actors in this sitcom before

David Jason played Granville, and he had played Blanco in 'Porridge'; he first worked with Ronnie in 'Hark at Barker'. Madge Hindle (who also appeared in 'Coronation Street') played with Ronnie in at least one of his silent comedies based on the humour of the seaside postcard, written in the late 1960s. 'Tenko' actor Stephanie Cole played Mrs Featherstone, and the shop did indeed have a till with a mind of its own.

It was one of those timeless jokes - no matter how often you saw Arkwright or Granville approach the till you just had to laugh!

Answer: 2

Neither 'The Magnificent Evans' (based on another 'Seven For One' character') nor 'Clarence' were as popular as Ronnie's other sitcoms, even though they were masterly. It was unfortunate that neither matched his previous work, especially as Ronnie's work was better than other sitcoms of the 1980s. As it happened, both enjoyed a moderate success.

Answer: Emmerdale

In 2002 he played butler to Albert Finney's Churchill in 'A Gathering Storm', and in 2002 he appeared with Dame Maggie Smith in 'My House in Umbria' (when he said the immortal line: 'Seize the day. Embrace the present. Enjoy life while you've got the chance.') In 2005 'The Two Ronnies' Sketchbook' was aired on the BBC, putting Ronnie behind the desk with Corbett again as they hosted a mixture show of the best of 'The Two Ronnies'.

Ronnie Barker died on Tuesday 4 October 2005 and every newspaper covered his life and genius the next day. He will be remembered as one of the greatest comedians the UK has known, as well as a gifted actor and accomplished writer.