The Morecambe and Wise Show
Season 15
The Morecambe & Wise Show was a long running and massively popular sketch series starring British comedy duo Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise, plus a string of top-name international celebrity guests (of a bygone age), like André Prévin.
Where to Watch Season 15
11 Episodes
- Christmas Special 1976E7
Christmas Special 1976The only BBC show that Eric and Ernie made (save for series one) that wasn't penned exclusively by Eddie Braben. Instead, established writers Barry Cryer and John Junkin (among others) were drafted in to create what became another iconic show, with The Sweeney stars John Thaw and Dennis Waterman in the play, Elton John in the Won't You Play A Simple Melody? routine and, Angela Rippon's legs! The opening credits were a comic strip presentation, whilst closing credits had baby photographs of all the stars. - Christmas Special 1977E8
Christmas Special 1977The final BBC Christmas Show attracted audience figures of 28.5 million, a record that has still to be broken; this was also the first time that Christian names were used in the opening titles, the "boys" having become something of a national institution by this stage. 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 TV crimefighters' Ford Torino. Boasting the longest guest list of all their shows, the casts of both Dad's Army (which by that time had finished its run) and The Good Life all appeared, as did Elton John (eventually!), and the classic There Is Nothing Like A Dame routine featuring a host of BBC news presenters. Angela Rippon also reprised her high-kicking role from the previous Christmas show and Angharad Rees struggled against the blizzards to duet with Ernie. - Thames Special 1978E9
Thames Special 1978No series was made in 1978 in an effort to make the Christmas Show stronger, but there was one hour-long offering (the same length as the BBC shows had been, but with adverts. This opened with an amusing sequence whereby a lorry with a BBC logo emblazoned on its side, appears at Thames Television's studios, the back doors are flung open, and Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise are thrown out, in a direct nod to the bad feeling that was present at the time the partnership had departed their previous employers. The format remained reasonably faithful to that used previously although Eddie Braben did not join them immediately. There's the familiar end-of-show play "What Ern Wrote", this time it is a pastiche of Dr Jekyll & Mrs Hyde: however, there is a more cinematic feel to the parody and it moves beyond the confines of being a single set stage piece.
