Ronnie Barker
Birthday: Born in 1929-09-25 in
Deathday: 2005-10-03
TV Credits
Seven of One
Character:
Seven of One was a British comedy series that aired on BBC2 in 1973. Starring Ronnie Barker, 7 of One is a series of seven separate comedies that would serve as possible pilots for sitcoms. Originally it was to be called Six of One, which Barker planned to follow up with another series called Half Dozen of the Other. This was a BBC version of a similar showcase for LWT called Six Dates with Barker created in 1971....
Going Straight
Character: Norman Stanley Fletcher
Going Straight is a BBC sitcom which was a direct spin-off from Porridge, starring Ronnie Barker as Norman Stanley Fletcher, newly released from the fictional Slade Prison where the earlier series had been set. It sees Fletcher trying to become an honest member of society, having vowed to stay away from crime on his release. The title refers to his attempt, 'straight' being a slang term meaning being honest, in contrast to 'bent', i.e., dishonest. Also re-appearing was Richard Beckinsale as Le...
Porridge
Character: Norman Stanley Fletcher
Porridge is a British situation comedy broadcast on BBC1 from 1974 to 1977, running for three series, two Christmas specials and a feature film also titled Porridge. Written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, it stars Ronnie Barker and Richard Beckinsale as two inmates at the fictional HMP Slade in Cumberland. "Doing porridge" is British slang for serving a prison sentence, porridge once being the traditional breakfast in UK prisons. The series was followed by a 1978 sequel, Going Straight, wh...
Open All Hours
Character:
Open All Hours is a BBC sitcom written by Roy Clarke and starring Ronnie Barker as a miserly shop keeper and David Jason as his put-upon nephew who works as his errand boy....
The Saint
Character: Alphonse
Simon Templar is The Saint, a handsome, sophisticated, debonair, modern-day Robin Hood who recovers ill-gotten wealth and redistributes it to those in need....
Six Dates with Barker
Character:
Six Dates with Barker is a series of six one-off, half hour situation comedies showcasing the talents of Ronnie Barker. All were broadcast by London Weekend Television early in 1971. Writers on the series included John Cleese and Spike Milligan. The producer was Humphrey Barclay....
The Two Ronnies Sketchbook
Character:
Six hour-long episodes of The Two Ronnies Sketchbook aired on BBC 1 in March and April 2005. It saw the Two Ronnies back behind their famous news desk, introducing some of their favourite sketches and re-reading some of the classic news items that began and ended every episode of The Two Ronnies. Much was made of the fact that the sketches chosen were shown in their entirety. Each week an episode of the classic Spike Milligan-scripted serial The Phantom Raspberry Blower of Old London Town was sh...
The Magnificent Evans
Character: Plantagenet Evans
The Magnificent Evans is a 1984 BBC situation comedy written by Roy Clarke and starring Ronnie Barker, Sharon Morgan and Myfanwy Talog....
Six More Faces of Jim
Character:
Faces of Jim was a black-and-white British comedy television series starring Jimmy Edwards, June Whitfield and Ronnie Barker, with each episode being an individual half-hour sitcom. The first series aired as The Seven Faces of Jim, the second as Six More Faces of Jim and the third series as More Faces of Jim. All the episodes were written by Frank Muir and Denis Norden....
The Big Show
Character: Self
The Big Show is an American comedy-variety-musical television series produced and broadcast by NBC for several months in 1980. The series aimed to revitalize the moribund variety television genre, which had been in a downward spiral since the cancellations of The Ed Sullivan Show and The Carol Burnett Show a few years earlier. The Big Show took its title seriously, using a huge stage set and filling a 90-minute time-slot, with at least one two-hour installment broadcast. Although the first bro...
Clarence
Character: Clarence
Clarence is a 1988 BBC situation comedy starring Ronnie Barker and Josephine Tewson, written by Ronnie Barker under the pseudonym "Bob Ferris". It was Barker's final sitcom appearance before his retirement. Barker had previously faced some criticism over his employment of a stammer for comedic effect in Open All Hours. However, the slapstick potential of a short-sighted furniture shifter must have seemed irresistible. The series was inspired by The Removals Person by Hugh Leonard, an earlier pr...
BBC Play of the Month
Character: Henry Ormonroyd
Play of the Month is a BBC television anthology series featuring productions of classic and contemporary stage plays which were usually broadcast on BBC1. Each production featured a different work, often using prominent British stage actors in the leading roles. The series was transmitted from October 1965 to September 1983; the producer most associated with the Play of the Month was Cedric Messina. Some of the 121 episodes are missing from the archives, having been junked in the 1960s and 1970...
Hark at Barker
Character:
Hark at Barker was a 1969 British comedy series combining elements of sitcom and sketch show, which starred Ronnie Barker. It was made for the ITV network by LWT. Each show began with a spoof news item read by Barker as a continuity announcer. He would then introduce the main part of the programme, a lecture to be given by Lord Rustless on a different topic each week from his stately home, Chrome Hall. Helped and hindered by Rustless' secretary Bates, his Butler Badger, his bad-tempered Cook, h...
The Best Of The Two Ronnies
Character:
A tribute to a legendary duo from the golden age in television variety. From 1971 to 1987, and over the course of twelve series and eight specials, The Two Ronnies was one of the nation's favourite television comedy shows. The show was practically an institution, with Christmas and Easter holidays only really being complete for most families, with a Two Ronnies special. This compilation features favourite sketches from sixteen years of the much-loved and much-missed programme, including: * The V...
An Audience with...
Character: Self
An Audience with... is a British entertainment television show produced by London Weekend Television, in which a host, usually a singer or comedian, performs for an invited audience of celebrity guests, interspersed with questions from the audience, in a light hearted revue/tribute style....
The Best of Ronnie Barker
Character:
Sketches and clips from his greatest television comedy performances...
Wogan
Character: Self
Chat show hosted by Terry Wogan, featuring live studio interviews with famous and notable personalities....
The Two Ronnies
Character:
The Two Ronnies is a British sketch show which aired on BBC1 from 1971 to 1987. It featured the double act of Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett, the "Two Ronnies" of the title....
Christmas Night with the Stars
Character:
A gala programme broadcast each Christmas night by the BBC from 1958 to 1972 and also revived in 1994. It was hosted by a leading star and featured specially made short, seasonal editions of the previous year's most popular sitcoms and light entertainment programmes....
The Avengers
Character: Cheshire
The Avengers is a British television series created in the 1960s. It initially focused on Dr. David Keel and his assistant John Steed. Hendry left after the first series and Steed became the main character, partnered with a succession of assistants. His most famous assistants were intelligent, stylish and assertive women: Cathy Gale, Emma Peel and Tara King. Later episodes increasingly incorporated elements of science fiction and fantasy, parody and British eccentricity....
The Two Ronnies In Australia
Character: Various Roles
With their unique comedic brand of absurd sight gags, razor-sharp wordplay and devious double entendres, Ronnie Corbett and Ronnie Barker together dominated TV comedy throughout the 70s and 80s. Over twelve series and eight specials, and with the help of some of the best writers in British comedy including John Cleese, Spike Milligan and Michael Palin, The Two Ronnies was the flagship sketch comedy show for the BBC, and became an institution in lounge rooms across Australia. In 1986, shortly bef...
The Nearly Complete and Utter History of Everything
Character:
Comedic British History...
Sykes
Character: Lord Towers
Classic sitcom starring Eric Sykes and Hattie Jacques as brother and sister twins who have to tackle the trials and tribulations of suburban life....
Movie Credits
Robin and Marian
Character: Friar Tuck
Robin Hood, aging none too gracefully, returns exhausted from the Crusades to woo and win Maid Marian one last time....
Futtocks End
Character: Gen. Futtock
Entirely silent, with a musical score, sound effects and incoherent mutterings, the story revolves around a weekend gathering at the decaying country home of the eccentric and lewd General Futtock (Ronnie Barker) and the series of saucy mishaps between the staff (Michael Hordern plays the lecherous butler) and his guests....
My House in Umbria
Character: The General
Emily Delahunty is an eccentric British romance novelist who lives in Umbria in central Italy. One day while travelling, the train she is on is bombed by terrorists. After she wakes up in a hospital, she invites three of the other survivors of the disaster to stay at her Italian villa for recuperation. Of these are The General, a retired British Army veteran, Werner, a young German man, and Aimee, a young American girl who has now become mute after her parents were both killed in the explosion....
Porridge
Character: Norman Stanley Fletcher
Times are hard for habitual guest of Her Majesty Norman Stanley Fletcher. The new prison officer, Beale, makes MacKay look soft and what's more, an escape plan is hatching from the cell of prison godfather Grouty and Fletcher wants no part of it....
Hitler: The Comedy Years
Character: Norman Stanley Fletcher (archive footage) (uncredited)
A documentary about the portrayal of Adolf Hitler in popular culture....
Kill or Cure
Character: Burton
A private eye is hired to go undercover at a health farm, but before he can find out why his client is murdered....
The Bargee
Character: Ronnie
After a lock-keeper entrusts his daughter to a canal Casanova, he is shocked to learn that she is pregnant. He then refuses to open his locks - causing barges to pile up in every direction until the guilty party confesses....
By the Sea
Character: The General
A crusty old General leads his dotty family on a relaxing weekend at the seaside, and comic chaos ensues....
The Picnic
Character: The General
A crusty old English General leads his eccentric family on a family picnic trip, and comic chaos ensues....
Comedy Greats The Two Ronnies
Character: Himself
A tribute to a legendary duo from television comedy's golden age. From 1971 to 1987, and over the course of twelve series and eight specials,THE TWO RONNIES was one of the UK's favourite television shows. During this golden age of television comedy, the show was practically an institution, with Christmas and Easter only really being complete, with a TVVO RONNIES special....
Father Came Too!
Character: Josh
When Dexter Munro and his new wife Juliet get married, they decide to escape Juliet's meddling father by buying a rundown cottage and doing it up themselves. But when the cottage proves to be more ramshackle than they thought, and the scale of the repairs needed far out of their budget, the newlyweds are forced into calling on Juliet's father after all. Before long he's employed incompetent builder Josh Wicks, and the situation goes from bad to worse....
The Cracksman
Character: Yossle
Ernest Wright's peerless prowess as a locksmith comes to the attention of a tough big-time crook, who feels that the little man would be a valuable asset to his crime kingdom. In order to inveigle him into a series of jobs, he sets up a beautiful hostess as a trap, into which the hapless Ernest inevitably falls..!...
Wilton's: The Handsomest Hall in Town
Character: George Bastow
An evening at Wilton's Music-Hall, Grace's Alley, Wellclose Square, London, 1860 starring Peter Sellers, Spike Milligan, Keith Michell, Pat Kirkwood, Warren Mitchell, Ronnie Barker, Bill Fraser, Gina Astralita, Eric Robinson. Introduced by Billy Russell. Tonight, 90 years after it closed, this famous Music-Hall opens again to bring you a picture of the stars, the singers, the dancers, and the people who once went there....
Just Like That!
Character: Self
Just Like That! is a celebration of the comic genius of Tommy Cooper] - just like that! But nobody could do it just like that apart from the unique Mr Cooper himself, and despite his claim never to have used those words. Was Tommy really Henry Coper's brother? Can Tommy's performance as Hamlet, clown prince, compare with the greats? Was Tommy a ventriloquist at heart? Rare and classic routines and contributions from famous fans help solve the mystery. The friends and fans who take part (many of...
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Character: Bottom
Mistaken identity, unrequited love, and the supernatural are combined in Shakespeare's classic set in the woods of Greece on a moonlit night....
An Audience with Ronnie Corbett
Character:
Super-talented comic Ronnie Corbett pulls out all the stops to entertain a celebrity audience including on-screen sidekick Ronnie Barker, Damien Hirst and Frank Skinner in this 1997 special....
Comedy Classics: Porridge
Character: (archive footage)
An homage to the prison comedy series Porridge, created by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais. This documentary examines how Ronnie Barker’s Fletch influenced Slade Prison’s characters. There is also a look at 1978’s Going Straight, Porridge: The Movie, the US remake On the Rocks, and the 2017 reboot starring Kevin Bishop and Ricky Grover....
Porridge: The Desperate Hours
Character: Fletcher
Fletcher and Godber are in trouble for brewing liquor in the lead-up to Christmas, but are caught up in a hostage situation in the Governor's office....
Porridge: No Way Out
Character: Fletcher
Fletcher discovers that his fellow inmates are planning to escape....
Wonderful Things
Character: Waiter (uncredited)
Set in a beautiful fishing village in Gibraltar, Wonderful Things! stars Frankie Vaughan as Carmello, a young fisherman who, unable to earn enough from fishing to marry his tempestuous fiancée, decides to come to England to seek his fortune and finds fortunes are not quite so easy to come by....
Life Beyond the Box: Norman Stanley Fletcher
Character: Norman Stanley Fletcher
Spoof documentary looking at the life of Normal Stanley Fletcher, the star of 1970s sitcom Porridge played by Ronnie Barker. Featuring fictional footage and interviews with the character's family, friends and associates, the film documents Fletcher's chequered career....
Doctor in Distress
Character: Man at Railway Station Ticket Counter (uncredited)
"Doctor in Distress" is the fifth of the seven films in the "Doctor" series, and focuses on Sir Lancelot Spratt, Simon Sparrow's old teacher and sometimes nemesis. When the eternal bachelor Sir Lancelot injures his back and falls in love with his physiotherapist Iris Marchant, he becomes very distressed and turns to Simon for help. Simon, who now is a senior doctor at fictional Hampden Cross Hospital and hopelessly in love with aspiring actress Delia, sends him to a nature cure clinic in a va...
Runaway Railway
Character: Mr. Galore
A group of young railway enthusiasts attempt to stop the closure of the local railway by trying to raise money to buy it and the steam engine "Matilda." They get help from a pair of men claiming to be enthusiasts but who turn out to be robbers who plan to hold up the mail train...
A Ghost of a Chance
Character: Mr. Prendergast
Three children try to fight against the destruction of a local historic landmark. They are helped by a group of friendly ghosts....
The Gathering Storm
Character: David Inches
A love story offering an intimate look inside the marriage of Winston and Clementine Churchill during a particularly troubled, though little-known, moment in their lives....
Ronnie Barker: A BAFTA Tribute
Character: Himself
A BAFTA tribute to Ronnie Barker...
Is Anybody There?
Character: Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
A young boy who lives in an old folks' home strikes up a friendship with a retired magician....
The Best Of The Two Ronnies
Character:
A tribute to a legendary duo from the golden age in television variety. From 1971 to 1987, and over the course of twelve series and eight specials, The Two Ronnies was one of the nation's favourite television comedy shows. The show was practically an institution, with Christmas and Easter holidays only really being complete for most families, with a Two Ronnies special. This compilation features favourite sketches from sixteen years of the much-loved and much-missed programme, including: * The...
The Many Faces of Ronnie Barker
Character: Archive Footage
Programme telling the story of Ronnie Barker, a quiet dedicated actor who might have been a bank manager but went on to become one of the country's favourite comedy stars. Ben Elton, Michael Grade, David Renwick and Josephine Tewson are among friends and colleagues who remember his genius. Famed as one half of the Two Ronnies and the likeable convict Fletcher in Porridge, he was also a prolific writer and admired actor in serious roles....
Two off the Cuff
Character:
A pair of irreverent shorts. In "Masks," a sad man hides behind a happy mask. In "Happenings," a bored man stands around waiting for something to happen....
A Home of Your Own
Character: The Cement Mixer
A Home of Your Own is a 1964 British comedy film which is a brick-by-brick account of the building a young couple’s dream house. From the day when the site is first selected, to the day – several years and children later – when the couple finally move in, the story is a noisy but wordless comedy of errors as the incompetent labourers struggle to complete the house. It may well have been inspired by the success of Bernard Cribbins' classic song of the same vein from two years earlier, "Right Said...
The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins
Character: Guest Appearance (segment "Sloth")
The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins is a 1971 British comedy film directed and produced by Graham Stark. Its title is a conflation of The Magnificent Seven and the seven deadly sins. It comprises a sequence of seven sketches, each representing a sin and written by an array of British comedy-writing talent. The sketches are linked by animation sequences. The music score is by British jazz musician Roy Budd, cinematography by Harvey Harrison and editing by Rod Nelson-Keys and Roy Piper. It was produ...
The Two Ronnies Unseen Sketches
Character:
This special programme relates how, just before Ronnie Barker's retirement in 1986, the Two Ronnies travelled to Sydney to make a series for Australia's Channel Nine. Their regular British show had been a huge hit down under, and now they were to create a new version especially for Australia....
To See Such Fun
Character:
Compilation of classic British comedy moments...
The Man Outside
Character: George Venaxas
Bill MacLean is a former CIA agent living in London. He had been fired when he stuck up for one of the men in his command who turned out to be branded a Russian defector. The embittered ex-agent combines forces with another operative to deliver a top Russian secret police official for a price. Before he can deliver the Russian, a trail of corpses and double crosses changes his plans. When his partner who concocted the scheme is murdered, MacLean returns the check to the CIA. They offer him his o...
A Tribute to Tommy Cooper
Character: Self
A retrospective of the comedy genius of Tommy Cooper, with tributes from the likes of Eamonn Andrews, Ronnie Barker, Max Bygraves, Cannon & Ball, Jim Davidson, Benny Hill, Eric Sykes and Mike Yarwood...