Main content
Sorry, this episode is not currently available

Roy Smiles - Goodnight from Him

4 Extra Debut. Comedy drama about the Two Ronnies, their long-running show and even longer-running friendship. Stars Robert Daws and Aidan McCardle. From May 2013.

A new comedy drama by award-winning playwright Roy Smiles, writer of previous Afternoon Dramas Ying Tong, Good Evening, Pythonesque and Dear Arthur, Love John.

Goodnight From Him tells the story of Ronnie Corbett and Ronnie Barker from their beginnings in cabaret and repertory theatre, via their first meeting at the bar of the Buckstone Club in 1963 and being chosen by David Frost for his new show The Frost Report (alongside John Cleese), to getting their own Saturday night 91热爆1 series The Two Ronnies in 1971. The show ran for an extraordinary sixteen years, always topping the ratings, ending in 1986 with Ronnie Barker's early retirement.

The play explores the differences between the two: Corbett the happy-go-lucky sketch performer and extrovert, comfortable chatting to an audience; and Barker the shy introvert who needed to hide behind his characters to face an audience and worked like a demon behind the scenes.

Using parodies of some of their greatest sketches - Fork Handles, Mastermind and The Class Sketch from The Frost Report - Goodnight From Him tells the story of how two men worked together for twenty years without ever a cross word.

Written by Roy Smiles.

Producer: Liz Anstee
A CPL production for 91热爆 Radio 4.

45 minutes

Last on

Mon 2 Apr 2018 21:15

Credits

Role Contributor
Ronnie Barker Robert Daws
Ronnie Corbett Aidan McArdle
David Frost James Lance
John Cleese Matt Addis
Writer Roy Smiles
Producer Liz Anstee

Broadcasts

  • Mon 27 May 2013 14:15
  • Mon 17 Aug 2015 14:15
  • Mon 2 Apr 2018 11:15
  • Mon 2 Apr 2018 21:15

Opening Lines

Opening Lines

John Yorke unpacks the themes behind the stories in Radio 4's weekend afternoon dramas.

The Shakespeare Sessions

The Shakespeare Sessions

Immerse yourself in Shakespeare鈥檚 world