Morecambe and Wise the Whole Story Full documentary 2013 Full episode 1 and Episode 2

An affectionate and revealing portrait of two great comedian's journey from obscurity to audiences of more than 28 million. This episode looks at how it all began.
The Beatles are in full throttle and suddenly Northern is cool. On ITV a Northern comedy act is drawing audiences with their likeable, daft show Two of a Kind. Eric and Ernie had a rocky start on television but they didn't blow their second chance. They are on a roll and having fun at last. But how did they get from the bottom of the bill to primetime success? This is the story of the early days of Morecambe and Wise.

[@darylcumming7119]

Thank you. Childhood memories of their television show .😊

[@naly202]

I am Romanian and have discovered Morecambe and Wise only 3-4 years ago here on youtube- I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THEM! they are genuine and universal, and really too wonderful for words.

[@johnbevan4684]

Two people who made life much more worth living. I grew up with them and still love them.

[@terryowings5667]

They were best friends forever......and the world was a better place when they were in it! Thank goodness for moving pictures!

[@SuperGingerBickies]

Morecambe and Wise may not have changed for change's sake but they refreshed and restored things they instinctively knew would raise laughs. They did it the hard way. Legends.

[@agnesbutterbun]

I was a Supervisor for ATV make up dept. They visited and had us all in stitches laughing, great talent. I miss them a golden age of TV gone.

[@janmcdonald3896]

Such a great documentary re these 2 immortals. Ernie Wise is such an underrated performer

[@WesternAustraliaNowAndThen]

I grew up watching Eric & Ernie along with so many other great British comedians. They have all passed into the great beyond but they live on in the memories of those of us they made laugh.

[@LB-gz3ke]

I am American so I have been watching most of the Morecambe and Wise bits for the first time. I remember they were on TV here briefly when Benny Hill was big in the US. I don't know why they didn't catch on here. I am thoroughly charmed by them.

[@xetalq]

It is hard to get across just how big Morecambe & Wise were in Britain (and throughout the Commonwealth) during the sixties and seventies. Every name in British show business wanted to appear on Morecambe & Wise, and their 45-minute show was a staple of Sunday evening TV throughout the second-half of each year. For many years, their 90-minute show (NO commercials, note) was a staple of Christmas evening from 7:30 pm to 9:00 pm, and was the must-see event on Christmas Day, even more than the Queen's Speech at 3:00 pm earlier in the afternoon. The entire country would settle down and watch the entire show from start to finish, completely uninterrupted, with not a soul stirring until the final credits rolled. The UK's National Electricity Board would report that electricity usage spiked sharply as the show ended, and the country's population got up from the sofa for the first time in an hour and a half, and put the kettle on to make a cup of tea! If you haven't already watched these programmes on KZbin, search for Morecambe & Wise and then Andre Previn, Tom Jones, The Beatles, Sir Michael Redgrave, Glenda Jackson, Diana Rigg (yes - she of "The Avengers'!), Elton John, etc - the list goes on and on and on. When they decided to give up the grind by the late 1970s, and they'd even ceased doing their annual specials any more, for the longest time thereafter, Christmas just didn't seem the same. One girl I met at university (in the UK) in 1976 was an American lass living in Portugal (with her Mum and Dad - the latter had a job working for an American company, and was posted to Portugal). Their next door neighbours were Eric Morecambe and his family, who spent part of each year in their house in the Algarve. This girl used to baby-sit for Eric Morecambe's kids and had met the Great man himself on many occasions. She revealed that Eric was as nice in person as he seems to be on TV, but that he was 'always on'. His conversation was a series of one-liners, and even 'off-duty', Eric Morecambe just never stopped being funny. He literally couldn't help himself. To all of us in the UK, they were more than just Morecambe & Wise, they were 'Eric & Ernie', both a national institution and a National Treasure. They belonged to us all, and we miss them still.

[@Livinglife595]

I think you have to be British to understand. Their accents. The places they joke about and the people. I just have to look at Eric and want to laugh he is so funny

[@dawnrigbyhighland-croft]

loved this but it ends suddenly. very upset. bit like reading a book and the last few pages have been torn out.

[@shielahowcroft9852]

My mother used to play the piano for ernie and his dad when the went round the working mens club. We lived in East Ardsley where Ernies father worked on the railways at The Falls

[@susansutton2012]

Loved watching this. Very happy memories.Thank you for uploading.

[@joanneahlbach]

A truly wonderful documentary about two wonderfully funny people that had such a positive, happy and life long influence on the lives of millions of people. I watch their shows quite often but especially the Christmas Specials at Christmas :-)

[@joanneahlbach]

but PLEASE - where can I find the ending of this documentary?????

[@alison155]

​@@joanneahlbachsee what you mean.. it just ends !!! 😢

[@davidhammond3519]

The look on Previn,s face is pricelesssss

[@JohnJohnson-xl1me]

Love this kind of comedy..they are wonderfully funny...

[@babavee100]

I was born in 1946 before television.. I grew up with most of the comedians featured in this documentary. I laughed at Monty Python and the new wave of satirists: Netflix is now featuring Monty Python but I find it so dated and unfunny: embarrasing almost... and yet, Morcambe and Wise can still make me laugh, even after all these years.. Thank you for the upload and the memories. .

[@RatelHBadger]

Besides all the well known "bits" most of the Python jokes were very current events satire. Many things in our general culture has moved on, so their send ups of Upper Class Twits, or Pepperpot housewives don't really work anymore.

[@CaminoAir]

I grew up with Ernie's revised character, so I was very surprised to learn that he was basically just feeding Eric lines in earlier years. Ernie played that uptight, self-important character beautifully and Eric's reactions to that character were priceless.

[@mikjon67]

I can't remember when I first saw them on tv but I never missed one of their shows or Christmas shows!

[@terranceparsons5185]

Ahhaaaarsenal! Who, of a certain age, has also used that 😂😂

[@Howshallwesay]

I am now in my 65th year and can remember when the apostrophe "s" wasn't applied to plurals. But can remember M and W from our first black and white TV in the 60s and theiri popularity until the present day - My kids are modern and stylish, but these two comedians are still favourites, probably because they retained and maintained being what they were through changing times, a good way to live, instead of "moving with the times" as we are told we must by morally flexible politicians and hypocritical "church" leaders, archbishops and popes

[@SuperGingerBickies]

Why bring the church into your post about Morecambe and Wise Popes have never told anyone to 'move with the times' EVER!!! ... but how to handle the signs of the times.

[@heliotropezzz333]

Apostrophe "s" still isn't applied to plurals except by people who don't know their grammar.

[@Howshallwesay]

SuperGingernutz

[@Nuttybott]

Helen Trope Apostrophes are punctuation, not grammar.

[@Howshallwesay]

You're right. I stand corrected

[@CoxJoxSox]

Morcambe's wife and daughter are both such beautiful and sweeties - BIG HUGS

[@jsteed44]

Been to to the 🇬🇧 many times first saw them in December 94 when the BBC replayed their 1977 Xmas special(elton john) a fan ever since

[@LeeMitchellAcoustic]

Eric for me was one of the funniest men in my lives...

[@annarigby175]

I didn't know much about Morecambe and Wise until I saw this documentary. It is a shame about the ending because I want to what the end is.

[@antoniod]

+anna rigby Morecambe passed on from a heart attack in the early 80s. A few years earlier, they'd left BBC for Thames.

[@TheJamesRedwood]

Love love love. Just magic.

[@LongVodka]

It ends quite abruptly...where's the ending? *Please*

[@LongVodka]

@MichaelKingsfordGray Not everyone is required to show their “adult” or real name on this platform or any forms of social media that they don’t want to.

[@neilforbes416]

ITV was *NOT* a channel, it was a station, more to the point, it was a number of stations coming together under the *umbrella* brand of ITV. There was Granada, Tyne Tees, Yorkshire TV, London Weekend/Thames, Trident, HTV, Anglia, Heritage and Lew Grade's ATV among others. (45:52)

[@Themaddprof]

I'm American and had heard of Eric and Ernie, but they didn't use their best material when they appeared on Ed Sullivan, and the classic work never appeared over here. It's too bad, because I see through You Tube that we missed a lot of really charming humor. I particularly enjoy their dancing.

[@ossietee7562]

At 19.00: Scunthorpe has no beach. I think the young gentleman means Skegness or Scarborough.

[@NelsonStJames]

I haven't laughed that hard in quite a while!

[@RatelHBadger]

Something about those 60's comedy acts. Little bit variety show, little bit sketch comedy, little bit sitcom. Morecambe & Wise, Benny Hill, Two Ronnies even Pythons Flying Circus.

[@zoolook3264]

I love hearing Tom Jones crack up laughing haha

[@wicker1234]

I saw a movie here about these two. If it wasn't for Eric's mother they would not be together, not to mention Eric would not be in this business. His mother did not want her only child to have the same life like her husband's or him working in a coal mine. One mother's efforts resulted into these funny "awesome twosome"...

[@DrDespicable]

Well - technically, *two* mothers were necessary...

[@johndillon6859]

Documentaries such as this remind us that television is basically dead. It's filled with talentless, attention seeking non-entities. The golden age has passed, but thank God, we are able to look back to a time when talent and likeability were more important than banality and ego.

[@antoniod]

Where's the rest of it? Did Taffner complain about uploading Thames material that they own?

[@kiltedjohn1000]

stan laurel wasnt american

[@amandajaynesparrow3591]

kiltedjohn1000 No he wasn't American in fact he was British

[@thetimetraveller6550]

Why was the last part of this cut off? What a sin... 😢

[@timmorris4848]

Does anyone recognise the music playing in the background during some of the interviews?

[@jimsbooksreadingandstuff]

this clip ends abruptly...the ending has been cut off

[@webhead66]

Yeah looks like it was just getting to Angela's legs... Still, great viewing and good addition to the Eric & Ernie BBC docudrama which you can find elsewhere

[@garryharriman7349]

What happened to the last part of this wondeful documtary?

[@bowler8]

wheres the rest?

[@matelot95]

"Sir Laurence...He can't come" :-)

[@luciatilyard2827]

I loved the 'plays wot I wrote' and the bits in bed together the most.

[@geraberl]

Surprised there was no mention of Sid Field and Jerry Desmonde at the beginning as M&W drew very heavily on their double act early on in their careers

[@madiantin]

1:01:00 Hold up....is that Venus in Furs by The Velvet Underground in the background?

[@mrrobinson1999]

it just stopped,wheres the rest.

[@moonbasealpha9788]

Re-upload with the ending!!!!!

[@SenorZorrozzz]

They came to America. I’ll tell you why they didn’t make it here. Their comedy had English idioms and words which only they understood. When they played America, the boys kept these in. We Americans didn’t know what they were talking about. The other reason was that they spoke very fast. With their accents we couldn’t tell what they were saying! If they didn’t do these things they would have been a hit!

[@richardathome65]

The Beatles did exactly the same thing, but things worked out for them ok.

[@johnhanson5943]

Laurel was also a northern Briton.

[@naly202]

At 43:50 critics giving stinking reviews for M&W's first TV show... I guess in those times critics felt almighty and dictated what was good or bad and what the public must love/ hate. They still consider themselves almighty (see Bohemian Rhapsody). Thank goodness times have changed and very few people give a damn about their snooty opinion nowadays.

[@TheJamesRedwood]

Are you kidding me! How can you end it there!!

[@GavTatu]

so did eric change his surname legally, for the children to be named morcambe ?

[@wakeupuk3860]

Truly the Golden Age, which sadly I doubt will ever come again. Stopped watching TV comedy years ago, so called comedians to day are certainly not funny, just cruel, foul mouthed, left wing and just promote ideology and will soon be forgotten. Just as I did as a child watched and laughed at Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin which children 60 years later, still do. So will people as the many comments on here show, especially people who were not brought up with British culture say how much they enjoy watching KZbins of Eric and Ernie. I can well remember watching the Andre Previn sketch for the first time with my father as a teenager and saying "It does not get better than that" and he was right. I also like how Eric went out of character and clapped Previn showing his professional admiration for making the sketch so good.

[@constantquestioning4010]

Such a shame Wiseman lacked the talent needed to match fully.

[@xr6lad]

@ 38:00. My dear. Disposable nappies were not really a ‘thing’ until well in to the 1970’s (not just 1953) and yes, they did have high chairs in the 1950’s.

[@thamalinga3423]

So this is how shows like SNL started

[@brianboys9015]

Excelent

[@pete8813]

stupid small screen an loads of ridiculas adverts. what a way to KILL this documentary. love M&W but thgis gets a thumb down for bad display !

[@alexhumphries4057]

Ernie's shirt at 1:19:09. Someone make that for me.

[@pata299]

The ending is truncated.

[@billgarrett609]

finished short no ending

[@Ubique2927]

I didn’t think that I would laugh at this. But the Tom Jones sketch was funny.

[@GroundhogDayisAWESOME]

Morecambe & Wise >>>>>>> monty python

[@pacmanindy]

M & W’s bed scenes were fun but controversial. If it were a new show, those scenes would have been banned due to gay images.

[@ericburton5914]

They had too many inn jokes and personal snides at their previous managers. British comedians do this a lot they make a lot of personal snides and in jokes that on,ly they know and some other British people but they don't care if international audiences have any pretext or prior knowledge to wtf they are talking about.

[@neilforbes416]

Thumbs down - show ends abruptly. *BAD EDITING!*