Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise may be Britain’s most iconic comedy double-act, but there’s one name behind the laughs you might not know: Eddie Braben.
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Braben was the genius gag writer responsible for many of the laughs in the duo’s sketch shows and specials – including the 1977 Christmas show, which brought in 25 million viewers.
Now, Braben’s contribution to one of the most acclaimed comedies of the century is being highlighted in a new dramatisation.
The cast will be headed by Trollied and DCI Banks star Stephen Tompkinson, who will play Braben. He’ll be joined by Catastrophe and Apple Tree Yard star Mark Bonnar play Eric Morecambe, with Neil Maskell (Humans, Utopia) as Ernie Wise.
Directed by the Bafta award-winning Dan Zeff and written by Neil Forsyth, Eric, Ernie & Me also sees Rufus Jones (Stan and Olly, W1A) play the double act’s long-term producer John Ammonds.
What’s it about?
Eric, Ernie & Me is a one-off biopic of scriptwriter Eddie Braben, the genius writer behind the Morecambe and Wise comedy shows. The drama will predominantly deal with Braben’s attempt to reshape the double act into the Eric and Ernie phenomenon so fondly remembered. In particular, we’ll see the pain and pressure Braben underwent to produce the duo’s iconic 1977 Christmas Show.
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Are there any other Morecambe and Wise TV shows on this Christmas?
Oh yes, this Christmas will also bring behind-the-scenes show Eric and Ernie: Making of the Movie to our screens.
With their decade of Christmas specials, comedy duo Morecambe and Wise are one of the most popular double acts in British history. However, alongside their time on screen, the pair filmed an archive of behind-the-scenes material, which has never been broadcast – until now.
Both Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise were avid home movie makers, chronicling their rise to fame and recording key moments in their private and family lives, at home and abroad.
Now for the first time, with access to Morecambe and Wise’s entire home movie collection, this documentary shows Eric and Ernie at work and at play, on tour and on holiday, from summer season in Blackpool to trying to make it in the USA, from their pre-television fame days to the height of their career.
Eric & Ernie’s Home Movies catches up with many of the people who appear in these highly personal films - including Eric Morecambe’s wife Joan, and children Gary, Gail and Steven and friends of Ernie and his wife Doreen.
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There’s a reunion for two now seventy-something women who starred as children alongside Eric and Ernie on stage in panto in Sheffield in the early 1950s. And there’s a trip from Canada for the sisters who spent some unforgettable childhood holidays with their neighbours, the Morecambes.
Thomas is Digital editor at BBC Science Focus. Writing about everything from cosmology to anthropology, he specialises in the latest psychology, health and neuroscience discoveries. Thomas has a Masters degree (distinction) in Magazine Journalism from the University of Sheffield and has written for Men’s Health, Vice and Radio Times. He has been shortlisted as the New Digital Talent of the Year at the national magazine Professional Publishers Association (PPA) awards. Also working in academia, Thomas has lectured on the topic of journalism to undergraduate and postgraduate students at The University of Sheffield.
