The Ronnie Barker Playhouse

The Ronnie Barker Playhouse
StarringRonnie Barker
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of episodes6
Production
Running time25 minutes
Original release
NetworkRediffusion
Release3 April (1968-04-03) –
8 May 1968 (1968-05-08)

The Ronnie Barker Playhouse was a series of six comedy half hours showcasing the talents of Ronnie Barker. All were broadcast by Associated-Rediffusion in 1968.[1][2]

The series was written by Brian Cooke, Hugh Leonard, Johnnie Mortimer and Alun Owen. The executive producer was David Frost, while the producers were Stella Richman and actress Stella Tanner. All the episodes were directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg.

This series features the first appearance of Barker's character Lord Rustless who features in the episode "Ah! There You Are". The character would go onto appear in subsequent shows Hark at Barker and His Lordship Entertains. Another episode "The Incredible Mister Tanner" written by Brian Cooke and Johnnie Mortimer, would go on to be commissioned for a series with Brian Murphy taking over the title role, which ran for one series in 1981.[3]

Archive status

Of the six shows only Tennyson and The Fastest Guy In Finchley are missing from the archives, after the rediscovery of the other four episodes at the BFI in 2012.[4][5]

Episode list

No.TitleArchival StatusOriginal air date
1"Tennyson"Missing3 April 1968 (1968-04-03)
Also starring Dudley Jones, Richard O'Callaghan, Talfryn Thomas and Gwendolyn Watts.
2"Ah! There You Are"Exists10 April 1968 (1968-04-10)
Also starring George A. Cooper, Sandra Michaels, Bill Shine, Victor Winding and Michael Guest.
3"The Fastest Guy in Finchley"Missing17 April 1968 (1968-04-17)
Also starring Walter Horsbrugh, Colin Jeavons, Sheila Keith, Glenn Melvyn and Charlotte Mitchell.
4"The Incredible Mister Tanner"Exists24 April 1968 (1968-04-24)
Also starring Alec Clunes, Frank Gatliff, Doris Hare, Richard O'Sullivan and Billy Cornelius.
5"Talk of Angels"Exists1 May 1968 (1968-05-01)
Also starring Liz Crowther, Gillian Fairchild, Donald Hewlett, David Kelly and Maureen Toal.
6"Alexander"Exists8 May 1968 (1968-05-08)
Also starring Pamela Ann Davy, Molly Urquhart, Pauline Yates and Anthony Trent.

References

  1. ^ "BBC - Comedy Guide - The Ronnie Barker Playhouse". Archived from the original on January 26, 2005. Retrieved 2013-09-09.
  2. ^ "The Ronnie Barker Playhouse". British Comedy Guide.
  3. ^ "The Incredible Mr Tanner". British Comedy Guide.
  4. ^ "The Ronnie Barker Playhouse". TV Brain.
  5. ^ "The Ronnie Barker Playhouse". Lost Shows.[dead link‍]