Eric & Ernie (2011)

A telling of the fledging careers and early days of the comedy duo that was Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise, from their dance-hall performances of northern England to cult status.

Director:

Jonny Campbell

Writers:

Peter Bowker, Victoria Wood (idea)

Stars:

Reece Shearsmith, Josh Benson, Thomas Atkinson

7 wins & 11 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Reece Shearsmith	...	Harry Wiseman
Josh Benson	...	Little Ernie
Thomas Atkinson	...	Little Eric
Victoria Wood	...	Sadie Bartholomew
Thomas Aldersley	...	MC
Vic Reeves	...	George Bartholomew (as Jim Moir)
Ted Robbins	...	Jack Hylton
Jonah Lees	...	Young Eric
Harry McEntire	...	Young Ernie
Ria Jones	...	Landlady
Pam Shaw	...	Lily
Daniel Rigby	...	Eric Morecambe
Bryan Dick	...	Ernie Wise
Hannah Steele	...	Doreen
Esmé Bianco	...	Lola

Storyline

In the run-up to World War Two, Ernie Wiseman, a precocious and confident child performer, is signed up by influential impresario Jack Hylton. In Morecambe, pushy stage mum Sadie Bartholomew drags her slightly reluctant son Eric, an eccentric dancer, from one audition to the next until he too becomes a client of Hylton. The boys do not get on at first but Sadie sees a way to exploit their cross-talk and they form a bantering double act as Morecambe and Wise. After war service they become successful on stage and on radio but their attempt to crack the new medium of television is a disaster because they have been forced to accept a script which will make their Northernness acceptable to Southern viewers. They split up. However Sadie knows the formula that once worked and pushes Eric, now married to dancer Joan, into contacting Ernie. They decide to reform, on their own terms, into the act that would become one of the most successful television pairings ever.

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 January 2011 (UK)

Also Known As:

Morecambe and Wise

Filming Locations:

Salford Lads Club, Salford, Greater Manchester, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

BBC Wales, Blue Door Adventures Ltd.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

[Eric and his mother discuss the disastrous TV series]
Sadie Bartholomew: How long are you going to keep this up - this sulking malarkey. You used to sulk when I made you wear that schoolboy outfit - right up till when it got you a big laugh.
Eric Morecambe: Television isn't about dressing up as a schoolboy and singing, you know.
Sadie Bartholomew: Well it certainly isn't about being funny. Not if what I saw you two do is anything to go by.
Eric Morecambe: [sarcastically] Don't go easy on me just because we're related, will you.
Sadie Bartholomew: I don't know how to soft-pedal - ...
[...]

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Connections

Featured in Breakfast: Episode dated 29 December 2010 (2010)

User Reviews

Brought me sunshine

I'm of that generation that religiously waited for and watched Morecambe and Wise's usually superb BBC TV specials in the mid 70's when they were at their peak (although nowhere near enough credit is given to their writer Eddie Braben) and so was very interested to watch this dramatisation of their formative years.

It has to be said that their old employer does them proud with a well written, produced and acted TV movie. In truth I could find little to fault in it, my only complaints being perhaps the limited dynamic arc in the story itself and a little too much screen-time for the inspiration behind the project, Victoria Walters. That's not to say she's not good in the part of Eric's pushy, typical show-biz mother, but she takes too much focus away from our heroes, to the, as I say, slight detriment of the piece.

The other main casting credits work very well, with Jim (Vic Reeves) Moir a revelation as Eric's docile dad and the young actors playing Eric and Ern as spot on as they could be with look, voice and mannerisms. They have that essential ingredient for any double-act, chemistry. The script includes some decent gags, but enough of what really matters here, drama, to make it entertaining.

The duo's well-known personae are developed naturally and enough signposts are inserted to their future routines and catch-phrases to please admirers of their later work. As I indicated, this wasn't the most essential show-biz bio-pic I've ever watched but it was amongst the more entertaining of them.

What did I think of it (so far)? Definitely not "Rubbish!"