''Eric and Ernie'' is a 2011 British

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

based on the early career of the British comic double-act Morecambe and Wise. The film was produced by

BBC Wales BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcasting, public broadcaster in Wales. It is one of the four BBC national regions, alongside the BBC English Regions, BBC Northern Ireland and BBC Scotland. Established in 1964, ...

, completed in 2010, and premiered on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...

on 1 January 2011. It was watched by 6.65 million viewers. Since then, it has been repeated several times on

Gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

Plotline

Several years before World War II, Ernie Wiseman, a precocious and confident child performer, is signed up by influential impresario Jack Hylton. In

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district of Lancashire, England, on Morecambe Bay, part of the Irish Sea. In 2011 the parish had a population of 34,768. Name The first use of the name was by John Whit ...

, pushy stage mother Sadie Bartholomew drags her slightly reluctant son

Eric The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, Eirik, or Eiríkur is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-N ...

, an eccentric dancer, from one audition to the next until he too is employed by Hylton. At first glance the boys do not initially get on but Sadie sees a way to use their cross-talk to form a bantering double act, originally known as Bartholomew and Wise. But as time goes on, Sadie comes to the conclusion that their name is stopping them from getting noticed, so after reading the local newspaper, ''The Morecambe Visitor'', she suggests that they should change their name to 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. As a result, the duo go their own ways and split up. However, Sadie knows that their formula will work and pushes Eric, now married to dancer Joan, into contacting Ernie, who is married to dancer Doreen. They decide to reform, and to completely rewrite their own act that would become one of the most successful performing duos ever in British comedy.

Cast

In credits order: * Victoria Wood as Sadie Bartholomew, Eric's mother * Daniel Rigby as Eric Morecambe * Bryan Dick as Ernie Wise * Jim Moir as George Bartholomew, Eric's father * Reece Shearsmith as Harry Wiseman, Ernie's father * Emer Kenny as Joan Bartlett, Eric's wife * Hannah Steele as Doreen Blythe, Ernie's wife * Josh Benson as Little Ernie * Thomas Atkinson as Little Eric * Thomas Aldersley as Club MC * Ted Robbins as Jack Hylton * Jonah Lees as Young Eric * Harry McEntire as Young Ernie * Ria Jones as Boarding House Landlady * Pam Shaw as Lily *

Esmé Bianco Esmé Augusta Bianco (born 25 May 1982) is a British actress and neo-burlesque performer, who is best known for her recurring roles as Ros on ''Game of Thrones'' and Jane Chatwin on '' The Magicians''. Career Bianco has posed for painters Chri ...

as Naked Showgirl

Filming locations

Amongst the locations used for filming include:- * Stockport Plaza and New Mills Art Theatre for the various theatre interior shots * O2 Apollo Manchester as

Shepherd's Bush Empire Shepherd's Bush Empire (currently known as O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire for sponsorship reasons, and formerly known as the BBC Television Theatre) is a music venue in Shepherd's Bush, West London, run by the Academy Music Group. It was original ...

for the filming of their first TV series '' Running Wild (1954 TV series)'' *

Stockport Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt, Rivers Goyt and River Tame, Greater Manchester, Tame merge to create the River Mersey he ...

for the various outdoor shots * Stockport Air Raid Shelters *

* Morecambe Winter Gardens where Ernie performed his solo tap dance routines * East Lancashire Railway * Victoria Baths * Freemasons Hall

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

Awards

Daniel Rigby won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor at the 2011 BAFTAs for his performance as Eric Morecambe.

References

External links

*
TV review: ''Eric and Ernie''
on

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

TV review: ''Eric and Ernie''
on

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

{{Victoria Wood 2011 television films 2011 films 2011 biographical drama films 2010s British films 2010s English-language films BBC television dramas British biographical drama films British drama television films Biographical films about entertainers Biographical television films Cultural depictions of British people Cultural depictions of comedians Films directed by Jonny Campbell Films scored by Ilan Eshkeri Films set in 1938 Films set in 1940 Films set in 1941 Films set in 1942 Films set in 1943 Films set in 1946 Films set in 1954 Films set in Glasgow Films set in Lancashire Films set in London Films set in Manchester Films shot in Greater Manchester Morecambe and Wise English-language biographical drama films