The Best of The Two Ronnies

Episode number: 1

Overview: How could there not be a Best of the Two Ronnies? After all, there isn't any worst. The only conceivable gripe anyone could have with this collection is the usual how-could-they-have-left-out-so-and-so problem that is bound to beset a comedy programme of such high quality. However, pretty much every one of the 25 items on this generously filled release is an unmitigated joy. The duo's talent for quickfire wordplay is well to the fore in such sketches as "Nuts Milord", the phonetic "Swedish Lesson" set in a restaurant ("F-U-N-E-X?" "S, V-F-X.") and in the classic "Ice Cream Parlour", in which Corbett's request for cheese and onion ice cream is met with Barker's endless list of alternatives delivered at auctioneer-like speed. They also excel at manipulating the whole concept of how dialogue works, as in "Crossed Lines" (two halves of two different telephone conversations heard at once) and "Mastermind", in which Corbett's special subject is "answering the question before last". All told this is an unmissable collection; so in the words of the St Botolph's Country Dance Group (featured in the wonderful song-and-dance finale), "Sod off, sod off, so doff your hat I pray".

The Best of The Two Ronnies Vol. 2

Episode number: 2

Overview: From 1971 to 1987, and over the course of 12 series and eight specials, The Two Ronnies became one of the great British television comedy shows. Millions of viewers lapped up the sketches of doctors' surgeries, middle-class parties, government ministry broadcasts as well as the regular news headlines, Ronnie Corbett monologues, Ronnie Barker word-play sketches and fabulous comic songs. This selection features some of the best of these including: "The Short-Sighted Optician", "The Ministry for Sex Equality", "The Plumstead Ladies Male Voice Choir" and "News at Ton".

The One Ronnie Christmas Special 2010

Episode number: 3

Overview: Comedian Ronnie Corbett takes centre stage in this all- star show to mark his 80th birthday. Guests David Walliams, Matt Lucas, Miranda Hart, Rob Brydon, Catherine Tate, Lionel Blair, James Corden, Harry Enfield, Richard Wilson, Robert Lindsay, Jocelyn Jee Esien and Jon Culshaw join in the fun with a series of sketches and routines, while the man himself will be performing one of his signature armchair monologues – written specially by Ben Elton. With music by Charlotte Church.

Being Ronnie Corbett

Episode number: 4

Overview: Documentary charting Ronnie Corbett's long career in comedy, featuring the man himself and the many comedians who admire him.

Christmas Retrospective

Episode number: 5

Overview: A selection of sketches from The Two Ronnies Christmas Specials

The Studio Recordings

Episode number: 6

Overview: For the first time ever, the unedited takes of some famous and not so famous sketches from the classic comedy show, The Two Ronnies.

Two Ronnies Tribute (BBC, 2000)

Episode number: 7

By The Sea

Episode number: 8

Overview: The film followed the extended family of "The General", played by Barker, as they went on an eventful seaside holiday. It was set on the Dorset coast in "Tiddly Cove", actually the coast between Bournemouth and Swanage. Ronnie Barker was a keen collector of saucy seaside postcards, and published several books of them. The humour of By the Sea was very much based on the colourful style of these. The film is notable for being completely free of speech, with the score by Ronnie Hazlehurst and various sound effects in their place. The humour is instead entirely visual, and relies on comic stereotypes (the old randy general, the busty girl, the cheeky schoolboy, etc.). It was the follow-up to another Two Ronnies film, The Picnic, featuring the same characters.

The Picnic

Episode number: 9

Overview: The film followed the extended family of "The General", played by Barker, as they went on an eventful picnic in the Devon countryside. The film is notable for being completely free of speech, with the score by Ronnie Hazlehurst and various sound effects in their place. The humour is instead entirely visual, and relies on comic stereotypes (the old randy general, the busty girl, etc.) It had a sequel, By the Sea, featuring some of the same characters made in 1982.

Campers

Episode number: 10

The Two Ronnies: In Their Own Words

Episode number: 11

Overview: A celebration of the lives and careers of much-loved comedy duo Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett, featuring performances, chat show appearances and rare and long-forgotten archive material. The programme also includes contributions from family, friends and colleagues as the stories behind these two legends of British entertainment are told in their own words and by those who knew them best.