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    Eric and Ernie

    Did anyone see this last night. I am sure people have recorded it.

    I was really pleased at how it came out. M & W TV stuff nowadays tends to separate into talking head hagiographies or maudlin "tears of a clown" type docs and, if we are lucky, the repeat of the odd Christmas show.

    I thought this was an excellent retelling of the often told story of their early career. The characters that played M & W were exceptionally well cast and observed especially the last two older ones. Vic Reeves and Victoria Wood were both surprisingly good and underplaying their parts.

    The only thing missing was Wise's back story but, apart from that, it is a truly great piece of original Christmas TV

    #2
    Eric and Ernie

    It was pretty good, but (and I never NEVER say this usually, having a crap attention span) it could have done with being longer.

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      #3
      Eric and Ernie

      Yes, it was excellent. Especially the bloke playing adult Eric. Although the whole cast was top-notch.

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        #4
        Eric and Ernie

        hobbes wrote:
        It was pretty good, but (and I never NEVER say this usually, having a crap attention span) it could have done with being longer.
        Yes - it could have done with being a two or three parter. Really well acted, really well written, really well directed.

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          #5
          Eric and Ernie

          With a longer time, it could have had more about Ernie's family. I liked the fact that it ended where it did

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            #6
            Eric and Ernie

            I'd liked to have seen how they bounced back, and eventually got back to TV, ending just before they started on ATV.

            As for Wise's upbringing - the show made it looked like they abandoned him, in contrast to Morecambe's mother was the driving force behind everything - them becoming a duo, their stage names, and just about all their bookings up until they were signed by the theatrical agent. How much of that is truth, and how much of that was Victoria Wood using her executive producer status to build up her part, I'd be interested to know.

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              #7
              Eric and Ernie

              I ejoyed it for all the reasons stated here and not least because it was told as a broad outline of their story and not an expose of their darker side.

              The forthcoming 'Hattie' may be more of the latter, though.

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                #8
                Eric and Ernie

                Ruth Jones is playing Hattie Jacques and she was interviewed as being a big fan (there again she would say that) so it should be sympathetic.

                There hasn't been a huge amount about Hattie Jacques,however, which is the difference with M & W

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                  #9
                  Eric and Ernie

                  I enjoyed it. I suspect, like David Agnew, that Victoria Wood took a little dramatic licence with the role of Eric's mother but I don't begrudge her that - they make it clear that they've taken liberties in the opening credits, as is necessary, I think, for the trajectory of real lives to work as drama, with major and supporting players. I very much liked Vic Reeves as well, as the Dad - his little, inward sigh, but lack of protest, when his wife comes up with the idea of replacing Eric's real name with "Morecambe" was touching.

                  My Grandma, who spent her last years in Leeds, knew a friend of Mrs Wise's. Apparently, Ernie did all right by her, made sure she was looked after, but the maternal tie didn't appear to be that strong.

                  if there's a "dark side" to Eric and Ernie, it's the sadness that, once they've made it, they never escaped the anxiety that it could all dry up at any moment, which led Eric in particular to work harder than was good for his fragile heart - he had his first, massive heart attack in 1968 in his early 40s, his final, fatal attack in 1984, not even making it into his 60s.

                  As for Hattie Jacques, I assume that one will concentrate a lot on her legendary sexual appetite. Poor old John Le Mesurier.

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                    #10
                    Eric and Ernie

                    I very much liked Vic Reeves as well, as the Dad
                    Vic Reeves was exceptional especially as, I am sure, he has seen himself as playing Morecambe in the past.
                    My Grandma, who spent her last years in Leeds, knew a friend of Mrs Wise's. Apparently, Ernie did all right by her, made sure she was looked after, but the maternal tie didn't appear to be that strong.
                    There was just a documentary on Radio 4 about them, funnily enough, which featured Wise talking very wamrly about his mother and father and his mother was in the audience.

                    which led Eric in particular to work harder than was good for his fragile heart - he had his first, massive heart attack in 1968 in his early 40s, his final, fatal attack in 1984, not even making it into his 60s
                    Bloody hell, that has never occurred to me. What a real shame

                    The other interesting thing about the programme was how it showed how the power balance in the relationship was the opposite to what one may think

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                      #11
                      Eric and Ernie

                      I always thought that vic reeves was an unsuccessful eric morecambe tribute act.

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                        #12
                        Eric and Ernie

                        Bored of Education wrote:
                        The other interesting thing about the programme was how it showed how the power balance in the relationship was the opposite to what one may think
                        Yeah. I also have a somewhat higher opinion of Ernie Wise now.

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                          #13
                          Eric and Ernie

                          I always thought that vic reeves was an unsuccessful eric morecambe tribute act
                          I guess you were wrong on both counts then.

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                            #14
                            Eric and Ernie

                            He always has done the Eric Morecambe thing but most of the time he has, sensibly, kept it under control.

                            He must have thought that should there be a similar programme about M & W later on the career, he would be a contender for the Eric role. This worked out much better.

                            Lee Mack does Eric much more nowadays and Ant & Dec nick M & W's interplay a lot, sometimes successfully

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