Behind The Scenes - Eric and Ernie

On the television...

This documentary was produced to accompany the Victoria Wood’s television drama broadcast on New Years Day 2011 about the young Morecambe and Wise.

Narrated and fronted by Victoria herself, we get to see some of the behind the scenes work as she follows Eric and Ern’s path from school boys to their first television show, Running Wild.

As the story progresses, we get clips of the boys from various shows and interviews to underline the point being made.

Friends, actors and family also add to the story, with comments from Joan Morecambe, Doreen Wiseman, Lee Mack, Cilla Black, Eddie Braben, Arthur Smith and Penelope Keith, among others.

Jim Moir (Vic Reeves) and Victoria both talk about the film (on set) and how the duo’s comedy has influenced, and still influences the comics of today.

One very interesting segment covered Running Wild, and how they reproduced that in the film.

The show itself was broadcast live and no known recording survive, however, they did manage to get the scripts. Using those, they re-constructed the sets and dialogue to give a feel of what the show was actually like.

A nice programme then, covering the lives of Eric and Ern, and the addition of the Running Wild scripts and the shot of a snow-covered Morecambe beach, keeps the interest up.

Another well produced documentary.


© morecambeandwise.com 2011