Sauce: Cheeky Pictures, Jocular Jests and Racy Rhymes of Days Gone By
by Ronnie Barker (Coronet, 1978)
At best an historical curiosity. Barker curates a book of so-called ‘saucy’ illustrations, alongside suggestive verse and black-and-white soft-core pornography dating mostly from the early 20th century. Much of this must have felt a bit off even at the date of publication.
The Navy Lark, Series Six, Volume 1
(BBC, 1963)
Though tending to hammer the same nails over and over, radio sitcom The Navy Lark (any episode) showcased all the ingredients necessary to sustain a long-running comedy. Familiarity brought the audience close, breeding contentedness. Starring Jon Pertwee and Ronnie Barker, among others.
The Two Ronnies
(BBC Audiobooks, 1976/2010)
Ronnie Corbett and Ronnie Barker were at their witty, rip-roaring, wordy best in this mid-1970s LP collection of Two Ronnies sketches, faux news items and assorted titbits – an uproarious comedy hodgepodge of what should have been said (‘and it’s goodnight from him’).
And It’s Goodnight From Him… The Autobiography of the Two Ronnies
by Ronnie Corbett (Michael Joseph, 2006)
Written not long after Ronnie Barker’s death in 2005, Ronnie Corbett’s singlehanded autobiography (for two!) forms a touching tribute to his departed friend and a companionable stroll down memory lane. Self-effacing yet reverent, Corbett evokes gentle nostalgia for British comedy’s bygone era.
The Two Ronnies, Series 1
(BBC, 1971)
Ronnie Corbett and Ronnie Barker reigned for fifteen years in iconically uncool glasses, starting in 1971 with their trademark fast wordplay (the acme being episode five’s spoonerisms sketch) and a touch of the risqué, interspersed with novelty and (now passé) musical acts.