In early 1968,
Eric Morecambe and
Ernie Wise were due to begin negotiations over a new contract with
ATV. The duo had starred in their successful television series,
Two of a Kind, since 1961, which had proven a significant rating success for
ITV. However, the series was still broadcast in
black and white, as ITV had yet to begin
colour transmissions. The managing director of ATV,
Lew Grade, made Morecambe and Wise an offer totalling £39,000 over three years, in return for three series of thirteen 25-minute episodes. However, the duo determined that, in order to improve the quality of their product, they would not only need more money but also access to colour production facilities. In a short period of time, a three-year deal was negotiated for Morecambe and Wise to move to the BBC. This deal not only encompassed more money than they had been receiving from ATV (and than had been offered by Lew Grade), but also the opportunity to broadcast in colour. At the time,
BBC2 was the only station in Britain transmitting in colour, and so the agreement was that the new series would initially be transmitted on BBC2, before receiving a
repeat showing in black and white on
BBC1. As part of the deal agreed with the BBC, the duo's regular writers,
Hills and Green, were brought in to deal with the scripts. Meanwhile, Cotton recruited
John Ammonds to serve as the new show's producer. Ammonds was an experienced producer/director of light entertainment on the BBC, and had worked with Morecambe and Wise on their radio series, ''
You're Only Young Once'' in the 1950s. The first episode of
The Morecambe & Wise Show was broadcast on BBC2 on 2 September 1968 and, initially, showed little difference from their previous series on ITV. Bill Cotton's plan was to allow Morecambe and Wise to become comfortable with their new surroundings before implementing his plan to extend the show by an additional twenty minutes per episode. By the conclusion of the first series, on 21 October, there was a degree of satisfaction with the finished product, and a welcome anticipation for the next series. In his interpretation, he moved away from how Morecambe and Wise had been presented by Hills and Green, instead creating characters that he perceived as exaggerated versions of their own personas as he had observed them. The second series eventually began in July 1969 and, unlike the previous one, consisted of just four episodes. The opening of the first episode, which would feature the duo in front of the
tabs, was particularly memorable as, after Morecambe and Wise came forward, Morecambe pulled open his jacket and told his heart to "keep going you fool". A tradition that had begun with
Two of a Kind was the invitation to special guests and the subsequent "insulting" of them, and this was stepped up a gear with the BBC shows. The horror film actor
Peter Cushing was one of the first to be so treated, beginning the long-running in-joke that he had never been paid. The shows became more structured, with an opening "spot" in front of the curtains in a mock-theatre set-up that they insisted upon having, guest singers and groups, a sketch with the two in their flat, either in the lounge or in bed together, a lavish play "wot Ern wrote" and the final theme song, over the credits. Over the following years, the success of the show increased, particularly in regard to the Christmas special. The first of these was broadcast in 1969 and, as time went on, proved to be a source of concern in ensuring that each successive show topped the last; indeed, in some years, there would be no series so that the full attention of writer, producer and stars could be focused on the Christmas show. By 1977, Morecambe and Wise were the most important parts of the BBC's entertainment schedule. That year, they had again not done a series to focus on the Christmas show, which ended up gaining just over 28 million viewers. However, just over a month later, in January 1978, an announcement was made that the duo had elected to leave the BBC, having signed a contract with
Thames Television. Following their departure, and in an effort to win viewers away from the commercial network,
BBC1 broadcast a compilation programme, titled
The Best of Morecambe & Wise, on Christmas Night in 1978, in direct competition to the duo's new show which was being shown at the same time on
Thames Television. Prior to its broadcast, the BBC had publicised the programme heavily as being "the very best of" Morecambe and Wise, and described Morecambe and Wise as being "at their peak". Their departure from the BBC had been greatly publicised and allegiances were tested to their limits, with the general public feeling very much in "ownership" of the partnership who had entertained them every Christmas Night since 1969. The programme was made up of highlights from their 1976 and record-breaking 1977 Christmas shows. It has since been repeated under the title of
Morecambe & Wise at the BBC for subsequent broadcasts. ==List of episodes==