Ronnie Barker

Acting

Ronnie Barker

Born 1929-09-25 · Bedfordshire, England, U.K.

Ronald William George Barker (25 September 1929 - 3 October 2005) was an English actor, comedian and writer. He was known for roles in British comedy television series such as Porridge, The Two Ronnies, and Open All Hours. Barker began acting in Oxford amateur dramatics while working as a bank clerk, having dropped out of higher education.

Acting credits

Robin and Marian poster
6.3

Robin Hood, aging none too gracefully, returns exhausted from the Crusades to woo and win Maid Marian one last time.

Robin and Marian

1976

The Gathering Storm poster
6.6

A love story offering an intimate look inside the marriage of Winston and Clementine Churchill during a particularly troubled, though little-known, moment in their lives.

The Gathering Storm

2002

The Bargee poster
7.0

After a lock-keeper entrusts his daughter to a canal Casanova, he is shocked to learn that she is pregnant. He then refuses to open his locks - causing barges to pile up in every direction until the guilty party confesses.

The Bargee

1964

The Bed Sitting Room poster
5.9

In the hazy aftermath of World War III, the fallout from a 'nuclear misunderstanding' is producing strange mutations amongst the survivors, and the noble Lord Fortnum finds himself transforming into a bed sitting room.

The Bed Sitting Room

1969

My House in Umbria poster
6.1

Emily Delahunty is an eccentric British romance novelist who lives in Umbria in central Italy. One day while travelling, the train she is on is bombed by terrorists. After she wakes up in a hospital, she invites three of the other survivors of the disaster to stay at her Italian villa for recuperation. Of these are The General, a retired British Army veteran, Werner, a young German man, and Aimee, a young American girl who has now become mute after her parents were both killed in the explosion.

My House in Umbria

2003

Doctor in Distress poster
6.3

"Doctor in Distress" is the fifth of the seven films in the "Doctor" series, and focuses on Sir Lancelot Spratt, Simon Sparrow's old teacher and sometimes nemesis. When the eternal bachelor Sir Lancelot injures his back and falls in love with his physiotherapist Iris Marchant, he becomes very distressed and turns to Simon for help. Simon, who now is a senior doctor at fictional Hampden Cross Hospital and hopelessly in love with aspiring actress Delia, sends him to a nature cure clinic in a vain attempt to help him lose weight, but Sir Lancelot can't get Iris off his mind and has her followed, first by a private investigator and eventually by himself. When he finally proposes, she rejects him and marries an old army major, which distresses Sir Lancelot even more.

Doctor in Distress

1963

Is Anybody There? poster
6.3

A young boy who lives in an old folks' home strikes up a friendship with a retired magician.

Is Anybody There?

2009

Open All Hours: Inside Out poster
NR

Retrospective celebrating the shop sitcom, including a new short scene starring David Jason. Also features Diane Morgan, Johnny Vegas, Tim Healy and Charlotte Barker.

Open All Hours: Inside Out

2026

A Home of Your Own poster
6.6

A Home of Your Own is a 1964 British comedy film which is a brick-by-brick account of the building a young couple’s dream house. From the day when the site is first selected, to the day – several years and children later – when the couple finally move in, the story is a noisy but wordless comedy of errors as the incompetent labourers struggle to complete the house. It may well have been inspired by the success of Bernard Cribbins' classic song of the same vein from two years earlier, "Right Said Fred". In this satirical look at British builders, many cups of tea are made, windows are broken and the same section of road is dug up over and over again by the water board, the electricity board and the gas board. Ronnie Barker’s put-upon cement mixer, Peter Butterworth’s short-sighted carpenter and Bernard Cribbins’ hapless stonemason all contribute to the ensuing chaos.

A Home of Your Own

1964

Hitler: The Comedy Years poster
5.0

A documentary about the portrayal of Adolf Hitler in popular culture.

Hitler: The Comedy Years

2007

Porridge poster
6.7

Times are hard for habitual guest of Her Majesty Norman Stanley Fletcher. The new prison officer, Beale, makes MacKay look soft and what's more, an escape plan is hatching from the cell of prison godfather Grouty and Fletcher wants no part of it.

Porridge

1979

No artwork available
NR

Adaptation of the play by Brandon Thomas.

Charley's Aunt

1969

A Midsummer Night's Dream poster
10.0

Mistaken identity, unrequited love, and the supernatural are combined in Shakespeare's classic set in the woods of Greece on a moonlit night.

A Midsummer Night's Dream

1971

Futtocks End poster
5.9

Entirely silent, with a musical score, sound effects and incoherent mutterings, the story revolves around a weekend gathering at the decaying country home of the eccentric and lewd General Futtock (Ronnie Barker) and the series of saucy mishaps between the staff (Michael Hordern plays the lecherous butler) and his guests.

Futtocks End

1970

Father Came Too! poster
5.9

When Dexter Munro and his new wife Juliet get married, they decide to escape Juliet's meddling father by buying a rundown cottage and doing it up themselves. But when the cottage proves to be more ramshackle than they thought, and the scale of the repairs needed far out of their budget, the newlyweds are forced into calling on Juliet's father after all. Before long he's employed incompetent builder Josh Wicks, and the situation goes from bad to worse.

Father Came Too!

1964

The Cracksman poster
6.6

Ernest Wright's peerless prowess as a locksmith comes to the attention of a tough big-time crook, who feels that the little man would be a valuable asset to his crime kingdom. In order to inveigle him into a series of jobs, he sets up a beautiful hostess as a trap, into which the hapless Ernest inevitably falls..!

The Cracksman

1963

The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins poster
5.0

A septet of satirical vignettes based on the Seven Deadly Sins.

The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins

1971

Life Beyond the Box: Norman Stanley Fletcher poster
7.5

Spoof documentary looking at the life of Normal Stanley Fletcher, the star of 1970s sitcom Porridge played by Ronnie Barker. Featuring fictional footage and interviews with the character's family, friends and associates, the film documents Fletcher's chequered career.

Life Beyond the Box: Norman Stanley Fletcher

2003

Runaway Railway poster
7.0

A group of young railway enthusiasts attempt to stop the closure of the local railway by trying to raise money to buy it and the steam engine "Matilda." They get help from a pair of men claiming to be enthusiasts but who turn out to be robbers who plan to hold up the mail train

Runaway Railway

1965

Wilton's: The Handsomest Hall in Town poster
NR

An evening at Wilton's Music-Hall, Grace's Alley, Wellclose Square, London, 1860 starring Peter Sellers, Spike Milligan, Keith Michell, Pat Kirkwood, Warren Mitchell, Ronnie Barker, Bill Fraser, Gina Astralita, Eric Robinson. Introduced by Billy Russell. Tonight, 90 years after it closed, this famous Music-Hall opens again to bring you a picture of the stars, the singers, the dancers, and the people who once went there.

Wilton's: The Handsomest Hall in Town

1970

Kill or Cure poster
5.7

A private eye is hired to go undercover at a health farm, but before he can find out why his client is murdered.

Kill or Cure

1962

The Funny Side of Christmas poster
NR

Skits from: "The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin"; "The Les Dawson Show"; "Yes Minister"; "Only Fools and Horses"; "Three of a Kind"; "Last of the Summer Wine"; "Sorry!"; "Butterflies"; "Smith and Jones"; and "Open All Hours".

The Funny Side of Christmas

1982

The Man Outside poster
6.5

Bill MacLean is a former CIA agent living in London. He had been fired when he stuck up for one of the men in his command who turned out to be branded a Russian defector. The embittered ex-agent combines forces with another operative to deliver a top Russian secret police official for a price. Before he can deliver the Russian, a trail of corpses and double crosses changes his plans. When his partner who concocted the scheme is murdered, MacLean returns the check to the CIA. They offer him his old job back, but the proud man refuses.

The Man Outside

1967

Porridge: No Way Out poster
10.0

Fletcher discovers that his fellow inmates are planning to escape.

Porridge: No Way Out

1975

Behind the camera