Ronnie Barker

Acting

Ronnie Barker

Born — Died

1929-09-25 — 2005-10-03

Place of birth

Bedfordshire, England, U.K.

Known for

Acting

Credits

86 titles

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.

Known for

Wogan poster
5.6

Chat show hosted by Terry Wogan, featuring live studio interviews with famous and notable personalities.

Wogan

1982

The Avengers poster
7.8

A quirky spy show of the adventures of eccentrically suave British Agent John Steed and his predominantly female partners. Jonathan Steed - an urbane, proper gentleman spy - teams with various assistants throughout the series' run, including Dr. David Keel, Cathy Gale, Emma Peel and Tara King, to repeatedly save the world from diabolical schemes plotted by equally diabolical evil-doers (among them robots and man-eating monsters).

The Avengers

1961

The Saint poster
7.4

Simon Templar is The Saint, a handsome, sophisticated, debonair, modern-day Robin Hood who recovers ill-gotten wealth and redistributes it to those in need.

The Saint

1962

BBC Play of the Month poster
5.2

A BBC television anthology series featuring productions of classic and contemporary stage plays usually broadcast on BBC1. Each production featured a different work, often using prominent British stage actors in the leading roles. The series was transmitted from October 1965 to September 1983.

BBC Play of the Month

1965

Theatre 625 poster
7.2

Theatre 625 is a British television drama anthology series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC2 from 1964 to 1968. It was one of the first regular programmes in the line-up of the channel, and the title referred to its production and transmission being in the higher-definition 625-line format, which only BBC2 used at the time.

Theatre 625

1964

An Audience with... poster
5.3

An Audience with... is a British entertainment television show produced by London Weekend Television, in which a host, usually a singer or comedian, performs for an invited audience of celebrity guests, interspersed with questions from the audience, in a light hearted revue/tribute style.

An Audience with...

1978

Film credits

2010s · 2 titles

2000s · 7 titles

The Gathering Storm poster
6.7

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

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

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

Hitler: The Comedy Years poster
5.0

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

Hitler: The Comedy Years

2007

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

The Best of The Two Ronnies - Volume 1 poster
8.0

A tribute to a legendary duo from the golden age in television variety. From 1971 to 1987, and over the course of twelve series and eight specials, The Two Ronnies was one of the nation's favourite television comedy shows. The show was practically an institution, with Christmas and Easter holidays only really being complete for most families, with a Two Ronnies special. This compilation features favourite sketches from sixteen years of the much-loved and much-missed programme, including: * The Vagaband Lover (before he died of drink, women and horses) * Swedish Made Simple * Mastermind (answering the question before last) and * The St. Botolph's Country Dance Team

The Best of The Two Ronnies - Volume 1

2001

Ronnie Barker: A BAFTA Tribute poster
9.0

A BAFTA tribute to Ronnie Barker.

Ronnie Barker: A BAFTA Tribute

2004

1980s · 4 titles

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

A Tribute to Tommy Cooper poster
NR

A retrospective of the comedy genius of Tommy Cooper, with tributes from the likes of Eamonn Andrews, Ronnie Barker, Max Bygraves, Cannon & Ball, Jim Davidson, Benny Hill, Eric Sykes and Mike Yarwood

A Tribute to Tommy Cooper

1986

By the Sea poster
7.3

A crusty old General leads his dotty family on a relaxing weekend at the seaside, and comic chaos ensues.

By the Sea

1982

Just Like That! poster
NR

Just Like That! is a celebration of the comic genius of Tommy Cooper - just like that! But nobody could do it just like that apart from the unique Mr Cooper himself, and despite his claim never to have used those words. Was Tommy really Henry Coper's brother? Can Tommy's performance as Hamlet, clown prince, compare with the greats? Was Tommy a ventriloquist at heart? Rare and classic routines and contributions from famous fans help solve the mystery. The friends and fans who take part (many of them confirming that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery) include Adrian Edmondson, Lenny Henry, Henry Cooper, former Goons Harry Secombe and Spike Milligan, writer Dick Hills, Tommy's brother David Cooper (who has himself sadly since died), alternative comedian Steve Murray, The Wow Show and magician Paul Scott. A title montage sequence features further impersonations of the great man from Alexei Sayle, Bob Todd, Patricia Hayes, and Jess Conrad.

Just Like That!

1989

1970s · 12 titles

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 Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins poster
5.0

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

The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins

1971

Porridge: No Way Out poster
10.0

Fletcher discovers that his fellow inmates are planning to escape.

Porridge: No Way Out

1975

To See Such Fun poster
10.0

Compilation of classic British comedy moments

To See Such Fun

1977

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

Futtocks End poster
6.0

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

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

Porridge: The Desperate Hours poster
9.0

Fletcher and Godber are in trouble for brewing liquor in the lead-up to Christmas, but are caught up in a hostage situation in the Governor's office.

Porridge: The Desperate Hours

1976

The Odd Job poster
NR

A man is heartbroken after his wife walks out on him. Reasoning that he has nothing to live for, he hires a peculiar odd job man to kill him and put him out of his misery.

The Odd Job

1971

The Two Ronnies Old Fashioned Christmas Mystery poster
5.8

On Christmas Eve in 1874, the turkey has been stolen from Sir Giles and Lady Hampton. What are they going to serve their guests? They call in the detectives Piggy Malone and Charley Farley to find who stole it.

The Two Ronnies Old Fashioned Christmas Mystery

1973

The Picnic poster
7.2

A crusty old English General leads his eccentric family on a family picnic trip, and comic chaos ensues.

The Picnic

1976

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

1960s · 12 titles

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

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

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

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

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

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 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

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

A Ghost of a Chance poster
6.7

Three children try to fight against the destruction of a local historic landmark. They are helped by a group of friendly ghosts.

A Ghost of a Chance

1967

No artwork available
NR

Adaptation of the play by Brandon Thomas.

Charley's Aunt

1969

Two off the Cuff poster
9.0

A pair of irreverent shorts. In "Masks," a sad man hides behind a happy mask. In "Happenings," a bored man stands around waiting for something to happen.

Two off the Cuff

1969

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

Series credits

Wogan poster
5.6

Chat show hosted by Terry Wogan, featuring live studio interviews with famous and notable personalities.

Wogan

1982

The Avengers poster
7.8

A quirky spy show of the adventures of eccentrically suave British Agent John Steed and his predominantly female partners. Jonathan Steed - an urbane, proper gentleman spy - teams with various assistants throughout the series' run, including Dr. David Keel, Cathy Gale, Emma Peel and Tara King, to repeatedly save the world from diabolical schemes plotted by equally diabolical evil-doers (among them robots and man-eating monsters).

The Avengers

1961

The Saint poster
7.4

Simon Templar is The Saint, a handsome, sophisticated, debonair, modern-day Robin Hood who recovers ill-gotten wealth and redistributes it to those in need.

The Saint

1962

BBC Play of the Month poster
5.2

A BBC television anthology series featuring productions of classic and contemporary stage plays usually broadcast on BBC1. Each production featured a different work, often using prominent British stage actors in the leading roles. The series was transmitted from October 1965 to September 1983.

BBC Play of the Month

1965

BBC Play of the Month poster
5.2

A BBC television anthology series featuring productions of classic and contemporary stage plays usually broadcast on BBC1. Each production featured a different work, often using prominent British stage actors in the leading roles. The series was transmitted from October 1965 to September 1983.

BBC Play of the Month

1965

BBC Play of the Month poster
5.2

A BBC television anthology series featuring productions of classic and contemporary stage plays usually broadcast on BBC1. Each production featured a different work, often using prominent British stage actors in the leading roles. The series was transmitted from October 1965 to September 1983.

BBC Play of the Month

1965

Theatre 625 poster
7.2

Theatre 625 is a British television drama anthology series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC2 from 1964 to 1968. It was one of the first regular programmes in the line-up of the channel, and the title referred to its production and transmission being in the higher-definition 625-line format, which only BBC2 used at the time.

Theatre 625

1964

An Audience with... poster
5.3

An Audience with... is a British entertainment television show produced by London Weekend Television, in which a host, usually a singer or comedian, performs for an invited audience of celebrity guests, interspersed with questions from the audience, in a light hearted revue/tribute style.

An Audience with...

1978

Sykes poster
6.7

Classic sitcom starring Eric Sykes and Hattie Jacques as brother and sister twins who have to tackle the trials and tribulations of suburban life.

Sykes

1972

No artwork available
NR

Drama 61-67 is anthology drama series which took a different title, based on year of transmission, each year. It alternated with Armchair Theatre from ABC in the Sunday evening slot. The series was described at the time as epitomising ATV drama.

Drama 61-67

1961

The Two Ronnies poster
7.8

The Two Ronnies is a British sketch show which aired on BBC1 from 1971 to 1987. It featured the double act of Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett, the "Two Ronnies" of the title.

The Two Ronnies

1971

Porridge poster
8.2

Porridge is a British situation comedy broadcast on BBC1 from 1974 to 1977, running for three series, two Christmas specials and a feature film also titled Porridge. Written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, it stars Ronnie Barker and Richard Beckinsale as two inmates at the fictional HMP Slade in Cumberland. "Doing porridge" is British slang for serving a prison sentence, porridge once being the traditional breakfast in UK prisons. The series was followed by a 1978 sequel, Going Straight, which established that Fletcher would not be going back to prison again. Porridge was voted number seven in a 2004 BBC poll of the 100 greatest British sitcoms.

Porridge

1974

Theatre Night poster
NR

A BBC television series of forty-five-minute excerpts from stage plays running in London.

Theatre Night

1957

Open All Hours poster
7.9

Open All Hours is a British television sitcom created and written by Roy Clarke, starring Ronnie Barker as penny-pinching corner-shopkeeper Albert Arkwright, and David Jason as his nephew and assistant Granville. The programme originated as a 1973 episode of Barker’s comedy anthology Seven of One, and later ran for 26 episodes; the first series broadcast on BBC2, the remaining three series broadcast on BBC1.

Open All Hours

1976

No artwork available
10.0

This anthology drama series from Associated-Rediffusion presented stories of people who take a gamble – sometimes with their lives – in order to prove a point or better their position.

The Gamblers

1967

The Big Show poster
9.0

The Big Show is an American comedy-variety-musical television series produced and broadcast by NBC for several months in 1980. The series aimed to revitalize the moribund variety television genre, which had been in a downward spiral since the cancellations of The Ed Sullivan Show and The Carol Burnett Show a few years earlier. The Big Show took its title seriously, using a huge stage set and filling a 90-minute time-slot, with at least one two-hour installment broadcast. Although the first broadcast received high ratings, poor reviews and low ratings of succeeding episodes resulted in the program being cancelled after only a few months. The series nonetheless was nominated for six Emmy Awards, winning for Outstanding Costume Design. Regular performers included Joe Baker, Graham Chapman, Mimi Kennedy, Shabba-Doo and Pamela Myers. Guest hosts included Steve Allen, Nell Carter, David Copperfield, Geoffrey Holder, Gary Coleman, and Sid Caesar. Skaters who performed in the show included Peggy Fleming, Dorothy Hamill, John Curry, and Toller Cranston.

The Big Show

1980

No artwork available
NR

An anthology of half-hour standalone situation comedies starring British comedian Jimmy Edwards in various roles alongside guest stars.

Faces of Jim

1961

No artwork available
NR

An anthology of half-hour standalone situation comedies starring British comedian Jimmy Edwards in various roles alongside guest stars.

Faces of Jim

1961

No artwork available
NR

An anthology of half-hour standalone situation comedies starring British comedian Jimmy Edwards in various roles alongside guest stars.

Faces of Jim

1961

No artwork available
NR

An anthology of half-hour standalone situation comedies starring British comedian Jimmy Edwards in various roles alongside guest stars.

Faces of Jim

1961

No artwork available
NR

An anthology of half-hour standalone situation comedies starring British comedian Jimmy Edwards in various roles alongside guest stars.

Faces of Jim

1961

No artwork available
NR

An anthology of half-hour standalone situation comedies starring British comedian Jimmy Edwards in various roles alongside guest stars.

Faces of Jim

1961

No artwork available
NR

An anthology of half-hour standalone situation comedies starring British comedian Jimmy Edwards in various roles alongside guest stars.

Faces of Jim

1961

No artwork available
NR

An anthology of half-hour standalone situation comedies starring British comedian Jimmy Edwards in various roles alongside guest stars.

Faces of Jim

1961

No artwork available
NR

An anthology of half-hour standalone situation comedies starring British comedian Jimmy Edwards in various roles alongside guest stars.

Faces of Jim

1961

No artwork available
NR

An anthology of half-hour standalone situation comedies starring British comedian Jimmy Edwards in various roles alongside guest stars.

Faces of Jim

1961

No artwork available
NR

An anthology of half-hour standalone situation comedies starring British comedian Jimmy Edwards in various roles alongside guest stars.

Faces of Jim

1961

No artwork available
NR

An anthology of half-hour standalone situation comedies starring British comedian Jimmy Edwards in various roles alongside guest stars.

Faces of Jim

1961

No artwork available
NR

An anthology of half-hour standalone situation comedies starring British comedian Jimmy Edwards in various roles alongside guest stars.

Faces of Jim

1961

No artwork available
NR

An anthology of half-hour standalone situation comedies starring British comedian Jimmy Edwards in various roles alongside guest stars.

Faces of Jim

1961

No artwork available
8.0

Made at a time when David Frost was hosting a chat show in the US and then jetting back to the UK to do three shows over the weekend, called (naturally enough) Frost on Friday, Frost on Saturday and Frost on Sunday. The latter concerned itself with the lighter end of the entertainment spectrum.

Frost on Sunday

1968

No artwork available
8.0

The Frost Report was a satirical television show hosted by David Frost. It ran for 28 episodes on the BBC from 1966 to 1967. It is notable for introducing John Cleese, Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett to television, and also launching the careers of other writers and performers.

The Frost Report

1966

Six Dates with Barker poster
7.4

Six Dates with Barker is a 1971 ITV series of six one-off, half-hour situation comedies showcasing the talents of Ronnie Barker. Three of the stories were further developed: The Phantom Raspberry Blower of Old London Town was made into a serial as part of the 1976 sketch comedy programme The Two Ronnies; The Odd Job Man was adapted as a feature film, titled The Odd Job; and The Removals Person became Barker's final programme Clarence.

Six Dates with Barker

1971

Six Dates with Barker poster
7.4

Six Dates with Barker is a 1971 ITV series of six one-off, half-hour situation comedies showcasing the talents of Ronnie Barker. Three of the stories were further developed: The Phantom Raspberry Blower of Old London Town was made into a serial as part of the 1976 sketch comedy programme The Two Ronnies; The Odd Job Man was adapted as a feature film, titled The Odd Job; and The Removals Person became Barker's final programme Clarence.

Six Dates with Barker

1971

Six Dates with Barker poster
7.4

Six Dates with Barker is a 1971 ITV series of six one-off, half-hour situation comedies showcasing the talents of Ronnie Barker. Three of the stories were further developed: The Phantom Raspberry Blower of Old London Town was made into a serial as part of the 1976 sketch comedy programme The Two Ronnies; The Odd Job Man was adapted as a feature film, titled The Odd Job; and The Removals Person became Barker's final programme Clarence.

Six Dates with Barker

1971

Six Dates with Barker poster
7.4

Six Dates with Barker is a 1971 ITV series of six one-off, half-hour situation comedies showcasing the talents of Ronnie Barker. Three of the stories were further developed: The Phantom Raspberry Blower of Old London Town was made into a serial as part of the 1976 sketch comedy programme The Two Ronnies; The Odd Job Man was adapted as a feature film, titled The Odd Job; and The Removals Person became Barker's final programme Clarence.

Six Dates with Barker

1971

Six Dates with Barker poster
7.4

Six Dates with Barker is a 1971 ITV series of six one-off, half-hour situation comedies showcasing the talents of Ronnie Barker. Three of the stories were further developed: The Phantom Raspberry Blower of Old London Town was made into a serial as part of the 1976 sketch comedy programme The Two Ronnies; The Odd Job Man was adapted as a feature film, titled The Odd Job; and The Removals Person became Barker's final programme Clarence.

Six Dates with Barker

1971

Six Dates with Barker poster
7.4

Six Dates with Barker is a 1971 ITV series of six one-off, half-hour situation comedies showcasing the talents of Ronnie Barker. Three of the stories were further developed: The Phantom Raspberry Blower of Old London Town was made into a serial as part of the 1976 sketch comedy programme The Two Ronnies; The Odd Job Man was adapted as a feature film, titled The Odd Job; and The Removals Person became Barker's final programme Clarence.

Six Dates with Barker

1971

Seven of One poster
7.3

Seven of One is a 1973 BBC2 comedy anthology starring Ronnie Barker. 7 of 1 is a series of seven separate comedies that would serve as possible pilots for sitcoms, three of which were picked up for a full series run. Originally called Six of One, which Barker planned to follow up with another series called Half Dozen of the Other.

Seven of One

1973

Seven of One poster
7.3

Seven of One is a 1973 BBC2 comedy anthology starring Ronnie Barker. 7 of 1 is a series of seven separate comedies that would serve as possible pilots for sitcoms, three of which were picked up for a full series run. Originally called Six of One, which Barker planned to follow up with another series called Half Dozen of the Other.

Seven of One

1973

Behind the camera