Four Candles

Last updated

Harrington's hardware shop in Broadstairs, Kent, part of the inspiration for the Four Candles sketch Harrington's hardware shop Broadstairs Kent England - inspiration for the 'Four Candles' Two Ronnies sketch 01.jpg
Harrington's hardware shop in Broadstairs, Kent, part of the inspiration for the Four Candles sketch

Four Candles is a sketch from the BBC comedy show The Two Ronnies , written by Ronnie Barker under the pseudonym of Gerald Wiley and first broadcast on 18 September 1976. [1] Comic effect is largely generated through word play and homophones as an ironmonger or hardware shopkeeper, played by Ronnie Corbett, becomes increasingly frustrated by a customer, played by Barker, because he misunderstands what the customer is requesting.

Contents

A script for the sketch in Ronnie Barker's handwriting was discovered on Antiques Roadshow in 2006 and subsequently authenticated by Ronnie Corbett, who noted that while it was unusual for Barker to write in red ink, it was undoubtedly his handwriting. Corbett surmised that the script might have originally been donated to a charity fund-raiser, as Barker, being uncomfortable with appearing in public, would often donate an item to charity events rather than appearing in person. [1] The title of the first draft was Annie Finkhouse. [2]

The sketch was inspired by a real incident in a hardware shop in Hayes, which was submitted by the owners as possible material. [3] Further inspiration came from the range of goods stocked by Harrington's hardware store, located close to Ronnie Corbett's holiday home in Broadstairs, Kent. [4]

Plot

The sketch opens with a throwaway joke as the hardware shopkeeper (Corbett) hands a lady a roll of toilet paper, saying "mind how you go" (a reference to the BBC series Porridge written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, and starring Barker). The lady exits and the shopkeeper is then approached by another customer (Barker), who is holding a shopping list. The customer then requests what sounds like "four candles". The shopkeeper then takes out four candles, but the customer merely repeats his request and the shopkeeper is confused. The customer rephrases his request to reveal he in fact wanted "fork 'andles - 'andles [handles] for forks" (as in garden forks).

He then asks for "plugs". To try to avoid a similar mistake the shopkeeper asks what kind and is told "a rubber one, bathroom". Believing that he is asking for rubber bath plugs the shopkeeper gets out a box of them and asks what size. The customer's answer is "thirteen amp" revealing he in fact wants an insulated electric plug. He next asks for saw tips. Confused, the shopkeeper asks if he wants an ointment for "sore tips". After a better explanation the shopkeeper explains they do not have any.

He then asks for "o's". This item causes the most frustration with the shopkeeper bringing a hoe, a hose ("'Ose! I thought you meant 'oes!") and pantyhose to the counter before working out what he wants are the letter O for the garden gate – as in " Mon Repos ". The box of garden gate letters is noticeably difficult to get to and put back, requiring a ladder. When he asks for "peas" the shopkeeper, believing him to be asking for the letter P for a garden gate, is understandably annoyed as they are in the box he has just put back. The customer waits for him to get the box down again before better explaining what he wants – tins of peas. At this point the shopkeeper first suspects it may be a joke.

He then asks for "pumps" and the shopkeeper asks him to elaborate. The customer complies by asking for "foot pumps". The shopkeeper brings a foot-operated pneumatic pump to the counter. The customer then reveals he wants "brown pumps size nine". At this point the shopkeeper becomes convinced that the customer is playing a practical joke on him. After he asks for washers the shopkeeper, out of desperation and annoyance, recites a long list of possible items. The customer then explains he wants tap washers, almost the only type of washer that the shopkeeper failed to list.

At this point the shopkeeper, having had enough, snatches the shopping list the customer has been holding to complete the order without any confusions. However, he then seems to take offence at something written on the list. He decides he cannot tolerate the customer any longer and calls his assistant from the back to complete the order. The assistant reads the list and opens a drawer of billhooks, asking "How many would you like, one or two?" (suggesting that the shopkeeper misread it as the profanity "bollocks").

Variation

Barker later rewrote the ending of the sketch, citing the reason as dissatisfaction with the obscurity and coarseness of the "billhooks" reference. He revealed in the last episode of The Two Ronnies Sketchbook in 2005 that, instead of another male shop assistant taking over, a "big slovenly girl" would come out and say "Right then sir, what kind of knockers are you looking for?" [5]

Reception

The Four Candles, a pub in Oxford named after the sketch. The Four Candles, 51 George Street, Oxford, OX1 2BE on 4 Nov 2012.jpg
The Four Candles, a pub in Oxford named after the sketch.

It was voted 'The Nation's Favourite Two Ronnies Sketch' in a telephone vote on the Two Ronnies Night TV special, broadcast on BBC1 on 16 July 1999.

The sketch is widely held to be one of the most iconic sketches of the Two Ronnies. It was voted by the British public as the funniest comedy moment of the seventies in UKTV Gold's When Were We Funniest? .

It was placed fifth on Channel 4's list of the fifty greatest comedy sketches of all time. [6]

It was ranked sixth most memorable television event in a survey of 2,000 viewers on behalf of digital TV service Freeview. [7]

At Barker's memorial service in Westminster Abbey, the cross was accompanied up the aisle by four candles instead of the usual two. [8] Similarly, at Corbett's memorial service in St John the Evangelist church in Shirley, Croydon, four candles were displayed at the back of the altar. [9] Corbett's memorial service at Westminster Abbey also had four candles at the altar as a reference to the famous sketch. [10]

In Barker's home town of Oxford, a Wetherspoons pub on George Street is named The Four Candles after the sketch.

The original handwritten script was sold at auction for £48,500 in December 2007. [1] In 2018 it was offered for auction at East Bristol Auctions in Bristol, with an estimate of £25,000–40,000. [11]

See also

Related Research Articles

The "Cheese Shop" is a sketch from Monty Python's Flying Circus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marty Feldman</span> British actor and comedian (1934–1982)

Martin Alan Feldman was a British actor, comedian and comedy writer. He was known for his prominent, misaligned eyes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ronnie Barker</span> English actor, comedian and writer (1929–2005)

Ronald William George Barker 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.

<i>Open All Hours</i> British TV sitcom (1976–1985)

Open All Hours is a British television sitcom created and written by Roy Clarke for the BBC. It ran for 26 episodes in four series, which aired in 1976, 1981, 1982 and 1985. The programme was developed from a television pilot broadcast in Ronnie Barker's Seven of One (1973) comedy anthology series. Open All Hours ranked eighth in the 2004 Britain's Best Sitcom poll. A sequel, titled Still Open All Hours, aired from 2013 to 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ronnie Corbett</span> Scottish actor and comedian (1930–2016)

Ronald Balfour Corbett was a Scottish actor, broadcaster and comedian. He had a long association with Ronnie Barker in the BBC television comedy sketch show The Two Ronnies. He achieved prominence in David Frost's 1960s satirical comedy programme The Frost Report and subsequently starred in sitcoms such as No – That's Me Over Here!, Now Look Here, and Sorry!

<i>The Two Ronnies</i> British television comedy sketch show (1971–1987)

The Two Ronnies is a British television comedy sketch show starring Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett. It was created by Bill Cotton and aired on BBC1 from 10 April 1971 to 25 December 1987. The usual format included sketches, solo sections, serial stories and musical finales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nudge Nudge</span> Comedy sketch from Monty Pythons Flying Circus

"Candid Photography", better known as "Nudge Nudge", is a sketch from the third Monty Python's Flying Circus episode, "How to Recognise Different Types of Trees From Quite a Long Way Away" featuring Eric Idle and Terry Jones as two strangers who meet in a pub.

<i>The Frost Report</i> British TV satirical comedy series (1966–1967)

The Frost Report is a satirical television show hosted by David Frost. It introduced John Cleese, Ronnie Barker, and Ronnie Corbett to television, and launched the careers of other writers and performers. It premiered on BBC1 on 10 March 1966 and ended on 12 December 1967, with a total of 26 regular episodes over the course of 2 series and 2 specials as well.

<i>The Two Ronnies Sketchbook</i> 2005 British TV series or programme

The Two Ronnies Sketchbook is a collection of sketches from the BBC comedy series The Two Ronnies, with newly filmed introductions by the stars, Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett. It was first broadcast 34 years after the first episode of The Two Ronnies was aired and 18 years after the final episode aired.

By the Sea, is a 1982 BBC television film starring The Two Ronnies, and written by Ronnie Barker under the pseudonyms "Dave Huggett and Larry Keith". It was the follow-up to another Two Ronnies film, The Picnic, which featured several of the same characters.

<i>The Phantom Raspberry Blower of Old London Town</i> Television sketch written by Spike Milligan

The Phantom Raspberry Blower of Old London Town was a 1971 episode of LWT's Six Dates with Barker that was written by Spike Milligan and later adapted by Ronnie Barker for The Two Ronnies sketch show in 1976. Set in Victorian London, it featured a Jack the Ripper–style madman who stalked the streets and killed or stunned his victims by blowing them a raspberry.

"Dirty Hungarian Phrasebook" is a Monty Python sketch. It first aired in 1970 on Monty Python's Flying Circus as part of Episode 25, and also appears in the film And Now for Something Completely Different. Atlas Obscura has noted that it may have been inspired by English as She Is Spoke, a 19th-century Portuguese–English phrase book regarded as a classic source of unintentional humour, as the given English translations are generally completely incoherent.

<i>Hark at Barker</i> 1969 British TV comedy series

Hark at Barker is a 1969 British comedy series combining elements of sitcom and sketch show, which starred Ronnie Barker. It was made for the ITV network by London Weekend Television.

Michael Ian Redfern was an English actor, known for his appearances on television and stage.

The Two Ronnies 1987 Christmas Special was first broadcast on BBC1 on Christmas Day 1987 as part of the 12th series of the show starring Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett, being also their last outing as Barker decided to retire from showbiz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">From Raxacoricofallapatorius with Love</span> 2009 Sarah Jane Adventures charity special

"From Raxacoricofallapatorius with Love" is a special one-off episode from Doctor Who spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures. It was the first Doctor Who spin-off to produce a special for Comic Relief and was broadcast on 13 March 2009 as part of Red Nose Day 2009.

The Class sketch is a comedy sketch first broadcast in an episode of David Frost's satirical comedy programme The Frost Report on 7 April 1966. It has been described as a "genuinely timeless sketch, ingeniously satirising the British class system" and in 2005 was voted number 40 in Channel Four's "Britain's 50 Greatest Comedy Sketches". It was written by Marty Feldman and John Law, and features John Cleese, Ronnie Barker, and Ronnie Corbett.

The One... is a comedy sketch television series starring Ronnie Corbett, of The Two Ronnies, Lenny Henry of The Lenny Henry Show, Jasper Carrott, comedian and former presenter of ITV game show Golden Balls and Welsh comedian and actor Griff Rhys Jones, also presenter of ITV clip series It'll Be Alright on the Night. It was devised by Matt Lucas, David Walliams and Geoff Posner for Little Britain Productions. Walliams departed the project by the time of the full series.

Dennis Jeremiah (Spike) Mullins was a comedy performer and writer. He wrote for a number of established performers, such as Max Bygraves and Harry Secombe, Kenneth Williams and Frankie Howerd.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gramogram</span> Group of letters pronounced as if a word

A gramogram, grammagram, or letteral word is a letter or group of letters which can be pronounced to form one or more words, as in "CU" for "see you". They are a subset of rebuses, and are commonly used as abbreviations.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Fork handles script makes £48,500". BBC News. 20 December 2007. Retrieved 2 May 2010.
  2. ↑ "Two Ronnies 'four candles' script sells for £28,000". BBC News. 1 June 2018.
  3. ↑ Corbett, Ronnie (2006). And it's goodnight from him... The Autobiography of the Two Ronnies. London: Michael Joseph. ISBN   9780718149963.
  4. ↑ "The Story". The Four Candles Alehouse. Archived from the original on 2 September 2018. via Internet Archive
  5. ↑ "The Two Ronnies - Four Candles". YouTube . Archived from the original on 19 December 2021.
  6. ↑ "The top 50 comedy sketches in full". The Manchester Evening News. 30 June 2005. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  7. ↑ "Most Memorable TV Moments". Australian Broadcasting Corporation . Retrieved 16 October 2007.
  8. ↑ "Four candles and a short eulogy recall humour of a comic legend". The Times. 4 March 2006.[ dead link ]
  9. ↑ "Ronnie Corbett's funeral attended by stars of British TV's golden age". The Guardian. 18 April 2016.
  10. ↑ "Ronnie Corbett: Stars honour 'remarkable' comedian at memorial service". 7 June 2017. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
  11. ↑ Chesters, Laura (30 May 2018). "Legendary Two Ronnies' Fork Handles script comes to Bristol auction room". Antique Trade Gazette.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.