Night Train to Murder

Last updated

Night Train to Murder
Night Train to Murder.jpg
DVD cover
Written by
Directed byJoseph McGrath
Starring Morecambe and Wise
Original languageEnglish
Production
Running time89 minutes
Production company Thames Television
Original release
Network ITV
Release3 January 1984 (1984-01-03)

Night Train to Murder is a one-off 1984 feature-length British TV comedy drama, directed by Joseph McGrath and starring Morecambe and Wise. It was the last work that Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise worked on together before Morecambe's death in 1984; he was in poor health at the time of filming. It was written as a pastiche of the works of writers including Agatha Christie and Edgar Wallace and is set in 1946, featuring Morecambe and Wise ostensibly as 1940s versions of themselves. [1]

Contents

The duo's move from the BBC to Thames in 1978 was a much publicised media event, [2] [3] [4] [5] and one of the main reasons for their move was to make films and move away from the format of The Morecambe & Wise Show that had proved so popular in the previous decade. [6] [3] [4] The film was completed in March 1983, but not screened until after Morecambe's death the following year. It was originally made with a laughter track, but this was absent when broadcast, and again so when later released on both VHS and DVD.

The film features a plot of family members dying in strange circumstances and the two leads are drawn into this when Eric's niece Kathy (Lysette Anthony) is visited by the family's lawyer, played by Fulton Mackay. It was made largely on location, produced on videotape and was originally broadcast on ITV on 3 January 1985. [6] [7] The closing moments of the film see Eric and Ernie walking off together, onto the next gig, making it their final screen image together.

Cast

Reception

Richard Last, reviewing for The Daily Telegraph , wrote "I would have preferred to keep my memories of the great Morecambe and Wise partnership without the help of Thames's dismal Night Train to Murder... Very, very occasionally the old Eric and Ernie magic peeped out. Mostly it was smothered". [8] Philip Purser in The Sunday Telegraph described the film as "a desperate parody of pre-war English thrillers". [9] John Oliver in Screenonline calls it "lumbering, poorly filmed, unfunny". [6] Patrick Stoddart for The Sunday Times was more favourable: "an elegant, underplayed, witty little gem... conclusive proof that Morecambe and Wise were quite simply the most proficient comedians of the age". [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eric Morecambe</span> English comedian (1926–1984)

John Eric Bartholomew, known by his stage name Eric Morecambe, was an English comedian who together with Ernie Wise formed the double act Morecambe and Wise. The partnership lasted from 1941 until Morecambe's death in 1984. Morecambe took his stage name from his home town, the seaside resort of Morecambe in Lancashire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ernie Wise</span> English comedian (1925–1999)

Ernest Wiseman,, known by his stage name Ernie Wise, was an English comedian, best known as one half of the comedy duo Morecambe and Wise, who became a national institution on British television, especially for their Christmas specials.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Morecambe and Wise</span> Comedy double act

Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise, known as Morecambe and Wise, were an English comic double act, working in variety, radio, film and most successfully in television. Their partnership lasted from 1941 until Morecambe's sudden death in 1984. They have been described as "the most illustrious, and the best-loved, double-act that Britain has ever produced".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Yarwood</span> English comedian (1941–2023)

Michael Edward Yarwood, was an English impressionist, comedian and actor. He was one of Britain's top-rated entertainers, regularly appearing on television from the 1960s to the 1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eddie Braben</span> English comedy writer and performer (1930–2013)

Edwin Charles Braben was an English comedy writer and performer best known for providing material for Morecambe and Wise. He also worked for David Frost, Ronnie Corbett and Ken Dodd.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eric Porter</span> British actor (1928–1995)

Eric Richard Porter was an English actor of stage, film and television.

Fiona Walker is an English actress, known for numerous theatre and television roles between the 1960s and 1990s.

<i>The Intelligence Men</i> 1965 British comedy film by Robert Asher

The Intelligence Men is a 1965 comedy film directed by Robert Asher and starring the British comic duo Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise. It is subtitled "M.I.5 plus 2 equals 0".

<i>Two of a Kind</i> (British TV series) Morecambe & Wise comedy show for ATV 1961–1968

Two of a Kind is an early TV series for comedy duo Morecambe and Wise. It ran from 1961 to 1968 produced by ATV for the ITV network.

<i>The Morecambe & Wise Show</i> (1968 TV series) British television comedy sketch series (1968–1977)

The Morecambe & Wise Show is a comedy sketch show originally broadcast by BBC Television and the third TV series by English comedy double-act Morecambe and Wise. It began airing in 1968 on BBC2, specifically because it was then the only channel broadcasting in colour, following the duo's move to the BBC from ATV, where they had made Two of a Kind since 1961.

Eric & Ernie: The Autobiography Of Morecambe & Wise is a 1973 book by British comedians Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bring Me Sunshine</span> 1966 song by Arthur Kent and Sylvia Dee

"Bring Me Sunshine" is a song written in 1966 by the composer Arthur Kent, with lyrics by Sylvia Dee. It was first recorded by The Mills Brothers in 1968, on their album My Shy Violet. In the UK, the song is associated with the popular comedy duo Morecambe & Wise, after it was adopted as their signature tune in their second series for the BBC in 1969.

This is a list of British television related events from 1977.

Running Wild was a comedy sketch show originally broadcast by BBC television, the first TV series by English comedy double-act Morecambe and Wise. The first attempt by the pair at a television series, it aired for a single series of six episodes in 1954. Running Wild was Morecambe & Wise's first collaboration with Ernest Maxin, who subsequently worked with the duo on their second BBC television show.

<i>The Morecambe & Wise Show</i> (1978 TV series) British television comedy sketch series (1978–1983)

The Morecambe & Wise Show is a comedy sketch show originally produced by Thames Television and broadcast on the ITV network. The second show to be broadcast under the title, it was the fourth and final television series by English comedy double-act Morecambe and Wise, and saw their return to ITV after their successful nine-year association with the BBC.

Eric, Ernie and Me is a 2017 television film based on the relationship between British television double-act Morecambe and Wise and their writer Eddie Braben. It starred Stephen Tompkinson as Eddie Braben, Mark Bonnar as Eric Morecambe and Neil Maskell as Ernie Wise. It was written by Neil Forsyth. The one-off drama premiered on BBC Four on 29 December 2017.

References

  1. 1 2 Stoddart, Patrick (30 December 1984). "Previews". The Sunday Times . No. 8369. p. 48.
  2. ↑ Andrews, John (28 January 1978). "Eric and Ernie take their sunshine to ITV". The Guardian . p. 26.
  3. 1 2 Knight, Peter (28 January 1978). "ITV Film Bait Lures Eric and Ernie from BBC". The Daily Telegraph . No. 38151. p. 17.
  4. 1 2 "Morecambe and Wise move to Thames TV". The Times . No. 60222. 28 January 1978. p. 2.
  5. ↑ "Eric and Ernie's first for ITV". The Sunday Times . No. 8101. 15 October 1978. p. 52.
  6. 1 2 3 Oliver, John. "Morecambe, Eric (1926-1984) and Wise, Ernie (1925-1999)". Screenonline . Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  7. ↑ Waymark, Peter (29 December 1984). "New Year television and radio". The Times . No. 62023. p. 16.
  8. ↑ Last, Richard (4 January 1985). "Television". The Daily Telegraph . No. 40292. p. 9.
  9. ↑ Purser, Philip (6 January 1985). "Popping up all over". The Sunday Telegraph . No. 1233. p. 13.
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.