''The Ronnie Barker Playhouse'' was a series of six comedy half hours showcasing the talents of

Ronnie Barker 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''. ...

. All were broadcast by Associated-Rediffusion in 1968. The series was written by Brian Cooke, Hugh Leonard, Johnnie Mortimer and

Alun Owen Alun Davies Owen (24 November 1925 – 6 December 1994) was a Welsh playwright, screenwriter and actor, predominantly in television. However, he is best remembered by a wider audience for writing the screenplay of The Beatles' debut feature fi ...

. The executive producer was

David Frost Sir David Paradine Frost (7 April 1939 – 31 August 2013) was a British television host, journalist, comedian and writer. He rose to prominence during the satire boom in the United Kingdom when he was chosen to host the satirical programme ...

, while the producers were Stella Richman and actress Stella Tanner. All the episodes were directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg.

Episode list

*Show 1 - Tennyson **Transmitted 3 April 1968 **Also starring

Dudley Jones Dudley is a large market town and administrative centre in the county of West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically an exclave of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of t ...

Richard O'Callaghan Richard O'Callaghan (born Richard Brooke, 7 March 1940, London) is an English film, stage and television character actor. He is the son of actors Patricia Hayes and Valentine Brooke, whose stage name was Valentine Rooke. As a boy actor he was ...

Talfryn Thomas John Talfryn Thomas (31 October 1922 – 4 November 1982) was a Welsh character actor, best known for supporting roles on television in the 1970s, including those of Private Cheeseman in ''Dad's Army'' (1973–1974) and Tom Price in '' ...

, Gwendolyn Watts. *Show 2 - Ah, There You Are **Transmitted 10 April 1968 **Also starring

George A. Cooper George Alphonsus Cooper (7 March 1925 – 16 November 2018) was an English actor and voice artist. He died in November 2018 at the age of 93. Early life Cooper was born in Leeds, the son of William and Eleanor (née Dobson) Cooper. His father ...

Sandra Michaels Sandra Michaels (born 1944) is an English actress. Career Her first television role was in March 1957, playing Phyllis in the second BBC adaptation of ''The Railway Children''. Later that year she appeared as Pamela Gwendolyn Stuart in ''The Adv ...

Bill Shine (actor) Wilfred William Dennis Shine (20 October 1911 – 24 July 1997) was a British theatre, film and television actor. Shine was born into a family of theatre actors; among others, Shine's father, mother, grandmother, two uncles and an aunt had worke ...

Victor Winding Victor Winding (30 January 1929 – 9 October 2014) was a British actor born in Lambeth, London. He appeared in "The Faceless Ones", a ''Doctor Who'' serial broadcast from April to May 1967 starring Patrick Troughton in which he played the c ...

and Michael Gues *Show 3 - The Fastest Gun in Finchley **Transmitted 17 April 1968 **Also starring Walter Horsbrugh,

Colin Jeavons Colin Abel Jeavons (born 20 October 1929) is a retired British television actor. Career Jeavons' earliest television role was as Jules Neraud in an episode of the 1956 anthology series of teleplays ''Nom-de-Plume''. Broadcast live, it is unkno ...

, Sheila Keith, Glenn Melvyn, Charlotte Mitchell *Show 4 - The Incredible Mister Tanner **Transmitted 24 April 1968 **Also starring

Alec Clunes Alexander Sheriff de Moro Clunes (17 May 1912 – 13 March 1970) was an English actor and theatrical manager. Among the plays he presented were Christopher Fry's '' The Lady's Not For Burning''. He gave the actor and dramatist Peter Ustinov ...

Frank Gatliff Frank Ernest Gatliff (31 December 1927 – 23 June 1990) was an Australian actor based in Great Britain. He appeared in several films (notably as Bluejay in ''The Ipcress File'') but mostly on TV, in such series as ''Gideon's Way'', ''The Baron'', ...

Doris Hare Doris Breamer Hare, MBE (1 March 1905 – 30 May 2000) was a British actress, comedian, singer, and dancer best known for portraying Mabel Butler in the British sitcom '' On the Buses'' and its film spin-offs, after replacing the original actr ...

, Richard O'Sullivan and

Billy Cornelius William Cornelius (born 1898) was an English professional football player and manager. Career Cornelius was born in Bevedere, Kent in 1898. He played football for Belvedere & District, before venturing to France in 1922 to join FC Sète ...

. *Show 5 - Talk of Angels **Transmitted 1 May 1968 **Also starring

Liz Crowther Elizabeth Ann Crowther (born 9 December 1954) is an English theatre actress. Her father was the actor, comedian and presenter Leslie Crowther and her mother was Jean Crowther, actress and dancer. Theatre work Beginning her stage career in 196 ...

Gillian Fairchild Gillian may refer to: Places * Gillian Settlement, Arkansas, an unincorporated community People Gillian (variant Jillian) is an English feminine given name, frequently shortened to Gill. It originates as a feminine form of the name Julian, Julio ...

Donald Hewlett Donald Marland Hewlett (30 August 1920 – 4 June 2011) was a British actor who was best known for his sitcom roles as Colonel Charles Reynolds in ''It Ain't Half Hot Mum'' and Lord Meldrum in '' You Rang, M'Lord?'', both written by Jimmy Perry ...

, David Kelly,

Maureen Toal Maureen Toal (7 September 1930 – 24 August 2012) was an Irish stage and television actress whose professional career lasted for more than sixty years. She was born in 1930 and was originally from Fairview, Dublin. Toal began performing at th ...

*Show 6 - Alexander **Transmitted 8 May 1968 **Also starring

Pamela Ann Davy Pamela Ann Davy (7 September 1933 – 3 June 2018) was an Australian actress, best known for her roles on British television during the 1960s. After graduating from RADA in 1960, and after early repertory experience, she appeared in many popul ...

, Molly Urquhart,

Pauline Yates Pauline Lettice Yates (16 June 1929 – 21 January 2015) was an English actress, best known for playing Elizabeth Perrin in the BBC television sitcom ''The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin''. She also starred in '' Bachelor Father'' and '' ...

and Anthony Trent.

Archive status

Of the six shows only ''Tennyson'' and ''The Fastest Guy In Finchley'' are missing from the archives, after the rediscovery of the other episodes at the BFI in 2012.

References

External links

* *
BFI Database on Six Dates With BarkerLost UK TV Shows
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ronnie Barker Playhouse, The 1968 British television series debuts 1968 British television series endings 1960s British anthology television series ITV comedy 1960s British comedy television series