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Quiz about And Its Goodnight From Him
Quiz about And Its Goodnight From Him

And It's Goodnight From Him Trivia Quiz


Ronnie Barker was a much-loved comedian in the UK; he died on Tuesday 4 October 2005 and this quiz is a tribute to his achievements in the entertainment field.

A multiple-choice quiz by arlenerimmer. Estimated time: 5 mins.
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Author
arlenerimmer
Time
5 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
218,330
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
6 / 10
Plays
2212
Awards
Top 10% Quiz
Last 3 plays: Guest 1 (6/10), Guest 2 (6/10), Guest 86 (4/10).
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Question 1 of 10
1. A famous sketch from 1966 showed Ronnie with John Cleese and future partner Ronnie Corbett standing in a line explaining the class system. Which programme featured this sketch? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. Earning him the Variety Club's ITV Personality of the Year award for 1969, Ronnie's caricature in the sitcom 'Hark at Barker' was a mustard-and-cress growing cigar-smoking aristocrat. What was his name? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. Two pairs of thick black-framed glasses were the trademark of Ronnie's variety show with Ronnie Corbett; Ronnie wrote 75% of the programme anonymously under the name 'Gerald Wiley', including the sketch which won the 1999 quest for the nation's favourite comedy sketch. What was that sketch? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. One of the delights of 'The Two Ronnies' was the songs - for which the men would dress up and sing different words to well-known tunes. One would have to listen closely and try not to laugh too much or jokes would be missed! When Ronnie dressed up as Dolly Parton, by what name did Corbett introduce him? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. A sure indication of Ronnie's genius were his solo performances within 'The Two Ronnies'. Here he would deliver a script flawlessly, even if it was full of incredibly difficult words and phrases. By what name do we know the sad, but often amusing, affliction where one gets letters mixed up between two or more words (such as 'chish and fips' for 'fish and chips')? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. After writing and taking part in three hour-long silent comedies based on seaside postcard humour, Ronnie wrote and starred in 'Seven of One', with seven totally separate characters in half-hour sketches. Of this series, three were to develop into full scale sitcoms, and the first was Ronnie's favourite work, 'Porridge'. What was the title of the 'Seven of One' Fletcher sketch? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. Ronnie's next venture was 'Going Straight', which carried on from 'Porridge', following Fletcher as he left prison. Only one series was made, and it was not as popular as 'Porridge' had been. Just three days after co-star Richard Beckinsale died of a heart attack, Ronnie accepted what award for this series?

Answer: (One word with five letters)
Question 8 of 10
8. Which of these statements is NOT true of Ronnie's next sitcom, 'Open All Hours'? Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. In 1988 Ronnie announced his retirement while a guest on the Wogan show; until that time, how many sitcoms had he written and appeared in since the end of 'Open All Hours'? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. His retirement was complete, until he was persuaded back into a studio to receive the BBC lifetime achievement award in 1996. From that date to his death in 2005 he appeared in three more programmes. Which of these was NOT one of those? Hint



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Most Recent Scores
Mar 21 2024 : Guest 1: 6/10
Mar 18 2024 : Guest 2: 6/10
Mar 16 2024 : Guest 86: 4/10
Mar 08 2024 : Guest 199: 9/10
Mar 08 2024 : rossian: 10/10
Mar 07 2024 : Guest 81: 8/10
Feb 29 2024 : Guest 86: 5/10
Feb 27 2024 : clevercatz: 6/10
Feb 19 2024 : Guest 86: 7/10

Score Distribution

quiz
Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. A famous sketch from 1966 showed Ronnie with John Cleese and future partner Ronnie Corbett standing in a line explaining the class system. Which programme featured this sketch?

Answer: The Frost Report

Cleese: (looking down) "I look down on him because I am upper class."
Barker: (looking up) "I look up to him because he is upper class," (looking down) "but I look down to him because he is lower class." (looking straight) "I am middle class."
Corbett: "I know my place."
Cleese: (looking down) "I get a feeling of superiority over them."
Barker: (looking up) "I get a feeling of inferiority from him but a (looking down) feeling of superiority over him."
Corbett: (looking up) "I get a pain in the back of my neck."
2. Earning him the Variety Club's ITV Personality of the Year award for 1969, Ronnie's caricature in the sitcom 'Hark at Barker' was a mustard-and-cress growing cigar-smoking aristocrat. What was his name?

Answer: Lord Rustless

Gerald Wiley, Ronnie's writing alter-ego, was one of the script-writers for these fifteen half-hour episodes. The main character first appeared in 'The Ronnie Barker Playhouse', but it was generally accepted that Lord Rustless grew into Ronnie's own adaptation as the series was filmed, and was no longer just the invention of playwright Alun Owen.
3. Two pairs of thick black-framed glasses were the trademark of Ronnie's variety show with Ronnie Corbett; Ronnie wrote 75% of the programme anonymously under the name 'Gerald Wiley', including the sketch which won the 1999 quest for the nation's favourite comedy sketch. What was that sketch?

Answer: Four Candles

Here is the first part of the sketch. It goes to prove the genius of Ronnie and Corbett that such a simple few lines could remain so vivid and funny after so many years. But it did! If you have never seen this sketch, please do your best to see it!

Ronnie: "Four candles."
Corbett: "Four candles. There you are, four candles."
Ronnie: "No, four candles."
Corbett: "Well, there you are. Four candles."
Ronnie: "No, four candles. 'andles for forks."
4. One of the delights of 'The Two Ronnies' was the songs - for which the men would dress up and sing different words to well-known tunes. One would have to listen closely and try not to laugh too much or jokes would be missed! When Ronnie dressed up as Dolly Parton, by what name did Corbett introduce him?

Answer: Polly Parton

Apparently Ronnie did not like dressing up as a woman - but he and Corbett did it regularly. My favourites were the sketches when the men played husband and wife teams, where Mrs Ronnie was married to Mr Corbett and Mrs Corbett married to Mr Ronnie. We never saw them on split screen but for the introduction and close of these sketches when they would be walking along a sea front promenade.
5. A sure indication of Ronnie's genius were his solo performances within 'The Two Ronnies'. Here he would deliver a script flawlessly, even if it was full of incredibly difficult words and phrases. By what name do we know the sad, but often amusing, affliction where one gets letters mixed up between two or more words (such as 'chish and fips' for 'fish and chips')?

Answer: Spoonerism

(Stammering is stuttering, where some letters are difficult to form. Cluttering is a disorder where a speaker has bursts of fast or slow speech, often without realisation. Apraxia sufferers have difficultly moving the muscles to form speech sounds.)

One of Ronnie's solos included this:

"I am secretary of the Loyal Society for the Relief of Suffers from Pisspronunciation. It's a terrible thung to be ting-tied, it's even worse when your wierds get all mucks up and come out in wucca-saying in dick-dock your thung to be."

How anyone can deliver such lines with the fluency that he did is beyond me!
6. After writing and taking part in three hour-long silent comedies based on seaside postcard humour, Ronnie wrote and starred in 'Seven of One', with seven totally separate characters in half-hour sketches. Of this series, three were to develop into full scale sitcoms, and the first was Ronnie's favourite work, 'Porridge'. What was the title of the 'Seven of One' Fletcher sketch?

Answer: Prisoner and Escort

David Jason first worked with Ronnie on 'Porridge', as an elderly lag called Blanco. The episode when Blanco and Fletcher were in the hospital wing was one of my favourites; they successfully turned the tables on another prisoner who was planning to con the old man out of what little he had.
7. Ronnie's next venture was 'Going Straight', which carried on from 'Porridge', following Fletcher as he left prison. Only one series was made, and it was not as popular as 'Porridge' had been. Just three days after co-star Richard Beckinsale died of a heart attack, Ronnie accepted what award for this series?

Answer: BAFTA

Beckinsale continued to play the same character from 'Porridge', Lenny Godber, in this series; he was engaged to marry Fletcher's daughter, Ingrid. One of the lovely scenes contained this script:

Fletcher: "Where you going anyway?"
Ingrid: "I can never pronounce it. Where we going Len?"
Godber: "Lanzarote."
Ingrid: "That's it, Lanzarote."
Fletcher: "Lanzarote? Where's that?"
Ingrid: "Well, we're not quite sure coz we can't find it on the map, but it's out of the ordinary, you know, it's not too touristy."
Godber: "It's volcanic."
Fletcher: "Oh, that'll be nice won't it. That'll get you out of bed in the morning, won't it?"
8. Which of these statements is NOT true of Ronnie's next sitcom, 'Open All Hours'?

Answer: Ronnie had not worked with any of the other actors in this sitcom before

David Jason played Granville, and he had played Blanco in 'Porridge'; he first worked with Ronnie in 'Hark at Barker'. Madge Hindle (who also appeared in 'Coronation Street') played with Ronnie in at least one of his silent comedies based on the humour of the seaside postcard, written in the late 1960s. 'Tenko' actor Stephanie Cole played Mrs Featherstone, and the shop did indeed have a till with a mind of its own.

It was one of those timeless jokes - no matter how often you saw Arkwright or Granville approach the till you just had to laugh!
9. In 1988 Ronnie announced his retirement while a guest on the Wogan show; until that time, how many sitcoms had he written and appeared in since the end of 'Open All Hours'?

Answer: 2

Neither 'The Magnificent Evans' (based on another 'Seven For One' character') nor 'Clarence' were as popular as Ronnie's other sitcoms, even though they were masterly. It was unfortunate that neither matched his previous work, especially as Ronnie's work was better than other sitcoms of the 1980s. As it happened, both enjoyed a moderate success.
10. His retirement was complete, until he was persuaded back into a studio to receive the BBC lifetime achievement award in 1996. From that date to his death in 2005 he appeared in three more programmes. Which of these was NOT one of those?

Answer: Emmerdale

In 2002 he played butler to Albert Finney's Churchill in 'A Gathering Storm', and in 2002 he appeared with Dame Maggie Smith in 'My House in Umbria' (when he said the immortal line: 'Seize the day. Embrace the present. Enjoy life while you've got the chance.') In 2005 'The Two Ronnies' Sketchbook' was aired on the BBC, putting Ronnie behind the desk with Corbett again as they hosted a mixture show of the best of 'The Two Ronnies'.

Ronnie Barker died on Tuesday 4 October 2005 and every newspaper covered his life and genius the next day. He will be remembered as one of the greatest comedians the UK has known, as well as a gifted actor and accomplished writer.
Source: Author arlenerimmer

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor ladymacb29 before going online.
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