BBC to air Morecambe & Wise’s home movies in new documentary

Remarkable footage of comedy double act Morecambe and Wise will air for the first time on BBC Two this Christmas.

Eric & Ernie’s Home Movies shows Eric and Ernie at work and at play, on tour and on holiday, from summer season in Blackpool to trying to make it in the USA, from their pre-television fame days to the height of their career.

Both avid home movie makers, Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise built up quite an archive of footage, revealing what the pair were really like in the company of family and friends.

The documentary also catches up with many of the people who appear in these highly personal films – including Eric Morecambe’s wife Joan, and children Gary, Gail and Steven and friends of Ernie and his wife Doreen.

The footage shows Eric and Ernie “as husbands, father and godfather, and the very best of friends,” and will see “emotional memories come flooding back.”

A new one-off drama about the duo also airs soon on BBC Four.