# Talk:Ronnie Barker

And it's goodbye from me and goodbye to him.
RIP Ronnie B. User:Hogtree
Amen to that. What with Porridge, the Two Ronnies and Open All Hours I feel like I grew up with this man.
Lest We Forget (don't know whether it's worth including on the main article) - Oatzy
A sad sad day for British comedy. But I'm sure his sketches will live on for many years to come - who could forget Fork Handles, Jamaican Ginger Cake or "your nuts milord". All together then, one last time... "ggggggrranville, ffffetch your cccloth". Goodbye Ronnie, Rest in Peace.

On a more Wikipedic note, we (as usual) have two different death dates for him in the article. I'm going to go with the the only source I found that is specific [1]. DJ Clayworth 16:32, 4 October 2005 (UTC)
OK, so Now I've found a more precise one [2] which gives 3rd as the date, and an exact time. DJ Clayworth 16:36, 4 October 2005 (UTC)
We still have two different dates for death. I don't know which one is correct but can someone fix it please. Cheers. --Astral
According to the BBC the date of death is the 3rd, but details were only released on the 4th.

1 Word: Amazing  --Jonathandavis 17:07, 4 October 2005 (UTC)

I ended up having to edit Ronnie Corbett's article because someone said he'd died...
It's a real shame to see him go. RIP

This morning (5 Oct 05) in Melbourne, Australia a radio announcer said that today was "Ronnie Baker Day". I have no other details. Avalon 20:50, 4 October 2005 (UTC)

Who's Ronnie Baker? Jooler 22:38, 4 October 2005 (UTC)

I removed this section from the main page as being non NPOV although I could not agree more with the sentiment. The section read:
"His legacy will live on and he will be remembered as one of the best comedians to grace the TV screen. Ronnie's death leaves a massive hole in comedy and in the hearts of people who enjoyed his work. Thank you Ronnie."
Hear hear.
Al Clark 20:53, 6 October 2005 (UTC)
What a character. Don't make em like that any more do they :-( --kingboyk 03:41, 4 February 2006 (UTC)

His catchphrase ending from The Two Ronnies provided the perfect epitaph: "Goodnight From Him".
Is this meant to imply that's what's actually written on his gravestone, or is it just an observation? --Dtcdthingy 21:44, 30 May 2006 (UTC)

Dictionary.reference.com lists the word Epitaph as:
n 1: an inscription on a tombstone or monument in memory of the person buried there 2: a summary statement of commemoration for a dead person
This statement meets the second criteria as it was widely used at the time of his death. It was even used as the title of a BBC documentary paying tribute to him. I'm not aware of what is actually inscribed on his gravestone (assuming he was actually buried) it's something that the media rightfully haven't mentioned.  --Peteb16 09:07, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

I removed this clause from Personal Life before the public memorial service:
(despite being a humanist rather than a Christian).
Is there some rule or law concerning who can or cannot have a service in Westminster Abbey? What is implied here? -213.219.151.76 14:40, 30 July 2006 (UTC)

I would be very pleased if anyone could possibly tell me the title of a Ronnie Barker sketch in which he plays a BBC announcer who is sacked live on TV because it turns out that he is in the wrong concert hall where "Humphmeister's little known second symphony" is NOT performed.
Thank you so much. 
PS: I dare not ask whether it is available somehow...
--Bernie 07:14, 10 September 2006 (UTC)
Did you know instead of the usual two candles carried during a funeral procession at Westminster Abbey, they carried four candles as a special tribute to Ronnie Barker?  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.6.86.235 (talk) 07:18, 5 August 2010 (UTC) 

This section was added by user:212.219.106.152, but is unsourced and really needs a citation if it is to be included:
This was followed up by a role in the film My House in Umbria in [[2003], in which he starred with Maggie Smith, who, when at the Oxford Playhouse, Barker told Smith, that she would never make it, and should give up. Dame Maggie Smith, is a D.B.E., C.B.E., and has two Academy Awards to her name.
Bob talk 10:40, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

Barker's "Gerald Wiley" subterfuge was fairly limited, and Barker was never widely known as Wiley, so I've removed that reference from the opener.  The circumstances are discussed well in the body of the article. --Tony Sidaway 00:59, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

This sounds like a contradiction in terms; how could The Two Ronnies quickly become a long running show?
Apepper (talk) 16:09, 11 June 2008 (UTC)

 Done Ged UK (talk) 17:24, 11 June 2008 (UTC)

The article states that "Mum" received a positive reaction, although an article in the Guardian strongly implies the opposite. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2005/oct/05/media.bbc I'm no expert but someone might want to look into this: it could be that both are correct if the play was given bad reviews as a stage play and good reviews as a radio play performed after his death. I've made no change to the article. Rob Burbidge (talk) 15:46, 22 July 2008 (UTC)

This article should reflect the heartache that Barker felt after his youngest son, Adam, went on the run because he was caught in Operation Ore looking at kiddie porn. 1. He was still on the lamb at the time of his death in 2005.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.145.4.151 (talk) 15:56, 11 December 2010 (UTC) 

Why is Ronnie Barker listed as British and Ronnie Corbett listed as Scottish that's a bit unfair isn't it England have to share it's comedians under the name of British but the Scotland keeps it's comedians to it's own borders within the union, I'm not flaming but it seems a bit one sided that's all86.148.131.197 (talk) 23:10, 15 December 2010 (UTC)

Not really. Corbett self-identifies as Scottish, whereas Barker didn't self-identify as English. Therefore, we stick with British nationality law and describe him as British. Simples!! Rodhullandemu 23:12, 15 December 2010 (UTC)

This has developed into rather a good article recently, indeed I suspect if the introduction was expanded a little bit it might be a potential good article candidate. I'm happy to do it myself, but I don't know if anybody else has already planned to do this as the final jigsaw piece, as it were? Bob talk 19:16, 19 January 2011 (UTC)

This is one of my long term projects - as in, it will take a long time, and I don't really have all that much. As you say it would probably pass GAN now were the lead done properly. I still, though, have the second half of Corbett's book and then all of the two other biographies to go through before it will be properly complete. If you would be willing to write the lead, and anything else for that matter, your help would be greatly appreciated. Gran2 22:00, 19 January 2011 (UTC)

This review is transcluded from Talk:Ronnie Barker/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.
GA review (see here for criteria)
It is reasonably well written.
a (prose):  b (MoS for lead, layout, word choice, fiction, and lists): 
I was slightly concerned with the paragraph explaining the Four Candles sketch. It is probably as well written as it could be, and meets the criteria of being clear and concise prose, but writing in the very objective concise language of a Wikipedia article to describe a comedy sketch brings to mind the line from who knows!?: "Talking about music is like dancing about architecture." The paragraph might present difficulties if presented for featured article review. It does slightly stick out as not the most engaging prose ever written (in my subjective opinion), but the alternative seems to be to not have it at all. That's probably worse than having a paragraph that can only be unsatisfying compared with watching the sketch itself.That said, the prose quality is pretty good. I found the discussion about the Gerald Wiley pseudonym and the speculation around it amusing and interesting (mostly in contrast to current day comedians: I can't imagine any modern day comedian doing something similar).
It is factually accurate and verifiable.
a (references):  b (citations to reliable sources):  c (OR): 
The Channel 4 link is now dead (although it doesn't return a 404 or 410 error, annoyingly) and I've marked it as Dead Link. It only establishes that the Four Candles sketch was listed in the 50 Greatest Comedy Sketches list. That a Two Ronnies sketch placed highly in such a list is believable enough even with a dead link. It would obviously be preferable if that could be replaced with a link to a non-dead reliable source for the claim, but a single dead link in 91 references doesn't seem a good reason to say that the article fails on WP:RS/WP:V grounds. The only source that were even marginally doubtful were the links to Chortle.co.uk. But I had a poke around and can't see anyone on Wikipedia doubting that they are a reliable source (one WP:PR reviewer seemed to think they were okay in reference to a far less well-known comedian than Barker) to establish either news about comedians or reception of comedy gigs.
It is broad in its coverage.
a (major aspects):  b (focused): 
The amount of coverage given in the article seems to match the importance of the various shows and works that Barker was involved in.
It follows the neutral point of view policy.
Fair representation without bias: 
Barker isn't a controversial topic. Article includes an appropriate amount of "what the critics say" type material.
It is stable.
No edit wars, etc.: 
No edit warring or other assorted nastiness.
It is illustrated by images, where possible and appropriate.
a (images are tagged and non-free images have fair use rationales):  b (appropriate use with suitable captions): 
I changed one of the captions from saying that the plaque is 'on' Barker's birthplace to saying it is 'marking' it, which is less exact and avoids an Americanism. Otherwise, images and captions are fine. The File:FrostReportClassSketch.jpg descriptions could be improved: it wouldn't be onerous to write a description of what the sketch is about on the image page. (I may do that after I've finished the GA review.)
Overall:
Pass/Fail: 
Clearly meets the criteria for Good Article status.
Reviewer: Tom Morris (talk) 14:30, 25 February 2011 (UTC)

Thanks very much. I've fixed the Channel 4 link using WebArchive. Gran2 14:50, 25 February 2011 (UTC)

Some editors have recently added information to the 'Personal life' section about how his son has been charged with child pornography offences. While true and well-sourced, I don't think this really belongs in the article. It's not about Ronnie Barker or relevant to his life in any way. Does anyone else agree? Robofish (talk) 13:40, 24 July 2012 (UTC)

I agree, but 1) not including it will lead to people continually adding it back 2) not including creates the impression that the page is being censored 3) Adam Barker doesn't have his own article, therefore this is essentially his page. 4) It's not irelevant to describe his children and if we say Adam is an actor (as Charlotte is already listed as an actress) then people will wonder why the most pertinent piece of information about him (the child porn) isn't included as well. And it's not like Adam Barker is notable on his own, all stories initially refer to him as "Ronnie Barker's son". So I agree on a personal level as the article's primary author that I don't want it included here. But on a practical, encyclopedic level I think it probably should. Gran2 14:14, 24 July 2012 (UTC)
I'm not sure. Adam Barker's latest arrest has occurred seven years after his father's death, so I'm not entirely convinced that it is actually relevant to Ronnie Barker's life.--EchetusXe 22:28, 24 July 2012 (UTC)
Actually, he spent eight years on the run and his father was alive at the time of the original arrest and so it most definitely will have affected his life and so should probably be included.--EchetusXe 22:31, 24 July 2012 (UTC)
After actually rereading the article (which you'd think I'd remember) it is already mentioned that Adam missed Ronnie's funeral due to the charges, so that's probably sufficient. Gran2

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I have recently become aware that Ronnie Barker was at some point, supposed to be appearing on the British version of the show This is your life with Eamonn Andrews.  
Apparently the episode had to be scrapped after Barker became aware of secretive phone calls between his wife and another person whom he believed she was having an affair with.  
After finding the name Brian and a London telephone number on a piece of paper, Barker rang it presuming it to be the person whom he suspected his wife of having the "affair" with, only to have the phone answered by the recipient as "Hello, This is your life."
Needless to say the episode was scrapped after Barker identified himself on the phone.    
Would this be something you could add to the article (with appropriate sourcing of course), and would you add it as trivia, anecdote or factual?
Thanks, Dane|Geld 20:21, 18 March 2021 (UTC)

It's quite an interesting anecdote, I note a slightly less embellished version appears on the page about the programme, cited to his autobiography It's Hello From Him - I guess in the context of him being quite secretive about his personal life, it could be illuminating. Bob talk 22:31, 18 March 2021 (UTC)

The infobox lists his years active as 1946-2021. This is truly astounding, since it also has him dying 16 years previously!? Toyokuni3 (talk) 19:49, 11 June 2024 (UTC)

I am concerned that this article no longer meets the good article criteria due to uncited statements throughout the article, including the "Filmography" section which has had a "more sources needed" orange banner since 2019. Is anyone interested in addressing this concern, or should this go to WP:GAR? Z1720 (talk) 01:02, 24 January 2025 (UTC)

This line:  "Barker was never happy with the sketch's final line (a male assistant asking "What sort of billhooks did you want?")  . . ."
In the version of the sketch posted on YouTube, the male clerk's line is:  "Right,  How many did you want?  One or two?" as he pulls down a towel uncovering a bin labeled "Billhooks".
Don't know if this is a misquote, or if multiple versions exist; just thought I'd mention it.


### Ronnie Barker