News about Eric Morecambe

James Cleverly came across as a tremendous swank. He tapped his barrel chest, pushed a thumbs-up at the hall and announced he was going to win this leadership election and become PM. 'Pick me,' he said with a duh-it's-so-obvious shrug. When the interviewer said 'if you make the final two of the contest', Mr Cleverly corrected the fellow. 'I think WHEN I'm in the final two of the contest,' he said before touching the edge of his spectacles. Eric Morecambe in a beard. Did Conservative activists recoil from this presumption? Did they bridle at his bumptiousness? Far from it. 

It is well-known - in fact, it is probably the best-known thing about her - that back in 2022, during her brief time as prime minister, the Daily Star set up a live webcam of a 60p iceberg lettuce, asking which would last longer - Truss or the lettuce. The lettuce won. After just 49 days in No 10, Truss resigned. That was close to two years ago. You might have thought the lettuce joke would have faded away by now, but no: it is still going strong, and will dog her for the rest of her days. Last week, Truss was just coming to the end of an interview at a public event in a hall in Beccles, Suffolk - perhaps the O2 Arena was unavailable - when a banner was lowered behind her bearing a picture of a lettuce with eyes, and the caption 'I Crashed The Economy'. The audience noticed it before Truss did because, in true pantomime style, it was behind her. There were a few titters before an organiser strode on to the stage, and said, apologetically: 'I have no idea where that has come from.'

Big Angela, minister for planning, intended to build over great swathes of the English counties. 'There's gonna be a council house revolution,' she bellowed. And not just houses. 'We are going to make it easier to build lavatories!' This was met with initial delight by Labour MPs sitting behind her - they nod at anything ministers say. But after a moment some of them did frown a little. It turned out that Mrs Rayner had meant to say 'laboratories'.

The letters arrive by the sackful each week, addressed simply to: 'Tyson Fury, Morecambe.' They come from all over the world: messages from young fans, congratulations cards, heartfelt confessions about mental health struggles, even the odd marriage proposal. And they all find their way to the door of the £1.7 million redbrick manor-house - bedecked with stone lions, eagle sculptures and a huge 'Gypsy King' insignia on the drive - where Tyson, who lives there with his wife Paris and their seven children, insists he reads every single one. For Tyson Fury, 35, the flamboyant, outspoken, 6ft 9in man-mountain of a boxer, is so synonymous with this Lancashire seaside town that everyone knows where he lives. As he likes to put it, he's Morecambe's 'most famous attraction'. Certainly, aside from comedy legend Eric Morecambe, who so loved his hometown that he changed his surname to match it, you don't get many famous faces around these parts. The Furys have been a fixture since 2011, making them - in Paris's words - 'part of the local fabric'. Residents have got used to seeing her tiny blonde frame steering two trolleys up and down the aisles of Asda every week.

If Joan Bartlett had turned down Eric Morecambe in 1952, it's likely his double act with Ernie Wise would not have survived - and they could never have become the best-loved comic duo in TV history.

Many television duos have come and gone, but none have the enduring charm of comedy pairing Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise. The tall, handsome one with glasses and the one with short, fat legs are both continuing to charm audiences. However, their much-anticipated double act may not have happened. The two teenagers were torn apart by the Second World War and lost touch completely, after gaining fame as teenagers together. They were only reunited in London after a chance meeting. Along the way, their relationship was beset by a multitude of other issues, including Eric's debilitating illness, a disastrous start in television that threatened to end their careers. However, following Joan's death on her 97th birthday, another unbeknownst to many was a mutual dislike of their wives that resulted in the pair never socialized outside work.

When she reached her 97th birthday, news of her death appeared: 'I have received the somber news that Joan Morecambe, Eric Morecambe's widow, died at the age of 97.' The couple married in Margate in 1952 and had their reception in the Bulls Head pub in the same town. Joan had three children with the comedian, who died 40 years ago this May, Gail, 67, and Steven, 54, who adopted aged four. In Joan's most recent interview in 2021, she confessed that her husband was concerned that his comedic talent would be forgotten after his death. She said he'd be 'over the moon' to learn that Morecambe and Wise sketches are still vividly recalled.

One of Britain's most popular accents may not be long gone. The Lancashire accent, according to experts, is now extinct (inset). Lancashire's accent is unique for its use of the 'Arr' sound in terms such as 'car' or 'father.' However, researchers from the University of Lancashire claim that the accent will lose its distinctive 'rhotic R' within a decade.

The devil is really intricate. True-crime news have always depended on minutiae, whether that be verbatim transcripts of Old Bailey's trials from decades ago or the engrossing podcast serials of today. But the playboy Bunny Murder (ITV1), a superficial dash through four unsolved cases that detectives have long suspected are linked, beginning with the murder of Eve Stratford, a 21-year-old nude model, in 1975.

The Daily Mail's Weekend magazine has reached yet another magnificent milestone - this month we turn 30! We asked you to share our top ten TV shows so we could compile our definitive list of the 100 Greatest TV Shows voted for by you.

At Kenilworth Road, the developers have arrived. As industrial vehicles return to place to complete heavy lifting and scaffolding bedecks the outer perimeter of England's tightest ground, jutting as the stadium's maze of terraced houses winds on Beech Road and Oak Road. Tarpaulin covers the pitch that will host West Ham next month as £10 million of work is completed to bring the stadium up to par. Welcome to the Premier League. Luton Town are the team that appears to have blagged their way through security to gatecrash the elite club. Luton has been in administration three times, near to extinction, and has been suspended 40 points in total since being out of League for five years, and the first flight was 1992-92, but the top flight was in 1991-92. They are also back. So where do you start with their rise and fall and rise again? Given the Hollywood giants' football fairy tale, it could have been ten years ago at Wrexham in the fifth-tier National League, with Luton at their nadir.

Looking for a 'wise' classic car investment? Then appear that no further is going to go. Not only is this 1974 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow a certified collector's item, but it also has an extremely useful number plate. Eric Morecambe, a legendary comedian, was the first owner of the walnut brown car. The motor also has his personalised number plate 'EM 100', and the motor still has his personalised number plate.' It will be sold at auction in its original condition, having never been revived and retained by his wife for years after his husband's death. However, the Roller will not be going cheap. In fact, auctioneers predict that when the hammer falls, it will smash the normal value of a Silver Shadow of this decade.

The Women in Love actress, who left her acting career in 1992 to serve in Parliament for more than 20 years, died after a 'brief illness' at her house in Blackheath, south-east London. She returned to television screens in 2019's Elizabeth Is Missing, depicting an elderly woman suffering from the early stages of dementia. The much lauded performance displayed why she had been surrounded by awards during her glittering career. In 1970 romantic drama Women in Love, she received the first of two Academy Awards for 1970 romantic drama Women in Love, in which she appeared alongside Oliver Reed and Alan Bates. The second came after her role in the 1973 British romantic comedy A Touch of Class. She also appeared on Egyptian queen Cleopatra in 1971 for an episode of The Morecambe & Wise Show starring comedian Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise. Jackson had just finished filming The Great Escaper with fellow Oscar winner Sir Michael Caine, who had last appeared in The Romantic Englishwoman 48 years ago.

IAN HERBERT IN OAK ROAD, LUTON (T): When Gabriel Osho's early goal goes in for Luton Town, the teacups rattle on the draining board at 83 Oak Road, a riotous roar from the stadium on the other side of the fence drowns out the television. When the team is playing at home in a Championship play-off against Sunderland, watching Waterloo Road isn't really viable. Ambia Begum, a resident of the Philippines, had feared that it would be like this. When the game starts, it's like a mini-earthquake,' she says, though tonight's decibel levels seem to be even higher than average. As the team returns to the Premier League, a second Luton goal will be added, triggering even more tremors back into the kitchen. 'It is very loud,' she says, undermining the overstatement.' Fans of Luton are by no means the only ones contributing to this soundscape at No. 83. The away supporters are housed in Ms Begum's garden, so she and her family will know when an opposition team has a large following. They'll be kicking the walls and stamping the ground,' Ms Begum says. And, yes, Sunderland does make their presence felt. Ms Begum, a highly qualified judge on these topics, has a positive reaction.'

Troll of Trondheim (Richard Largent): The Troll of Trondheim seems to be a character from a Brothers Grimm fairy tale. Mind you, this could be an anonymous madwoman who posts death threats to minor celebrities on social media. Nevertheless, this particular Troll is the daft nickname given to Norway's new severe weather front, which has brought freezing temperatures to a large area of the United Kingdom. Even though we never see anything on the same destructive scale as the tropical hurricanes that cause widespread damage and loss of life in the United States, most recently in south-west Florida, our own weather forecasters have adopted the American tradition of naming storms.

A musician tripped over his hairless sphynx cat and collapsed down the stairs, leaving him with horrific 'car accident' injuries, including fractured spine and cracked skull. Chris Rowley, 59, of Countesthorpe, Leicestershire, died after his pet kitten attached itself to his leg and he tried to move out of the way, causing him to fall down the stairs. He broke his ribs, fractured his spine, cracked his skull, and lay on the ground for 14 hours while waiting for his partner Jackie, a care worker, to return from her night shift. After the fall on Sunday, October 23, the professional musician who was trapped on the ground and unable to get up was hospitalized for two weeks.

CHRISTOPHER STEVENS: Few things are more forlorn than half a double act. One comedian is so much less than two. Since his partner Eric Morecambe's death, dear old Ernie Wise was a lost soul. Little Ern had funny bones in him before, but he soon became a spectacle of pity, limiting himself to doing the panto rounds at Christmas. Mel Giedroyc (pictured) was always the better half of her double act with Cambridge Footlights partner Sue Perkins, but she has lost her own as Handmade: Britain's Best Woodworker (C4) is just too specific.

EPHRAIM HARDCASTLE: Gordon Brown, the former prime minister and chancellor, returns from Paris after the Lehman Brothers' demise caused the global financial crisis in 2007-2008, to speak with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, German chancellor Angela Merkel, head of the European Union, and Italian President Silvio Berlusconi. We heard the latter groan over 'amateurs,' says Brown, who claims that "Berlusconi, businessman, and politician, has the answer to the problem." And then he said "Don't you realise we have a press conference in one hour and none of them have brought a make-up artist with them?" And that was his contribution.' Are our current leaders any wiser?