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	{{Infobox television		{{Infobox television
	\| image =		\| image =

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{{Short description|Morecambe & Wise comedy show for the BBC}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{Infobox television
| image =
| genre = [[Sketch show]]
| starring = [[Eric Morecambe]]<br />[[Ernie Wise]]
| director = [[Ernest Maxin]]
| producer = Bryan Sears
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| num_series = 1
| num_episodes = 6
| list_episodes =
| runtime = 30 minutes
| company = [[BBC]]
| distributor =
| network = [[BBC One|BBC Television]]
| picture_format = [[405-line television system|405-line]] [[Black and white|B&W]]
| first_aired = {{Start date|1954|4|21|df=y}}
| last_aired = {{End date|1954|6|30|df=y}}
| preceded_by =
| followed_by = ''[[Two of a Kind (UK TV series)|Two of a Kind]]''

}}
'''''Running Wild''''' was a [[British comedy|comedy]] [[sketch show]] originally broadcast by [[BBC television]], the first TV series by English comedy double-act [[Morecambe and Wise]]. The first attempt by the pair at a television series, it aired for a single series of six episodes in 1954. ''Running Wild'' was Morecambe & Wise's first collaboration with [[Ernest Maxin]], who subsequently worked with the duo on their [[The Morecambe & Wise Show (1968 TV series)|second BBC television show]].<ref name=runningwild />

==History==
From the late 1940s onwards, [[Eric Morecambe]] and [[Ernie Wise]] had been steadily building a reputation for their comedy on the national variety circuit.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.televisionheaven.co.uk/morecambe_and_wise.htm |title=Biography: Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise |last=Marcus |first=Laurence |date=2005 |website=Television Heaven |access-date=3 March 2018 }}</ref> In September 1951, the duo made their first appearance on television with a guest spot on a BBC show called ''Parade of Youth'', while they began making regular appearances on [[BBC Radio]], first as semi-regular participants on ''Variety Fanfare'', and then with their own show, ''You're Only Young Once'', on the [[BBC Home Service|BBC Northern Home Service]].<ref name=BFI>{{cite web |url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/573767/index.html |title=Morecambe, Eric (1926-1984) and Wise, Ernie (1925-1999) |last=Oliver |first=John |website=BFI Screenonline |publisher=3 March 2018 }}</ref> The success that they began to achieve through their appearances on radio, combined with guest appearances on television, eventually led to the [[British Broadcasting Corporation|BBC]] offering them a television series of their own.

[[Ronnie Waldman]], the head of BBC Light Entertainment, was in the process of attempting to devise an idea of television variety programming, rather than televising stage based variety.<ref>McCann, p.97</ref> As part of this, he sought to sign up acts that could adapt to the demands of working on television, which required a huge amount of material. In 1953, Morecambe & Wise made an appearance on the television show ''Stars in Blackpool'', which led to them meeting Waldman, who started forming plans for the duo to headline their own television series.<ref>McCann, p.100</ref> However, although the duo had performed in [[Southern England]] on the variety circuit,<ref>Morecambe and Sterling, p. 51</ref> their broadcasting career had largely taken place in [[Northern England]], which led BBC producers to suggest that their act might not work with southern audiences.<ref>McCann, p. 103</ref> Bryan Sears, who was assigned as the new show's producer, eventually attached a group of six writers to the production, which received the title ''Running Wild''. The series was given an initial run of six episodes, to be broadcast live fortnightly from the [[Shepherd's Bush Empire|BBC Television Theatre]] in [[Shepherd's Bush]].<ref>McCann, p. 106</ref>

==List of episodes==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! scope="col" style="background:#96EEA9;" | No.
! scope="col" style="background:#96EEA9;" | Guests
! scope="col" style="background:#96EEA9;" | Director
! scope="col" style="background:#96EEA9;" | Writer
! scope="col" style="background:#96EEA9;" | Broadcast
! scope="col" style="background:#96EEA9;" | Reaction Index<ref>McCann, p. 112, 114</ref>
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 1.1
| Aux1 = [[Alma Cogan]], The Four in a Crowd, [[Ray Buckingham]], [[Marjorie Holmes]], [[Hermione Harvey]], [[Amanda Barrie]]
| DirectedBy = [[Ernest Maxin]]
| WrittenBy = [[Leonard Fincham]], [[Laurie Wyman]], [[Maurice Rodgers]], [[Alan Bain]]
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1954|4|21|df=y}}
| Aux4 = 43
| ShortSummary =
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 1.2
| Aux1 = [[Alma Cogan]], The Four in a Crowd, [[Ray Buckingham]], [[Marjorie Holmes]], [[Hermione Harvey]], [[Amanda Barrie]], [[Bernard Bresslaw]]
| DirectedBy = [[Ernest Maxin]]
| WrittenBy = [[Leonard Fincham]], [[Laurie Wyman]]
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1954|5|5|df=y}}
| Aux4 = 47
| ShortSummary =
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 1.3
| Aux1 = [[Alma Cogan]], The Four in a Crowd, [[Ray Buckingham]], [[Hermione Harvey]], [[Amanda Barrie]]
| DirectedBy = [[Ernest Maxin]]
| WrittenBy = [[Leonard Fincham]], [[Laurie Wyman]], [[Ronnie Hanbury]]
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1954|5|19|df=y}}
| Aux4 = 50
| ShortSummary =
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 1.4
| Aux1 = [[Alma Cogan]], The Four in a Crowd, [[Ray Buckingham]], [[Hermione Harvey]], [[Amanda Barrie]]
| DirectedBy = [[Ernest Maxin]]
| WrittenBy = [[Dennis Gifford]], [[Tony Hawes]], [[Ronnie Hanbury]]
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1954|6|2|df=y}}
| Aux4 = 53
| ShortSummary =
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 1.5
| Aux1 = [[Alma Cogan]], The Four in a Crowd, [[Ray Buckingham]], [[Marjorie Holmes]], [[Hermione Harvey]], [[Amanda Barrie]]
| DirectedBy = [[Ernest Maxin]]
| WrittenBy = [[Dennis Gifford]], [[Tony Hawes]], [[Ronnie Hanbury]]
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1954|6|16|df=y}}
| Aux4 = 43
| ShortSummary =
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 1.6
| Aux1 = The Four in a Crowd, [[Ray Buckingham]], [[Marjorie Holmes]], [[Hermione Harvey]], [[Amanda Barrie]], [[Jill Day]]
| DirectedBy = [[Ernest Maxin]]
| WrittenBy = [[Dennis Gifford]], [[Tony Hawes]], [[Ronnie Hanbury]]
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1954|6|30|df=y}}
| Aux4 = 51
| ShortSummary =
}}
|}

==Reception==
Following the broadcast of the first episode, the reviews were poor, with the most notable coming from Kenneth Bailey in the [[The Sunday People|''People'']] on Sunday 25 April;
{{Cquote|text=Definition of the Week: TV set: the box in which they buried Morecambe and Wise|author=Kenneth Bailey|source=''The People'', 25 April 1954, p. 8}}
Such was the impact of that review that Eric Morecambe carried a copy of it with him for the rest of his life.<ref name=runningwild>{{cite web |url=http://www.morecambeandwise.com/viewpage.aspx?pageid=91 |title=Running Wild |author= |date=2009 |website=morecambeandwise.com |access-date=3 March 2018 }}</ref> The poor reception that the first show received, combined with only minor improvements in the quality for the second and third episodes, led to Morecambe and Wise suggesting to Ronnie Waldman that the remainder of the series be cancelled.<ref>McCann, p. 111</ref> In spite of their reservations, Waldman remained steadfast in his confidence in the duo and the production, and it eventually ran for the full six episodes. The [[Appreciation Index|Reaction Index]], an indicator of the audience's approval of a television programme, given as a score out of 100, had slowly increased over the course of the series,<ref>McCann, p. 112</ref> while the reviews had improved. Nevertheless, the criticism that the duo had personally received meant that their personal morale and enthusiasm had evaporated by the end of the run.

==Aftermath==
Following the conclusion of ''Running Wild'', Morecambe and Wise returned to the variety circuit. Unlike with the television show, where they had had little influence over the writing or direction of what appeared on the screen,<ref name=runningwild /> when they appeared on stage, the duo had full control of their material and routines. Their initial appearances after their television experience were uniformly positive; their first post-television appearance, at the [[Ardwick Hippodrome]] in [[Manchester]], which came after a period where they had re-written their act, saw them receive a [[standing ovation]].<ref name=marcus2>{{cite web |url=http://www.televisionheaven.co.uk/morecambe_and_wise_2.htm |title=Biography: Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise - 2 |last=Marcus |first=Laurence |date=January 2005 |website=Television Heaven |access-date=3 March 2018 }}</ref> Their initial success led to further variety bookings and a return to radio. Two years after the failure of ''Running Wild'', Morecambe & Wise were invited to do a series of guest spots on ''[[The Winifred Atwell Show]]'' on [[Associated Television|ATV]]. These were successful enough to lead to guest appearances on [[List of other television appearances by Morecambe and Wise|other television shows]], followed by a six-month tour of Australia in 1958.<ref name=marcus2 /> On their return, with a realisation that live variety was on the wane and television was becoming more popular, they decided to focus on TV work, with a view eventually to having their own series.<ref name=marcus2 /> They would eventually achieve this in 1961 when they were signed to ATV and began work on ''[[Two of a Kind (UK TV series)|Two of a Kind]]''.<ref name=BFI />

==Archive status==
''Running Wild'' was broadcast live, with no [[telerecording]] made. Although the [[ITV3]] tribute series ''Morecambe & Wise Forever'' displayed an original script from ''Running Wild'' which stated that it was to be recorded, there is no evidence of whether this occurred and, if so, that any copy survived.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://missingepisodes.proboards.com/thread/12077/morecambe-wise-running-wild |title=Morecambe & Wise - Running Wild |author= |date=23 April 2017 |website=missingepisodes.proboards.com |access-date=3 March 2018 }}</ref><ref>{{cite AV media |date=2016 |title=Morecambe and Wise Forever |medium=Television |language=en |url=https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6q01q6 |access-date=16 March 2018 |minutes=20:56 |publisher=ITV }}</ref>

In 2011, the BBC broadcast ''[[Eric and Ernie]]'', a dramatization of the early years of Morecambe and Wise's career written by [[Victoria Wood]]. This told the duo's story up to their return to variety following their first television series, and featured recreations of several scenes from ''Running Wild''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.morecambeandwise.com/viewpage.aspx?pageid=358 |title=Behind The Scenes - Eric and Ernie |author= |date=2011 |website=morecambeandwise.com |access-date=3 March 2018 }}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book |last=McCann |first=Graham |date=1999 |title=Morecambe & Wise |url=https://archive.org/details/morecambewise0000mcca |location=London |publisher=Fourth Estate |isbn=9781857029116 |url-access=registration }}
*{{cite book |last1=Morecambe |first1=Gary |last2=Sterling |first2=Martin |date=2001 |title=Morecambe & Wise: Behind the Sunshine |location=London |publisher=Robson Books |isbn=9781861054623 }}

==External links==
*{{British Comedy Guide|tv|running_wild|Running Wild}}
*{{IMDb title|0046640|Running Wild}}

{{Morecambe and Wise}}

[[Category:Morecambe and Wise]]
[[Category:1954 British television series debuts]]
[[Category:1954 British television series endings]]
[[Category:BBC television sketch shows]]
[[Category:1950s British television sketch shows]]
[[Category:English-language television shows]]
[[Category:Lost BBC episodes]]
[[Category:Musical comedy television shows]]

Running Wild (1954 TV series) - Revision history

Kurt at 18:57, 28 January 2023

Kurt: 1 revision imported

en>Butlerblog: /* top */remove unnecessary name param; ({{infobox television}} handles this automatically)