Eric and Ern – Curve Theatre, Leicester

Writer: Eddie Braben

Adaptors: Ian Ashpitel and Jonty Stephens

Director: Nicola Keen

“I’m playing all the right notes….”

If you’re one of the many millions of people who can complete the quote, especially if you remember it in its original context, then Eric & Ern is a show for you.

Take yourself back to the 1970s. There were just three TV channels and the Christmas Day viewing highlight for many was the Morecambe and Wise Christmas Special, which could find a third of the country sitting down at the same time to watch TV. Eric & Ern is a fond homage to those Christmas events, recreating some of the best-loved sketches and moments from the shows.

Creators and performers Ian Ashpitel and Jonty Stephens have based their show on the original Eddie Braben scripts, tweaked to create something that will work with a small cast on a live stage. It’s all designed to look and feel like you’re watching one of the classic Christmas specials that people remember with such fondness. It’s nearly fifty years since the last Morecambe and Wise Christmas special, but their style lives on with shows such as this. It’s comedy that’s guaranteed to be family-friendly, with a warm, self-mocking humour played with affection.

From the moment Ashpitel and Stephens walk on stage, it’s like time has rolled back. As well as having a pretty good physical resemblance to Morecambe and Wise, they have the voices and mannerisms almost spot on too. Ian Ashpitel has captured Eric Morecambe’s nervous energy, ready with the throw-away gag even when things go off-script, and Jonty Stephens has all of Ernie Wise’s suave appearance along with his often-misplaced confidence. The timing and pauses feel right, the facial expressions and reactions to each other feel right. They are a joy to watch together and the partnership between the two seems close to the real thing, remaining totally in character, whatever is happening.

It’s been cleverly put together in the style of one of their TV shows – the sofa and the bed, the music and some of the most popular sketches, quotes from which have almost become ingrained in the national psyche. Grieg’s Piano Concerto, Mr Memory, the police siren – you probably know the lines before they come, but that doesn’t stop it being hugely entertaining.

Every TV show had a musical guest, and here we are treated to Leicestershire-based Olivia Fines. Fines has an excellent voice and seems totally happy getting involved in whatever is going on, being the target of some of the comedy but throwing herself into it while managing to keep a straight face and sing a tricky number with Ashpitel and Stephens engaging in ridiculous antics behind her, though all done with the affection that made these sketches so appealing.

Of course, this is a small touring production and it can never hope to compete with the scale and budgets of the TV originals. Changes to the script to compensate work well, and are fully in keeping with Eddie Braben’s style, but some things will never have the same impact as they did. Olivia Fines does an excellent job, but Eric & Ernie putting a boot on Shirley Bassey will always be funnier, and Grieg’s Piano Concerto without Andre Previn and the London Symphony Orchestra loses a lot of the impact – though it’s so well-recognised now that they can get away with it regardless.

It’s a look back at the time when, for many, TV shows were a Christmas tradition, when comedy like this was suitable for families to watch together, not done with the faux-nostalgia that seems to be too prevalent, but with a genuine warmth and affection, and it’s sure to bring you sunshine on a cold winter evening.

Runs until 17 January 2026 and on tour