At a time when it’s considered newsworthy that The X Factor draws 15‑million viewers, it’s worth remembering that back in 1977 the Morecambe and Wise Christmas special pulled in 28 million.
The duo were a national institution and Tim Whitnall’s play, a huge hit at the Edinburgh Festival in the summer, is a tribute to the more complicated of the two, a man with an adult’s vocabulary and an adolescent’s feelings. It reviews Morecambe’s entire career in a style that’s generous yet not slavish.
The key to the show’s success is Bob Golding’s performance as Morecambe. Golding doesn’t really look that much like the comedian — the similarity is superficial, though boosted by Julia Bunce’s costumes — and he doesn’t sound quite like him either. At times he’s closer to Matt Lucas’s George Dawes.
But Golding has Morecambe’s silliness, anxiety and inability to relax, and he conveys with uncanny precision his verbal dexterity and extraordinary transitions between moods. What could easily be a collection of mannerisms is instead an affectionate portrait.
Guy Masterson directs with a nice sense of pace, and Chris Davey’s lighting design is particularly effective. The decision to have Ernie Wise represented by a grotesque ventriloquist’s doll — an oblique reference to one of the pair’s famous turns — provides some of the best humour.
Given its mix of sentimentality and manic energy, the show will not be to everyone’s taste. Parts will mean little to people who don’t nostalgically crease up at lines such as "I see your fan’s in" and "More tea, Ern?" but it is very funny and Eric Morecambe’s fans will surely find it irresistible.
Until 17 January ( 0844 579 1973).
Morecambe
Duchess Theatre
Catherine Street, WC2B 5LA
