Ryan and Ronnie
Encyclopedia
Ryan and Ronnie was a television
comedy
series made by BBC Wales
and originally broadcast in the Welsh language
under the title Ryan a Ronnie.
The series starred Ryan Davies
and Ronnie Williams
. There were three Welsh-language series before the English version appeared in 1971. It ran for three series, ending in 1973.
The programme consisted of sketches and stand-up comedy sessions in which Ronnie took the role of "straight man" to Ryan's clowning. There was also music, from the duo themselves and regular guests such as Welsh singer Margaret Williams. Each programme ended with an episode of a spoof soap opera
entitled "Our House", in which Ryan played the mother of the family and Ronnie the father. Myfanwy Talog
played their daughter, "Phyllis Doris".
The running joke in "Our House" was that "Mam"
doted on her son, Nigel Wyn, originally played by Derek Boote and, latterly, Bryn Williams, and forgave him anything, whilst being strict with Phyllis Doris, whom she always addressed as "you brazen hussy". Both children were played by adults, the former appearing dressed in school uniform. The father, "Will", was the silent type, but each week, Nigel Wyn would address him as "Will" and "Will" would say, "Don't call Will on your father". (The phrase "call on" is a direct translation from the Welsh "Peid a galw Wil ar dy dad!"). With its bizarre and off-beat, almost surreal humour
, "Our House" has achieved an iconic status.
On one occasion, the show's guest star Ken Dodd
also appeared as a character in "Our House".
An S4C film about Ryan and Ronnie won several awards at the BAFTA Cymru awards ceremony in May 2010.
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
series made by BBC Wales
BBC Wales
BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the British Broadcasting Corporation for Wales. Based at Broadcasting House in the Llandaff area of Cardiff, it directly employs over 1200 people, and produces a broad range of television, radio and online services in both the Welsh and English languages.Outside...
and originally broadcast in the Welsh language
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
under the title Ryan a Ronnie.
The series starred Ryan Davies
Ryan Davies
Ryan Davies was a popular Welsh entertainer of the 1960s and 1970s. He was born in the Carmarthenshire village of Glanamman in the Black Mountain, Wales, and was educated in Bangor and at the Central School of Speech and Drama. His first professional appearance was in the National Eisteddfod of...
and Ronnie Williams
Ronnie Williams
Ronnie Williams was a Welsh actor and comedian.Williams struggled with his choice of an acting career, making an isolated television appearance in The Wednesday Play in 1966...
. There were three Welsh-language series before the English version appeared in 1971. It ran for three series, ending in 1973.
The programme consisted of sketches and stand-up comedy sessions in which Ronnie took the role of "straight man" to Ryan's clowning. There was also music, from the duo themselves and regular guests such as Welsh singer Margaret Williams. Each programme ended with an episode of a spoof soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
entitled "Our House", in which Ryan played the mother of the family and Ronnie the father. Myfanwy Talog
Myfanwy Talog
Myfanwy Talog was a Welsh actress, best known to the media as the long-term partner of Sir David Jason.-Personal life:...
played their daughter, "Phyllis Doris".
The running joke in "Our House" was that "Mam"
Welsh Mam
The Welsh Mam was an archetypal image of Welsh married women that emerged in 19th century industrial South Wales. Described as "hardworking, ‘pious’ and clean, a mother to her sons and responsible for the home", this image of women was depicted in Richard Llewellyn's 1939 novel How Green Was My...
doted on her son, Nigel Wyn, originally played by Derek Boote and, latterly, Bryn Williams, and forgave him anything, whilst being strict with Phyllis Doris, whom she always addressed as "you brazen hussy". Both children were played by adults, the former appearing dressed in school uniform. The father, "Will", was the silent type, but each week, Nigel Wyn would address him as "Will" and "Will" would say, "Don't call Will on your father". (The phrase "call on" is a direct translation from the Welsh "Peid a galw Wil ar dy dad!"). With its bizarre and off-beat, almost surreal humour
Surreal humour
Surreal humour is a form of humour based on violations of causal reasoning with events and behaviours that are logically incongruent. Constructions of surreal humour involve bizarre juxtapositions, non-sequiturs, irrational situations, and/or expressions of nonsense.The humour arises from a...
, "Our House" has achieved an iconic status.
On one occasion, the show's guest star Ken Dodd
Ken Dodd
Kenneth Arthur Dodd OBE is a British comedian and singer songwriter, famous for his frizzy hair or “fluff dom” and buck teeth or “denchers”, his favourite cleaner, the feather duster and his greeting "How tickled I am!", as well as his send-off “Lots and Lots of Happiness!”...
also appeared as a character in "Our House".
An S4C film about Ryan and Ronnie won several awards at the BAFTA Cymru awards ceremony in May 2010.
External links
- "Ronnie and Ryan relived on stage" BBC WalesBBC WalesBBC Cymru Wales is a division of the British Broadcasting Corporation for Wales. Based at Broadcasting House in the Llandaff area of Cardiff, it directly employs over 1200 people, and produces a broad range of television, radio and online services in both the Welsh and English languages.Outside...