{"id":424786,"date":"2026-04-30T07:38:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T07:38:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/424786\/"},"modified":"2026-04-30T07:38:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T07:38:11","slug":"long-lost-episode-of-morecambe-and-wise-show-to-be-aired","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/424786\/","title":{"rendered":"Long-lost episode of Morecambe And Wise Show to be aired"},"content":{"rendered":"

A long-lost episode of The Morecambe And Wise Show is to be shown on the BBC to mark 100 years since the late Eric Morecambe was born.<\/p>\n

The episode, which was thought to be lost forever, was first broadcast on 16 September 1968, and features British actresses Ann Hamilton appearing in a sketch set in a nudist colony, and Jenny Lee-Wright playing Morecambe’s niece.<\/p>\n

It also includes a musical performance from female trio The Paper Dolls, who enjoyed hits in the 1960s.<\/p>\n

\"Morecambe<\/p>\n

Ernie Wise was the other half of the comedy duo, with their partnership lasting until Morecambe\u2019s death in 1984 at the age of 58. Wise lived until 1999.<\/p>\n

The episode was discovered by Film Is Fabulous! \u2013 a charitable trust run by film collectors and television enthusiasts \u2013 in the estate of a former TV industry professional and has now been returned to the BBC.<\/p>\n

The “lost” programme was the third episode from Morecambe and Wise\u2019s first series after returning to the BBC, following a period working with commercial TV.<\/p>\n

It will be shown on BBC Four and BBC iPlayer on 14 May to coincide with when Morecambe would have turned 100.<\/p>\n

BBC Four will also show The Perfect Morecambe And Wise to mark the occasion.<\/p>\n

\"Morecambe<\/p>\n

Morecambe\u2019s son, Gary Morecambe, 70, said he was “excited about seeing it for the first time since I was 12 years of age”.<\/p>\n

“I honestly didn\u2019t think there was anything out there left to find, and when something like this comes out of nowhere, it\u2019s really quite wonderful,” he added.<\/p>\n

Noreen Adams, director of BBC Archives, said: “Morecambe and Wise are one of the UK\u2019s most loved comedy duos.<\/p>\n

\"Morecambe<\/p>\n

“Thanks to Film Is Fabulous! we\u2019re delighted to share this comedy gold that we thought was lost forever with viewers across the UK.”<\/p>\n

Morecambe\u2019s daughter, Gail Morecambe, said: “What a lovely surprise this is, and I\u2019m really looking forward to seeing it on a screen once again after so many years.<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s excellent to hear that skilled people are actively going through the archives and discovering ‘lost\u2019 programmes.<\/p>\n

“I am especially thrilled that it coincides with my father\u2019s centenary year. Really wonderful.”<\/p>\n

Source: Press Association<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A long-lost episode of The Morecambe And Wise Show is to be shown on the BBC to mark…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":424787,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[93,61,60,282],"class_list":["post-424786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=424786"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424786\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/424787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=424786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=424786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=424786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}