Editing Chesney and Wolfe (section)

==Chesney and Wolfe's projects==
===Early collaborations===
Chesney's harmonica playing was featured as a musical interlude on ''Educating Archie''; this led to his first meeting with Wolfe in 1955.<ref name="Hayward2018"/> They wrote the show's last four seasons, initially with another of the show's writers, [[Marty Feldman]]. A one-off special for [[BBC Television]] in 1956, entitled ''Here's Archie'', was written by Wolfe, but still featured Chesney with his harmonica act.<ref name="Oliver">{{cite web |last=Olver |first=John |url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/572407/index.html |title=Chesney, Ronald (1920-2018) and Wolfe, Ronald (1924-2011) |work=BFI Screenoline |date=2003–2014 |accessdate=23 April 2018}}</ref> It also starred [[Irene Handl]].<ref name="Scotsman2011">{{cite news |last=Steven |first=Alasdair |url=https://www.scotsman.com/news/obituaries/obituary-ronald-wolfe-writer-of-tv-sitcoms-such-as-the-rag-trade-and-on-the-buses-1-2017582 |title=Obituary: Ronald Wolfe - Writer of TV sitcoms such as ''The Rag Trade'' and ''On the Buses'' |work=[[The Scotsman]] |date=21 December 2011 |accessdate=25 April 2018}}</ref>

The first regular television work for Chesney and Wolfe, writing in partnership with Feldman, was in 1958 when [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] franchise holder [[Associated-Rediffusion]] made a television version of ''Educating Archie''.<ref name="TimesWolfe"/> Persuaded by Wolfe, Chesney soon gave up performing professionally, so that they could form a writing partnership.<ref name="Renard">{{cite web |last=Renard |first=Gail |url=https://writersguild.org.uk/obituary-ronald-chesney-1920-2018/ |title=Obituary: Ronald Chesney (1920-2018) |work=WGGB Writers' Union |date=19 April 2018 |accessdate=25 April 2018}}</ref> He did, however, tutor [[Sylvia Syms]] for her harmonica-playing role in the film ''[[No Trees in the Street]]'' (1959).<ref name="Smith"/> By this time, they had also written material for [[Tommy Steele]] and [[Ken Dodd]], including pantomimes for both.<ref name="Scotsman2011"/> The sitcom ''It's A Deal'' (1961) turned out to be their last work for radio. It starred [[Sid James]] as a dishonest property developer, with [[Dennis Price]] as his partner, but lasted for only a single series of 13 episodes.{{sfn|Goodwin|2001|pp=138–39}}

===''The Rag Trade''===
Around the same time, the two men created ''[[The Rag Trade]]'' (1961–63), starring [[Peter Jones (actor)|Peter Jones]] as Harold Fenner, ungenerous head of Fenner Fashions, [[Miriam Karlin]] as the shop steward, Paddy, and [[Reg Varney]] as the foreman trying to mediate the conflict between employer and employed in a [[East End of London|London East End]] [[Sweatshop|sweat-shop]].<ref name="AClark">{{cite web|last=Clark|first=Anthony|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/571142/index.html|title=Rag Trade, The (1961-63)|work=BFI Screenonline|date=2003–2014|accessdate=25 April 2018}}</ref> [[Sheila Hancock]] and [[Barbara Windsor]] were also in the cast, plus the diminutive [[Esma Cannon]].{{sfn|Hancock|2004|p=101}} Directed (and produced) by [[Dennis Main Wilson]], Karlin wrote in her autobiography that Main Wilson had an "amazing capacity for picking the right people" for a cast.{{sfn|Karlin|Sargent|2007|p=86}}

Rejected by Associated-Rediffusion, who thought factory workers would not watch it, the pitch was picked up by [[Frank Muir]] and [[Denis Norden]] who were then comedy advisers for <!-- BBC Two/BBC2 was not yet on air. -->BBC Television.<ref name="TimesWolfe"/> Unusually for the time, the series featured strong female roles,{{sfn|Irwin|2016|p=68}} who it has been said gained the best lines, and it was a popular and critical success, being watched by more than 11 million viewers.<ref name="AClark"/><ref name="Gaughan"/> Karlin's chain-smoking character had the catchphrase "Everybody out!"<ref name="Telegraph2011"/> "I know all about working people and the struggles of the small businessman," Ronald Wolfe once said. "Writers who come from orthodox middle-class backgrounds can’t write ''The Rag Trade''-type show. They just don’t know what makes the man in the street laugh."<ref name="TimesWolfe"/> The show was turned into a stage version which had a run in [[West End theatre|London's West End]] at the [[Piccadilly Theatre]] in 1962.<ref name="Stage2011"/>

===Later 1960s shows===
Chesney and Wolfe repeated their success with the BBC sitcom ''[[Meet the Wife (TV series)|Meet the Wife]]'' (1964–66) starring <!-- Not awarded with a DBE until 1993. -->[[Thora Hird]] and [[Freddie Frinton]]. It was originally a one-off ''[[Comedy Playhouse (series 3)|Comedy Playhouse]]'' pilot called "The Bed" (1963).<ref name="Telegraph2011"/> Again, this featured working class characters and humour. Frinton's character was a plumber, while Hird's had social aspirations. It ran for five series.<ref name="TimesWolfe"/> In 1964, for Australian television, they wrote the first six episodes of a 13 episode comedy series, ''Barley Charlie'', concerning the inheritance by two sisters of a run down garage with one lazy employee.<ref name="Oliver"/>

The partnership wrote ''[[The Bed-Sit Girl]]'' (1965–66) for [[Sheila Hancock]], who played a young typist frustrated by her current life.{{sfn|Irwin|2016|p=77}} One of the series' characters, a neighbour (played by [[Derek Nimmo]]) of Hancock's title character, carried over to a follow-up series: ''Sorry I'm Single'' (1967) starred Nimmo as a callow mature student sharing a house with three young women. ''[[Wild, Wild Women]]'' (1969), starring [[Barbara Windsor]] and [[Pat Coombs]]<ref name="Stage2011"/> and set in 1902, was effectively a period-drama variation on ''The Rag Trade'', but only one series was produced.{{sfn|Irwin|2016|p=76}}

===''On the Buses''===
Their next series was [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]]'s ''[[On the Buses]]'', which ran from 1969 to 1973, leading them to be called the Other Two Ronnies.<ref name="Smith"/> Rejected by the BBC,<ref name="BBCWolfe"/> it was commissioned by Frank Muir, now Head of Entertainment at the then recently established [[London Weekend Television]], who said it was "rather at the baked beans end of my menu".<ref name="TimesChesney">{{cite news |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/article/ronald-chesney-obituary-kj627vtn0 |title=Ronald Chesney obituary |work=[[The Times]] |date=30 April 2018 |access-date=30 April 2018}} {{subscription required}}</ref> The series had an audience of up to 20 million, and was more popular at the time than ''[[Dad's Army]]''.<ref name="Gaughan"/>

It starred Reg Varney as bus driver Stan Butler, with [[Bob Grant (actor)|Bob Grant]] as his bus conductor Jack Harper.<ref name="Standard2011">{{cite news|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/showbiz/on-the-buses-writer-dies-after-fall-at-home-6380075.html|title=On The Buses writer dies after fall at home|work=London Evening Standard|date=19 December 2011|accessdate=25 April 2018}}</ref> [[Doris Hare]] was his Mum (originally played by [[Cicely Courtneidge]]),<ref name="Stubbs"/> [[Michael Robbins]] his brother-in-law Arthur, [[Anna Karen]] as his plain sister Olive.<ref name="Hayward2011"/> [[Stephen Lewis (actor)|Stephen Lewis]] as bus inspector Cyril Blake, usually referred to as 'Blakey', delivered the series' catchphrases "I 'ate you, Butler" and "I'll get you for this, Butler".<ref name="Dixon">{{cite news |last=Dixon |first=Stephen |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/aug/14/stephen-lewis |title=Stephen Lewis obituary |work=The Guardian |date=14 August 2015 |accessdate=25 April 2018}}</ref> Both Varney and Grant's characters were womanisers. As David Stubbs wrote for ''[[The Guardian]]'' in 2008, Grant and Varney were playing "two conspicuously middle-aged men" pursuing "an endless array of improbably available 'dolly birds'".<ref name="Stubbs">{{cite news |last=Stubbs |first=David |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/tvandradioblog/2008/nov/17/reg-varney-on-the-buses |title=Reg Varney reaches the end of the line |work=The Guardian |date=17 November 2008 |accessdate=25 April 2018}}</ref>

The series, although a rating success, was nevertheless critically derided at the time of its first broadcast. It led to three film spin-offs, which Chesney and Wolfe both co-wrote and co-produced. [[On the Buses (film)|The first of these]] was more successful at the British box office than the year's [[James Bond in film|James Bond]] film ''[[Diamonds Are Forever (film)|Diamonds Are Forever]]'' (1971).<ref name="TimesWolfe"/> ''On the Buses'' American remake, ''[[Lotsa Luck]]'' (1973–74), ran for a season on [[NBC]].<ref name="Hayward2018"/> When ''On the Buses'' ended, Wolfe and Chesney followed it with ''[[Don't Drink the Water (TV series)|Don't Drink the Water]]'' (1974–75), which starred Stephen Lewis's Blakey character abroad in Spain with his sister (played by Pat Coombs).<ref name="Stage2011"/> It lasted for two series.

===Later work===
The [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] sitcom ''[[Romany Jones]]'' ran from 1973 to 1975, with an initial pilot in 1972, was set on a caravan site. Originally it starred ''Dad's Army'' actor [[James Beck]] (who died in 1973, after recording the second series) with [[Jo Rowbottom]] and [[Jonathan Cecil]] also appearing.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/romany_jones/ |title=''Romany Jones'' |work=British Comedy Guide |accessdate=25 April 2018}}</ref> It lasted four series, being the most successful in the ratings of their series after ''On the Buses''.<ref name="TimesWolfe"/> It led to a sequel, featuring the characters played by [[Arthur Mullard]] and [[Queenie Watts]] moving into a council house, entitled ''[[Yus, My Dear]]'' (1976).<ref name="Smith"/> The latter series, which had comparatively low ratings,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/mike-reid-8l9w8xq6378 |title=Mike Reid |work=[[The Times]] |date=31 July 2007 |access-date=24 April 2018}} {{subscription required}}</ref> has a reputation, shared with ''Romany Jones'', of being one of the worst-ever sitcoms.<ref>{{cite news |last=Wainwright |first=Martin |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2003/sep/30/broadcasting.uknews |title=Bilko named best ever comedy |work=The Guardian |date=30 September 2003 |accessdate=24 April 2018}}</ref>

In 1977, following the BBC's rejection of a new pilot episode, ''The Rag Trade'' was revived by LWT for the ITV network, with Peter Jones and Miriam Karlin returning; it lasted for two series. Anna Karen was "transplanted" into the cast (as [[Anthony Hayward]] expressed it in 2011) to play her Olive character from ''On The Buses''.<ref name="Hayward2011"/><ref name="AClark"/> Karlin, however, encouraged to return to the role by a promise from Chesney and Wolfe of a more ethnically diverse cast, ultimately regretted her involvement, believing the sole black character was merely a token.{{sfn|Karlin|Sargent|2007|p=132}}

Their last two series as a comedy scriptwriting partnership were ''Watch This Space'' (BBC 1980) set in an advertising agency with [[Liza Goddard]], [[Peter Blake (actor)|Peter Blake]] and [[Christopher Biggins]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b85310bb7 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190502154349/https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b85310bb7 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2 May 2019 |title=Watch This Space [31/01/80] (1980) |work=BFI Film Forever |access-date=2 May 2019}}</ref> and ''[[Take a Letter, Mr. Jones]]'' ([[Southern Television|Southern]] 1981), a role-reversal comedy created for [[John Inman]], which also starred [[Rula Lenska]].<ref name="Smith"/>

An episode of ''[['Allo 'Allo!]]'' (1989) and ''Fredrikssons Fabrik – The Movie'' (1994) were the partnership's last scripts.<ref name="Stage2011"/>