Four Candles

[2] The sketch was inspired by a real incident in a hardware shop in Hayes, which was submitted by the owners as possible material.

[3] Further inspiration came from the range of goods stocked by Harrington's hardware store, located close to Ronnie Corbett's holiday home in Broadstairs, Kent.

[4] The sketch opens with a throwaway joke as the hardware shopkeeper (Corbett) hands a lady a roll of toilet paper, saying "mind how you go" (a reference to the BBC series Porridge written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, and starring Barker).

Barker later rewrote the ending of the sketch, citing the reason as dissatisfaction with the obscurity and coarseness of the "billhooks" reference.

He revealed in the last episode of The Two Ronnies Sketchbook in 2005 that, instead of another male shop assistant taking over, a "big slovenly girl" would come out and say "Right then sir, what kind of knockers are you looking for?

[6] It was ranked sixth most memorable television event in a survey of 2,000 viewers on behalf of digital TV service Freeview.

[7] At Barker's memorial service in Westminster Abbey, the cross was accompanied up the aisle by four candles instead of the usual two.

[8] Similarly, at Corbett's memorial service in St John the Evangelist church in Shirley, Croydon, four candles were displayed at the back of the altar.

[9] Corbett's memorial service at Westminster Abbey also had four candles at the altar as a reference to the famous sketch.

[10] In Barker's home town of Oxford, a Wetherspoons pub on George Street is named The Four Candles after the sketch.