Eric and Ern's writer pens memoirs

The man behind Morecambe and Wise's greatest moments is writing his memoirs.

Eddie Braben spent more than a dozen years writing for the double act, and is widely credited as the unseen hand that propelled them to stardom.

Now 73, Braben is to tell his story of those times in The Book What I Wrote, due out in autumn 2004.

He told the icliverpool website: " It's not an autobiography, because people don't tell the truth in autobiographies - and there are certainly things I wouldn't want people to know about me.

"It's about my comedy life and all the people who have influenced me."

Braben said that his days working for Eric and Ernie were gruelling.

"I did put myself under a lot of pressure," he said. "I used to write 10 pages and then tear nine up. Then write 10 more and tear eight up - and so on, until I was happy. If I had the slightest doubt about anything it wouldn't go in.

"A Christmas special would take about five weeks to write - that's 16 hour days, including weekends. The 45-minute shows were also time-consuming."

But, like many of his generation, Braben has little time for today's comedy.

"To be honest, this year's Christmas schedules sound like dire-vision, not television. It's rather bleak."

But he does have a soft spot for The Office - and thinks Peter Kay a genius.

"I think he's quite stunning," he said. "We have thousands of comedy actors, but he is a really good comedian - and there are only a handful of stand-up comics left."

Published: 8 Dec 2003