Class sketch

The Class sketch is a comedy sketch first broadcast in an episode of David Frost's satirical comedy programme The Frost Report on 7 April 1966.^[1][2] It has been described as a "genuinely timeless sketch, ingeniously satirising the British class system"^[3] and in 2005 was voted number 40 in Channel Four's "Britain's 50 Greatest Comedy Sketches".^[4][5] It was written by Marty Feldman and John Law,^[6] and features John Cleese, Ronnie Barker, and Ronnie Corbett.

Synopsis

 

Cleese, Barker, and Corbett in the sketch as broadcast in April 1966

Cleese, tall and patrician in appearance and demeanour, represents the upper class; Barker, of average height, the middle class, and Corbett, short in stature, the working class. Their dress also shows class distinction: Cleese in a slim-cut suit and bowler hat, Barker in loose-cut suit and homburg hat, and Corbett in a workman's jacket, scarf, and newsboy cap. Each in turn describes their social advantages and disadvantages, and contrasts them with their neighbours, an effect emphasised by the actors' relative heights as they look downwards or upwards to each other:

Barker: "I look up to him [Cleese] because he is upper class, but I look down on him [Corbett] because he is lower class." Corbett: "I know my place."^[6]

It is this situation that gives Corbett the pay-off line; as the others describe their advantages in the form of "I get ... (e.g. a sense of superiority)", his character finally looks up at the others and says "I get a pain in the back of my neck."^[7]

Reception and influence

The British Film Institute commented, "Its twinning of height and social position, combined with a minimal script, created a classic TV moment."^[3] The sketch's influence has persisted to the present day, having been referred to in 21st-century discussions of politics,^[8] sociology,^[9] and even football.^[10]

Spinoffs

Ronnie Barker wrote scripts for three further "Three Classes" sketches featuring the same characters, comparing their family life, their leisure activities, and their work.^[11]

A spinoff sketch was broadcast on the BBC Millennium programme,^[12] satirising three eras of English history. Stephen Fry represents Modern Man, Barker a miller from the Renaissance, and Corbett a weaver serf from the Middle Ages. The basic premise of the sketch is no different from the original. The sketch was incorporated into The Nearly Complete and Utter History of Everything.

Cleese revisited the concept as well with two new partners in 2017 ^[13] (as a Wealthy Man, a Newspaper Editor and an Average Joe) for a political PSA.

References

1. Class sketch at IMDb  
2. "John Cleese, Ronnie Barker, and Ronnie Corbett, I Know My Place". uknowotimean.com. Retrieved 24 November 2012.
3. "BFI Screenonline: Frost Report, The (1966–67)". British Film Institute. Retrieved 21 April 2010.
4. "BBC4 to celebrate The Frost Report". comedy.co.uk. 18 September 2007. Retrieved 21 April 2010.
5. . Channel 4. Archived from the original on 27 March 2010. Retrieved 21 April 2010.
6. "THE FROST REPORT – A TELEVISION HEAVEN REVIEW". televisionheaven.co.uk. Retrieved 18 May 2014.
7. "BBC – Comedy – The Frost Report". BBC. Retrieved 21 April 2010.
8. "There's no way up – Telegraph". The Daily Telegraph. London. 20 May 2007. Retrieved 21 April 2010.
9. Braham, Peter; Linda Janes (2002). Social differences and divisions. Blackwell. p. 62. ISBN 978-0-631-23310-7. Retrieved 21 April 2010.
10. Marina Hyde (30 July 2009). "Sir Alex's nod to Nancy Mitford". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 21 April 2010.
11. Barker, Ronnie (2001). All I Ever Wrote. Sidgwick & Jackson. p. 42. ISBN 9780283073342.
12. ratpackmanreturns (15 December 2007). "The Two Ronnies - 2000 Today" – via YouTube.
13. Hacked_Off (28 November 2017). "John Cleese and friends join Hacked Off to explain Section 40". Archived from the original on 15 December 2021 – via YouTube.