Two Ronnies: Norfolk shop pays tribute to fork handles sketch

Manager Sarah Colman says the Two Ronnies' sketch is a running joke in the shop

A garden shop sold out of fork handles after designing a special window display in tribute to a classic BBC comedy sketch.

The Two Ronnies sketch starts with customer Ronnie Barker appearing to ask shopkeeper Ronnie Corbett for "four candles" when he means fork handles.

The shop, in Loddon, Norfolk has previously won awards for its displays.

Shop manager Sarah Colman, 55, said she thought it would raise a smile, but was surprised when sales increased too.

"We've always had people asking if we've got any fork handles. It's a running joke," she said.

"So we knew it would get people talking. But we didn't expect to sell so many fork handles in the process. We sold out the other day."

The Two Ronnies ran from 1971 until the final Christmas Special in 1987 and became a staple of Saturday night television on BBC One with audiences of up to 17 million.

The sketch, first broadcast in 1976, sees Corbett's character get increasingly exasperated as Barker asks for different items that sound the same.

Hoes or hose?

The entire window in Loddon Garden and DIY is given over to the sketch.

Passers-by can see three fork handles hanging above four candles; two garden hoes next to garden hoses and three letter "Ps" for use on a sign alongside tins of garden peas.

"You see people have a look, start laughing and then take a photo or two," said shop owner Andrew Carver, 63.

"It's proved really popular."

Shop owner Andrew Carver said the display had caught the attention of passers-by

Loddon resident Karen Peck said: "We were walking up the High Street when we came across it. It really made us smile.

"Later we came home and watched the sketch with our children who had never heard of The Two Ronnies."

The window had previously been made up to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee

Previous displays, designed by Sarah with the help of the shop's DIY Advisor Alex Bostock, have included stockings hung above a fire for Christmas, an "old shed" theme and a tribute to the late Queen during the 2022 Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

The window has also been given a festive look in the past