One of the sad things about the generation gap is that the parent can never fully convey to the child the atmosphere and culture of their own childhood and life generally before the child was born. It will always have an air of unreality to the child. My own image of my Mum's youth, including her stories of hearing Elvis for the first time, is a vague picture of 50s Britain and its clothing fashions. Much beyond that I find hard to grasp. Despite knowing factually what life was like, it will never have the corporeal quality of the times I have lived through myself.
And so, perhaps, it will be when one day I try to tell my son just how much I loved the comedy of Ronnie Barker. I can only hope that he will get the chance to see the "Four Candles" and "Opticians" sketches and they won't seem too dusty and antique for him to enjoy them as I did as a child (and as an adult).
Ronnie Barker's obituary on the BBC website is here.
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