WANT to bring a bit of sunshine into your life? This week, Malvern Theatres can certainly come up with the goods.

In an affectionate nod to the comic genius of Eric Morecombe and Ernie Wise, The Play What I Wrote goes a great deal of the way in providing the kind of comedy which made the pair of funny men the most illustrious and best-loved double act Britain ever produced.

So, here’s the scenario: Thom (Thom Tuck) and Dennis (Dennis Herdman) are a comedy couple sliding down the greasy pole of fame. Thom wants to be a serious playwright and has written yet another totally inept play. This one is number 72! It’s about the French Revolution and it’s a corker: A Tight Squeeze for the Scarlet Pimple.

Dennis thinks it may bring the comic pair back to public popularity if they stage it as a tribute to Morecombe and Wise, but first he needs to find a celebrity to appear in the play what Thom wrote...

Fans of Morecombe and Wise will be quick to recognise this scenario.

In the duo’s TV shows, Ernie’s truly, terrible “play what I wrote” theme was comic gold. Such was its success that big name stars fell over themselves for a cameo role - Glenda Jackson, Peter Cushing, Diana Rigg, Vanessa Redgrave.

On opening night at Malvern, Sue Holderness of Only Fools and Horses and The Green Green Grass fame was the mystery guest, happy to make the most of duff dialogue and naff acting to be part of the process which succeeded in making the audience bend double with laughter.

The Play What I Wrote has an immaculate pedigree. First staged 20 years ago, it came about through conversations with Eric Morecombe’s son Gary, involved Eddie Braben - who wrote many of Eric and Ernie’s scripts – was first directed by Kenneth Branagh and picked up a clutch of awards in both the West End and on Broadway. There are nods to some of the celebrated catchphrases and famous gestures, too.

If you are too young to remember Eric and Ernie, worry not. This romps home with the spirit of the duo’s winning ways. There is silly humour, gags galore, immaculate timing, the gold-coloured stage curtains which were a backdrop to the pair’s chat, the bed they shared and the running joke involving Arthur (Mitesh Soni) the harmonica player.

From the very start the evening sets a fast and furious pace, manic even, but it mellows for the play, within the play - which is just like the real thing, back in the glorious heyday of Morecombe and Wise.

David Chapman