Editing Ronnie Barker (section)

===Retirement and re-appearances===
{{quote box2
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| quote = "I had completely run out of ideas and it scared and panicked me. I was always able to write scripts but, you know, I couldn't think of a single thing to write about. It was a very weird sensation. I had seen friends of mine start burning out. No one wants to see a 70-year-old on television who can't remember his lines. And also I had lost interest."
| source = —Barker on his decision to retire<ref name=indobit/>
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In 1987,<ref name=c244>{{harvnb|Corbett|Nobbs|2007|p=244}}</ref> before ''Clarence'' aired and after rejecting Hall's offer of the part of [[Falstaff]] in a [[Royal National Theatre]] production of ''[[Henry IV, Part 1]] & [[Henry IV, Part 2|2]]'',<ref name=indobit/> Barker retired from show business, aged 58, "at the height of his fame",<ref name=guardobit/> citing a decline in his own writing quality,<ref name=bbcobit/> lack of ambition and ideas, and a desire to go out on top so as not to damage his legacy,<ref name=timesobit/> as well as concerns about the state of his heart.<ref name=C235>{{harvnb|Corbett|Nobbs|2007|p=235}}</ref> He had decided to retire in 1985 but his decision was kept secret for two years, Corbett being the only one knowing about it.<ref name=C235/> He made his decision public on an appearance on the chat show ''[[Wogan]]''.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8241166.stm|title=Sir Terry's long career on radio|date=7 September 2009|access-date=13 April 2010|work=BBC News}}</ref>

Retired, Barker opened and ran an antiques shop called The Emporium in [[Chipping Norton]], Oxfordshire,<ref name=funeral>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/family-and-friends-lay-ronnie-barker-to-rest-510907.html |title=Family and friends lay Ronnie Barker to rest |work=The Independent |date=14 October 2005 |access-date=13 April 2010 |author=Cahal Milmo |location=London |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100428092429/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/family-and-friends-lay-ronnie-barker-to-rest-510907.html |archive-date=28 April 2010 }}</ref><ref name=c254>{{harvnb|Corbett|Nobbs|2007|p=254}}</ref> and resisted all calls to come out of retirement from then onwards. He joked: "I lose money every week, but it's a hobby. It's cheaper than skiing and safer at my age."<ref name=timesobit/> Because of its unprofitability, the shop was sold after ten years.<ref name=c254/> He wrote his [[autobiography]], ''Dancing in the Moonlight: My Early Years on Stage'', in 1993 and released ''All I Ever Wrote'', his complete scripts, in 1999.<ref name=timesobit/> He wrote the play ''Mum'' (initially as "Richard Mervyn", but as the play was opening, consenting to use his own name) for his daughter [[Charlotte Barker|Charlotte]] in 1998. The play was performed at [[The King's Head Theatre]], but garnered a negative response, with Barker stating it got "the worst notices of any play in the history of the theatre."<ref name=timesobit/><ref name=indobit/>

Just over a decade after retiring, Barker was persuaded to make occasional appearances on television again. In 1997 he appeared with Corbett at the [[Royal Command Performance]], driving on stage on a motorcycle combination as the [[Two Fat Ladies]],<ref>{{harvnb|Corbett|Nobbs|2007|pp=269–269}}</ref> and in 1999 he was reunited with Corbett for ''Two Ronnies Night'' on BBC One, and the following year for ''A Tribute to the Two Ronnies''.<ref name=indobit/> In 2002, director [[Richard Loncraine]] persuaded Barker to appear as [[Winston Churchill]]'s butler David Inches in the BBC-[[HBO]] drama ''[[The Gathering Storm (2002)|The Gathering Storm]]'' and then cast him in the larger role of the General in the TV film ''[[My House in Umbria]]'' in 2003, alongside [[Maggie Smith]] (whom Barker had advised, early in their careers, to give up acting as he felt she would not be a success).<ref>{{harvnb|Corbett|Nobbs|2007|pp=262–263}}</ref>  In the same year, he briefly reprised his role as Norman Stanley Fletcher in the spoof documentary ''[[Life Beyond the Box: Norman Stanley Fletcher|Life Beyond the Box]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/782867|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090129104920/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/782867|url-status=dead|archive-date=29 January 2009|title=Life Beyond the Box Norman Stanley Fletcher|publisher=[[British Film Institute]]|access-date=13 April 2010}}</ref>

Barker received several lifetime achievement awards. He won the [[Royal Television Society]]'s award for Outstanding Creative Achievement in 1975.<ref name=bbcobit/> [[Alec Guinness|Sir Alec Guinness]] presented him with a lifetime achievement honour at the inaugural [[National Comedy Awards|British Comedy Awards]] in 1990, while he received another such honour at the BBC Centenary Programme in 1996.<ref>{{harvnb|Corbett|Nobbs|2007|pp=266–67}}</ref> In 2004 he was given a special [[BAFTA]] lifetime achievement award at ''Ronnie Barker: A BAFTA Tribute'', a televised celebratory tribute evening.<ref name=bbcobit/> In 2005, he and Corbett were part of the first 100 people given stars on [[Avenue of Stars, London|London's Avenue of Stars]].<ref>{{harvnb|Corbett|Nobbs|2007|pp=287–288}}</ref> Previous awards included the [[Variety, the Children's Charity|Variety Club of Great Britain]] Award in 1969, 1974 and 1980, the Radio Industry Club Award in 1973, 1974, 1977 and 1981.<ref name=guardobit/>

Following the success of ''Ronnie Barker: A BAFTA Tribute'', Barker wanted to return ''The Two Ronnies'' to television and the BBC commissioned ''[[The Two Ronnies Sketchbook]]'', a clip show of their best sketches along with newly recorded introductions. These were recorded in one day because of Barker's declining health and aired in 2005.<ref>{{harvnb|Corbett|Nobbs|2007|pp=278}}</ref> The project, when announced, met with "some derision among the professional critics", but after the first episode drew eight million viewers, they had to "eat their words".<ref name=indobit/><ref name=bbcobit/>  The final special, and Barker's final appearance on television – ''The Two Ronnies Christmas Sketchbook'' – was recorded in July 2005 as a result of Barker's failing health and aired posthumously in December.<ref>{{harvnb|Corbett|Nobbs|2007|pp=285–286}}</ref>