Chuckle Brothers

Their father was a Gang Show performer whose stage name was Gene Patton; he worked with the 18-year-old Peter Sellers in 1943 in The No. 10 Gang and gave performances in London, Orkney and the Hebrides, Iceland, the Far East, India, and Burma.

The Chuckle Brothers were an English comedy double act comprising real-life brothers Barry David Elliott (24 December 1944 – 5 August 2018) and Paul Harman Elliott (born 18 October 1947).

The brothers were born in Rotherham to Amy and James Patton Elliott, in 1944 and 1947.

The Chuckle Brothers, performing as The Harman Brothers, won the television talent show Opportunity Knocks in 1967, followed by success on New Faces in 1974.

Their first was Babes in the Wood, which they performed as The Harman Brothers in Malvern from 1967 until 1968 with Sandy Powell.

Their comedy and parody shows have included The Blackpool Tower Circus (1974, 1987), To You To Me (1995), The Chuckle Brothers in Trouble (1996), The Chuckle Brothers Summer Roadshow (1997), The Adventures of The Chuckle Brothers (1998), The Chuckle Brothers Trouble At Sea (1999), The New Adventures of The Chuckle Brothers (2000), Spooky Goings On (2001), Raiders of the Lost Bark (2002), Star Doors – The Chuckle Brothers Strike Back (2003), Barry Potty and his Smarter Brother Paul in The Chamber of Horrors (2004), Pirates of the River Rother (2005), Doctor What and the Return of the Garlics (2006), Spooky Goings on 2 (2007), Aladdin (Christmas 2007), Indiana Chuckles and the Kingdom of the Mythical Sulk (2008), Chuckle Trek – The Lost Generation (2009), A Christmas Chuckle (Christmas 2009), An Audience With....The Chuckle Brothers (2010), The Twelve Days of Christmas (Christmas 2010), Barry Potty and his Full Blood Brother Paul in the Ghostly Shadows (2011), The Return of the Pirates of the River Rother 2: In Strangers Tights (2012), The Chuckle Brothers meet the Phantom at the Theatre (2013), A 2014 Space Oddity (2014) and The Chuckles of Oz (2015).

The brothers began their television careers as a double act, making their debut in April 1979 on the BBC comedy series Lennie and Jerry, hosted by Lennie Bennett and Jerry Stevens.

They made two appearances on the game show 3-2-1, hosted by Ted Rogers, in January 1980 and April 1982, and appeared on the long-running BBC programme, The Good Old Days, in June 1980.

Their primary work was mainly focused on children's television, beginning initially on Christmas Day in 1980 with their taking part in a televised children's show, A Merry Morning, in which the brothers entertained around 250 children from the Leeds area in Yeadon Town Hall.

In August 1983, the Brothers appeared on The Freddie Starr Showcase alongside the comedian Freddie Starr.

In 1985, the brothers launched a pre-school programme on the BBC entitled Chuckle Hounds, in which they performed routines with no dialogue, while dressed up in giant dog costumes.

They were known for their BBC children's programme ChuckleVision, which aired from 1987 to 2009 and celebrated its twenty-first series with a 2010 stage tour titled An Audience with the Chuckle Brothers.

The comedy of the Chuckle Brothers usually derived from slapstick, other visual gags, and wordplay, and their catchphrases included "To me, to you!"

and "Oh dear, oh dear!"

Their success in children's television came in 1987, with the launch of their iconic children's show, ChuckleVision, in which their real-life siblings Jimmy and Brian Patton made occasional appearances.

The two contributed further to children's entertainment, performing at the Children's Royal Variety Performance in May 1992, and launching a children's game show titled To Me, To You!, which ran between 1996 and 1998 and which took its name from their signature catchphrase.

Outside of children's entertainment, the brothers have made appearances in many other television series, both together and separately.

A dress rehearsal of the duo's 1996 tour The Chuckle Brothers in Trouble was released on DVD in 2008.

Live recordings of Pirates of the River Rother and Spooky Goings On 2 were released on DVD 2007, the latter under the title The Chuckle Brothers – Spooky Goings On Live! A box set of the two was also made available.

The show proved a ratings hit with children, running for twenty-one series over a period of twenty-two years, and giving them a Special Award for Lifetime Achievement at the British Academy Children's Awards in 2008.

In May 2008, they appeared in the BBC documentary series Comedy Map of Britain, and won the 2010 series of Celebrity Coach Trip.

In addition, the brothers' 2008 tour, Indiana Chuckles and The Kingdom of the Mythical Sulk, set in Ancient Egypt, was released on DVD later that year.

The final series of the programme was aired in December 2009.

In 2010 the Chuckle Brothers won the first Celebrity Coach Trip.

In November 2011, the brothers starred in a series of TV advertisements for the UK-based van insurance comparison website Van Compare.com In October 2012, they appeared on Comedy World Cup on Channel 4, while on 15 March 2013, they were featured in David Walliams' sketch for Comic Relief. From 2013 to 2014, Barry made a number of appearances in the BBC comedy series Still Open All Hours as dog owner Mr Marshall, first appearing in the role for the 2013 Christmas special.

From 2014 until 2018, the brothers made appearances at various nightclubs and student events, performing sets and posing for photographs.

On 13 March 2015, they appeared again on Comic Relief, this time in a sketch based around National Treasures.

The brothers toured theatres annually with their shows until 2015.

The duo appeared at the 2016 Royal Variety Performance, performing sketches with host David Walliams.

Their final pantomime became Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at The Mayflower Theatre in Southampton, which they appeared in from 2017 until 2018 with Craig Revel Horwood.

They were awarded a Great British Pantomime Award for Best Double Act for this production.

Since Barry's death, Paul has stated his intention to continue to appear in pantomime productions.

In April 2018, it was announced the brothers were in the process of recording a new clip show for Channel 5, entitled Chuckle Time; It ran for one series during the summer of that year, although it was cut short following the death of Barry Elliot in August 2018.

As well as regular TV appearances, Paul and Barry appeared on stage in venues across the UK.

Their annual nationwide tours often included them performing with The Patton Brothers, magic duo Safire, The Magic Light Puppet Company as well a full cast.

Although, they performed regularly in pantomimes, festivals, events and holiday parks until Barry's death in 2018.

During their career, Paul and Barry performed in fifty one pantomimes together.

Their two older brothers, Jimmy and Brian, were known professionally as the Patton Brothers until Jimmy's death in 2019.

The Patton Brothers appeared in ChuckleVision, Jimmy as the nameless character known colloquially as "No Slacking", and Brian as another unnamed character known as "Getoutofit".

The Chuckle Brothers gained wider attention as a support act for singer Dorothy Squires.