The final novel from comedy legend Eric Morecambe. Charting the rise of Stella Ravencroft from struggling entertainer on the northern club circuit to huge national superstar, Stella was the second novel from comedy legend Eric Morecambe. The unfinished manuscript for Stella was discovered by Eric's son, Gary, shortly after his father's death. Encouraged by Eric's wife Joan, Gary completed the novel. Drawing heavily on Eric's own childhood and rise to fame, Stella is a rare fictional account of a now vanished era of entertainment.

Morecambe and Wise - the most famous and best-loved British comedy double-act of all time. In this unique book, Eric Morecambe's son Gary sheds new light on the comic geniuses who became the nation's best friends. Gary reveals what it was like behind the scenes, with touching and hilarious stories of life in the Morecambe and Wise family homes, along with memories from Eric's wife Joan and his daughter (and Ernie's goddaughter) Gail, who has never written about her father before. From a working class music hall act in their early career to their show becoming the nation's greatest TV entertainment from the late 1960s until the early 1980s, Eric and Ernie were not just mass audience television stars, but national treasures whose popularity endures. Gary recalls conversations with his dad and Ernie that paints a vivid portrait of two men who loved each other like brothers, as well as bringing to life the major characters who impacted Morecambe and Wise's lives. Gary's conversations with high-profile fans today, from Ben Miller and Bob Golding, to Jonathan Ross and Miranda Hart, provide a fascinating look at why Morecambe and Wise remain so popular now, their impact on today's most recognisable double acts, and how Eric and Ernie continue to be a part of so many families' Christmas traditions. Sweet and funny, touching and poignant, these untold stories and anecdotes let us get to know the two men who became the biggest British comedy act of all time, with the authority that only family can. This is the ultimate book for Morecambe and Wise fans, celebrating their days in the sunshine, now and forever.

Gary Morecambe writes: `David J. Hindle is an author and social historian with a particular interest in the genre of music hall and the history of the railways. In this, his latest book, he flags up parallels to be drawn between the origins of railways and music hall. This is an original concept, notwithstanding that long before the age of the automobile, it was the railways that conveyed audiences and performers to the music halls that evolved to become variety theatres. I look no further than my father's experiences to illustrate the point: `A second class train ride between Birmingham and Coventry in 1940 is not the most obvious starting point for the best loved double act in British comedy history. World War Two was well underway in 1940, but not for Morecambe and Wise. Fourteen year old Eric Bartholomew and his best friend Ernie Wiseman were travelling that day with my paternal grandmother, Eric's mum and mentor, Sadie Bartholomew. The star-struck teenagers had been performing in a touring youth theatre as solo acts. As usual the boys were over-excited after the show, and going through their Abbot and Costello, Laurel and Hardy impressions. Sadie, who was trying to sleep, made a suggestion that would change showbiz history for ever. `Why don't you two stop fooling around and put your minds to something else. Why not form a double act of your own?.' For over twenty years Morecambe and Wise learned their craft in Britain's variety theatres whilst travelling extensively throughout the country. When variety effectively died and many theatres went permanently dark in the 1950/60s, they switched to television spectaculars, which were enjoyed by millions throughout the world. The profusely illustrated narrative will offer something more than mere reading enjoyment. David's enthusiasm and expertise on music hall history is unbounded, and, in railway nomenclature, I give this publication the green light.'