I've moved with the times a bit

''I will hear some joke or watch some programme and think 'I must see what Ron thinks of that,' and then realise that I can't ask him.''

So often, when a comedy partnership ends because of a death, the remaining partner fades into the background to be lost without trace. But Ronnie Corbett has moved on. He remains a national institution among those who remember The Two Ronnies, but he has also recently found himself in demand among a younger generation of funnymen including Ricky Gervais, Matt Lucas and David Walliams.

Most recently, he caused controversy appearing in a hilarious cameo role on BBC2's comedy Extras snorting cocaine in the toilets at the Bafta awards, where Ricky Gervais' character Andy Millman was nominated for a gong.

''My wife didn't want me to do it,'' says Ronnie. ''She thought, is it right that I'm seen as one of those people sniffing substances? But people know that I'm the most unlikely person to do that.

''Ricky Gervais is lovely and very intelligent. He knows when his stuff is being done as he wants it to be done. He and Stephen Merchant have a clear picture of the level at which they want their stuff to be performed. And they are jolly while they're doing it.''

Was he worried that some of his more traditional fans, those who enjoyed The Two Ronnies in the 70s and 80s, might disapprove? ''Those who are that traditional probably don't watch Extras anyway,'' he laughs.

At Christmas he'll be again seen as himself in a Christmas special of Little Britain, this time being chased by Bubbles de Vere, the grotesque, fee-dodging spa addict.

''I'm doing a romantic scene with Bubbles - in fact I am trying to get away from her. She invades my smart villa in Spain, breezing in and eating all my Ferrero Rocher chocolates.

''There are some very creative people about. The Little Britain team, Rob Brydon, Harry Hill and Ricky Gervais. They know I'm a fan and I'd seen a lot of them do early gigs at the Edinburgh Festival. They trust me as I'm a friendly face.

''When they were maturing, I was doing The Two Ronnies and Sorry! They think that I've moved with the times a bit. Although I'm 75 and have been around for a long time, a lot of my thinking is fairly contemporary.''

Although he laments that there isn't much family entertainment these days, he's kept up with the emergence of new, fresh comedy including The Catherine Tate Show, which he loves.

But reality TV is not for him, he reflects.

''It's so boring. I don't mind watching some celebrity-based thing in the jungle, but a house packed with nobodies is so boring.

''Jimmy Tarbuck's been on Strictly Come Dancing but I'd never do anything like that - I'm too old.''

Since Ronnie Barker's death, Ronnie C has written a memoir of The Two Ronnies, entitled And It's Goodnight From Him, which features their career from the beginnings on The Frost Report to 98 shows of The Two Ronnies, right up to Ronnie B's death last year and subsequent memorial service at Westminster Abbey.

''That memorial service was the peak of my grief, really. Anything after that is tinged with sadness, but I think of the happiness and feel grateful thanks that we did what we did together.''

In a 50-year friendship, many decades of which they worked closely together, they never fell out or got irritated by each other or turned to drink or drugs.

''We were both from the same social strata,'' says Ronnie now. ''Ron was born and brought up in Oxford, a university town, while I was brought up in Edinburgh, which was similarly academic. We both went to grammar schools. Ron went to work in the bank and I joined the civil service. There were similarities there.''

The pair met when Ronnie B's career was on the rise and Ronnie C was working in a bar of an actor's club in London.

''Ron's career had taken off before mine. He was a busy character actor while I was doing the nightclubs. He was a year older than me but his career was moving faster than mine. Then when we did The Frost Report we were neck and neck.''

Neither could have imagined how much of a success The Two Ronnies was going to be.

''Because we had both worked in the theatre we had been doing things in front of the public for a long time before we were asked to do them on television. So we did know what the general public would enjoy and appreciate and what they might be slightly offended by.''

It is well known that Ronnie Barker was never happy being himself to the public, which is why he usually performed in character. Ronnie C was more outgoing. '' I don't think he was so immediately recognisable as I am, what with my height, the voice and the glasses.''

Ronnie recalls that they were on location dressed as Vikings, in a BBC caravan, when Ronnie B told him in confidence that he was going to retire in 18 months' time - taking them up to the end of 1986.

''I had plenty of warning and although we had this terrific relationship we were essentially in our souls quite separate people with individual lives and skills, so it wasn't the shock it might have been.''

Part of Ronnie B's reason for retiring was that he felt The Two Ronnies was coming to the end of its natural life and that standards were slipping. And he had already had the first heart warnings.

''He was always haunted by the pictures of Eric Morecambe and Tommy Cooper,'' says Ronnie. ''They were all so young. Eric Morecambe was only 58. Then there's Paul O'Grady, who's had two attacks.''

There may never be another Two Ronnies but he hasn't written off another sitcom.

''David Walliams and Rob Brydon were supposed to be writing a sitcom for the three of us, about an old people's home in which I was the only man there - the Hugh Hefner of the old people's home.

''I can be in a sitcom if something gently funny and artily done comes up. But those parts are few and far between.''

* And It's Goodnight From Him... by Ronnie Corbett with David Nobbs (Michael Joseph, £20)