''Slinger's Day'' is a British

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

that aired for two series from 1986 to 1987, made by

Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a Broadcast license, franchise holder for a region of the British ITV (TV network), ITV television network serving Greater London, London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until th ...

for the

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

network. It was a continuation of '' Tripper's Day'', which had originally come to a natural end after

Leonard Rossiter Leonard Rossiter (21 October 1926 – 5 October 1984) was an English actor. He had a long career in the theatre but achieved his highest profile for his television comedy roles starring as Rupert Rigsby in the ITV series ''Rising Damp'' from ...

's death, and, despite the overwhelmingly negative response it had drawn from reviewers and a section of the viewing public, was revived this time with

Bruce Forsyth Sir Bruce Joseph Forsyth-Johnson (22 February 1928 – 18 August 2017) was a British entertainer and presenter whose career spanned more than 70 years. Forsyth came to national attention from the late 1950s through the ITV series '' Sunday Nig ...

as a different character to Rossiter but fulfilling the same role, that of the manager of a

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

supermarket A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. This kind of store is larger and has a wider selection than earli ...

with largely incompetent staff. Like ''Tripper's Day'', it was created by

Brian Cooke Brian Cooke (born 1937) is a British comedy writer who, along with co-writer Johnnie Mortimer, wrote scripts for and devised many of the top television sitcoms during the 1970s, including ''Man About the House'', ''George and Mildred'', and '' ...

, however, in contrast to the previous series, Cooke only wrote two episodes of the twelve episodes, more than half of them being written by

Vince Powell Vincent Joseph Powell (6 August 1928 – 13 July 2009) was a British television scriptwriter. He collaborated with a writing partner, Harry Driver, until 1973. Early life Powell was born as Vincent Joseph Smith to Roman Catholic parents in Mi ...

with others being written by

Alex Shearer Alex Shearer (born 25 June 1949) is a British novelist and scriptwriter. He was born in Wick, in the north of Scotland. Alex Shearer sold his first TV script at the age of 29, after a varied career of some 30 odd jobs. He wrote for televisi ...

and '' Sorry!'' creators Ian Davidson and Peter Vincent, and one episode written by the prolific Andrew Marshall and

David Renwick David Peter Renwick (; born 4 September 1951) is an English author, television writer, actor, director and executive producer, best known for creation of the sitcom ''One Foot in the Grave'' and the mystery series ''Jonathan Creek''. He was awar ...

. ''Slinger's Day'' represented Forsyth's only ever situation comedy acting role, and he remained more associated with stand-up routines and

gameshow A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or demonstrative and are typically directed by a host, ...

Plot

Cecil Slinger (played by Forsyth) is designated by the Supafare

chain as the new manager in the branch that had previously been run by Norman Tripper. Like his predecessor, Slinger is forced to manage a supermarket branch that employs possibly the worst supermarket staff in the world: Mr. Christian (played by Clarkson), the cheerful but naïve assistant manager; Fred (played by Kelly), a lazy, alcoholic and inept

security guard A security guard (also known as a security inspector, security officer, or protective agent) is a person employed by a government or private party to protect the employing party's assets (property, people, equipment, money, etc.) from a variety ...

; Hardie (played by Bird), the

union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

shop steward A union representative, union steward, or shop steward is an employee of an organization or company who represents and defends the interests of their fellow employees as a labor union member and official. Rank-and-file members of the union hold ...

; as well as Higgins, Hardie's assistant of sorts (played by Paul),

secretary A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a w ...

Sylvia (played by Crowther) and the pop tart-like

checkout Checkout may refer to: * a point of sale terminal * Google Checkout, Google's online payment services * Check-Out (The Price Is Right), a segment game from ''The Price Is Right'' * in information management, it means blocking a file for editing; ...

cashier A retail cashier or simply a cashier is a person who handles the cash register at various locations such as the point of sale in a retail store. The most common use of the title is in the retail industry, but this job title is also used in the ...

Dottie (played by Licorish). Fred replaced Alf (played in ''Tripper's'' by

Gordon Gostelow Gordon Massey Gostelow (14 May 1925 – 3 June 2007) was an Australian actor. He was educated in Australia at North Sydney Boys High School and Sydney University where he graduated in Economics. Gostelow went to England in 1950 and worked ...

), and in the second series Sylvia was replaced by Miss Foster (played by Church) and Dottie was replaced by Shirley (played by de Paza).

Cast

The three main actors credited in the opening credits of ''Tripper's Day'' (

Pat Ashton Pat Ashton (28 February 1931 – 23 June 2013) was an English actress. Her engaging cockney, blonde persona is best remembered for appearances in English TV-sitcom film spin-offs ''On the Buses'' (1971) and ''Mutiny on the Buses'' (1972). She wa ...

and

) did not reprise their roles for ''Slinger's Day'', with the Rossiter and Gostelow roles replaced respectively by

and David Kelly. Many of the supporting cast of ''Tripper's Day'' did reprise their roles for the show, however only

Philip Bird Philip Bird is an English actor who has appeared in several British shows such as Peter Birch in ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale'' in 2006. He has also appeared in BBC's '' Doctors'', ITV's '' Heartbeat'' and ''Coronation Street''. He also appeared ...

and

Paul Clarkson Paul Clarkson is an English actor, theatre director and teacher. He was born and educated in Worcester and trained at LAMDA from 1979–81. He has been Assistant Director at the Swan Theatre, Worcester, Associate Director at Derby Playhouse thea ...

appeared in both series of ''Slinger's Day''. * Bruce Forsyth as Cecil Slinger * David Kelly as Fred * Philip Bird as Hardie * Paul Clarkson as Mr Christian *

Andrew Paul Andrew Paul (born Paul Andrew Herman; 17 March 1961 in Mile End, East London) is an English actor, known for portraying PC Dave Quinnan in the ITV drama ''The Bill'' for 13 years. Life and career Paul grew up in Manor House, North London, ...

as Higgins (series 1) * Vicky Licorish as Dottie (series 1) *

Liz Crowther Elizabeth Ann Crowther (born 9 December 1954) is an English theatre actress. Her father was the actor, comedian and presenter Leslie Crowther and her mother was Jean Crowther, actress and dancer. Theatre work Beginning her stage career in 1966 ...

as Sylvia (series 1) * Suzanne Church as Miss Foster (series 2) * Jacqueline De Peza as Shirley (series 2) * Charlie Hawkins as Colin Wilkins (series 2)

Episodes

Series 1 (1986)

Series 2 (1987)

Home media

The complete series of ''Slinger's Day'' was released on 23 April 2012.

References

Mark Lewisohn Mark Lewisohn (born 16 June 1958) is an English historian and biographer. Since the 1980s, he has written many reference books about the Beatles and has worked for EMI, MPL Communications and Apple Corps.

, ''BBC Online Comedy Guide''/''Radio Times Guide to TV Comedy'' *British TV Online Resources

External links

* *
Day'' at the British TV Online Resources
{{Vince Powell 1980s British sitcoms 1986 British television series debuts 1987 British television series endings English-language television shows ITV sitcoms Television shows produced by Thames Television Television series by Fremantle (company) Television shows set in London Television series set in shops Television shows shot at Teddington Studios