''Sykes'' is a

British sitcom A British sitcom or a Britcom is a situational comedy programme produced for British television. Most British sitcoms are recorded on studio sets, while some have an element of location filming. A handful are made almost exclusively on location ...

that aired on

BBC 1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

from 1972 to 1979. Starring

Eric Sykes Eric Sykes (4 May 1923 – 4 July 2012) was an English radio, stage, television and film writer, comedian, actor, and director whose performing career spanned more than 50 years. He frequently wrote for and performed with many other leading com ...

and

Hattie Jacques Hattie Jacques (; born Josephine Edwina Jaques; 7 February 1922 – 6 October 1980) was an English comedy actress of stage, radio and screen. She is best known as a regular of the ''Carry On'' films, where she typically played strict, no-non ...

, it was written by Sykes, who had previously starred with Jacques in '' Sykes and a...'' (1960–1965) and '' Sykes and a Big, Big Show'' (1971). Forty-three of the 1970s colour episodes were remakes of scripts for the 1960s black and white series, such as "Bus" based on 'Sykes and a Following' from 1964 and the episode "Stranger" with

Peter Sellers Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show'', featured on a number of hit comic songs ...

based on 'Sykes and a Stranger' from 1961. ''Sykes'' had the same premise as ''Sykes and a...'' with Sykes, Jacques,

Richard Wattis Richard Wattis (25 February 1912 – 1 February 1975) was an English actor, co-starring in many popular British comedies of the 1950s and 1960s. Early life Richard Cameron Wattis was born on 25 February 1912 in Wednesbury, Staffordshire, the ...

and

Deryck Guyler Deryck Bower Guyler (29 April 1914 – 7 October 1999) was an English actor, best remembered for his portrayal of officious, short-tempered middle-aged men in sitcoms such as ''Please Sir!'' and ''Sykes''. Early life Guyler was born in Wallas ...

reprising their former identical roles. The series was brought to an end by the death of

of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

on 6 October 1980.

Cast

– Himself *

– Harriet (Hat) Sykes *

– Charles Fulbright-Brown (series 1–3) *

– PC Corky Turnbull *

Joy Harington Joy Harington (22 February 1914, London - 22 October 1991, Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the no ...

– Melody Rumbelow *

Joan Sims Irene Joan Marion Sims (9 May 1930 – 27 June 2001) was an English actress, best remembered for her roles in the ''Carry On'' franchise, appearing in 24 of the films (the most for any actress). On television, she is known for playing Gran i ...

– Madge Kettlewell

Plot

With the same premise as ''Sykes and a...'', unmarried

twin Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of TwinLast Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two em ...

s Eric and Harriet (Hat) Sykes are now living at an end of terrace house, 28 Sebastopol Terrace,

East Acton East Acton is an area in Acton in London, England, west of Charing Cross. It is partly in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham and partly in the London Borough of Ealing. It is served by East Acton Underground station, on the Central ...

, two doors down from their house in the previous programme. As before, Eric is childish and accident-prone while Hattie is patient. Their neighbour is the

snob ''Snob'' is a pejorative term for a person who believes there is a correlation between social status (including physical appearance) and human worth.De Botton, A. (2004), ''Status Anxiety''. London: Hamish Hamilton ''Snob'' also refers to a per ...

bish unmarried Charles Fulbright-Brown, and PC Corky Turnbull is the local policeman. Corky's wife, Elsie, is unseen, except for two episodes, ''Caravan'', in which she appears with her face covered in porridge during a food fight between Corky and Eric, and 'Holiday Camp' when the back of her head is shown going into the Ghost Train ride, and later on asleep and passing wind in bed. Deryck Guyler also played Corky's brother Wilfred Turnbull, a train attendant on the Glasgow to London sleeper train, in the episode ''Journey''. He also played another relative bus Inspector Norman Burnside in ''Bus''. Following the death of Richard Wattis in 1975 a new neighbour, Melody Rumbelow, moves in. The local

baker A baker is a tradesperson who bakes and sometimes sells breads and other products made of flour by using an oven or other concentrated heat source. The place where a baker works is called a bakery. History Ancient history Since grains ha ...

is the widowed Madge Kettlewell (

), who appears occasionally, and who fancies Eric – she is first seen in the episode ''Football''. Eric and Hattie are also the owners of a cuckoo clock, naming the very temperamental bird inside Peter. Both speak to it as if it were a real bird, and a great deal of comedy derives from the antagonistic and sarcastic 'conversations' between Eric and Peter.

Episodes

Series one (1972)

#"Burglary" (14 September 1972) #"Uncle" (21 September 1972) #"Walk" (28 September 1972) #"Menace" (5 October 1972) #"Boat" (12 October 1972) #"Stranger" (19 October 1972) #"Football" (26 October 1972) #"Job" (2 November 1972) #"Ankle" (9 November 1972) #"Mouse" (16 November 1972) #"Dream" (23 November 1972) #"Marriage" (30 November 1972) #"Cat" (7 December 1972) #"Journey" (14 December 1972) (This episode only exists as a b/w telerecording). Deryck Guyler plays the part of the Sleeping Berth Attendant, and names himself as Wilfrid Turnbull and says he is Corky's twin brother. #"Lodger" (21 December 1972) #"Cafe" (28 December 1972)

Series two (1973)

#"An Engagement" (10 September 1973) #"Bus" (17 September 1973); Deryck Guyler also played the bus inspector Burnside who Corky says is his cousin. #"Spy Ring" (24 September 1973) #"Golf" (1 October 1973) #"Rolls" (8 October 1973) #"Peeping Tom" (15 October 1973) #"Fancy Dress" (22 October 1973) #"Window Smasher" (29 October 1973) #"Gamble" (5 November 1973) #"Uniform" (12 November 1973) #"Bird" (19 November 1973) #"Protest" (26 November 1973) #"Salesman" (3 December 1973) #"Haunting" (10 December 1973) #"Nest Egg" (17 December 1973)

Series three (1974)

#"The Stolen Bentley" (17 October 1974) #"Holiday in Bogsea" (24 October 1974) #"The Pub" (31 October 1974) #"The Band" (7 November 1974) #"Two Birthdays" (14 November 1974) #"A Bandage" (21 November 1974) #"Log Cabin" (28 November 1974) #"The Fog" (5 December 1974)

Series four (1975)

#"Commercial" (24 October 1975) #"Ski-ing" (31 October 1975) #"Caravan" (7 November 1975) #"Reporter" (14 November 1975) #"Marriage" (28 November 1975) #"Night Out" (5 December 1975) #"Christmas Party" (12 December 1975)

Series five (1976)

#"Home Movies" (11 November 1976) #"Fishing" (18 November 1976) #"Lodgers" (25 November 1976) #"Holiday Camp" (2 December 1976) #"Inventions" (9 December 1976) #"Flashback" (16 December 1976) #"Squatters" (23 December 1976) #"Bath" (30 December 1976)

Christmas special (1977)

*"Sykes at Christmas" (22 December 1977)

Series six (1978)

#"The Hypnotist" (4 January 1978) #"Picket Line" (11 January 1978) #"Football Match" (18 January 1978) #"Decorating" (25 January 1978) #"End of the World" (1 February 1978) #"Television Film" (8 February 1978)

Series seven (1979)

#"The Drop Out" (5 October 1979) #"Fanny-By-Gaslight" (12 October 1979) #"The Stay-At-Home Holiday" (19 October 1979) #"Bad Medicine" (26 October 1979) #"The Insurance Money" (2 November 1979) #"Six Million Dollar Sykes" (9 November 1979) #"The BBC Honours Sykes" (16 November 1979)

DVD releases

The first series of ''Sykes'' was released on DVD in the UK ( Region 2) in 2004. Several episodes in this set were reassembled from the original studio sessions rather than the broadcast masters. This not only yielded better quality, but also allowed scenes that had been cut for timing purposes to be restored, and for outtakes to be included as extras. Conversely, since the colour videotape of the episode "Journey" had been

wiped Lost television broadcasts are mostly those early television programs which cannot be accounted for in studio archives (or in personal archives) usually because of deliberate destruction or neglect. Common reasons for loss A significant prop ...

this episode was taken from a black and white copy. A brief featurette explains some of the restoration techniques employed. A Complete Series DVD set (containing all 68 episodes) was released on 26 June 2017. Series 1 is represented by the remastered episodes and featurettes from the previous set. The rest of the episodes do not exhibit the same level of remastering, although some of them do appear to be extended versions.

References

;Specific ;General
''Sykes''
at British TV Comedy

External links

* *{{IMDb title, 0071060 1972 British television series debuts 1979 British television series endings 1970s British sitcoms BBC television sitcoms English-language television shows Television shows set in London