Sykes

zooooooooooooozooooooooooooo Posts: 2,220
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Anyone else like this brilliant Eric Sykes sitcom, I think it's great and never seemed to get the recognition it deserved. Eric Sykes is great in it and of course so is Hattie Jacques as his twin sister:D but I think the show is stolen by Richard Wattis as their snobby neighbour and especially Deryk Guyler as Constable Turnbull.


They used to show it a lot on GOLD but it hasn't been on for quite a few months:cry:.
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  • VerenceVerence Posts: 104,575
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    Helmet on = Constable and madam

    Helmet off = Corky and Hattie
  • Glyn WGlyn W Posts: 5,819
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    especially Deryk Guyler as Constable Turnbull.

    Does anyone else apart from me think that the dog in the Chuchill advert is based on Deryck Guyler? More from the part he played in Please Sir, but a lot of that was also in Corky in Sykes...
  • Glenn AGlenn A Posts: 23,794
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    It seems to be one sitcom that's fallen by the wayside on the BBC. Stand out episodes for me are the one where Peter Sellers plays an escaped prisoner, the trip in the fishing boat, the one where they have a food fight in a restaurant. Also Sykes had a killer theme tune.
  • zooooooooooooozooooooooooooo Posts: 2,220
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    Verence wrote: »
    Helmet on = Constable and madam

    Helmet off = Corky and Hattie

    :D:D I love that.
  • zooooooooooooozooooooooooooo Posts: 2,220
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    Glyn W wrote: »
    Does anyone else apart from me think that the dog in the Chuchill advert is based on Deryck Guyler? More from the part he played in Please Sir, but a lot of that was also in Corky in Sykes...

    I hadn't thought it before but can now sort of see it.
  • zooooooooooooozooooooooooooo Posts: 2,220
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    Glenn A wrote: »
    It seems to be one sitcom that's fallen by the wayside on the BBC. Stand out episodes for me are the one where Peter Sellers plays an escaped prisoner, the trip in the fishing boat, the one where they have a food fight in a restaurant. Also Sykes had a killer theme tune.

    Yeah I don't know why they don't repeat it on BBC2. My favourite episode is when they put Richard Wattis up while his house is being decorated.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,470
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    Eric Sykes was a superb comic actor and a superb writer who had perfect timing and always gave those acting along with him great lines.
    His "Sykes" show was just a small part of his skills. He wrote some Goon Show scripts and after the last one he did Peter Sellers told him it was the funniest script he had ever done. The "Sykes" show had a format that was changed by Eric from the original one in that Eric and Hattie became brother and sister and not husband and wife so the room for better comdey was enhanced, you see Eric knew comedy and saw it in all things.
  • zooooooooooooozooooooooooooo Posts: 2,220
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    Spiderpig wrote: »
    Eric Sykes was a superb comic actor and a superb writer who had perfect timing and always gave those acting along with him great lines.
    His "Sykes" show was just a small part of his skills. He wrote some Goon Show scripts and after the last one he did Peter Sellers told him it was the funniest script he had ever done. The "Sykes" show had a format that was changed by Eric from the original one in that Eric and Hattie became brother and sister and not husband and wife so the room for better comdey was enhanced, you see Eric knew comedy and saw it in all things.

    I agree and he wasn't like a lot of actors/actresses who write their own things and keep all the jokes for themselves, because most of the funny lines were given to Hattie or Deryk Guyler.
  • g4jcg4jc Posts: 839
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    Loved this show. Eric Sykes - real genius.

    Miles ahead from the comedians today who will only be remembered for how foul mouthed they were.

    One scene that I remember vividly and still makes me chuckle is when Eric comes in, sits down for his meal picks up his cutlery, stops dead, spots a bunch of flowers lying where his plate should be, (think Hattie had put them down and fogot to move them in the story) then calls to 'Hat' 'couldn't you get any chops then?'

    Might not be exact, well over 40 years since I saw it.

    Simple and daft but I still find it so very funny.
  • zooooooooooooozooooooooooooo Posts: 2,220
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    g4jc wrote: »
    Loved this show. Eric Sykes - real genius.

    Miles ahead from the comedians today who will only be remembered for how foul mouthed they were.

    One scene that I remember vividly and still makes me chuckle is when Eric comes in, sits down for his meal picks up his cutlery, stops dead, spots a bunch of flowers lying where his plate should be, (think Hattie had put them down and fogot to move them in the story) then calls to 'Hat' 'couldn't you get any chops then?'

    Might not be exact, well over 40 years since I saw it.

    Simple and daft but I still find it so very funny.

    Hattie Jacques is one of my favourite performers ever, but when Eric comes in and steals the scene it shows how good he was. The four of them were fantastic in it.
  • Glenn AGlenn A Posts: 23,794
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    Yeah I don't know why they don't repeat it on BBC2. My favourite episode is when they put Richard Wattis up while his house is being decorated.

    Wasn't there some surreal one where the earth was going to end at midnight? Near the end the series took on a more surreal turn, but was still funny.
  • zooooooooooooozooooooooooooo Posts: 2,220
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    Glenn A wrote: »
    Wasn't there some surreal one where the earth was going to end at midnight? Near the end the series took on a more surreal turn, but was still funny.

    Yeah when they all go out into a field I think. There were some great episodes.
  • g4jcg4jc Posts: 839
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    This thread set me off :D so have just wandered off and bought The Eric Sykes Collection which has - If You Go Down In The Woods Today, Rhubarb, Rhubarb, The Plank, Mr H Is Late, It s Your Move

    Just a few pence over £3 new. There is a Dvd of one series in colour but bit pricey, will wait for Christmas!
  • pinkyponk34pinkyponk34 Posts: 1,244
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    The BBC think less of it, unlike Dad's Army, Porridge or Open All Hours, it hasn't had a terrestial airing since Eddie Heath was in charge.

    Sorry, it's just Terry and June except they aren't married, standard TV fare for the 1970s.
  • Glyn WGlyn W Posts: 5,819
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    Eric Sykes should have been given a knighthood years before some of the people it has been given to, not only for his extensive comedy legacy but also for being an inspiration to disabled people.
  • VerenceVerence Posts: 104,575
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    Glenn A wrote: »
    Wasn't there some surreal one where the earth was going to end at midnight? Near the end the series took on a more surreal turn, but was still funny.
    Yeah when they all go out into a field I think. There were some great episodes.

    Episode 5 of Series 6

    End Of The World
  • zooooooooooooozooooooooooooo Posts: 2,220
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    Verence wrote: »
    Episode 5 of Series 6

    End Of The World

    That's it thanks.
  • Free as a birdFree as a bird Posts: 1,040
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    Glyn W wrote: »
    Eric Sykes should have been given a knighthood years before some of the people it has been given to, not only for his extensive comedy legacy but also for being an inspiration to disabled people.

    Was he disabled then?

    I think I have seen most of the episodes but wish they would release more than Series 1 on dvd.
  • mossy2103mossy2103 Posts: 84,307
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    Was he disabled then?

    He was certainly deaf, and his glasses (which had no lenses) were in fact a hearing aid which enabled him to sense vibrations. Later on his sight started to fail as well.
  • Westy2Westy2 Posts: 14,355
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    Theres a guy locally in the Walsall area who has been writing a book about Richard Wattis.(Wattis comes from round here!)

    He has been doing this for a few years, as most occasions when someone famous has died, he pops up in the local paper , to say that he wrote to said person asking if they have any memories of working with Wattis.

    Wattis cant have worked with Richard Briers then, as Ive seen nothing in the local rag yet!
  • steveh31steveh31 Posts: 13,516
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    GOLD stopped it when Eric died I wonder if there is some claus in repeat contract or if it was just coincidence.

    It was great until Richard Wattis died then it went a bit weird in places Miss Rumbelow was nowhere near an adequate replacement for him.

    Mr Brown was a great character.
  • Glyn WGlyn W Posts: 5,819
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    Was he disabled then?

    From Wiki:
    Sykes became partially deaf as an adult. His hearing started to go in the Second World War, and he had an operation in 1952 followed by another two years later. When he came round from the second one he was stone deaf. His spectacles contained no lenses but were a bone-conducting hearing aid. Disciform macular degeneration, brought about by age and possibly smoking, left Sykes partially sighted, and he was registered as blind.

    And yet he still carried on working, and in a profession where being able to see and hear other people is vital, not only on film but in live theatre, without showing that anything was untoward - as you've proved, by not knowing there was anything wrong with him.
  • zooooooooooooozooooooooooooo Posts: 2,220
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    Westy2 wrote: »
    Theres a guy locally in the Walsall area who has been writing a book about Richard Wattis.(Wattis comes from round here!)

    He has been doing this for a few years, as most occasions when someone famous has died, he pops up in the local paper , to say that he wrote to said person asking if they have any memories of working with Wattis.

    Wattis cant have worked with Richard Briers then, as Ive seen nothing in the local rag yet!

    I love Richard Wattis. One of the best character actors ever imo.
  • zooooooooooooozooooooooooooo Posts: 2,220
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    steveh31 wrote: »
    GOLD stopped it when Eric died I wonder if there is some claus in repeat contract or if it was just coincidence.

    It was great until Richard Wattis died then it went a bit weird in places Miss Rumbelow was nowhere near an adequate replacement for him.

    Mr Brown was a great character.

    I agree it wasn't as good after Richard Wattis died, the best episodes are the ones which have Eric, Hattie, Mr Brown and Corky all in them imo.

    Mr Brown was a great character, loved the way he used to always call him Sykes rather than Eric :)
  • steveh31steveh31 Posts: 13,516
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    It's a shame they ruined the toe in the tap episode by redoing it with Miss Rumbelow.

    Good on Eric for sticking with Richard when the BBC wanted him off the show after saying he wanted a pay rise.
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