Sykes is a British sitcom that aired on BBC1 from 1972 to 1979. Starring Eric Sykes and Hattie Jacques, 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 based on "Sykes and a Stranger" from 1961.
Sykes had the same premise as Sykes and a... with Sykes, Jacques, Richard Wattis and Deryck Guyler reprising their former identical roles. The series was brought to an end by the death of Hattie Jacques of a heart attack on 6 October 1980. 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. 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 "conversation" between Eric and Peter.
Episodes
Series 1 (1972)
Series 2 (1973)
Series 3 (1974)
Series 4 (1975)
Series 5 (1976)
Christmas Special (1977)
Series 6 (1978)
Series 7 (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 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