Seven years after 'Sykes & A' ended, Eric and Hattie returned on the BBC, this time in colour, though they were living at 28 Sebastapol Terrace rather than 24 and the title of the show was shortened simply to 'Sykes'.
Things were still more or less the same though, they still lived next door to the annoying Charles Fulbright Brown and Eric was still the usual walking disaster area he was before and Hattie ( who was often referred to as either 'Hat' or 'Harriet' ) was as usual the one left to pick up the pieces, which usually caused her to cry with an exasperated: ''Oh Eric!''. The incompetent Corky Turnbull ( played once again by Deryck Guyler ) appeared once again eating Eric and Hat out of house and home. Joan Sims appeared from time to time as Madge, the lady from the bread shop who fancied Eric ( or 'Ricky' as she for some bizzare reason called him ) and always kept him supplied with doughnuts.
A new running gag in the series included both Eric and Hattie talking to the cuckoo clock on their wall, which they named Peter.
Most of the episodes were remakes in colour of some of the original episodes, such as 'Sykes & A Bus' ( which was originally titled 'Sykes & A Following' and had Eric and Hat working as a bus crew ) 'Sykes & A Bath' ( which saw Eric getting stuck in a bath ) and, the best of all, 'Sykes & A Stranger' ( which saw an old friend of Eric and Hattie's from their childhood return and honour his promise of marriage to Hattie. In the original he was played by Leo McKern however was played here by Peter Sellers ).
Charles Fulbright Brown was written out after the third series when Richard Wattis, who played him, died of a heart attack. The show ran on the BBC until the end of the 70's but in its final year the show was starting to look tired and flat. The final episode, 'The BBC Honours Sykes', was particularly awful, especially as it ruined every illusion that the show was not a sitcom.
Hattie Jacques sadly passed away in 1980, aged just 58. The BBC tried to convince Eric to continue the show without Hattie but he wisely chose not to. However, he unwisely crossed over to Thames Television to front the less than hilarious 'The Likes Of Sykes', things then started to go downhill for poor Eric.
'Sykes', like its predecessor, while never a classic, was good, gentle fun and for that reason alone it deserves to be fondly remembered
Things were still more or less the same though, they still lived next door to the annoying Charles Fulbright Brown and Eric was still the usual walking disaster area he was before and Hattie ( who was often referred to as either 'Hat' or 'Harriet' ) was as usual the one left to pick up the pieces, which usually caused her to cry with an exasperated: ''Oh Eric!''. The incompetent Corky Turnbull ( played once again by Deryck Guyler ) appeared once again eating Eric and Hat out of house and home. Joan Sims appeared from time to time as Madge, the lady from the bread shop who fancied Eric ( or 'Ricky' as she for some bizzare reason called him ) and always kept him supplied with doughnuts.
A new running gag in the series included both Eric and Hattie talking to the cuckoo clock on their wall, which they named Peter.
Most of the episodes were remakes in colour of some of the original episodes, such as 'Sykes & A Bus' ( which was originally titled 'Sykes & A Following' and had Eric and Hat working as a bus crew ) 'Sykes & A Bath' ( which saw Eric getting stuck in a bath ) and, the best of all, 'Sykes & A Stranger' ( which saw an old friend of Eric and Hattie's from their childhood return and honour his promise of marriage to Hattie. In the original he was played by Leo McKern however was played here by Peter Sellers ).
Charles Fulbright Brown was written out after the third series when Richard Wattis, who played him, died of a heart attack. The show ran on the BBC until the end of the 70's but in its final year the show was starting to look tired and flat. The final episode, 'The BBC Honours Sykes', was particularly awful, especially as it ruined every illusion that the show was not a sitcom.
Hattie Jacques sadly passed away in 1980, aged just 58. The BBC tried to convince Eric to continue the show without Hattie but he wisely chose not to. However, he unwisely crossed over to Thames Television to front the less than hilarious 'The Likes Of Sykes', things then started to go downhill for poor Eric.
'Sykes', like its predecessor, while never a classic, was good, gentle fun and for that reason alone it deserves to be fondly remembered