''Slinger's Day'' is a British
sitcom
A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...
that aired for two series from 1986 to 1987, made by
Thames Television
Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a franchise holder for a region of the British ITV television network serving London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992.
Thames Television broa ...
for the
ITV network. It was a continuation of ''
Tripper's Day'', which had originally come to a natural end after
Leonard Rossiter'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 an English entertainer and television presenter whose career spanned more than 75 years.
Forsyth came to national attention from the late 1950s through the Associated Te ...
as a different character to Rossiter but fulfilling the same role, that of the manager of a
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
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. Strictly speaking, a supermarket is larger and has a wider selecti ...
with largely incompetent staff.
Like ''Tripper's Day'', it was created by
Brian Cooke
Brian Cooke (born 1937) is a British comedy writer who, with co-writer Johnnie Mortimer, penned scripts for and devised many top 1970s/80s television sitcoms, including '' Man About the House'', '' George and Mildred'', and '' Robin's Nest''.
...
, 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 with others being written by
Alex Shearer and ''
Sorry!'' creators
Ian Davidson and Peter Vincent, and one episode written by the prolific
Andrew Marshall and
David Renwick.
''Slinger's Day'' represented Forsyth's only ever situation comedy acting role, and he remained more associated with
stand-up routines and
game show
A game show (or gameshow) is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment where contestants compete in a game for rewards. The shows are typically directed by a game show host, host, who explains the rules of the program as well as commentating a ...
s.
Plot
Cecil Slinger (played by Forsyth) is designated by the Supafare
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. Strictly speaking, a supermarket is larger and has a wider selecti ...
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, factory guard, 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.) ...
; Hardie (played by Bird), the
union 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 trades/labour union member and official. Rank-and-file members of the un ...
; as well as Higgins, Hardie's assistant of sorts (played by Paul),
secretary
A secretary, administrative assistant, executive assistant, personal secretary, or other similar titles is an individual whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, program evalu ...
Sylvia (played by Crowther) and
checkout 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 c ...
Dottie (played by Licorish).
Fred replaced Alf (played in ''Tripper's'' by
Gordon Gostelow), 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'' (
Leonard Rossiter,
Pat Ashton and
Gordon Gostelow) did not reprise their roles for ''Slinger's Day'', with the Rossiter and Gostelow roles replaced respectively by
Bruce Forsyth
Sir Bruce Joseph Forsyth-Johnson (22 February 1928 – 18 August 2017) was an English entertainer and television presenter whose career spanned more than 75 years.
Forsyth came to national attention from the late 1950s through the Associated Te ...
and
David Kelly. Many of the supporting cast of ''Tripper's Day'' did reprise their roles for the show, however only
Philip Bird and
Paul Clarkson 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 as Higgins (series 1)
* Vicky Licorish as Dottie (series 1)
*
Liz Crowther 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.
See also
*''
Check It Out!'' (
Canadian
Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...
-produced series following the ''Tripper's/Slinger's'' format with
Don Adams)
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
British 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