''Sykes and a...'' is a

black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white to produce a range of achromatic brightnesses of grey. It is also known as greyscale in technical settings. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, ...

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

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 ...

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 that aired on

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and Flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includ ...

from 1960 to 1965. It was written by

, Johnny Speight,

John Antrobus John Arthur Antrobus (born 2 July 1933) is an English playwright and screenwriter. He has written extensively for stage, screen, TV and radio, including the epic World War II play, ''Crete and Sergeant Pepper'' at the Royal Court. He authored t ...

and

Spike Milligan Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002) was an Irish comedian, writer, musician, poet, playwright and actor. The son of an English mother and Irish father, he was born in British Raj, British India, where he spent his ...

. ''Sykes and a...'' was the first television series to feature both Sykes and Jacques, who later starred in '' Sykes and a Big, Big Show'' and ''

Sykes "Sykes" is a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origins, which generally has topographical roots as it original linguistic origin. The name derives from the Old Norse word "sík" or "síkja", meaning a small stream, marshy hollow, or gully. It eventua ...

'', the latter of which featured the same characters and reused some of the same scripts.

Cast

- Himself * Hattie Jacques - Hattie Sykes *

Deryck Guyler Deryck Bower Guyler (29 April 1914 – 7 October 1999) was an English actor, best remembered for appearances in sitcoms such as ''Please Sir!'' and ''Sykes (TV series), Sykes''. Early life Guyler was born in Wallasey on the Wirral Peninsula, C ...

- PC Wilfred "Corky" Turnbull *

Richard Wattis Richard Cameron 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, Staffords ...

- Charles Brown ''(series 1 to 3)''

Plot

Eric is an accident-prone childlike man who lives with his

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

sister Hattie in a terraced house, 24 Sebastopol Terrace, in East Acton. Both are unmarried. Their busybody neighbour Charles Brown often interferes, until he emigrates to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The local policeman, who makes occasional appearances, is Corky Turnbull.

Episodes

Out of the 59 episodes, 32 have been lost, as well as the 1962 short episode featured in '' Christmas Night with the Stars''.

Series One (1960)

#"Sykes and a Telephone" (29 January 1960) #"Sykes and a Burglary" (5 February 1960) #"Sykes and a New Car" (12 February 1960) #"Sykes and an Uncle" (19 February 1960) #"Sykes and a Lodger" (26 February 1960) The entire series is missing from the BBC Archives.

Series Two (1960)

#"Sykes and a Movie Camera" (11 August 1960) #"Sykes and a Library Book" (18 August 1960) #"Sykes and a Holiday" (25 August 1960) #"Sykes and an Egg" (1 September 1960) #"Sykes and a Brave Deed" (8 September 1960) #"Sykes and a Cheque Book" (15 September 1960) Only "Sykes and a Holiday" still exists in the BBC Archives. In 2021 it was confirmed "Sykes and a Movie Camera" existed in the CBC archive in Canada, making it the earliest episode known to exist. The rest of this series is missing.

Series Three (1961)

#"Sykes and a Window" (4 January 1961) #"Sykes and a Salesman" (11 January 1961) #"Sykes and a Fancy Dress" (18 January 1961) #"Sykes and a Bath" (25 January 1961) #"Sykes and a Marriage" (1 February 1961) #"Sykes and an Ankle" (8 February 1961) Episodes 1 and 3 are missing from the BBC Archives. Episode 5 was previously missing from the archives; however it was recovered in 2023 as a result of the 'Film is Fabulous' event.

Series Four (1961)

#"Sykes and a Mission" (14 April 1961) #"Sykes and a Stranger" (21 April 1961) #"Sykes and a Cat" (28 April 1961) #"Sykes and a Bandage" (5 May 1961) #"Sykes and a Suspicion" (12 May 1961) #"Sykes and a Surprise" (19 May 1961) Episodes 1, 4, 5 and 6 are missing from the BBC Archives.

Series Five (1962)

#"Sykes and a Gamble" (30 January 1962) #"Sykes and a Job" (6 February 1962) #"Sykes and a Boat" (13 February 1962) #"Sykes and a Journey" (20 February 1962) #"Sykes and an Elephant" (27 February 1962) #"Sykes and a Rolls" (6 March 1962) #"Sykes and a Haunting" (13 March 1962) #"Sykes and a Dream" (20 March 1962) All the episodes of this series still exist in the BBC Archives.

Short Special (1962)

*"Sykes and his Sister" (part of '' Christmas Night with the Stars''; 25 December 1962). This edition of ''Christmas Night with the Stars'' also included shorts from ''Steptoe and Son'' and ''The Rag Trade'' (missing).

Series Six (1963)

#"Sykes and a Fog" (21 February 1963) #"Sykes and a Phobia" (28 February 1963) #"Sykes and a Camping Trip" (7 March 1963) #"Sykes and a Picture" (14 March 1963) #"Sykes and a Mouse" (21 March 1963) #"Sykes and a Walk" (28 March 1963) #"Sykes and a Referee" (4 April 1963) #"Sykes and a Pub" (11 April 1963) Episodes 1, 2, 3, 5, 7 and 8 are missing from the BBC Archives.

Series Seven (1964)

#"Sykes and a Box" (25 February 1964) #"Sykes and a Plank" (3 March 1964). This episode was later adapted into a short film in 1967 and

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

. #"Sykes and a Search" (10 March 1964) #"Sykes and a Following" (17 March 1964) #"Sykes and a Menace" (24 March 1964) #"Sykes and a Log Cabin" (31 March 1964) #"Sykes and a Band" (7 April 1964) Episodes 3, 5 and 7 are missing from the BBC Archives.

Series Eight (1964)

#"Sykes and Two Birthdays" (30 October 1964) #"Sykes and a Hypnotist" (6 November 1964) #"Sykes and a Protest" (13 November 1964) #"Sykes and a Bird" (20 November 1964) #"Sykes and a Cold War" (27 November 1964) #"Sykes and a Cold" (4 December 1964) Episodes 1, 3 and 4 are missing from the BBC Archives.

Series Nine (1965)

#"Sykes and a Mountain" (5 October 1965) #"Sykes and a Deb" (12 October 1965) #"Sykes and a Business" (19 October 1965) #"Sykes and a Golfer" (26 October 1965) #"Sykes and a Big Brother" (2 November 1965) #"Sykes and a Uniform" (9 November 1965) #"Sykes and a Nest Egg" (16 November 1965) Episodes 1, 2, 3, 5 and 7 are missing from the BBC Archives.

References

;Specific ;General
''Sykes and A...''
at the British TV Comedy Guide

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sykes and A... 1960 British television series debuts 1965 British television series endings 1960s British sitcoms BBC television sitcoms Black-and-white British television shows British English-language television shows Lost BBC episodes Television shows set in London