Sykes and a Following

I have a few comedy shows I've been thinking of posting about and this episode of Sykes And A... is the first. Actually Eric Sykes is a fascinating person and if you want to know about his tragic and talented life you can't do much better than his obituary in The Independent. His work can only be described as prolific and he frequently partnered, as here, with the legendary Hattie Jacques, who also led a fascinating life.

I am usually put off when a show is described as a sitcom, because I feel it prepares you to expect monotonous scripts, scenarios built on conflict between friends, and exactly the sort of ennui I watch TV to avoid. Sykes and a... is, however, a sitcom which is a dream and ran from 1960 to 1965. Its quality can be gauged by the writers who in addition to Sykes himself, include Johnny Speight, John Antrobus and Spike Milligan. According to Wikipedia its preservation status is patchy - I believe there have previously been commercial releases on VHS but if you want to see this show your best option is the internet.

The premise of this one is very simple - Sykes and his sister work a bus (as driver and conductor respectively) as they think best and to the consternation of their employers. They run their bus route with an eye to providing the best service and of course in no time the public don't want to travel by any other bus. The bus company dearly want to get rid of them and chaos ensues.

At one point they are promoted to stop them running the bus, and end up driving their bus route without a bus, so popular is it. The great strength is that the scenario is exactly the sort of thing you might think up and assume it's too ridiculous to happen in reality! The show is also a dream in that there is no unkindness. Sykes's character has been described as child-like but I don't think that's the right word - perhaps guileless is more the word.

This show feels much of an era with Hancock's Half Hour, both in humour and production values. I don't have any criticism at all. Besides you can't criticise Sykes and Jacques, it would be like thumbing your nose at the queen.

If you want a series featuring the team of Jacques and Sykes in a professional release quality I would recommend the series Sykes, which reused many of the scripts from this earlier series.