1960: Sykes And A...

Where did you get that hat?

BBC television comedy series Sykes began on 29 January 1960. The full title of each episode was Sykes and a... - fill in the missing word to reveal the cause of that week's comic misadventure. Causes included a telephone (in the first episode), a dream, a fog and even a Cold War!

Eric Sykes and Hattie Jacques played twins, sharing a house in Sebastopol Terrace, a not-very-posh road somewhere in East Acton.

Next door was Charles Fulbright Brown (Richard Wattis), a prissy and stuck-up thorn in the pair's side, who contributed greatly to the comedy.

Corky Turnbull, the local policeman, played by Deryck Guyler, was on hand - often to add to the chaos of their lives.

The characters were all losers: Eric would often (over) rate his intellect and try to outdo Mr Brown socially at times, but he never succeeded. Hattie was warm and loving and probably the most sensible character in the show, but in Sebastopol Terrace that wasn't saying much. Mr Brown (one of the Shropshire Browns) was stuck up, waspish and enjoyed preening, but there was something a little sad and vulnerable about him, and one got the feeling he was faking the high regard in which he said he was held by local society. And Corky was not a very good policeman at all, given to being unintelligent, pompous and officious and thinking of his stomach far too often.

But each character was very lovable.

The first series of Sykes scripts were written by Johnny Speight (of Alf Garnett fame), and then Eric took over - with a few contributions from Spike Milligan and John Antrobus, and Johnny Speight providing a few of the ideas.

Sykes was a hugely popular series which finally came to an end in November 1965. Or so it was thought at the time, for the show was revived in 1972 and was again a success, running until 1979.

Hattie's death in 1980 put paid to hopes for further episodes.

Sykes is fondly remembered to this day.

More on the 1970s revival of Sykes here.