Heroes Of Comedy (1995)
- TV documentary
- Channel 4
- 1995 - 2003
- 33 episodes (6 series)
Long-running documentary series looking at some of the greatest and most famous names in British comedy.
Episode menu
Series 4, Episode 3 - The Living Legends: Eric Sykes
Further details
Documentary on comedian and comedy writer Eric Sykes. A range of colleagues and admirers give insights into Sykes' character and working method. Sykes talks about his early life in Leeds, his family, the army, demobilisation and writing and performing comedy, the actress Hattie Jacques, and his current situation of being both deaf and blind, with comments from ear consultant and friend John Ballantyne.
The programme includes clips from: a Harry Secombe Show from 1953 featuring Sykes and Spike Milligan in performance; Sykes And A Bath (1961); Sykes And A Haunting (1962); Sykes And A Log Cabin (1964); Sykes And A Cat (1972); and The Plank (1967).
Broadcast details
- Date
- Saturday 9th October 1999
- Time
- 9pm
- Channel
- Channel 4
- Length
- 60 minutes
Press
The actor and writer Eric Sykes, with whom Hattie Jacques had an enduring partnership on television, once described the matronly comic actress as "one of the very best". She was also referred to as the "Mother Superior of the Carry On family". This repeated profile, with contributions from Sykes, Miriam Margolyes and Mo Mowlam, looks back at Jacques's life and career in television and film, and at the sad fact that her talents as a straight actress were often overlooked because, as she lamented, directors only gave her "funny fat lady" parts. A new drama about Jacques's life, Hattie, airs on BBC Four on Wednesday, January 19.
Simon Horsford, The Telegraph, 6th January 2011