The Likes of Sykes (1980 TV Movie) User Reviews

'He's accident prone!''

[Rabical-91 · 6/10 · 9 January 2019]

After Hattie Jacques died, Eric Sykes decided he did not want to do another series of 'Sykes' for the BBC but instead wanted to front a single TV special for Thames Television. 'The Likes Of Sykes' cast him as a flustered director for a Broadway musical.

Despite some impressive names in the cast such as Hugh Burden, Debbie Arnold, Diana Coupland and John Comer, 'The Likes Of Sykes' failed to generate into anything overly special. Eric looks lost without Hattie there. It seems like he was just settling for less.

There were some amusing items, such as one featuring Debbie Arnold as a dancer of whom the director goes to great lengths to obscure her face from view of the camera, even if it was inaccurate ( Debbie Arnold was a very attractive woman! ). Also entertaining were the antics of a clumsy stage door manager ( played by Sykes and who appeared in between sketches as a linking device ).

Many of the sketches however were of inferior quality. Despite this, it was superior to Eric's earlier TV special - the awful 'Sykes - With The Lid Off'!

Eric's next ( and final ) TV special was 'The Eric Sykes 1990 Show', which also featured Tommy Cooper.

Not one of Eric's better efforts

[ShadeGrenade · 5/10 · 26 December 2011]

Before I begin, let me wish all I.M.D.B. members a Happy Boxing Day, in particular my friends 'Cyril Blake', 'Bullet-91' and 'Missstephie'.

Wasn't 'Dr.Who - The Doctor, The Widow & The Wardrobe' awful? Like eating ten Xmas puddings at the same time. The show should now be retitled either 'Steven Moffat's Fairytale Hour' or 'Matt Smith's Facepulling Extravaganza'. So the Doctor is now able to survive a fall through space without burning up in Earth's atmosphere? What was the point of the sub-'Star Wars - A New Hope' opening? I don't know, and suspect Moffat doesn't know either.

'The Likes Of Sykes' went out on New Year's Day 1979, sandwiched between the film 'Paint Your Wagon' and the Michael Frayn comedy 'Donkey's Years' starring Penelope Keith. The one-hour show stars our Eric as the frustrated director of a Broadway musical. Everything imaginable goes wrong - sets collapse, props fail to turn up, actors fluff their lines or get ego trips etc. Hugh Burden ( best known for his sinister roles ) fronts a would-be show stopper ( complete with dancers holding up big playing cards ), later we see him in a 'Brief Encounter'-type scene with Diana Coupland of 'Bless This House', a ventriloquist's dummy comes to life, and there's a 'War & Peace' inspired finale involving soldiers and cannons.

Its not one of Eric's better efforts. The sketches are threadbare in the extreme, padded out with corny gags such as Coupland trying to write a letter using a quill pen and the feather tickling her nose. An entire skit is based on the conceit that actress Debbie Arnold is 'ugly'. Anyone who recalls Arnold from her numerous television appearances from that time will know that she is definitely not ugly, the very opposite in fact ( John 'Boycie' Challis was once married to her! ).

Hattie Jacques' absence is noticeable, and while supporting players of the calibre of David Battley, Diane Holland, Ricardo Montez, and John Comer are around, they manage to be wasted on the whole. Guitarist John Williams has a nice musical solo, but that's about it.

'Likes' has just been issued on D.V.D. along with two other Sykes' I.T.V. specials, and is easily the weakest of the three. Strangely absent from the collection is Eric's 1977 show - which features Peter Cook and Jimmy Edwards - and was the origin of that hilarious clip ( shown on Eric's 'Heroes Of Comedy' ) in which he and Hat warbled 'When I'm Calling You' from 'Rose Marie'.

The Likes of Sykes

[Prismark10 · 2/10 · 30 December 2022]

With the death of Hattie Jacques, Eric Sykes long running sitcom Sykes ended on the BBC.

So ITV would have been pleased that Eric brought a new project to them. Maybe he forgot to tell them that the idea had been rejected by the BBC.

The Likes of Sykes is a hybrid variety and sketch show. Just a shame it looked half baked, it was also unfunny.

Eric Sykes plays a director who is trying to put on a historical stage show starring Hugh Burden. It just that everything goes wrong.

There are also some sketches such as Burden and Diana Coupland doing a parody of Brief Encounter.

Music is provided by John Williams of Sky.

It is one of these productions where the people involved thought it was great. They probably enjoyed filming it but the end product is bad.