Page "Eric Sykes" Paragraph 29

Sykes wrote and appeared in two Thames Television specials broadcast during 1980 -- The Likes of Sykes and Rhubarb Rhubarb.

The latter special, a remake of his 1969 short film Rhubarb which Sykes also directed, featured many of his old friends including Jimmy Edwards, Bob Todd, Charlie Drake, Bill Fraser, Roy Kinnear, Beryl Reid and Norman Rossington.

It was his last screen appearance with Hattie Jacques.

The film employed an idea drawn from the British showbiz tradition in which extras used the word " rhubarb " to simulate low-level background dialogue, which had also been a running joke in The Goon Show.

In 1981 Sykes wrote, directed and starred in the offbeat comedy If You Go Down in the Woods Today for Thames, with a cast including Roy Kinnear, Fulton Mackay and George Sewell.