0:00:02 > 0:00:05Writer, performer, director, actor -
0:00:05 > 0:00:09Eric Sykes was a unique talent in the world of British comedy.
0:00:09 > 0:00:12He was one of the very few people I have ever worked with
0:00:12 > 0:00:17who I would honestly say had a touch of genius.
0:00:17 > 0:00:18LAUGHTER
0:00:18 > 0:00:20What did you do that for?
0:00:20 > 0:00:21It was looking at me.
0:00:21 > 0:00:23LAUGHTER
0:00:23 > 0:00:27People who could make US laugh were our, kind of, role models.
0:00:27 > 0:00:29Eric was one of those.
0:00:29 > 0:00:30We all used to say
0:00:30 > 0:00:33if we didn't laugh 18 hours, maybe we'd had a bad day.
0:00:33 > 0:00:35- Can I get going now?- Oh, bread.
0:00:35 > 0:00:36LAUGHTER
0:00:36 > 0:00:39Anyone could tune in and believe in this person
0:00:39 > 0:00:41and say, "Where is this person going to take me?"
0:00:41 > 0:00:42Oh, I dropped it.
0:00:44 > 0:00:49He was a terrific, naturalistic actor.
0:00:49 > 0:00:54I think Eric Sykes was the perfect common man.
0:00:54 > 0:00:56If you don't mind, we'll...
0:00:56 > 0:00:58LAUGHTER
0:01:00 > 0:01:02It wasn't necessarily all belly laughs,
0:01:02 > 0:01:05you'd just go, "Oh, you're mad, you're brilliant, I love you."
0:01:05 > 0:01:08Hello, viewers.
0:01:14 > 0:01:17LAUGHTER
0:01:21 > 0:01:24NEWSREADER: 'The actor and comedian Eric Sykes has died
0:01:24 > 0:01:27'after a short illness at the age of 89.
0:01:27 > 0:01:33'For half a century, his career spanned stage, film and television.'
0:01:33 > 0:01:34For 50 years,
0:01:34 > 0:01:38Eric Sykes worked at his office in Orme Court, West London.
0:01:38 > 0:01:41It was here that he created and wrote iconic comedy shows
0:01:41 > 0:01:44and worked alongside some of the greatest names
0:01:44 > 0:01:46in the world of entertainment.
0:01:46 > 0:01:48Sykes was in here, on the left,
0:01:48 > 0:01:52and Ray Galton and Alan Simpson were in here.
0:01:52 > 0:01:54And this is Eric's office.
0:01:55 > 0:01:58This is Tommy's fez.
0:01:59 > 0:02:02They were very friendly, Tommy and Eric.
0:02:02 > 0:02:04We've had our ups and downs.
0:02:04 > 0:02:06Well, you have to on a ship, sir.
0:02:06 > 0:02:07LAUGHTER
0:02:07 > 0:02:12Eric's favourite of all time, Laurel and Hardy.
0:02:17 > 0:02:20This is his desk. Eric wrote for Frankie Howerd.
0:02:20 > 0:02:25'You've got no idea. You have no idea.
0:02:25 > 0:02:27'Well you can't have, I haven't told you yet.'
0:02:27 > 0:02:31And that's a lovely picture of Hattie and Eric.
0:02:31 > 0:02:33- Hello, Hat.- Cooee!
0:02:33 > 0:02:34CUCKOO CLOCK
0:02:34 > 0:02:36Hello, clock. LAUGHTER
0:02:36 > 0:02:39He'd love a cigar, but he kept the boxes, so he could go and open them
0:02:39 > 0:02:43and have a smell every now and again because he couldn't smoke any more.
0:02:45 > 0:02:46When he was ill,
0:02:46 > 0:02:49probably about three or four days before he died,
0:02:49 > 0:02:52he said, "You know what I'd really like more than anything
0:02:52 > 0:02:56"is just to come back to Orme Court just one more time."
0:02:59 > 0:03:01This is the photograph of his mother
0:03:01 > 0:03:05and his desk was positioned right in a line with her.
0:03:06 > 0:03:11He loved the fact that she was there with him all the time.
0:03:18 > 0:03:21Born in Oldham in 1923,
0:03:21 > 0:03:24the beginning of Sykes's life was marked by tragedy.
0:03:24 > 0:03:27His mother died giving birth to him,
0:03:27 > 0:03:30an event that would come to shape the rest of his life.
0:03:30 > 0:03:34ERIC: Nobody ever really talked about my mother.
0:03:34 > 0:03:36She was a bit of a taboo subject at home.
0:03:36 > 0:03:39Was there a sense in which you were blamed or felt guilty?
0:03:39 > 0:03:41In a way, yes. In a way.
0:03:43 > 0:03:47And there were times when I felt almost like a lodger in my own house.
0:03:49 > 0:03:56He was absolutely certain that she both guided him
0:03:56 > 0:03:57and guarded him,
0:03:57 > 0:04:01and he always said she was looking after him.
0:04:04 > 0:04:08In 1941, Sykes left Oldham to join the forces.
0:04:08 > 0:04:11It was here that he would meet Leading Aircraftman Denis Norden
0:04:11 > 0:04:14and take his first step into the world of entertainment.
0:04:14 > 0:04:18We were both training to be wireless operators
0:04:18 > 0:04:20and, in fact, for the rest of our days
0:04:20 > 0:04:25whenever we met, we would address each other in Morse code.
0:04:25 > 0:04:29It was decided that what the troops needed at that point -
0:04:29 > 0:04:34it was about six weeks after D-Day - was some entertainment.
0:04:34 > 0:04:37When the war finished, Bill Fraser, you know THE Bill Fraser,
0:04:37 > 0:04:40Bill Fraser and Snudge, marvellous man, formed a concert party
0:04:40 > 0:04:45which was written by Ron Rich, who is now a vicar, and Denis Norden.
0:04:45 > 0:04:48And I don't know what happened to Denis but...
0:04:48 > 0:04:52I remember the first person to audition
0:04:52 > 0:04:58was an RAF regiment sergeant who chewed razor blades as his offering.
0:04:58 > 0:05:03Then second, up comes Eric, who, actually,
0:05:03 > 0:05:07as his audition piece did a drunk act.
0:05:07 > 0:05:11Not very well, it wasn't his native kind of comedy.
0:05:11 > 0:05:15Despite this shaky start, Sykes had passed the audition
0:05:15 > 0:05:17and joined the revue.
0:05:17 > 0:05:19Eric didn't look like a comedian.
0:05:19 > 0:05:23He had a diffident way of expressing himself,
0:05:23 > 0:05:25he didn't come on with the big personality thing
0:05:25 > 0:05:29like most of the comedians of the variety school did in those days,
0:05:29 > 0:05:35and it was evident then that Eric was pure gold.
0:05:36 > 0:05:39At the end of the war, Sykes was demobbed and returned to Oldham.
0:05:39 > 0:05:42It was here that he would receive a phone call
0:05:42 > 0:05:43that would change his life.
0:05:44 > 0:05:46'He may titter, titter he may.'
0:05:46 > 0:05:48LAUGHTER
0:05:48 > 0:05:52Well, the pinnacle just after the war was Variety Bandbox
0:05:52 > 0:06:00and Frankie Howerd became the pulse of Variety Bandbox.
0:06:00 > 0:06:04Well, at that time, Frankie Howerd was the biggest thing
0:06:04 > 0:06:08on radio and asked if Eric would write for him.
0:06:08 > 0:06:09FRANKIE: In Variety Bandbox,
0:06:09 > 0:06:12one of the most amusing things I think I did,
0:06:12 > 0:06:16and I can say that because I didn't write it, was a piece where
0:06:16 > 0:06:19I was a messenger boy having to take two elephants to Crewe
0:06:19 > 0:06:20and, you know, it was all so stupid
0:06:20 > 0:06:23but Eric Sykes wrote this, and he was a brilliant writer,
0:06:23 > 0:06:26and he wrote these extraordinary stories for me.
0:06:26 > 0:06:29'I went along to the depot and I saw the porter and I said, "Look,
0:06:29 > 0:06:31"I'll sign for these goods," and he said,
0:06:31 > 0:06:35'"Good, they're labelled and ready, get them out of here quick."
0:06:35 > 0:06:37'So I signed for them and went along.
0:06:37 > 0:06:40'They were labelled and ready all right. Two elephants.
0:06:40 > 0:06:42'Two ele-phants.'
0:06:44 > 0:06:46SCREECHES: I was amazed!
0:06:46 > 0:06:49LAUGHTER
0:06:49 > 0:06:52It took what is now called "stand up"
0:06:52 > 0:06:56in an entirely different direction as well.
0:06:56 > 0:07:01A long narrative instead of a series of one-liners.
0:07:01 > 0:07:05'I said, "How do I get these to Crewe?" He said, "I don't care where you get them to,
0:07:05 > 0:07:08"but get them out of here." He said, "The place has been in uproar,
0:07:08 > 0:07:10"in uproar the place has been."
0:07:11 > 0:07:16I think writing for another comedian must be very, very difficult
0:07:16 > 0:07:21and to write for an eccentric character like Frankie Howerd,
0:07:21 > 0:07:23it must have been quite tricky.
0:07:23 > 0:07:25What a master of language
0:07:25 > 0:07:29and what a master of comic concepts Eric Sykes was.
0:07:29 > 0:07:35He always said it was Frankie Howerd who gave him his biggest break.
0:07:35 > 0:07:40By the 1950s, Sykes was one of the highest-paid scriptwriters
0:07:40 > 0:07:41in the country,
0:07:41 > 0:07:45pulling in audiences of 15 million on hit shows like Educating Archie.
0:07:45 > 0:07:48Impressed by a programme he'd heard on the radio,
0:07:48 > 0:07:52Sykes now teamed up with fellow writer Spike Milligan
0:07:52 > 0:07:55and together they had an idea for a company to nurture new talent.
0:07:55 > 0:07:59Joined by writers Ray Galton and Alan Simpson,
0:07:59 > 0:08:01Associated London Scripts was born,
0:08:01 > 0:08:04with their first office above a greengrocer's in Shepherd's Bush.
0:08:04 > 0:08:08The four of them had got this idea about a place
0:08:08 > 0:08:13where new writers could come, and they all have their own careers,
0:08:13 > 0:08:17obviously, so they were writing away and I did everything else.
0:08:17 > 0:08:19Other people came.
0:08:19 > 0:08:21Johnny Speight came and, of course,
0:08:21 > 0:08:24he went on to write the famous Till Death Us Do Part.
0:08:24 > 0:08:28Terry Nation came, he created the Daleks.
0:08:28 > 0:08:32I would go to Eric's office and as I'd open the door to go in,
0:08:32 > 0:08:34Spike Milligan would come out.
0:08:34 > 0:08:35'Hallo!'
0:08:35 > 0:08:37LAUGHTER
0:08:37 > 0:08:40As I'd turn round to see Spike going down the stairs,
0:08:40 > 0:08:42Tony Hancock would be coming up.
0:08:42 > 0:08:44'You can testify as to my complete innocence in this.
0:08:44 > 0:08:47'Tell him how I would hoodwinked by the fast-talking Sydney James.'
0:08:47 > 0:08:51Frankie Howerd's work came out of there, and Galton and Simpson.
0:08:53 > 0:08:55Is there anybody there?
0:08:56 > 0:08:57Can you hear me?
0:09:00 > 0:09:03Everybody was up there. If we were going out for the evening,
0:09:03 > 0:09:05Me and Tommy Cooper would always meet at Orme Court
0:09:05 > 0:09:08and it was a great place, great fun.
0:09:08 > 0:09:10We became known as the Fun Factory.
0:09:14 > 0:09:17Well, I first came here as a personal assistant to Spike Milligan.
0:09:17 > 0:09:20- How are you?- All right, how are you? - We carry on as normal, do we?
0:09:20 > 0:09:22- Nice to see you. - We're just good friends, obviously,
0:09:22 > 0:09:24we just happen to share the same bed, that's all.
0:09:24 > 0:09:29I came into this building and there was literally Eric Sykes.
0:09:29 > 0:09:33My first impression was this whiff of cigar smoke
0:09:33 > 0:09:36coming in and then it was Eric.
0:09:36 > 0:09:39And I remember him, oh, about two or three days later,
0:09:39 > 0:09:41saying, "Well, who are you?"
0:09:41 > 0:09:44And I said, "I've come as Spike's PA." He said, "Oh,
0:09:44 > 0:09:46"good luck to you then, darling."
0:09:46 > 0:09:49They were always doing really ridiculous things together.
0:09:49 > 0:09:50I mean Spike and Eric
0:09:50 > 0:09:52wouldn't talk to each other.
0:09:52 > 0:09:54They would phone each other and they'd be in the same room.
0:09:54 > 0:09:59Silly games, but relieved their tension when they were writing,
0:09:59 > 0:10:05anything to stave off the day when you went to the typewriter.
0:10:05 > 0:10:12But out of this fun and this mayhem, really, came this wonderful work.
0:10:12 > 0:10:14# Over the hills and... #
0:10:14 > 0:10:15LAUGHTER
0:10:19 > 0:10:22LAUGHTER
0:10:26 > 0:10:28LAUGHTER
0:10:28 > 0:10:32Well, Eric and Spike were friends because they were both geniuses, in their own way.
0:10:41 > 0:10:43One, two, hup.
0:10:43 > 0:10:45LAUGHTER
0:10:45 > 0:10:48They always had good ideas. They used to argue.
0:10:48 > 0:10:52One said one thing, he'd say the opposite, and they got on very well.
0:10:52 > 0:10:56I mean, they almost got sort of like husband and wife really, you know.
0:10:56 > 0:11:00They got on. If they had a row and they'd never remember it the next day when they came in.
0:11:04 > 0:11:08LAUGHTER
0:11:08 > 0:11:10Dad absolutely understood Spike.
0:11:10 > 0:11:14I'm not sure Spike absolutely understood Dad
0:11:14 > 0:11:16because he didn't need to.
0:11:16 > 0:11:20I think Spike was the one that Dad really nurtured.
0:11:20 > 0:11:25If you said anything against Spike, Eric would be in there like a flash.
0:11:25 > 0:11:27You know, "Well, he's done this and he's done that."
0:11:27 > 0:11:30They had an office at the end of a corridor and Spike would get
0:11:30 > 0:11:33out of his room to walk across the corridor to come into Dad's office.
0:11:33 > 0:11:35"I've written this joke, what do you think?"
0:11:35 > 0:11:38Dad would go, "Give me a minute. I'll come and I'll tell you about it.
0:11:38 > 0:11:41"Go back to your office." Spike would go back to his office and Dad would read the joke,
0:11:41 > 0:11:45and go, "OK," come out of his office, walk down the corridor, go into Spike's office,
0:11:45 > 0:11:48"It's all right," and walk back.
0:11:48 > 0:11:50I mean, they would do comedy inadvertently
0:11:50 > 0:11:54and they would enjoy it and they loved each other's humour.
0:11:54 > 0:11:55What is a jail break?
0:11:55 > 0:11:58Answer - a BRAKE used for stopping jails.
0:12:00 > 0:12:04Their admiration for each other's comedy would come into its own
0:12:04 > 0:12:05with the writing of the Goon Show.
0:12:05 > 0:12:08'This is the story of a desperate man in prison.
0:12:08 > 0:12:11'Yes, it is I.
0:12:11 > 0:12:12'I was the Governor.'
0:12:12 > 0:12:13LAUGHTER
0:12:13 > 0:12:19Spike, sadly, had these fits of depression which seemed to me
0:12:19 > 0:12:22over the years to get stronger, and he would sometimes
0:12:22 > 0:12:27be in the office for two days, you know, not come out.
0:12:27 > 0:12:32When Spike wasn't feeling very well, he asked Dad to help create
0:12:32 > 0:12:35some of the Goons and, seamlessly, he took over
0:12:35 > 0:12:37the writing of some of them.
0:12:37 > 0:12:40'The BBC would like to caution parents -
0:12:40 > 0:12:45'this programme is unsuitable for the very young, the very old,
0:12:45 > 0:12:50'the middle- aged, those just going off, those on the turn.'
0:12:50 > 0:12:54To come here and actually write like Spike and in the spirit of Spike,
0:12:54 > 0:12:57I think that must be really, really difficult.
0:12:57 > 0:13:00'Why is that tiger wearing brown boots?
0:13:00 > 0:13:02'Because his black ones are at the mender's.'
0:13:02 > 0:13:03LAUGHTER
0:13:03 > 0:13:06- 'What I mean is, why does a tiger wear boots?- Well, it's lucky.
0:13:06 > 0:13:10- 'Why?- Well, what other tiger has got two pairs of boots to wear?'
0:13:10 > 0:13:12Eric must have understood Spike
0:13:12 > 0:13:16and Spike must have appreciated Eric, and I think
0:13:16 > 0:13:18that's a most interesting relationship.
0:13:18 > 0:13:20Eric had a row with Spike in the Goon Show.
0:13:20 > 0:13:24They argued for about an hour about one word.
0:13:26 > 0:13:30And it got quite heated and Spike threw a paperweight at Eric.
0:13:30 > 0:13:34And after that, Eric said, "I'm not going to work with him ever again."
0:13:34 > 0:13:39But they had a lifelong friendship which, you know,
0:13:39 > 0:13:42very, very rare in this business.
0:13:42 > 0:13:45It was the end of an era for Associated London Scripts
0:13:45 > 0:13:48when, in 1967, they were approached for a takeover.
0:13:48 > 0:13:51This would split the company in two.
0:13:51 > 0:13:53Spike said, "I don't want to go,"
0:13:53 > 0:13:56and then Eric came in and he said, "Isn't Spike going?"
0:13:56 > 0:13:58I said, "He doesn't want to go, I don't know."
0:13:58 > 0:14:01He said, "Well, if he doesn't want to go, I'll stay with him.
0:14:01 > 0:14:02I mean, it was as simple as that.
0:14:02 > 0:14:04So, in a way, it kind of, one might say,
0:14:04 > 0:14:07broke up the family that we'd originally had.
0:14:07 > 0:14:11Eric took it personally
0:14:11 > 0:14:16and thought that they perhaps... they were deserting him.
0:14:16 > 0:14:19They weren't deserting him, he chose not to go.
0:14:19 > 0:14:22But the break up of Associated London Scripts didn't mean
0:14:22 > 0:14:24that Sykes let up in his writing.
0:14:24 > 0:14:26This is Eric Sykes' quote.
0:14:26 > 0:14:31"When you're a writer, you are a writer 24 hours a day.
0:14:31 > 0:14:35"You wake up in the morning and the first thing you think was,
0:14:35 > 0:14:38"'That sketch didn't work very well last night, I'll have to re-write it.'"
0:14:38 > 0:14:42I've got a feeling this whole operation is coming apart.
0:14:42 > 0:14:43What do you mean, sir?
0:14:43 > 0:14:45What do I mean?
0:14:45 > 0:14:46LAUGHTER
0:14:48 > 0:14:50I'll get it fixed. I'll get it fixed.
0:14:50 > 0:14:53OK. Bosun, bosun! Take the wheel.
0:14:53 > 0:14:54All right, then.
0:14:54 > 0:14:57LAUGHTER
0:14:57 > 0:15:00The pressure on him to write a script,
0:15:00 > 0:15:04as any single scriptwriter would know, is quite tough
0:15:04 > 0:15:08year in, year out, to produce such a high standard.
0:15:08 > 0:15:11You joined up for hostilities only, or are you regular?
0:15:11 > 0:15:12Regular, sir.
0:15:14 > 0:15:15After breakfast every morning.
0:15:17 > 0:15:21It's tiring, it's a lot of pressure, and I just admire him so much
0:15:21 > 0:15:25for his work ethic and what he put in and how many series he did.
0:15:25 > 0:15:28Which part of the work do you prefer? Writing or performing?
0:15:28 > 0:15:30Performing.
0:15:30 > 0:15:32- Performing.- Yes. - Writing, oh, that's a drag, that,
0:15:32 > 0:15:36when you sit there in front of a blank sheet of paper.
0:15:36 > 0:15:39It's great when you've done it.
0:15:39 > 0:15:41It's like, you know, like you've just given birth.
0:15:41 > 0:15:44But when you're writing it's terrible,
0:15:44 > 0:15:46it's the longest thing in the world, you know?
0:15:46 > 0:15:47Mmm.
0:15:47 > 0:15:49Mind if I come aboard?
0:15:50 > 0:15:52Would you like to come in, Mr Brown?
0:15:52 > 0:15:56Well, I was coming alongside and the wind veered, so I started to tack.
0:15:57 > 0:15:59Ah, he tacked.
0:15:59 > 0:16:01Tacked. He's left me with nothing.
0:16:01 > 0:16:06LAUGHTER
0:16:06 > 0:16:07Wasn't that the right line?
0:16:09 > 0:16:11Oh, well, try again.
0:16:11 > 0:16:12What was the right line?
0:16:12 > 0:16:13Tacked in.
0:16:15 > 0:16:17LAUGHTER
0:16:17 > 0:16:20You can tell the joy of being in front of an audience,
0:16:20 > 0:16:22and how much it's him and he wants it,
0:16:22 > 0:16:26but when things go wrong I can just see, and I know it myself,
0:16:26 > 0:16:28that slight body language of,
0:16:28 > 0:16:30"We haven't given the audience the perfect..."
0:16:30 > 0:16:34Such was his honour to that, to the audience and to his craft.
0:16:34 > 0:16:37LAUGHTER
0:16:37 > 0:16:40You know your line, "You'll be in soon"?
0:16:40 > 0:16:43I thought, "Not at the rate they're going, I won't."
0:16:43 > 0:16:45HE LAUGHS
0:16:45 > 0:16:46Was it tacked in?
0:16:46 > 0:16:47If you like.
0:16:47 > 0:16:48Shall we do it all again?
0:16:48 > 0:16:52He knew exactly what he wanted.
0:16:52 > 0:16:59He was a complete perfectionist, and if it didn't work,
0:16:59 > 0:17:03he would spent five, six, seven hours making it work.
0:17:10 > 0:17:13More than once when I was actually in his office,
0:17:13 > 0:17:19I would see him writing at the desk, and he'd stop and he'd look up,
0:17:19 > 0:17:23and it wasn't a big deal, but he once in a while said something like,
0:17:23 > 0:17:27you know, he'd be writing something and he'd say,
0:17:27 > 0:17:28"My mother would have liked this."
0:17:28 > 0:17:33He always, always, always said she was looking after him.
0:17:33 > 0:17:38He used to get a shudder, and I actually once or twice saw it.
0:17:38 > 0:17:40- ERIC:- You know the feeling you get
0:17:40 > 0:17:43when you say, "Somebody has walked over my grave?
0:17:43 > 0:17:45I used to get that feeling,
0:17:45 > 0:17:48and then not long after that, I would write something good.
0:17:48 > 0:17:49Do you still get it?
0:17:49 > 0:17:50Oh, yes.
0:17:50 > 0:17:54Oh, yes, and when I'm in a bit of trouble sometimes,
0:17:54 > 0:17:58or a bit down, you know, I've only got to think of my mother,
0:17:58 > 0:18:02and it's a sort of a... I get the same feeling.
0:18:02 > 0:18:05On 29th January 1960,
0:18:05 > 0:18:08Sykes burst onto our screens with a brand new series.
0:18:08 > 0:18:10It became one of the BBC's biggest hits,
0:18:10 > 0:18:13and would make him a household name.
0:18:13 > 0:18:14Good afternoon, everybody.
0:18:14 > 0:18:17On behalf of driver Sykes and his crew,
0:18:17 > 0:18:22we welcome you aboard Routemaster 136.
0:18:22 > 0:18:25There will be no smoking on the lower decks.
0:18:25 > 0:18:28We will be travelling at about nine miles per hour,
0:18:28 > 0:18:33and our ETA is 10 past 11, our time.
0:18:33 > 0:18:36We trust you will all have a pleasant journey.
0:18:36 > 0:18:38The weather in Cuffs Hill is fine.
0:18:39 > 0:18:43Bonjour, mesdames et messieurs.
0:18:43 > 0:18:45Bienvenue maitre d'...
0:18:47 > 0:18:48RINGS BELL
0:18:48 > 0:18:51Give me a chance to ding.
0:18:51 > 0:18:53If you talk about Eric Sykes,
0:18:53 > 0:18:56you immediately go, Sykes or Sykes in a hat, or...
0:18:56 > 0:18:58I mean...which was a legendary set.
0:19:03 > 0:19:05LAUGHTER
0:19:08 > 0:19:11I put it to Eric that the BBC could certainly do with him
0:19:11 > 0:19:18in a series in which he was the prominent one.
0:19:18 > 0:19:19By George, quick!
0:19:19 > 0:19:20What is it?
0:19:20 > 0:19:22Well, of all the low-down, cunning tricks.
0:19:22 > 0:19:23What's the matter?
0:19:23 > 0:19:25He's got a telescope at the window.
0:19:25 > 0:19:28Johnny Speight came up with a script
0:19:28 > 0:19:35that paired Eric and Hattie Jacques as a married couple.
0:19:35 > 0:19:43Eric suggested to Johnny that he and Hattie be brother and sister.
0:19:43 > 0:19:45More than that, twins.
0:19:45 > 0:19:48And more than that, identical twins.
0:19:48 > 0:19:51- Look at that, you and me as children.- Yes.
0:19:51 > 0:19:53Look at those pigtails.
0:19:53 > 0:19:54Yes.
0:19:54 > 0:19:55And look at mine.
0:19:57 > 0:19:59Eric wasn't your run-of-the-mill comedian,
0:19:59 > 0:20:06because he had that slightly melancholy air about him,
0:20:06 > 0:20:11which one didn't in those days associate with the very outgoing,
0:20:11 > 0:20:15extrovert, exuberant comedians of those days.
0:20:15 > 0:20:19He really was swimming against that tide.
0:20:19 > 0:20:23LAUGHTER
0:20:26 > 0:20:30CUCKOO CLOCK SPLUTTERS
0:20:30 > 0:20:32It was rather a bewildered character that he played,
0:20:32 > 0:20:35and, "Oh, what's going on here?"
0:20:35 > 0:20:39And that appealed to me, cos I thought it was just gentler.
0:20:39 > 0:20:40I'm not getting any younger.
0:20:40 > 0:20:42Neither am I, we're twins, remember?
0:20:42 > 0:20:43LAUGHTER
0:20:43 > 0:20:46Well, I think it's time we thought about getting married.
0:20:47 > 0:20:50LAUGHTER
0:20:50 > 0:20:51It's illegal, isn't it?
0:20:52 > 0:20:57The series was two misfits trying to cope with the world,
0:20:57 > 0:21:00and that's sort of what we all feel, isn't it?
0:21:00 > 0:21:01Um...
0:21:01 > 0:21:03But he did it in such a brilliant way
0:21:03 > 0:21:06that it wasn't sort of too... you know,
0:21:06 > 0:21:09too pitying or too sad or too self-effacing,
0:21:09 > 0:21:11he generally just made us laugh.
0:21:11 > 0:21:13If I'd known, I would have stayed in the Navy.
0:21:14 > 0:21:16You were never in the Navy.
0:21:16 > 0:21:17Don't keep changing the subject.
0:21:19 > 0:21:21That's what is so clever, though, about those...
0:21:21 > 0:21:25the world that he created, is that you just sort of went with it,
0:21:25 > 0:21:26you just believed it.
0:21:26 > 0:21:29It was based on enough truth, however heightened the comedy was.
0:21:29 > 0:21:32Well, I thought they were real.
0:21:32 > 0:21:35That's what I think about Eric Sykes and Hattie Jacques,
0:21:35 > 0:21:37they felt very real.
0:21:37 > 0:21:40He's doing comedy about people in situations,
0:21:40 > 0:21:42and someone very much like him.
0:21:42 > 0:21:45You know that one, three down, five letters,
0:21:45 > 0:21:47brother and sister born at the same time?
0:21:47 > 0:21:49That was "twins."
0:21:49 > 0:21:50LAUGHTER
0:21:51 > 0:21:53I put that in.
0:21:53 > 0:21:54No, you put "twits."
0:21:54 > 0:21:55LAUGHTER
0:21:56 > 0:21:59The whole idea of Sykes was that here was just
0:21:59 > 0:22:01what appeared to be an ordinary man.
0:22:01 > 0:22:05It wasn't a sort of big showbiz extravaganza,
0:22:05 > 0:22:09it wasn't anybody with an enormous, sort of, ego and personality
0:22:09 > 0:22:11seeking to dominate anybody else.
0:22:11 > 0:22:14- Here, old boy! - DOG BARKS
0:22:14 > 0:22:17SMASH!
0:22:17 > 0:22:18DOG BARKS
0:22:21 > 0:22:22LAUGHTER
0:22:24 > 0:22:26The audience understood him.
0:22:26 > 0:22:30They knew who he was, what he was, what was the character.
0:22:30 > 0:22:34They felt he had a certain amount of pathos
0:22:34 > 0:22:36about some of his performance.
0:22:36 > 0:22:38They're rounding up all the men in the street.
0:22:38 > 0:22:40I don't know why they want you.
0:22:41 > 0:22:46Comedy can be very broad or wide, or, you know,
0:22:46 > 0:22:48just going for a laugh, or, "Here comes the laugh,"
0:22:48 > 0:22:53whereas Eric Sykes had a quality that was very rooted in reality.
0:22:53 > 0:22:56If she was anything of a looker, she wouldn't have to advertise.
0:22:56 > 0:22:57Oh, he's got a telephone.
0:22:57 > 0:23:00748 2269.
0:23:00 > 0:23:01PHONE RINGS
0:23:01 > 0:23:02LAUGHTER
0:23:04 > 0:23:06748 2269.
0:23:08 > 0:23:10I've always found it very appealing
0:23:10 > 0:23:13that you can have a writer or writers
0:23:13 > 0:23:17who will take one little idea and then build around it.
0:23:17 > 0:23:18What are you looking for, dear?
0:23:21 > 0:23:23The key. I put it down here.
0:23:23 > 0:23:24But the rubbish..!
0:23:24 > 0:23:25With that rubbish.
0:23:25 > 0:23:27I put it in the boiler!
0:23:27 > 0:23:30In the boiler?! That's our freedom in that boiler.
0:23:30 > 0:23:32You're trying to set up a load of things
0:23:32 > 0:23:34where two people are handcuffed together,
0:23:34 > 0:23:36what problems they can get into.
0:23:38 > 0:23:41I think what made it real as well is they underplayed it an awful lot.
0:23:41 > 0:23:43That one.
0:23:43 > 0:23:44Put it there.
0:23:44 > 0:23:46There we are. OK?
0:23:46 > 0:23:48Yeah, get a knife and fork...
0:23:48 > 0:23:53The writing was so good, but you don't overplay it, you don't panic,
0:23:53 > 0:23:56it's a question of living with this, and it's just sort of, um...
0:23:56 > 0:23:59- Yes, he...- And "OK," and all that, but so underplayed.
0:23:59 > 0:24:01Right, come on now.
0:24:01 > 0:24:02There we are. Good?
0:24:02 > 0:24:05LAUGHTER
0:24:05 > 0:24:07Oh, yes, that's a good idea.
0:24:08 > 0:24:11Now look, I'll cut it, that's right, there we are.
0:24:11 > 0:24:12Ahh...
0:24:14 > 0:24:18You just get two people who are comedic people,
0:24:18 > 0:24:22and if they are good and they like each other,
0:24:22 > 0:24:26the chemistry between people like that, you can't beat,
0:24:26 > 0:24:27it is perfection.
0:24:27 > 0:24:29That's the one. Ha-ha-ha-ha...
0:24:33 > 0:24:36Actually, I'm not really hungry.
0:24:36 > 0:24:41Sykes first met Hattie Jacques when he'd seen her perform in 1948,
0:24:41 > 0:24:44and went on to write for her in Educating Archie.
0:24:44 > 0:24:46Their relationship would form the heart
0:24:46 > 0:24:49of the long-running Sykes series.
0:24:49 > 0:24:53Eric knew Hattie, and he was desperately fond of her.
0:24:53 > 0:24:56A Spanish number, Hay Un Jardin Con La Fuente Pequena.
0:24:56 > 0:24:57It's always been vetted.
0:24:57 > 0:25:00PLAYS SPANISH TUNE
0:25:00 > 0:25:01HATTIE CLAPS
0:25:01 > 0:25:02I hadn't finished yet.
0:25:05 > 0:25:08Eric and Hattie were great friends off screen.
0:25:08 > 0:25:12They got on really, really well,
0:25:12 > 0:25:18and so I think working together was rather obvious.
0:25:18 > 0:25:20Before he went, he made a very nice gesture.
0:25:20 > 0:25:21How much?
0:25:21 > 0:25:23LAUGHTER
0:25:27 > 0:25:29'We were like a family.
0:25:29 > 0:25:35'Hat was really like my sister, or my identical twin, as we had it.'
0:25:36 > 0:25:40When we finished the series, I would go away and do other things,
0:25:40 > 0:25:43and Hat would do some of the Carry On films,
0:25:43 > 0:25:47so when we met again, it was like coming home, it was...
0:25:47 > 0:25:49oh, it was lovely.
0:25:49 > 0:25:50- Man goes to cupboard.- Yes.
0:25:50 > 0:25:52Gets large piece of equipment.
0:25:52 > 0:25:53How do you spell that?
0:25:53 > 0:25:55M-A-N.
0:25:55 > 0:25:58Between Eric and Hattie, there was also great loyalty.
0:25:58 > 0:26:00They used to defend each other.
0:26:00 > 0:26:06They didn't... Hattie certainly didn't kowtow to Eric.
0:26:06 > 0:26:09Oh, no, she would tell Eric if... not in any nasty way,
0:26:09 > 0:26:13she would tell Eric if she thought something in the script
0:26:13 > 0:26:15wasn't right or wasn't working.
0:26:15 > 0:26:16Hey!
0:26:17 > 0:26:18LAUGHTER
0:26:18 > 0:26:22Eric said, when he was writing,
0:26:22 > 0:26:27before she even turned the page, she knew what he had written.
0:26:28 > 0:26:30TAPPING
0:26:34 > 0:26:36SHE CHUCKLES
0:26:36 > 0:26:39He's playing golf with a hard boiled egg.
0:26:39 > 0:26:43They were so used to each other, and they knew how each other worked,
0:26:43 > 0:26:46and they just sort of would take a scene to another level.
0:26:46 > 0:26:50That double act had to be extraordinary
0:26:50 > 0:26:52to sustain over many series.
0:26:53 > 0:26:55I think it's an octopus.
0:26:56 > 0:27:01I just loved them, and totally believed them as brother and sister.
0:27:01 > 0:27:03HE HUMS A TUNE
0:27:06 > 0:27:08And now...
0:27:10 > 0:27:13..they left Scapa Flow at dawn.
0:27:13 > 0:27:15LAUGHTER
0:27:15 > 0:27:19He would go for extreme real, like the toe stuck in the bath.
0:27:19 > 0:27:20It's where you should go
0:27:20 > 0:27:22if you're trying to play for the drama within a scene.
0:27:22 > 0:27:24You just keep expanding it until it can go to this place.
0:27:24 > 0:27:26RINGS BELL
0:27:27 > 0:27:28What is it now?
0:27:30 > 0:27:31Can you get Mr Brown?
0:27:31 > 0:27:34Oh, not again.
0:27:34 > 0:27:35Yes, my toe.
0:27:36 > 0:27:38Well, I don't like to ask him.
0:27:38 > 0:27:41Are you sure your toe's stuck in the tap?
0:27:41 > 0:27:45Well, of course I'm sure it's stuck in the tap. I'm sitting here facing it.
0:27:45 > 0:27:46And it's right there.
0:27:46 > 0:27:49Come on, Hattie, go on, the water's getting cold.
0:27:49 > 0:27:51Well, pour some more hot in.
0:27:51 > 0:27:54It's stuck up the hot water tap.
0:27:54 > 0:27:56Eric just was doing things that you would see your father do,
0:27:56 > 0:27:58or somebody get wrong at the garage,
0:27:58 > 0:28:00get a finger stuck or something like that.
0:28:00 > 0:28:04It was the delight in the everyday traps,
0:28:04 > 0:28:07pitfalls to which someone can fall.
0:28:09 > 0:28:10Ow!
0:28:10 > 0:28:12The pain!
0:28:12 > 0:28:14I shall never be able to dance again.
0:28:14 > 0:28:16We just wanted him to win.
0:28:16 > 0:28:19We wanted his world to get better,
0:28:19 > 0:28:22but yet we totally empathised with his foolishness.
0:28:22 > 0:28:24So it's that combination, I think.
0:28:24 > 0:28:25Try and flush it out.
0:28:25 > 0:28:27Yes, that's quite a good idea.
0:28:27 > 0:28:29Righto.
0:28:29 > 0:28:30Oh! Sykes,
0:28:30 > 0:28:33- you knew that was going to happen, didn't you?- No...- Yet you let...
0:28:35 > 0:28:36RINGS BELL
0:28:36 > 0:28:39You would trust him. You wanted to see where he was going to go.
0:28:52 > 0:28:54You'd hear the music, and I can just hear it now, actually,
0:28:54 > 0:28:58in my head while I'm talking, it was the drum going boom, boom, boom.
0:29:00 > 0:29:02"SYKES" THEME MUSIC
0:29:07 > 0:29:12We would go and see him at the BBC studios and record his programme.
0:29:13 > 0:29:15All right, all right, where is he, then?
0:29:17 > 0:29:20Don't come dashing in here like Starsky and Hutch.
0:29:21 > 0:29:25I actually would enjoy seeing... A - seeing Dad work with Hattie,
0:29:25 > 0:29:27but also seeing the audience laugh,
0:29:27 > 0:29:30because he would make us laugh at home as children,
0:29:30 > 0:29:32and that was natural for us, that was what he did,
0:29:32 > 0:29:36but to come and see him make other people laugh
0:29:36 > 0:29:37was quite extraordinary.
0:29:37 > 0:29:39Mind if I drop my anchor?
0:29:39 > 0:29:40- I don't mind if you drop your... - Eric!
0:29:40 > 0:29:42LAUGHTER
0:29:43 > 0:29:46I was very much aware of studio audiences.
0:29:46 > 0:29:50If you are doing something you worked on for a week,
0:29:50 > 0:29:53and throughout the half hour you're doing it,
0:29:53 > 0:29:55or 45 minutes it takes to record,
0:29:55 > 0:29:58you hear that audience continuously laughing,
0:29:58 > 0:30:00it's a huge tonic.
0:30:01 > 0:30:02ERIC SIGHS
0:30:07 > 0:30:08LAUGHTER
0:30:11 > 0:30:13Eric, could you spare a moment?
0:30:13 > 0:30:18Hattie was a great giggler, and often, Dad could just catch his eye,
0:30:18 > 0:30:21and just give a glint to her, and she would just go.
0:30:21 > 0:30:23He said she thought Wood Lane Athletic would win,
0:30:23 > 0:30:26and I said I thought it would be...
0:30:26 > 0:30:27LAUGHTER
0:30:41 > 0:30:43I just bit her earring off.
0:30:43 > 0:30:45LAUGHTER
0:30:53 > 0:30:54That was a technical hitch, wasn't it?
0:30:54 > 0:30:56- It was indeed, a technical hitch. - Yeah.
0:30:56 > 0:30:57Wasn't us.
0:31:00 > 0:31:01LAUGHTER
0:31:01 > 0:31:03Do you always carry doughnuts in your pocket?
0:31:03 > 0:31:05I do when I've got them.
0:31:05 > 0:31:07LAUGHTER
0:31:07 > 0:31:09APPLAUSE
0:31:10 > 0:31:12I'm terribly sorry.
0:31:16 > 0:31:17LAUGHTER
0:31:17 > 0:31:19It could have happened to a good show.
0:31:20 > 0:31:23It's always fun, and they made each other laugh.
0:31:23 > 0:31:25Is there an actor in the audience?
0:31:25 > 0:31:26LAUGHTER
0:31:30 > 0:31:32But Sykes didn't score a hit with every show.
0:31:32 > 0:31:37In 1969, he appeared alongside Spike Milligan in Curry and Chips,
0:31:37 > 0:31:39written by Johnny Speight.
0:31:39 > 0:31:41The series would prove controversial,
0:31:41 > 0:31:43and was cancelled after just six episodes.
0:31:43 > 0:31:46Now then, I want to tell you that I am very glad
0:31:46 > 0:31:48to be able to work in this beautiful factory.
0:31:48 > 0:31:51Tell me what kind of job can I do to help your poor Queen
0:31:51 > 0:31:53and Prince Philip back to prosperity?
0:31:53 > 0:31:55LAUGHTER
0:31:55 > 0:31:57Whoa, you couldn't put it on now!
0:31:57 > 0:32:00I couldn't believe how racist it was. That was unbelievable.
0:32:00 > 0:32:03When I was doing it, it didn't even occur to me that it was racist.
0:32:03 > 0:32:05Either I start him, or the firm gets fined, or I do.
0:32:05 > 0:32:08And if you do start him, you might have a strike on your hands.
0:32:08 > 0:32:09Quite right, Norman.
0:32:09 > 0:32:11LAUGHTER
0:32:11 > 0:32:13It was just...
0:32:13 > 0:32:19wasn't it...on the wrong side of what was acceptable?
0:32:19 > 0:32:22But his own series was still flying high
0:32:22 > 0:32:25as Sykes continued to develop his unique brand of comedy.
0:32:25 > 0:32:27Anything he did, it were very visual.
0:32:27 > 0:32:29Even when he spoke and his comedy acting.
0:32:29 > 0:32:32- Always very visual.- It was. - He had a visual face.
0:32:32 > 0:32:36Primer, cocker, setter, detonator.
0:32:37 > 0:32:40Primer, cocker, setter, detonator.
0:32:41 > 0:32:44Primer, cocker, setter, detonator.
0:32:45 > 0:32:50Primer, cocker, setter, detonator.
0:32:50 > 0:32:54I often wondered whether his ideas came from his writing to begin with.
0:32:54 > 0:32:56- Yes.- You know, so he's actually written the plot,
0:32:56 > 0:32:58written the storyline, and then thinks,
0:32:58 > 0:33:00"Right, now how do we improve on this?"
0:33:00 > 0:33:04And of course then the wisdom and the great brain,
0:33:04 > 0:33:08comedy brain, he had for visual comedy, he would then adapt the two.
0:33:16 > 0:33:19Visual comedy is the most international of all languages.
0:33:19 > 0:33:21Everybody can understand it.
0:33:21 > 0:33:23PIANO PLAYS
0:33:29 > 0:33:31He was a mime comedian as well as a verbal comedian.
0:33:31 > 0:33:35He was angular and strange and weird.
0:33:35 > 0:33:36There was nobody like him.
0:33:38 > 0:33:42If you've got somebody with a face like him, it's very difficult to just go into the background.
0:33:42 > 0:33:44He could never do that, it's an impossibility.
0:33:44 > 0:33:48I remember seeing his face for the first time and just thinking, "You're funny."
0:33:48 > 0:33:51You just think, "What else could you have done for a living?"
0:33:51 > 0:33:53LAUGHTER
0:34:00 > 0:34:06He had this repertoire of gestures and sudden stillness...
0:34:06 > 0:34:07PIANO STOPS ABRUPTLY
0:34:07 > 0:34:11..creating a kind of pool of quiet around him.
0:34:13 > 0:34:15LAUGHTER
0:34:24 > 0:34:25HE COUGHS
0:34:26 > 0:34:28PIANO PLAYS
0:34:35 > 0:34:36LAUGHTER
0:34:37 > 0:34:39Despite wowing audiences,
0:34:39 > 0:34:43behind the scenes, Sykes had been battling hearing loss for many years.
0:34:43 > 0:34:45I think Dad has always used his body.
0:34:45 > 0:34:49I think because of his deafness, you know, for many, many years,
0:34:49 > 0:34:52he worked, actually, without hearing much of what was going on.
0:34:52 > 0:34:55How do you judge audience reaction, though, Eric?
0:34:55 > 0:34:56- Difficult.- Is it?- Are they in?
0:34:56 > 0:34:58LAUGHTER
0:34:58 > 0:35:00No, I can just get it.
0:35:00 > 0:35:02That's why I've got to work harder than other comics,
0:35:02 > 0:35:05- because if they don't laugh hard, I'm lost, you know.- Yeah.
0:35:05 > 0:35:10I think to portray his words in a better way,
0:35:10 > 0:35:12he would always be visual.
0:35:12 > 0:35:17He would always move a shoulder or take a double step or head turn,
0:35:17 > 0:35:21just to actually put a dot on the comedy.
0:35:22 > 0:35:23THUD!
0:35:26 > 0:35:29I call him the Beethoven of comedy,
0:35:29 > 0:35:31because he was writing comedy and not hearing reaction,
0:35:31 > 0:35:33and that was from quite an early age.
0:35:33 > 0:35:37SPANISH GUITAR MUSIC
0:35:52 > 0:35:56His natural style was really based on mime.
0:35:56 > 0:35:59You know, I mean the words sort of underpinned what he was miming,
0:35:59 > 0:36:02and I think that's why he was a great favourite of musicians.
0:36:12 > 0:36:13LAUGHTER
0:36:17 > 0:36:19It was more slapstick than he usually did.
0:36:19 > 0:36:22It was like he really, as it were, went for it, you know,
0:36:22 > 0:36:25and it sort of developed into a total sort of slapstick.
0:36:36 > 0:36:40Comedy, in the real sense of the word, is a little bit like music.
0:36:40 > 0:36:43Someone said about music, "It expresses the inexpressible."
0:36:43 > 0:36:44Comedy is the same,
0:36:44 > 0:36:47to do with timing and pace, and just the moment.
0:36:47 > 0:36:51You know, he could raise an eyebrow, do that just at the right moment,
0:36:51 > 0:36:52which is what we try and do in music.
0:36:55 > 0:36:57LAUGHTER
0:37:04 > 0:37:11So I think underneath all, sort of, geniuses of his kind,
0:37:11 > 0:37:13is a lot more complexity.
0:37:13 > 0:37:16Just the awareness and sensitivity to other people.
0:37:16 > 0:37:17He knows why...
0:37:17 > 0:37:20I mean, the gentleness that comes across in his comedy,
0:37:20 > 0:37:24you know, whether it is verbal or mimed, is an expression of that.
0:37:24 > 0:37:26He was a very gentle man.
0:37:30 > 0:37:32LAUGHTER
0:37:33 > 0:37:35APPLAUSE
0:37:41 > 0:37:44He was never jealous of anybody that was funny.
0:37:44 > 0:37:45He would admire them, and he would say,
0:37:45 > 0:37:48"He's funny, she's good, they're funny."
0:37:48 > 0:37:51You know I've not been well, Eric. I...
0:37:51 > 0:37:53I was coughing and sneezing and spluttering the other day,
0:37:53 > 0:37:54and I went to the doctor's.
0:37:54 > 0:37:55Flu?
0:37:55 > 0:37:57No, I went on the bus.
0:37:58 > 0:38:01The other greatness about him was,
0:38:01 > 0:38:04he didn't need to be bang, bang, bang, the star up front.
0:38:04 > 0:38:07When I got there, I said, "What's good for wind?" He gave me a kite.
0:38:07 > 0:38:09LAUGHTER
0:38:09 > 0:38:10On top of that...
0:38:10 > 0:38:13After years of married bliss, the wife left me.
0:38:13 > 0:38:15She ran off with the fella next door, and..
0:38:15 > 0:38:17ooh, I do miss him.
0:38:17 > 0:38:18He was a very modest man.
0:38:18 > 0:38:20I mean, he never went out and said,
0:38:20 > 0:38:23"I am the greatest thing since sliced bread," ever.
0:38:23 > 0:38:24- CLAPS RHYTHMICALLY - Eric Sykes!
0:38:24 > 0:38:25- CLAPS - Eric Sykes!
0:38:25 > 0:38:28- CLAPS - Eric Sykes! Cha-cha-cha!
0:38:29 > 0:38:32Is there something going on between you two?
0:38:32 > 0:38:36Eric was a man whose persona was vulnerable.
0:38:37 > 0:38:38LAUGHTER
0:38:39 > 0:38:41Eric was a gentleman.
0:38:41 > 0:38:44He had a tremendous amount of integrity.
0:38:45 > 0:38:50My dad was famous when I was young, but he wasn't just my dad,
0:38:50 > 0:38:52he was Eric Sykes to the nation.
0:38:57 > 0:39:02When we were younger, Dad would have an old cinefilm camera,
0:39:02 > 0:39:03and he made films of us.
0:39:03 > 0:39:04They were obviously comedy films,
0:39:04 > 0:39:06they couldn't just be us at a picnic.
0:39:07 > 0:39:09I will never forget,
0:39:09 > 0:39:14there was one where I was dressed in my sister's ballerina costume.
0:39:14 > 0:39:20He made me come out with my wand, and I did some sort of gesture,
0:39:20 > 0:39:24and miraculously appears the other children, in a specific order.
0:39:26 > 0:39:29And he loved doing that, and we loved watching it, actually,
0:39:29 > 0:39:32because we'd go, "Wow, how did you do that?"
0:39:34 > 0:39:38Eric had this idea one day about a film he wanted to make,
0:39:38 > 0:39:40a silent film called The Plank...
0:39:46 > 0:39:49..which he wrote, and he wanted to direct.
0:39:52 > 0:39:55It was really unusual to do a silent film.
0:40:03 > 0:40:06He loved belly laughs, with no dialogue.
0:40:10 > 0:40:12He loved Laurel and Hardy. Stan and Ollie
0:40:12 > 0:40:15were very, very Eric, weren't they?
0:40:16 > 0:40:18HE SCREAMS
0:40:18 > 0:40:21ERIC: I loved them because when they walked down the street,
0:40:21 > 0:40:25'the sun was shining, they had a swagger about their gait,
0:40:25 > 0:40:28'but you knew that they were doomed to failure.'
0:40:34 > 0:40:36I think Eric really wanted to see
0:40:36 > 0:40:40whether he could muster this particular part of comedy.
0:40:47 > 0:40:50'A very simple idea, seeing two workman
0:40:50 > 0:40:52'and a plank of wood'
0:40:52 > 0:40:56and the adventures of getting it from A to B.
0:40:56 > 0:40:59This time Sykes wasn't just in front of the camera.
0:40:59 > 0:41:03Adding another string to his bow, he decided to take on a new role.
0:41:03 > 0:41:0559, take one.
0:41:05 > 0:41:09I don't think people realised what a good director he was.
0:41:09 > 0:41:11They knew he was a good actor.
0:41:11 > 0:41:15- Ryan. Can you get the three people just there?- Yes.
0:41:16 > 0:41:20'He knew exactly what he wanted from the shot
0:41:20 > 0:41:23'and from you and he went on until he got it.'
0:41:23 > 0:41:26- He looks right. I want to go with him like that.- OK.
0:41:26 > 0:41:28I'm going to see behind there's a load of traffic
0:41:28 > 0:41:32- and I want to pull back now to see the plank blocking it.- Mmm.
0:41:32 > 0:41:33I know that surprised a lot of people
0:41:33 > 0:41:37because you think of him as being a sort of jokey man
0:41:37 > 0:41:41who doesn't care deeply, but he was exactly the opposite.
0:41:41 > 0:41:44They're travelling, you see a bit of that thing travelling,
0:41:44 > 0:41:47you know, and sort of, phwoar, look at that.
0:41:47 > 0:41:51And then we come to that shot and we want to see what he's looking at.
0:41:51 > 0:41:56He wasn't one of those shouty directors, he got on very well.
0:41:56 > 0:41:57People liked Eric.
0:41:57 > 0:41:58'Directing The Plank
0:41:58 > 0:42:00'he got hold of everybody by the shoulders'
0:42:00 > 0:42:04and told them what he wanted them to do and what he wanted them to look...
0:42:04 > 0:42:06It was probably a much harder directing piece
0:42:06 > 0:42:08than a film with a script.
0:42:10 > 0:42:13He had a very organised mind.
0:42:13 > 0:42:16He had a great comedic structure in his head
0:42:16 > 0:42:19of how he wanted a thread of something to go through.
0:42:19 > 0:42:21Can we have the plank in, Ryan, please?
0:42:21 > 0:42:23May we have the plank, please?
0:42:23 > 0:42:25'He didn't write anything down.
0:42:25 > 0:42:27'It was all in his mind, it was visual.'
0:42:27 > 0:42:32Spike said to me, you know, he edited on camera.
0:42:32 > 0:42:35Do you want them travelling, or merely blocking?
0:42:35 > 0:42:38No, all blocked. Static. And when they move over to here,
0:42:38 > 0:42:40they'll all be leaning out the windows,
0:42:40 > 0:42:43- oi, oi, the horns will be going beep, beep, beep.- Fine. OK.
0:42:43 > 0:42:46Everybody said, he's a bit different from a director,
0:42:46 > 0:42:48because he used to invent with a camera,
0:42:48 > 0:42:49he used to paint with a camera.
0:42:49 > 0:42:51- Ryan.- Yes?
0:42:51 > 0:42:54That's fine. I want it to go a bit quicker
0:42:54 > 0:42:56- and a bit...not too far in between. - Right.
0:42:56 > 0:42:58- And a bit quicker.- More frequent.
0:42:58 > 0:43:00It's intriguing that he just decided
0:43:00 > 0:43:02I'm going to make this thing about a plank
0:43:02 > 0:43:05and the places a plank of wood could take you.
0:43:05 > 0:43:07It's a tricky thing to do.
0:43:07 > 0:43:09DISTANT WHISTLING
0:43:18 > 0:43:20ORGAN MUSIC PLAYS
0:43:27 > 0:43:31Putting him together with Tommy Cooper was rather wonderful
0:43:31 > 0:43:34because they are, you know, bewilderment doubled.
0:43:37 > 0:43:39'It was them just carrying a plank.'
0:43:39 > 0:43:42Why is that funny? It was their walk and their big feet.
0:43:42 > 0:43:44- LAUGHS - Hilarious.
0:43:53 > 0:43:57Eric Sykes and Tommy Cooper, what a combination.
0:43:57 > 0:43:59They were both maniacs,
0:43:59 > 0:44:02they really were. They just bumped off each other.
0:44:06 > 0:44:09They had respect for each other's talent
0:44:09 > 0:44:14and Tommy was quite prepared to put himself in the hands of Eric.
0:44:21 > 0:44:23Oh, look.
0:44:23 > 0:44:25It's OK. I'm all right.
0:44:25 > 0:44:27I'm all right. Don't worry.
0:44:27 > 0:44:30THEY TALK OVER EACH OTHER
0:44:30 > 0:44:34Tommy Cooper was fun and naughty
0:44:34 > 0:44:37and you never knew what he was going to do next.
0:44:37 > 0:44:39So he was the opposite to Eric.
0:44:39 > 0:44:42- What are you doing? I'm all right. - Relax. You're all right now.
0:44:42 > 0:44:44There's nothing wrong with me. I'm all right.
0:44:49 > 0:44:51Here, drink that, then.
0:44:51 > 0:44:53Oh, thank you. Thank you very much.
0:44:53 > 0:44:58'They would talk at various points, "You come here", "I'll go there",'
0:44:58 > 0:45:02so it wasn't really a silent film, but it didn't spoil the jokes.
0:45:07 > 0:45:10One, two and yippee.
0:45:12 > 0:45:14For some reason, that little movie,
0:45:14 > 0:45:17everybody's seen it. You remember it.
0:45:22 > 0:45:24CHEERING
0:45:26 > 0:45:27FANFARE
0:45:27 > 0:45:31'I think it was quite an argument in his mind'
0:45:31 > 0:45:36whether he ought to give up performing and go directing
0:45:36 > 0:45:42because he loved it, but I think he had always been a performer.
0:45:42 > 0:45:45His true first love was the theatre,
0:45:45 > 0:45:48because he loved that audience reaction.
0:45:50 > 0:45:52But his biggest theatre hit,
0:45:52 > 0:45:58acting alongside Jimmy Edwards, had an unpromising start.
0:45:58 > 0:46:00Big Bad Mouse, when it first started,
0:46:00 > 0:46:04it wasn't very well received by the critics
0:46:04 > 0:46:07and in fact, I think it was on its last legs, it was due to come off.
0:46:07 > 0:46:09'Every night they died a death.'
0:46:09 > 0:46:13Jimmy Edwards came into Eric's dressing room and said,
0:46:13 > 0:46:16"Well, it's the last night, I'm going to have a laugh."
0:46:16 > 0:46:22Eric said, "Well, if you are, I am," and that was the birth of the show.
0:46:22 > 0:46:24APPLAUSE
0:46:29 > 0:46:32They more or less threw the script away and ad-libbed through it.
0:46:32 > 0:46:34And the audiences in Big Bad Mouse
0:46:34 > 0:46:39just loved it because, I don't think in those days
0:46:39 > 0:46:43that people had ever improvised on stage.
0:46:43 > 0:46:45So you see, Mr Watkins?
0:46:45 > 0:46:47- Yes, I...- You take the facts and the figures...
0:46:48 > 0:46:51'They used to have, sort of little contests'
0:46:51 > 0:46:55and Jimmy would go off to the pub, get a pint,
0:46:55 > 0:46:58so Eric would have to, sort of, hold court.
0:46:58 > 0:46:59LAUGHTER
0:47:02 > 0:47:05Never mind, let's have some fun.
0:47:05 > 0:47:07Abide with me.
0:47:07 > 0:47:09LAUGHTER
0:47:09 > 0:47:12And it was all included, you know, for the audience.
0:47:12 > 0:47:15I mean, they were in heaven, because, you know,
0:47:15 > 0:47:17Eric would say, "Well, where have you been?"
0:47:17 > 0:47:20He said, "Well, I've just been for a pint."
0:47:20 > 0:47:21So it was all very sort of honest.
0:47:21 > 0:47:23You'd think in the West End
0:47:23 > 0:47:25they'd give you the real thing, wouldn't you, eh?
0:47:25 > 0:47:28The real thing. It's only coloured water.
0:47:28 > 0:47:30At least they did give me a real cigar.
0:47:30 > 0:47:33I wish they'd give me a real actor.
0:47:33 > 0:47:34LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE
0:47:36 > 0:47:39He loved going through the fourth wall, grabbing an audience.
0:47:39 > 0:47:40Come in!
0:47:40 > 0:47:41BANGING ON DOOR
0:47:44 > 0:47:48How many of you spotted the deliberate mistake?
0:47:48 > 0:47:51Eric was a dangerous performer. He took chances.
0:47:51 > 0:47:53LAUGHTER
0:47:57 > 0:48:04'He would do things with a door, or with a window, or with a prop'
0:48:04 > 0:48:06and people would laugh because of it.
0:48:06 > 0:48:07Ha!
0:48:07 > 0:48:09APPLAUSE
0:48:09 > 0:48:13And to work with Eric you were never quite sure
0:48:13 > 0:48:18how he was going to behave in that particular situation in a play.
0:48:22 > 0:48:27It was mad, wonderful, glorious mayhem.
0:48:27 > 0:48:30It was an enormous success, Big Bad Mouse,
0:48:30 > 0:48:34it went all the way round the world. Australia, America, Canada.
0:48:34 > 0:48:35'They loved it.'
0:48:35 > 0:48:38And it was the audience. You see, Eric loved the audience.
0:48:38 > 0:48:41Skyes's love for the theatre never faded
0:48:41 > 0:48:44and he would remain a huge draw for audiences throughout his life.
0:48:44 > 0:48:47'I was very fortunate to do a season at the Vaudeville'
0:48:47 > 0:48:51on the Strand in Ray Cooney's Caught In The Net, a farce.
0:48:51 > 0:48:55I seem to remember Eric didn't appear in anything in the first act
0:48:55 > 0:48:58and we were sitting and saying, "Well, yes, it's very nice,
0:48:58 > 0:49:01"but when is his nibs coming on?"
0:49:01 > 0:49:03As soon as he entered onto the stage, uproar.
0:49:03 > 0:49:06LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE
0:49:10 > 0:49:12But his acting career took a dramatic turn
0:49:12 > 0:49:14when Sykes was approached
0:49:14 > 0:49:17by renowned theatre director, Sir Peter Hall.
0:49:17 > 0:49:20'Peter Hall was doing a Moliere comedy'
0:49:20 > 0:49:23and he explained to me that Moliere was a great vaudevillian
0:49:23 > 0:49:28and I said, "Oh, one of my heroes I work with often is Eric Sykes,
0:49:28 > 0:49:29"is there anything in it for him?"
0:49:29 > 0:49:32But when Sykes first heard about the idea,
0:49:32 > 0:49:34he felt it could be a step too far.
0:49:34 > 0:49:38Peter rang and asked Eric would he like to go to lunch.
0:49:38 > 0:49:40Eric was getting further and further down in his chair,
0:49:40 > 0:49:43thinking, "Oh, I don't want to do this," you know.
0:49:43 > 0:49:46And he loved Peter Hall so he didn't want to say no to him,
0:49:46 > 0:49:48so he was in this terrible position.
0:49:48 > 0:49:51And before he could say anything,
0:49:51 > 0:49:55Peter Hall put his hand up, right in front of Eric's face,
0:49:55 > 0:49:58and he said, "Don't tell me you can't do it,
0:49:58 > 0:49:59"because I know you can."
0:49:59 > 0:50:02Monsieur seems in pretty dire distress.
0:50:02 > 0:50:05I just can't cope with these mad moods of his.
0:50:06 > 0:50:11Monsieur? That must be what it is that's got his goat.
0:50:11 > 0:50:12He's jealous.
0:50:12 > 0:50:14By now Sykes was in his mid-70s,
0:50:14 > 0:50:21partially sighted and deaf, but he hadn't let this stand in his way.
0:50:21 > 0:50:24He'd got this wonderful invention called hearing glasses.
0:50:24 > 0:50:27Without any lenses, but they had hearing aids in the back
0:50:27 > 0:50:30so he could hear via the bone behind the ear.
0:50:30 > 0:50:34The fun was that he could hear people behind him as well.
0:50:34 > 0:50:36He said, "Listen to what they're saying over there."
0:50:36 > 0:50:38They were fantastic for him,
0:50:38 > 0:50:40because it was a new lease of life, really.
0:50:40 > 0:50:43He came on and I thought, "Oh, please, God,
0:50:43 > 0:50:44"let him not knock into the furniture."
0:50:44 > 0:50:47- Why, though?- Why?
0:50:51 > 0:50:52Because he is.
0:50:52 > 0:50:54This was a huge thing
0:50:54 > 0:50:56and I don't really think I saw him,
0:50:56 > 0:50:59I think I was just too worried for the first ten minutes
0:50:59 > 0:51:03about, "Is he going to be all right?" or, "What...?" and of course he was.
0:51:03 > 0:51:05When Eric Sykes walked on,
0:51:05 > 0:51:08you felt they were going to stand and applaud.
0:51:08 > 0:51:10And you could hear, you could see them all,
0:51:10 > 0:51:13"Oh, here he is, wait, wait until you see him, wait."
0:51:13 > 0:51:20It was... He filled the theatre with love.
0:51:20 > 0:51:21I thought he could do anything.
0:51:21 > 0:51:24I thought he could play Hamlet if he wanted to.
0:51:24 > 0:51:25I was astounded,
0:51:25 > 0:51:28A, he could be on the West End, say these words,
0:51:28 > 0:51:30see where he was going,
0:51:30 > 0:51:33hear what was going on at his age, and he still brought the house down.
0:51:33 > 0:51:35He loved the challenge.
0:51:35 > 0:51:38It became a zonking great hit.
0:51:42 > 0:51:45Yet another surprise lay in store for Sykes,
0:51:45 > 0:51:49as in the audience one night was Hollywood royalty.
0:51:49 > 0:51:52Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise went to see it
0:51:52 > 0:51:55and phoned the office the next day and said,
0:51:55 > 0:51:57"How do we get in touch with this man,
0:51:57 > 0:52:00"this wonderful, wonderful man?"
0:52:00 > 0:52:03And that's how his film appearance in The Others came about.
0:52:05 > 0:52:07That's right, it's a gardener.
0:52:07 > 0:52:11Eric himself was a very easy-going person, really enthusiastic.
0:52:11 > 0:52:15The day he had to act he was almost like a child,
0:52:15 > 0:52:19really enjoying the process, never complaining,
0:52:19 > 0:52:21this was a guy who enjoyed acting.
0:52:21 > 0:52:26All right, we're very honest and very hard working.
0:52:26 > 0:52:28And the fact that he was British
0:52:28 > 0:52:31and so well-known in Britain was something we believed
0:52:31 > 0:52:33could be important for the movie.
0:52:33 > 0:52:36Why should somebody want to take all the curtains?
0:52:36 > 0:52:37For Eric to move from where Eric was
0:52:37 > 0:52:41into a dramatic role that seemed like a very good fit,
0:52:41 > 0:52:44he could take a right at the traffic lights and he was there.
0:52:44 > 0:52:46His character was supposed to be absent-minded,
0:52:46 > 0:52:49but he, of course, knows what's going on
0:52:49 > 0:52:53and so we played with that idea.
0:52:53 > 0:52:56Oh, don't worry, the fog won't let her get very far.
0:52:56 > 0:52:58Oh, yes, the fog.
0:52:58 > 0:53:03He went over to Spain to film the part.
0:53:03 > 0:53:06A, he was overawed by the size of the Winnebago he had
0:53:06 > 0:53:11because in his day, he never had that sort of help.
0:53:11 > 0:53:13Eric, you should be this side.
0:53:13 > 0:53:16Always, that's it. And Finuala in the middle.
0:53:16 > 0:53:17'He spoke a bit of Spanish,
0:53:17 > 0:53:21'so the crew enjoyed him coming on and saying, "Hello," and "How are you?"
0:53:21 > 0:53:24'One of the things that I didn't know at that time
0:53:24 > 0:53:27'was that he was almost deaf and blind.
0:53:27 > 0:53:30'One day he showed me the glasses with no glass.
0:53:30 > 0:53:32'We had this scene in which he had to'
0:53:32 > 0:53:35walk through the forest in the middle of the night
0:53:35 > 0:53:38and on top of that we were putting in some fog.
0:53:38 > 0:53:42'Of course, when he acted, he had to take off his glasses,
0:53:42 > 0:53:44'so at that moment he couldn't hear,
0:53:44 > 0:53:46'so I thought, "How are we going to do this shot?"'
0:53:46 > 0:53:48The truth is I don't know how he did it,
0:53:48 > 0:53:50but when you see the shot, you'd never believe
0:53:50 > 0:53:53that this is a man who is almost not seeing,
0:53:53 > 0:53:54not hearing anything.
0:53:54 > 0:53:58Sadly, a few months after the film came out,
0:53:58 > 0:54:02Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise separated
0:54:02 > 0:54:06and it was in the news and I said to Dad,
0:54:06 > 0:54:08I said, "Did you hear on the news today
0:54:08 > 0:54:11"that Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman have separated?"
0:54:11 > 0:54:14And I said, "Is it anything to do with you?"
0:54:14 > 0:54:18And he said, "I can't help being attractive to women."
0:54:23 > 0:54:25And for his next move,
0:54:25 > 0:54:28Sykes would become part of a worldwide phenomenon.
0:54:30 > 0:54:32'It was just a telephone call,'
0:54:32 > 0:54:35so I went in and said, "Would you like to do a Harry Potter?"
0:54:35 > 0:54:38He said, "Have I got time?" There was a little banter,
0:54:38 > 0:54:40and I said, "Eric, this is for real."
0:54:40 > 0:54:42Somebody said, "What about Eric?"
0:54:42 > 0:54:44and I thought, "Well, that would be wonderful,"
0:54:44 > 0:54:47I would get to work with this man who is legendary.
0:54:47 > 0:54:48It was right at the beginning,
0:54:48 > 0:54:52so you wanted people to kind of sit up and take notice.
0:54:53 > 0:54:55He rehearsed a lot.
0:54:55 > 0:54:58You could see that what he'd said to himself,
0:54:58 > 0:54:59he kind of mapped it out.
0:54:59 > 0:55:03The whole thing was very specifically, precisely constructed.
0:55:03 > 0:55:05It wasn't a personality performance,
0:55:05 > 0:55:08although he had a very strong personality, but it was delicate.
0:55:08 > 0:55:10Bloody kids.
0:55:13 > 0:55:15I think in the end probably what I was watching
0:55:15 > 0:55:16was a lifetime's work.
0:55:19 > 0:55:23It was just lovely having Eric Sykes around
0:55:23 > 0:55:26and I think that's what he did to the audience,
0:55:26 > 0:55:28he was nice to have around.
0:55:28 > 0:55:29We could do it without the boy.
0:55:29 > 0:55:34No! The boy is everything. It cannot be done without him.
0:55:34 > 0:55:36I'm very glad to have worked with Eric Sykes.
0:55:36 > 0:55:38I'm really glad to have done it.
0:55:38 > 0:55:40Stand aside or I'll tell
0:55:40 > 0:55:43so I can give our guest a proper greeting.
0:55:43 > 0:55:45Abracadabra!
0:55:48 > 0:55:50I think the most Dad enjoyed about Harry Potter
0:55:50 > 0:55:53was the fact his grandchildren were so thrilled
0:55:53 > 0:55:54that they saw a film that he was in
0:55:54 > 0:55:57because they'd read these books
0:55:57 > 0:55:59and they were just so proud of their grandad
0:55:59 > 0:56:01and we were so proud as a family.
0:56:05 > 0:56:08And one person had remained a constant presence
0:56:08 > 0:56:09through all those years.
0:56:09 > 0:56:12ERIC: 'When I went back through my life,
0:56:12 > 0:56:14'I put through all the miracles
0:56:14 > 0:56:19'and all the things that had happened to me that I had accepted,
0:56:19 > 0:56:21'I realised that it wasn't just me doing it,
0:56:21 > 0:56:22'it was my mother guiding me.'
0:56:26 > 0:56:29'I worked it out for him...'
0:56:30 > 0:56:33..that she didn't die in childbirth.
0:56:33 > 0:56:39In fact, she died three weeks after Eric was born,
0:56:40 > 0:56:42And I told him
0:56:42 > 0:56:46and I thought it was just so touching.
0:56:46 > 0:56:49He said, "So she did hold me."
0:56:56 > 0:56:59'Every artist has got their own magic'
0:56:59 > 0:57:03and his was magic that lasted for 60 years
0:57:03 > 0:57:05no matter what he did, direct, act.
0:57:05 > 0:57:07The only thing he didn't try was singing.
0:57:07 > 0:57:11Thank God. He'd probably have been good at that as well.
0:57:11 > 0:57:12It's my wrist.
0:57:14 > 0:57:17Well, why have you taken your trousers off?
0:57:17 > 0:57:19He loved everybody and everybody loved him.
0:57:21 > 0:57:24Oh, Eric!
0:57:24 > 0:57:28Eric's light was a lone genius in our time.
0:57:31 > 0:57:33'He had this timeless quality'
0:57:33 > 0:57:36and I think it can, you know, people can watch it again and again,
0:57:36 > 0:57:38it will be around forever.
0:57:38 > 0:57:40Here's a bit of fun for you.
0:57:40 > 0:57:42THEY LAUGH
0:57:45 > 0:57:46Come on.
0:57:46 > 0:57:49LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE
0:58:24 > 0:58:25Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd