Eric Sykes the 1977 Yorkshire Television adaptation of "Charley's Aunt" and appeared in the role of Brassett. The third version of "The Plank" was made in 1979 for Thames TV as a half-hour TV special. Sykes was the subject of Thames Television's "This Is Your Life", broadcast on 25 December 1979. 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
Eric Sykes These included a remake of the 1960s episode "Sykes and a Stranger", guest-starring Peter Sellers as the stranger, Tommy Grando, in what was to be Sellers’s final TV part. During the 1970s, Sykes and Jimmy Edwards took part in a performance of "Big Bad Mouse" entertaining Rhodesian troops for Ian Smith, the Prime Minister of Rhodesia. In 1973, Sykes had a small role as a police sergeant in the Douglas Hickox thriller "Theatre of Blood". In 1977, Sykes wrote and starred in another television special, "Eric Sykes Shows a Few of Our Favourite Things". He also wrote the script for