Bill Sikes won several awards in the early 1960s. Oliver Reed played Sikes in the musical's 1968 film adaptation which also won several awards, with Reed's performance often cited as the best portrayal of Sikes - being labelled as "the sinister core of the film". His songs are removed from the film, making his performance of the character closer to that of the novel rather than the stage version. The famous climax of the 1948 film adaptation is retained and Bill Sikes dies in the same manner of being shot then accidentally hanging himself. In Disney's animated version, "Oliver & Company" (1988),
Eric Sykes Edwards, Graham Stark, Hattie Jacques, and future "Goodies" star Bill Oddie. (The film was later remade for Thames Television in 1978.) Also in 1967, Sykes and his old friend Jimmy Edwards started touring with the theatrical farce "Big Bad Mouse" which, while keeping more or less to a script, gave them rein to ad lib and address the audience. They would return to the production on and off until 1975, touring the UK twice and also taking the show abroad, including to Australia. Returning to television, Sykes and Jacques appeared in the 1967 special "Sykes Versus ITV" with Tommy Cooper