The Squirrels (TV series)
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2014}}
{{More citations needed|date=January 2021}}
{{Infobox television
| image =The Squirrels (TV series).jpg
| runtime = 30 minutes
| creator = Eric Chappell
| starring = Bernard Hepton
Patsy Rowlands
Ken Jones
Alan David
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| company = ATV
| channel = ITV
| first_aired = {{Start date|1974|07|08|df=y}}
| last_aired = {{End date|1977|02|10|df=y}}
| num_series = 3
| num_episodes = 28
}}
The Squirrels is a British television sitcom created by Eric Chappell. It was produced by ATV for ITV and broadcast from 1974 to 1977 running for 3 series and 28 episodes. Chappell later created the Yorkshire Television sitcoms Rising Damp, among other series.
Plot and background
The theme was office politics in the accounts department of a fictitious TV rental company. Little work was seen to be done as the staff were usually skiving or engaging in office romances. Bernard Hepton played Mr Fletcher, the authoritarian boss who also saw himself as a 'ladies man' and Ken Jones played Rex, an unassertive subordinate.
Phil Redmond, the creator of the soap opera Brookside, was also a writer for the series. The scripts written by Eric Chappell formed the basis of a remake, Fiddlers Three, broadcast in 1991.{{cite news|last=Hewett|first=Richard|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/1367178/index.html|title=Chappell, Eric (1933-)|website=BFI Screenonline|date=2003–14|access-date=24 April 2022}}
Cast
- Bernard Hepton as Mr Fletcher
- Ken Jones as Rex
- Patsy Rowlands as Susan
- Alan David as Harry
- Ellis Jones as Burke
- Karin MacCarthy as Carol
Episodes
{{No plot|section|date=August 2020}}
= Pilot (1974) =
{{Episode table |overall=6 |background=000 |title=31 |writer=22 |airdate=20 |episodes=
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = Pilot
|Title = The Squirrels
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1974|7|8|df=y}}
|WrittenBy = Eric Chappell
|LineColor = 000
}}
}}
=Series 1 (1975)=
{{Episode table |background=919A8F |overall=6 |title=25 |writer=22 |airdate=20 |episodes=
{{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 1 |Title = We Don't Want To Lose You |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1975|7|18|df=y}} |WrittenBy = Eric Chappell
| LineColor = 919A8F }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 2 |Title = Men Without Women |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1975|7|25|df=y}} |WrittenBy = Eric Chappell
| LineColor = 919A8F }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 3 |Title = Man Most Likely To |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1975|8|1|df=y}} |WrittenBy = Eric Chappell
| LineColor = 919A8F }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 4 |Title = The Yes Man |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1975|8|8|df=y}} |WrittenBy = Eric Chappell
| LineColor = 919A8F }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 5 |Title = The Fiddle |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1975|8|15|df=y}} |WrittenBy = Eric Chappell
| LineColor = 919A8F }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 6 |Title = The Favourite |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1975|8|22|df=y}} |WrittenBy = Eric Chappell
| LineColor = 919A8F }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 7 |Title = The Whizz Kid |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1975|8|29|df=y}} |WrittenBy = Eric Chappell
| LineColor = 919A8F
}}
}}
=Series 2 (1976)=
{{Episode table |background=AC1B31 |overall=6 |title=25 |writer=22 |airdate=20 |episodes=
{{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 8 |Title = Ashes To Ashes |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1976|7|9|df=y}} |WrittenBy = Eric Chappell
| LineColor = AC1B31 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 9 |Title = Fluffy-Bun |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1976|7|16|df=y}} |WrittenBy = Eric Chappell
| LineColor = AC1B31 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 10 |Title = Burke In Clover |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1976|7|23|df=y}} |WrittenBy = Richard Harris
| LineColor = AC1B31 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 11 |Title = The New Broom |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1976|7|30|df=y}} |WrittenBy = Eric Chappell
| LineColor = AC1B31 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 12 |Title = On the Carpet |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1976|8|6|df=y}} |WrittenBy = Kenneth Cope
| LineColor = AC1B31 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 13 |Title = The Renaissance |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1976|8|13|df=y}} |WrittenBy = Alan Hackney
| LineColor = AC1B31 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 14 |Title = The X Factor |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1976|8|20|df=y}} |WrittenBy = Richard Harris
| LineColor = AC1B31 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 15 |Title = The Weaker Sex |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1976|8|27|df=y}} |WrittenBy = Eric Chappell
| LineColor = AC1B31
}}
}}
=Series 3 (1976–77)=
{{Episode table |background=6E5240 |overall=6 |title=25 |writer=22 |airdate=20 |episodes=
{{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 16 |Title = The Snatch |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1976|11|25|df=y}} |WrittenBy = Eric Chappell
| LineColor = 6E5240 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 17|Title = Leap Frog |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1976|12|2|df=y}} |WrittenBy = Kenneth Cope
| LineColor = 6E5240 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 18 |Title = The Cruise |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1976|12|9|df=y}} |WrittenBy = Brian Finch
| LineColor = 6E5240 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 19 |Title = The Bonus Scheme |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1976|12|16|df=y}} |WrittenBy = Phil Redmond
| LineColor = 6E5240 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 20 |Title = The Long Hot Summer |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1976|12|23|df=y}} |WrittenBy = Eric Chappell
| LineColor = 6E5240 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 21 |Title = The Argument |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1976|12|30|df=y}} |WrittenBy = Alan Hackney
| LineColor = 6E5240 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 22 |Title = What a Way To Go |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1977|1|6|df=y}} |WrittenBy = Kenneth Cope
| LineColor = 6E5240 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 23 |Title = Shoulder To Shoulder |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1977|1|13|df=y}} |WrittenBy = Eric Chappell
| LineColor = 6E5240 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 24 |Title = The Game's the Thing |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1977|1|20|df=y}} |WrittenBy = Brian Finch
| LineColor = 6E5240 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 25 |Title = The Cover Up |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1977|1|27|df=y}} |WrittenBy = Alan Hackney
| LineColor = 6E5240 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 26 |Title = The Break-In |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1977|2|3|df=y}} |WrittenBy = Phil Redmond
| LineColor = 6E5240 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 27 |Title = Men of Straw |OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1977|2|10|df=y}} |WrittenBy = Brian Finch
| LineColor = 6E5240
}}
}}
Archive status and home release
Surviving episodes of The Squirrels were released by Network DVD in the UK (Region 2) on 29 April 2013. This DVD consisted of the existing 22 episodes (out of 28). Scripts for some of the missing episodes are included in .pdf format on disc one. The missing episodes are the pilot, 1/1, 1/5, 1/6, and 1/7. The rest of the first series survives only in inferior recordings to the original video format, either re-converted from NTSC copies (1/2, 1/3) or as a domestic videotape (1/4).{{cite web|url=https://www.tvbrain.info/tv-archive?showname=The+Squirrels&type=lostshow|title=The Squirrels|work=TV Brain|access-date=25 January 2021}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|id=0071057|title=The Squirrels}}
{{Eric Chappell}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Squirrels (TV series), The}}
Category:1970s British sitcoms
Category:1970s British workplace comedy television series
Category:1974 British television series debuts
Category:1977 British television series endings
Category:British English-language television shows
Category:Television shows produced by Associated Television (ATV)