The Squirrels (TV series)

The Squirrels is a British television sitcom created by Eric Chappell. It was produced by ATV for the 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.

The Squirrels
Created byEric Chappell
StarringBernard Hepton
Patsy Rowlands
Ken Jones
Alan David
Country of originUnited Kingdom
No. of series3
No. of episodes28 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time30 minutes
Production companyATV
Release
Original networkITV
Original release8 July 1974 (1974-07-08) –
10 February 1977 (1977-02-10)

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.[1]

Cast

Episodes

Pilot (1974)
No.TitleWritten byOriginal air date
Pilot"The Squirrels"Eric Chappell8 July 1974 (1974-07-08)

Series 1 (1975)
No.TitleWritten byOriginal air date
1"We Don't Want To Lose You"Eric Chappell18 July 1975 (1975-07-18)
2"Men Without Women"Eric Chappell25 July 1975 (1975-07-25)
3"Man Most Likely To"Eric Chappell1 August 1975 (1975-08-01)
4"The Yes Man"Eric Chappell8 August 1975 (1975-08-08)
5"The Fiddle"Eric Chappell15 August 1975 (1975-08-15)
6"The Favourite"Eric Chappell22 August 1975 (1975-08-22)
7"The Whizz Kid"Eric Chappell29 August 1975 (1975-08-29)

Series 2 (1976)
No.TitleWritten byOriginal air date
8"Ashes To Ashes"Eric Chappell9 July 1976 (1976-07-09)
9"Fluffy-Bun"Eric Chappell16 July 1976 (1976-07-16)
10"Burke In Clover"Richard Harris23 July 1976 (1976-07-23)
11"The New Broom"Eric Chappell30 July 1976 (1976-07-30)
12"On the Carpet"Kenneth Cope6 August 1976 (1976-08-06)
13"The Renaissance"Alan Hackney13 August 1976 (1976-08-13)
14"The X Factor"Richard Harris20 August 1976 (1976-08-20)
15"The Weaker Sex"Eric Chappell27 August 1976 (1976-08-27)

Series 3 (1976–77)
No.TitleWritten byOriginal air date
16"The Snatch"Eric Chappell25 November 1976 (1976-11-25)
17"Leap Frog"Kenneth Cope2 December 1976 (1976-12-02)
18"The Cruise"Brian Finch9 December 1976 (1976-12-09)
19"The Bonus Scheme"Phil Redmond16 December 1976 (1976-12-16)
20"The Long Hot Summer"Eric Chappell23 December 1976 (1976-12-23)
21"The Argument"Alan Hackney30 December 1976 (1976-12-30)
22"What a Way To Go"Kenneth Cope6 January 1977 (1977-01-06)
23"Shoulder To Shoulder"Eric Chappell13 January 1977 (1977-01-13)
24"The Game's the Thing"Brian Finch20 January 1977 (1977-01-20)
25"The Cover Up"Alan Hackney27 January 1977 (1977-01-27)
26"The Break-In"Phil Redmond3 February 1977 (1977-02-03)
27"Men of Straw"Brian Finch10 February 1977 (1977-02-10)

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 set 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).[2]

References
  1. Hewett, Richard (2003–14). "Chappell, Eric (1933-)". BFI Screenonline. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
  2. "The Squirrels". TV Brain. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
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