A Sharp Intake of Breath explained

Genre:Situation Comedy
Creator:Ronnie Taylor
Director:Les Chatfield (1977–79)
Stuart Allen (1980–81)
Starring:David Jason
Jacqueline Clarke
Richard Wilson
(series 1–3)
Alun Armstrong
(series 1–2)
Country:United Kingdom
Language:English
Num Series:4
Num Episodes:22
Producer:Les Chatfield (1977–79)
Stuart Allen (1980–81)
Company:ATV
Runtime:30 Minutes
Network:ITV

A Sharp Intake of Breath is a British sitcom starring David Jason, Jacqueline Clarke with Richard Wilson and Alun Armstrong for series 1-3, which ran from 1977 to 1981, when Jason took up the role of Del Trotter in Only Fools & Horses. It was made for the ITV network by ATV and recorded at ATV Elstree Studios. The opening titles featured cartoons by Mel Calman. Series 1-3 were written by Ronnie Taylor, series 4 by Vince Powell following the death of Taylor in 1979.

Plot

Jason played an everyman character called Peter Barnes and Jacqueline Clarke played his wife Sheila. Wilson and Armstrong played a range of petty officials and bureaucrats whose actions frustrated Barnes' attempts to deal with the necessities of everyday life. The title A Sharp Intake of Breath refers to the reactions of various characters to seemingly simple requests by Peter, generally followed by a denial. The show made use of the fourth wall plot device.

Cast

Episodes

Series 4 (1981)

Home media

The complete series was released on DVD by Network Distributing Limited on the 4 May 2015.