Tripper's Day

Erm, the closest Leslie Crowther ever got to this programme was sitting at home watching it with the rest of us.

As the cast list indicates, Leonard Rossiter was the principle actor in this rather below par sitcom. His untimely death prevented him from appearing in a second series so the title was changed to Slinger's Day and Bruce Forsyth stepped in to replace him.

The show also featured an early appearance by Andrew Paul who later went on to play the part for which he is best known - PC Dave Quinnan in The Bill.

1984 saw the arrival of Tripper's Day, a six part series which saw Leonard Rossiter star as Norman Tripper, manager of Supafare supermarket.

Each episode sees him have run ins with his staff, and be pushed to the limits by tiresome customers, and awkward situations.

Let's be honest, it's not great, personally I think it's well acted, with some lovely characters, including Security Guard Alf, and the lustful Canteen supervisor Hilda.

Unfortunately, the show is let down by very poor scripts, the writing is the major flaw throughout. You can't fault the cast, they deliver what they're given, and sometimes Rossiter was able to elevate it, by too often the scripts were feeble.

Think of a poor mix of Are you being served and Trollied. Sadly Rossiter passed away, so when the show returned a few years later, it would be fronted by Bruce Forsyth, that's my next watch.

It's watchable, but don't expect blu laughs, 5/10.