View source for Slinger's Day

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2012}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2012}}
{{Infobox television
| name    = Slinger's Day
| image        = Slinger's Day.png
| genre        = [[Sitcom]]
| creator      = [[w:Brian Cooke|Brian Cooke]]
| starring     = {{unbulleted list|[[Bruce Forsyth]]|[[Paul Clarkson]]|[[David Kelly (actor)|David Kelly]]|[[Philip Bird]]|[[Andrew Paul]]|[[Liz Crowther]]|Charlie Hawkins|Vicky Licorish|Suzanne Church|Jacqueline de Paza}}
| country      = United Kingdom
| language     = English
| num_series   = 2
| num_episodes = 12
| runtime      = 30 minutes
| producer     = Mark Stuart
| company      = [[w:Thames Television|Thames Television]]
| network      = [[w:ITV Network|ITV]]
| first_aired  = {{Start date|1986|9|3|df=y}}
| last_aired   = {{End date|1987|10|14|df=y}}
| preceded_by  = ''[[Tripper's Day]]''
| related      = ''[[w:Check It Out! (Canadian TV series)|Check It Out!]]''<br />''[[Full Frys]]''
}}
'''''Slinger's Day''''' is a British [[w:sitcom|sitcom]] that aired for two series from 1986 to 1987, made by [[w:Thames Television|Thames Television]] for the [[w:ITV (TV network)|ITV]] network. It was a continuation of ''[[Tripper's Day]]'', which had originally come to a natural end after [[Leonard Rossiter]]'s death, and, despite the overwhelmingly negative response it had drawn from reviewers and a section of the viewing public, was revived this time with [[Bruce Forsyth]] as a different character to Rossiter but fulfilling the same role, that of the manager of a [[w:London|London]] [[w:supermarket|supermarket]] with largely incompetent staff.

Like ''Tripper's Day'', it was created by [[w:Brian Cooke|Brian Cooke]], however, in contrast to the previous series, Cooke only wrote two episodes of the twelve episodes, more than half of them being written by [[Vince Powell]] with others being written by [[Alex Shearer]] and ''[[Sorry! (TV series)|Sorry!]]'' creators [[Ian Davidson (scriptwriter)|Ian Davidson]] and Peter Vincent, and one episode written by the prolific [[Andrew Marshall (writer)|Andrew Marshall]] and [[David Renwick]].

''Slinger's Day'' represented Forsyth's only ever situation comedy acting role, and he remained more associated with [[Stand-up comedy|stand-up routines]] and [[gameshow]]s.

==Plot==
Cecil Slinger (played by Forsyth) is designated by the Supafare [[supermarket]] chain as the new manager in the branch that had previously been run by Norman Tripper. Like his predecessor, Slinger is forced to manage a supermarket branch that employs possibly the worst supermarket staff in the world: Mr. Christian (played by Clarkson), the cheerful but naïve assistant manager; Fred (played by Kelly), a lazy, alcoholic and inept [[security guard]]; Hardie (played by Bird), the [[trade union|union]] [[shop steward]]; as well as Higgins, Hardie's assistant of sorts (played by Paul), [[secretary]] Sylvia (played by Crowther) and the pop tart-like{{Clarify|date=August 2010}} [[Point of sale|checkout]] [[cashier]] Dottie (played by Licorish).

Fred replaced Alf (played in ''Tripper's'' by [[Gordon Gostelow]]), and in the second series Sylvia was replaced by Miss Foster (played by Church) and Dottie was replaced by Shirley (played by de Paza).

==Cast==
The three main actors credited in the opening credits of ''Tripper's Day'' ([[Leonard Rossiter]], [[Pat Ashton]] and [[Gordon Gostelow]]) did not reprise their roles for ''Slinger's Day'', with the Rossiter and Gostelow roles replaced respectively by [[Bruce Forsyth]] and [[David Kelly (actor)|David Kelly]]. Many of the supporting cast of ''Tripper's Day'' did reprise their roles for the series, however only [[Philip Bird]] and [[Paul Clarkson]] appeared in both series.
{{Div col}}
* Bruce Forsyth as Cecil Slinger
* David Kelly as Fred
* Philip Bird as Hardie
* Paul Clarkson as Mr Christian
* [[Andrew Paul]] as Higgins (series 1)
* Vicky Licorish as Dottie (series 1)
* [[Liz Crowther]] as Sylvia (series 1)
* Suzanne Church as Miss Foster (series 2)
* Jacqueline De Peza as Shirley (series 2)
* [[Charlie Hawkins]] as Colin Wilkins (series 2)
{{Div col end}}

==Episodes==
===Series 1 (1986)===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!style="width:60px;"|No.<br>overal
!style="width:60px;"|No. in<br>series
!style="width:200px;"|Title
!style="width:150px;"|Directed by
!style="width:250px;"|Written by
!style="width:150px;"|Original air date
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber   = 1
| EpisodeNumber2  = 1
| Title           = New Management
| DirectedBy      = Mark Stuart
| WrittenBy       = Brian Cooke
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1986|09|03|df=y}}
| ShortSummary    = Cecil Slinger takes over a struggling Supafare branch.
| LineColor       = 
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber   = 2
| EpisodeNumber2  = 2
| Title           = Going Bananas
| DirectedBy      = Mark Stuart
| WrittenBy       = Brian Cooke
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1986|09|10|df=y}}
| ShortSummary    = 
| LineColor       = 
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber   = 3
| EpisodeNumber2  = 3
| Title           = Butter Wouldn't Melt
| DirectedBy      = Mark Stuart
| WrittenBy       = Vince Powell
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1986|09|17|df=y}}
| ShortSummary    = 
| LineColor       = 
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber   = 4
| EpisodeNumber2  = 4
| Title           = A Right Royal Mix-Up
| DirectedBy      = Mark Stuart
| WrittenBy       = Vince Powell
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1986|09|24|df=y}}
| ShortSummary    = 
| LineColor       = 
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber   = 5
| EpisodeNumber2  = 5
| Title           = Black Letter Day
| DirectedBy      = Mark Stuart
| WrittenBy       = Vince Powell
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1986|10|01|df=y}}
| ShortSummary    = While trying to get himself a promotion, Slinger inadvertently sends a nasty letter to the area manager.
| LineColor       = 
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber   = 6
| EpisodeNumber2  = 6
| Title           = The Nightshift
| DirectedBy      = Mark Stuart
| WrittenBy       = Alex Shearer
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1986|10|08|df=y}}
| ShortSummary    = 
| LineColor       = 
}}
|}

===Series 2 (1987)===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!style="width:60px;"|No.<br>overal
!style="width:60px;"|No. in<br>series
!style="width:200px;"|Title
!style="width:150px;"|Directed by
!style="width:250px;"|Written by
!style="width:150px;"|Original air date
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber   = 7
| EpisodeNumber2  = 1
| Title           = Lost and Found
| DirectedBy      = Mark Stuart
| WrittenBy       = Vince Powell
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1987|09|09|df=y}}
| ShortSummary    = 
| LineColor       = 
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber   = 8
| EpisodeNumber2  = 2
| Title           = Whose Baby?
| DirectedBy      = Mark Stuart
| WrittenBy       = Vince Powell
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1987|09|16|df=y}}
| ShortSummary    = 
| LineColor       = 
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber   = 9
| EpisodeNumber2  = 3
| Title           = Taken for a Ride
| DirectedBy      = Mark Stuart
| WrittenBy       = Ian Davidson and Peter Vincent
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1987|09|23|df=y}}
| ShortSummary    = 
| LineColor       = 
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber   = 10
| EpisodeNumber2  = 4
| Title           = Initiative
| DirectedBy      = Mark Stuart
| WrittenBy       = Andrew Marshall and David Renwick
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1987|09|30|df=y}}
| ShortSummary    = The store must move five hundred units of [[fishcake]]s before they go bad.
| LineColor       = 
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber   = 11
| EpisodeNumber2  = 5
| Title           = The Stocktake
| DirectedBy      = Mark Stuart
| WrittenBy       = Alex Shearer
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1987|10|07|df=y}}
| ShortSummary    = 
| LineColor       = 
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber   = 12
| EpisodeNumber2  = 6
| Title           = A Pane in the Neck
| DirectedBy      = Mark Stuart
| WrittenBy       = Vince Powell
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1987|10|14|df=y}}
| ShortSummary    = When a window pane is accidentally broken, Mr. Slinger is forced to stay overnight and watch the shop.
| LineColor       = 
}}
|}

==Home media==
The complete series of ''Slinger's Day'' was released on 23 April 2012.

==References==
*[[w:Mark Lewisohn|Mark Lewisohn]], ''BBC Online Comedy Guide''/''Radio Times Guide to TV Comedy''
*British TV Online Resources

==External links==
*{{IMDb title|id=0088609|title=Slinger's Day}}
*{{British Comedy Guide|tv|slingers_day}}
*[http://phill.co.uk/comedy/slinger/''Slinger's Day'' at the British TV Online Resources]

{{Cooke and Mortimer}}
{{Vince Powell}}

[[Category:1980s British sitcoms]]
[[Category:1986 British television series debuts]]
[[Category:1987 British television series endings]]
[[Category:English-language television shows]]
[[Category:ITV sitcoms]]
[[Category:Television shows produced by Thames Television]]
[[Category:Television series by Fremantle (company)]]
[[Category:Television shows set in London]]
[[Category:Television series set in shops]]
[[Category:Television shows shot at Teddington Studios]]