...this show best?" Rowan serves it by being at its apex, Hugh Laurie is here, Stephen Fry is there, I'm down there somewhere, but still serving the totality....

...his butler. And this is a tradition as well. Devilled kidneys, my lord? Jeeves in the PG Wodehouse stories is the great valet sidekick. And the other...system is written into it. Bunter! Bad night, my lord? Characters like Bunter, Jeeves and Alfred wou

...of Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson, Dr Watson is the one who looks like Arthur Conan Doyle. The occasional times they've done Sherlock Holmes stories...I think there may well be some elements of that, but I don't think it was what Arthur Conan Doyle was

...bond. It was really strange how I got the job as Paul's magic assistant, Paul Daniels, my husband. I'd been a classical ballet dancer for the Iranian...we were safe. So before I started rehearsals with him, I had no idea who Paul Daniels was, or what h

...intellectually superior to the lead. The great thing about Sergeant Wilson, Jimmy Perry, who wrote it, said, is that, instead of having the boss, Captain...

...Holmes is even more intelligent. That's not the right thing to do. I think the Jeremy Brett series got it better, where you had a Watson then who was quite...of genius. Watson humanises Holmes absolutely. Holmes, particularly in his Jeremy Brett incarn

...novels, the kind of novels that were written by people like Henry Fielding or Daniel Defoe, you know, had sidekicks as their central characters. They come...

...species. Nobody can be Hercules, nobody can be Sherlock Holmes, but we can be Sancho Panza or Dr Watson. A study in sidekicks has to start with Sherlock...perhaps better than anywhere outside of Don Quixote and his famous sidekick, Sancho Panza. And hi

...they had before. Why would they want me?" Then, when I met Larry, I realised. Bruce Forsyth's shtick involved the gentle humiliation of the guests on the...

...is to humanise a sort of genius. .. to the modern cop show. I thinks he's Gene Hunt's bitch, basically. We plot the companion's course from crime fiction...to supplement the machismo of the lead. Where Watson had his service revolver, Gene Hunt's sidek

...the whole future of your species. Nobody can be Hercules, nobody can be Sherlock Holmes, but we can be Sancho Panza or Dr Watson. A study in sidekicks...we can be Sancho Panza or Dr Watson. A study in sidekicks has to start with Sherlock Holmes and the

...of the guests on the Generation Game. You need those. Does she need those? Larry Grayson never did that. Isla St Clair, I think, as a resort, took a...

...lunatic, a nutcase, a mad person, the village idiot, you know, the fool. Baldrick was a great example of that, somebody who was so absurd and so...his ridiculous suggestions, the audience just roared. I think the character of Baldrick is one of those a

...Was it from Cats? No, it most certainly was not. The relationship between Inspector Morse and Lewis is incredibly important. Morse, grumpy old man, but a...

...then, say it. Do you want a hand, mate? The only exception I can think of is Bertie Wooster, who's the funny character and Jeeves is the clever character....

..."How do be serve this show best?" Rowan serves it by being at its apex, Hugh Laurie is here, Stephen Fry is there, I'm down there somewhere, but still...

...and gentlemen, now that I'm taking over the show, it's going to be called The Debbie McGee Show. Behind the scenes, something magical was happening, as Paul...Hello there. People were more interested in the marriage than the magic. Debbie McGee is a fa

...The very earliest novels, the kind of novels that were written by people like Henry Fielding or Daniel Defoe, you know, had sidekicks as their central...

...time working as a caravan salesman, and I jumped on the sleeper train down to London on the Monday night. The auditions were on Wednesday morning. I wanted...

...to Watson than sometimes makes the screen. He's been a soldier, he's been to a Afghanistan, he's a husband, he's been in general practice, in lots of ways,...

...think you're just watching a madcap, absurd adventure going on in a hotel in Torquay, but actually it's connected to some brilliant long tradition of the...

...I think. And he's busy in the office of the hotel. Since coming here from Spain, leaving my mother… 'I knock on the door, he bangs it shut again,...very much for my birthday present, is very nice…" Since coming here from Spain, leaving my five brot

...first shows to hold open auditions and let the viewers decide. I was living in Edinburgh at the time working as a caravan salesman, and I jumped on the...

...like? "Where did he come from?" and all that. Not even that he came from Barcelona. I invented that somewhere along the line. Things were invented all...

...would be very difficult to sell in a modern way. Maybe somebody who's a female Bridget Jones type executive with a super smart PA, probably a younger gay man...

...dry and boring, so you can jazz it up. Having sidekicks help you. From the Kent Messenger, the commissioner said the wife was a neurotic woman, with one...

...as their central characters. They come together in a little comedy like Fawlty Towers. You think you're just watching a madcap, absurd adventure going...Table 1. It's Wednesday. Room seven is Table 5. No, please, here. Come here. Fawlty Towers was tigh

...Who had what it takes to be a That's Life presenter? Shows like the X Factor, Pop Idol, and a lot of the reality shows now have become competitions. But I...

...And you see that to brilliant effect, perhaps better than anywhere outside of Don Quixote and his famous sidekick, Sancho Panza. And his age? Well, I deduced...

...has the authority. I am an officer. Yes, quite, sir. You're supposed to be an NCO. Yes, of course, yes. Right. Very well, remember… Captain Mainwaring is a...

...the same institution? There's tart of the house and there's ouzo with tit… Adrian Mills was an actor, wasn't he? He'd wrestled a giant snake semi-nude in...

...Now what was Doc Cox's doctorate in, I wonder? Did he study perhaps alongside Dr Fox in the same institution? There's tart of the house and there's ouzo with...

...one of the most original pieces of casting in LE history. Please meet Miss Isla St Clair. They phoned up and said they wanted me to do it. I was...Game. You need those. Does she need those? Larry Grayson never did that. Isla St Clair, I think, as a res

...Adrian Mills was an actor, wasn't he? He'd wrestled a giant snake semi-nude in Doctor Who. I was working as a part-time debt collector at Earl's Court. I'd...

...to the audience. Lafontaine was right, eh, Bunter? Bunter? Bunter, who is Lord Peter Wimsey's sidekick, he's actually his butler. And this is a tradition...

...was to always get the better of humans. …and dysfunctional relationships. Manuel is Basil's sidekick. They need each other, in a strange way. These are...the ensemble piece, a supporting character can become an iconic comic hero. Manuel. Si. The bott

...superiors' knowledge understandable to the audience. Lafontaine was right, eh, Bunter? Bunter? Bunter, who is Lord Peter Wimsey's sidekick, he's actually his...send him off on any errand and make absolutely certain it was done properly. Bunter had brai

...do things that the main characters might not quite allow themselves to do. In King Lear, the Fool is the ultimate sidekick as well. And when you look at...

...you're playing your character well. Drama's full of lovable foul-ups. Oh, Rigsby! But the natural home of the stupid sidekick is the sitcom. I think...

...Game, that assistant is completely different. They become a sidekick proper. Anthea Redfern becomes an important and integral part of the show. Now, the...

...comes again and again in comedy. Look at the Vicar Of Dibley with Alice. In Father Ted, you know… Father Ted isn't the sharpest, but Father Dougal is...

...isn't the sharpest, but Father Dougal is incredibly stupid. And if you look at Blackadder, you can look at Baldric as very much the sidekick to Blackadder....you look at Blackadder, you can look at Baldric as very much the sidekick to Blackadder. But a

...and most essential elements. Can you just go anywhere you like in that TARDIS? Yes, within reason. A good TV sidekick is someone who's kind of stupid...the main act and the assistant that drives the narrative. Now, come on, TARDIS. We are getting out o

...of the sidekick. It's one of its best manifestations, I think. Andrew Sachs's Manuel has got to be one of the greatest comic creations since the...was tightly scripted, but the little we know of Manuel's background comes from Sachs himself. There wasn'

...wasn't just women in the supporting role. Break or bust? Cake or crust? Yeah, That's Life! If you look at That's Life, to make a consumer show work, on paper...I remember phoning my parents and I said, "I'm the new presenter on BBC One's That's Life."

...looking at Greek drama, or arguably very low culture, the relationship between Tintin and Snowy, it's essentially the same relationship. The sidekick has...

...for the Iranian National Ballet. It was the time of the revolution, when the Ayatollah created trouble, and we were all imprisoned in one apartment block...

...People wrote to us, people phoned us, people's agents got in touch with us. Doc Cox. Now what was Doc Cox's doctorate in, I wonder? Did he study perhaps...

...me about it. Iolaus, who's Hercules' sidekick, who's the wiry, clever one, or Patroclus, who is Achilles' sidekick. I wish you'd tell me what you're talking...

...Mozart and his Wagner. I liked that. It was good. Who was it? That, Lewis, was Maria Callas. Was it from Cats? No, it most certainly was not. The relationship...

...my lord, but having seen this morning's copy of the Times, I had no doubt your Lordship would wish to return to Riddlesdale at once. Riddlesdale? Captain...

...but it's a silent authority. She could never speak about it, it's mysterious. Put a little magic Put a little magic Put a little magic in your life. Quite a...got the job because you were his girlfriend". I tend to just rise above it. Put a little magi

...Greek drama, or arguably very low culture, the relationship between Tintin and Snowy, it's essentially the same relationship. The sidekick has existed all the...

...Wilson, Jimmy Perry, who wrote it, said, is that, instead of having the boss, Captain Mainwaring, being a toff, and the subservient sidekick being...that wise, sir?" is his catchphrase. He's the sensible one. But, somehow, Captain Mainwaring actually h

...always get the better of humans. …and dysfunctional relationships. Manuel is Basil's sidekick. They need each other, in a strange way. These are the...leaving my five mothers… 'They need each other in a strange way.' When Basil gets angry with him

...that does still have currency in modern fiction. Right, let's fire up the Quattro. And when it all kicks off, the sidekick has a vital function, to...