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Created by Ronnie Taylor, the British sitcom A Sharp Intake of Breath was a Don Quixote for the 1970s. David Jason starred as Peter Barnes, a low-level working stiff who spent his life fighting a losing battle against bureaucratic red tape. Helping Peter cope as best she could was his long-suffering young wife Sheila, played by Jacqueline Clarke. Dependable comic actors Richard Wilson and Alun Armstrong appeared in all 22 half-hour episodes, always playing different characters in each installment. The sprightly animated "bridges" between scenes were provided by Mel Calman. Debuting with its pilot episode on July 25, 1977, A Sharp Intake of Breath was seen from February 20, 1978 to February 15, 1981, courtesy of ATV.