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Working his way up from the British radio scriptwriting pool, comedian Eric Sykes launched his film career with amusing supporting roles in such films as Charley Moon (1954) and Tommy the Toreador (1959). He was seen to good advantage in Watch Your Stern (1961), Heavens Above (1963) and other comedies, and was allowed a few serious moments in the 1962 war film Invasion Quartet (1964). Like most British comedians of the '60s, Sykes played cameos in such all-star laughspinners as Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (1965) and Those Daring Young Men in Their Jaunty Jalopies (1969). Eric Sykes was allowed to direct one film, The Plank (1968), and gained a considerable following with his starring TV program, in which he appeared with rotund Carry On regular Hattie Jacques.