The Plank

Tommy Cooper and Eric Sykes are a couple of workmen putting down a floor. Alas, Sykes burn a plank in a stove for heat, so they get into his Morris Minor to drive to the lumberyard, buy a new plank, drive back, and finish the job.

It's not that easy.

It's a sign of the new style of comedy, a comedy of frustration, in which nothing is done as a gag, but the spreading chaos caused by the two and that piece of wood. You watch it wondering what's going to happen next, what else can they do to turn London into a madhouse without half trying... and the problems keep on coming, with seemingly every second banana in show business caught in the act. It's certainly not a laugh-out-loud comedy, but it will raise a sardonic smile that won't go away over its 50 minutes.