A Sharp Intake Of Breath

A Sharp Intake Of Breath is a twenty-two episode sitcom that aired on ITV from 1978-1981 (with a pilot airing in 1977). The series follows the antics of average Peter Barnes and his struggles with the British bureaucracy and red-tape, and his constant failure.

An attempt at an USA version of this show was started in 1981 with Dick Van Dyke in the Peter Barnes role (renamed Harry Fitzsimmons, and as a manager in a supermarket). A pilot was shot but ABC did not make it into a series.