In ITV sitcom The Losers, wrestling promoter Sydney Foskett (Leonard Rossiter) decides that the best way to make his new protégé Nigel(Alfred Molina) a star is to make him lose all his fights, figuring that the world loves a loser. Nigel is not the sharpest pencil in the box and never quite realises that Foskett is playing him.
Foskett is another well drawn Leonard Rossiter characterisation but The Losers didn’t catch the public imagination at all, marking something of a misfire both for Rossiter (who was probably Britain’s favourite comic actor at the time thanks to Rising Damp and Reggie Perrin) and writer Alan Coren (at the time editor of Punch). The series did offer an early role for the excellent Alfred Molina though.
Cast: Leonard Rossiter as Sydney Foskett; Alfred Molina as Nigel; Joe Gladwin as Dennis Breene
Writer: Alan Coren / Theme Music: Jack Parnell, David Lindup / Executive Producer: Terence Baker / Producer and Director: Joe McGrath
UK / ITV – ATV / 6×30 minute episodes / 12 November – 17 December 1978 Sundays at 9.15pm
