Fiddler's Three is a sitcom aired by Yorkshire Television which aired in 1991. It concerns a trio of middle-aged accountants, called Ralph (Peter Davison), Harvey (Peter Blake), and Osbourne (Tyler Butterworth), working in the finance department of a business which sells computers. None of them are particularly interested in work, however, being more interested in paranoia, conspiracy and seeking to be recognized or replace their boss J. J. Morley. The lead figure in all of this is Ralph, with his wife Ros (Paula Wilcox) usually on hand to soothe him. Also part of the cast is the Sassy Secretary Norma Dove (Cindy Marshall-Day), who sometimes shows more intelligence than the other men.
The final sitcom work of Eric Chapell, this show is a remake of his 1970s sitcom The Squirrels, albeit updated to fit the 90s setting. In spite of this, however, the show only lasted 14 episodes.
Tropes in this series:
- Accidental Pervert: In "Detective Story", a groper has been caught near the premises of the office and the Fiddlers are chosen to help pad out the detective line. Somehow, the woman mistakes Ralph for the groper, probably due to the fact that they have similar features. Ralph is forced to spend the episode proving his innocence.
- Closet Shuffle: In "Time Flies", Ralph and Ros are attempting to buy a replacement bed. However, Ralph doesn't want his boss, who wants the same bed, to know he's out of work so hides in a cupboard nearby. After several conversations between the boss and Ros, said boss casually opens the door and tells Ralph to see him back at work.
- Criminal Doppelgänger: In "Detective Story", a groper looks similar enough to Ralph that everyone keeps commenting on it, particularly about the fact that they both have staring eyes. This of course makes it harder for Ralph to prove his innocence. It later conspires that the act of groping never conspired at all, being a couple who made up the whole thing to frame Ralph, suggesting that the man may never have looked like Ralph anyway.
- Crying Wolf: During the course of "Time Flies", Harvey keeps coming in late to work, making up ridiculous excuses that paint himself in a heroic light that none of the others believe. As such, Ralph doesn't believe it when he hears about Harvey rescuing two old ladies from a house fire... until Norma comes in with news that he's on the local radio being interviewed for this act.
- Dumb Is Good: Osbourne isn't exactly the brightest of the three, but he's also the nicest. In "The Whiz Kid", whilst he struggles with the interview questions that he tells Ralph, he's also the one who tries to warn Ralph that he's applying for his own job when Harvey is unwilling to.
- Eat the Evidence: In "The Fiddle", Ralph buys 112 packets of crisps, only to learn that they're technically stolen materials. His response is to attempt to eat all of them at home, believing that simply burning them would be an admission of guilt. Thankfully, he doesn't eat too much of them when his boss reveals that they were not in fact stolen but simply unfit for human consumption.
- Fake Alibi: In "Detective Story", Ralph is accused of being a groper and is worried about his alibi, which had him working alone at the office, as there was no one there to prove his claims. Harvey suggests a fake alibi involving him being at a Chinese restaurant with him, but it doesn't really work - Norma disproves it on the basis that she was there as well and didn't see Ralph, whilst Ros disproves it on the fact that Ralph had a large meal beforehand, and wouldn't have the stomach to eat more.
- Meaningful Name: "The Fiddle" features an auditor called "Hawk", which fittingly for his name has eyes that can stare right through you and has sent people to nervous breakdowns and heart attacks.
- Mistaken for Cheating: In "The Dark Horse", Ralph heads to a meeting, where Harvey insists that he pursue a spot of cheating for a woman named Cynthia. Whilst looking for Cynthia, Ralph stumbles upon his wife Ros, who has decided to go to the hotel of her own accord, and she is briefly led with the impression that Ralph wanted to cheat on her with Cynthia.
- Nice, Mean, and In-Between: Of the three fiddlers, Osbourne is the nice one, usually being the one to try to convince the others to do good deeds, Ralph is the In Between, kinder than Harvey, but willing to do bad decisions if it means keeping his job or moving up the ranks, and Harvey is the Mean, the one most willing to not care about the others and lying to get his way.
- Pointy-Haired Boss: J. J. Morley is not very intelligent, rather incompetent, and doesn't care about his staff too much - notably, he doesn't believe Ralph to be deserving of a promotion as seen in "The Whiz Kid". As a result, none of the male members of staff particularly care about him, with Ralph even calling him pathetic and old.
- The Remake: Of the 1970s sitcom The Squirrels.
- Remake Cameo: Peter Blake made a brief appearance as a postman in the last episode of The Squirrels before having a more major role here as Harvey.
- Right Behind Me: In "Detective Story", Ralph has some poor things to say about the police force, talking about how they don't know enough about criminal psychology and interrogation techniques and that they "can be incredibly stupid". He's unaware that his boss and Detective Sargent Stubbs have walked in behind in until it's too late.
- Setting Update: Whilst The Squirrels was concerned with the life of people in the office in the 1970s, this show updates the setting to the 1990s. It's most notable with the exact product that the company is peddling - whilst The Squirrels is concerned with the selling of TV rentals, this show replaces it with computers.
- Sexy Secretary: Norma Dove is the secretary of the office and is attractive enough that the majority of the male cast have flirted with her.
- The Smurfette Principle: Whilst Ros is part of the cast, the only apparent female presence as part of the office staff is Norma Dove.
- The Starscream: The main trio is more interested in trying to replace their boss than in doing their work.
- Troubling Unchildlike Behaviour: Ralph's children were once caught playing with bones of all things by a man, who reckons it was creepier than anything he had seen in Korea. To be fair, it might have been because they followed the kid with the gumboots...
- Vacation Episode: The plot of "The Dark Horse" features Ralph heading off on a company conference and looking forward to it despite insisting otherwise to his wife. However, things go awry when Harvey is insistent he let his morals loose for a change and find himself a woman to enjoy company with.
- Women Are Wiser: Ros and Norma are much smarter than their male counterparts, most notably when they are able to provide solutions to puzzles quicker than the males in "The Whiz Kid".
