🔥 Karin MacCarthy Turns Up the Heat! | Bikini Beauty in The Squirrels (1976)

It may have been broadcast just two days before Christmas, but things are looking decidedly hot and summery in this wonderfully cheeky scene from The Squirrels (1976)! ☀️🔥 Taken from Series 3, Episode 5 — “The Long Hot Summer”, the episode looks back at the effects of Britain’s sweltering summer heatwave on the employees of International TV Rentals. And while everyone else is struggling with the temperature, the lovely Karin MacCarthy as Carol certainly knows how to dress for the occasion! 😉 Looking absolutely fabulous in a very skimpy bikini, Karin provides an unexpectedly glamorous moment in this otherwise office-bound British sitcom — and certainly gives us another reason to remember that legendary summer of 1976! 👙☀️ The episode sees Harry, played by Alan David, becoming increasingly carried away with his practical jokes as the heat gets to him, with predictably disastrous results for his unfortunate colleagues. Created by Eric Chappell, who would later become enormously famous for Rising Damp, The Squirrels followed the petty rivalries, ambitions and absurdities of the accounts department at International TV Rentals. It ran for three series between 1974 and 1977, with Karin’s Carol appearing throughout the regular series. 🌹 A Little About Karin MacCarthy Born Karin MacCarthy in Sutton, Surrey, on 18 November 1942, Karin enjoyed a television career stretching from the 1960s into the early 1980s. One of her notable early roles was Louisa Hurst in the BBC’s 1967 adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, starring Celia Bannerman as Elizabeth Bennet and Lewis Fiander as Mr Darcy. Karin appeared in five episodes of the six-part production. But comedy viewers are perhaps most likely to remember her as Carol in The Squirrels, a role she played across all three regular series from 1975 to 1977. She also appeared in shows including Moody and Pegg, The Goodies, Albert and Me, The Upchat Connection and Holding the Fort. Drama fans may also recognise Karin as Sara Ryan in the 1980 Professionals episode “Need to Know,” opposite Gordon Jackson, Martin Shaw and Lewis Collins. Sadly, Karin MacCarthy died on 3 October 2021, aged 78, following a long illness. She may not be one of the most frequently remembered actresses of her era today, but appearances such as this remind us just how many wonderful and glamorous character actresses populated British television in the 1960s and 70s. ❤️ And in The Long Hot Summer, Karin certainly lived up to the episode title! 😉🔥 🍿 Subscribe to The Saucy Retro Picture Show for more gorgeous stars, forgotten sitcoms and wonderfully cheeky moments from classic British film and television. #KarinMacCarthy #TheSquirrels #TheLongHotSummer #BritishComedy #1970sTV #ClassicTV #VintageGlamour #BritishSitcom #RetroTV #TheSaucyRetroPictureShow