| Genre: | Situation Comedy |
| Creator: | Ronnie Taylor |
| Director: | Les Chatfield (1977–79) Stuart Allen (1980–81) |
| Starring: | David Jason Jacqueline Clarke Richard Wilson (series 1–3) Alun Armstrong (series 1–2) |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Language: | English |
| Num Series: | 4 |
| Num Episodes: | 22 |
| Producer: | Les Chatfield (1977–79) Stuart Allen (1980–81) |
| Company: | ATV |
| Runtime: | 30 Minutes |
| Network: | ITV |
A Sharp Intake of Breath is a British sitcom starring David Jason, Jacqueline Clarke with Richard Wilson and Alun Armstrong for series 1-3, which ran from 1977 to 1981, when Jason took up the role of Del Trotter in Only Fools & Horses. It was made for the ITV network by ATV and recorded at ATV Elstree Studios. The opening titles featured cartoons by Mel Calman. Series 1-3 were written by Ronnie Taylor, series 4 by Vince Powell following the death of Taylor in 1979.
Jason played an everyman character called Peter Barnes and Jacqueline Clarke played his wife Sheila. Wilson and Armstrong played a range of petty officials and bureaucrats whose actions frustrated Barnes' attempts to deal with the necessities of everyday life. The title A Sharp Intake of Breath refers to the reactions of various characters to seemingly simple requests by Peter, generally followed by a denial. The show made use of the fourth wall plot device.
The complete series was released on DVD by Network Distributing Limited on the 4 May 2015.