Last of the Summer Wine - 2008 & 2009 Page 5

Quote: Aaron @ May 10 2009, 3:19 PM BST

Nick, Roscoff's choice of words was a little extreme, but I don't think it was meant with anything like the sincerity you seem to have taken it. His point was that he wished the show never return, not - I don't think - literally that he wished ill-health on the cast.

Now let's drop the matter and return to Last Of The Summer Wine itself please.

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Errrgh What he said.
Just watched Points of View.
Viewers 4 Last of Summer Wine 0.
They panned it. Especially Russ Abbott's character.

Quote: roscoff @ May 10 2009, 7:01 PM BST

Errrgh
Just watched Points of View. Viewers 4 Last of Summer Wine 0. They panned it. Especially Russ Abbott's character.

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Yeah, when even the avid watchers are saying it's going downhill you know a show is in trouble. Wouldn't surprised if this forthcoming "rest" turns into a permanent thing. I always thought the show would go on until Roy Clarke died... but doesn't look so now.

Quote: Maurice Minor @ May 9 2009, 9:38 AM BST

As I posted earlier, these latest episodes don't work particularly well. There is no interaction between any of the groups of characters anymore. None of these groups have any interaction with each other and you lose the point of them beig there - the cast seem to be in because of what they did in the past and their current availability, not because they are needed for plot purposes.

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... and this is probably the reason why. Good post Maurice!

I was unconvinced by Russ Abbot's character to begin with - it seemed the sort that might have been palatable as a one-off for an episode, but not for a main character. However, whilst I still wouldn't say I'm a huge fan, I don't actively dislike it - it is slowly growing on me.

And despite having the huge disadvantage of being born in the mid-1980s, and thus missing most of LOTSW's peak years, I still watch it. It still makes me laugh. Not quite as much as older episodes I occasionally catch if I can, admittedly, but it's rare for there to be an episode in which I don't laugh out loud at at least a few of the lines.

And whilst the storylines admittedly don't really interact, bizarrely I don't mind this too much. I don't think tightly-plotted interweaving storylines were ever Roy Clarke's strong point; even when the show focussed heavily on the trio the plot would essentially be them meandering around whimsically thinking up daft things to do in retirement. Should they wander into the cafe, then Ivy and Sid would make an appearence, Compo would wind Nora Batty up at some point, and they would probably go and get Wesley to give them a lift or build them some contraption. But they weren't really separate and inter-twined storylines; the characters seemed to exist mainly for the benefit of the main trio.

Now that it's more an ensemble based sitcom, the separate storylines stand out more. But given the history of the show, I would be very cross if Peter Sallis didn't appear in it somewhere, even if he is pretty much confined to playing dominoes indoors with five lines of dialogue an episode. It's still better than nothing.

I was disappointed when I heard of its break; I agree with the earlier poster who said it should at least be given an hour long final episode, written as such, and preferably soon; even I would probably call for it to end when Sir Peter of Sallis wanders off to The Great Yorkshireman in the Sky.

In short, I like LOTSW; it's a harmless half-hour of beautifully shot northern whimsy, it makes me chuckle at the very least, and I shall miss it hugely when it is gone.

I agree with the people who say that there are too many characters in the episodes now. Ironically I think that the introduction of Russ Abbot's character could have improved things as he, along with Burt Kwouk and Brian Murphy, might have carried the storylines...

It is sad, for me at least, to think that the show is coming to an end but I can understand the BBC's decision. And it is not as if there aren't enough existing episodes to enjoy.

The days are gone when the classic scenes pop out. I will never ever forget Clegg, noted as the worst driver in the world took ages to get his car into his mates drive and then when he'd finally done it got out with a smile of satisfaction only to find out he'd put it on next doors. I corpsed.

Quote: Nick @ May 12 2009, 12:16 PM BST

It is sad, for me at least, to think that the show is coming to an end but I can understand the BBC's decision. And it is not as if there aren't enough existing episodes to enjoy.

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Has the cancellation been confirmed yet?

Quote: Dave @ May 12 2009, 6:49 PM BST

Has the cancellation been confirmed yet?

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I think the BBC have said they'll make a decision after the current series has finished airing.

Given the age of the show, cast, writer, etc. it seems reasonable to assume even if they do make more shows in future, it's not going to be around for years to come.

Quote: roscoff @ May 12 2009, 5:41 PM BST

The days are gone when the classic scenes pop out. I will never ever forget Clegg, noted as the worst driver in the world took ages to get his car into his mates drive and then when he'd finally done it got out with a smile of satisfaction only to find out he'd put it on next doors. I corpsed.

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Ah, Cleggie driving. I remember when he reversed a Morris 1800 into a pond..

If the BBC do continue to produce the show, I can only see it ending when Roy Clarke dies. If the show were to lose Peter Sallis, it would be an enormous loss, but Roy Clarke is the man who writes the script, so without him, there is no show.

Is it true that there will be no new series for 2010 as it is going on hiatus? June Whitfield hinted that that's goodbye. True or false.

As has been stated in this thread, in the site news, and by June Whitfield, it is only on hiatus. HOWEVER, that does usually mean an end to a series.

I think the BBC should take into account Roy Clarke's age. Even if he doesn't die, at 80 he could get seriously ill or develop dementia. They should get one last script out of him before it's too late.

Why don't they just comission one last episode for Christmas 2009 and bill it as a goodbye? Clarke said that nobody would be surprised if it ended, so it doesn't sound like he would be truly dejected if it did finish.

It deserves one last episode.

I personally think they should just get it off now. It is just awful. I'm sorry, but watching a one time classic turn into one of the worst sitcoms ever is just terribly uncomfortable. Howard and Marina ahhhhhhhh. But people say "It's Amazing how Roy Clark has thought up so many plots" Well if you can call 'A man (Bobby Ball or Tommy Cannon, I can't remember which one) travels across a canal in an inflatable swan' a plot, then fair enough, but I for one don't. It's just awful, the jokes can be seen coming a mile off and there are too many characters in it. Clark is now at the same age as my Grandma was when she was diagnosed with Vasculine Dimentia. Surely to goodness, he isn't in the right mental health and it shows in the quality of his scripts and his comment "I think the show's got funnier as it's got on" Well I doubt this. BBC, do the show some justice, cancel this current series and repeat some classic episodes (from the first four series preferably) as they are a million times funnier.

Just to let you know what I think of the show, it is now in its 29th series. I'm buying the DVDs and I've got up to series 8 and I'm not going any further, as it really started to go down hill from there, as after that, the Howards and the Marinas started to come into it.

Quote: Jack Massey @ May 15 2009, 11:20 PM BST

Clark is now at the same age as my Grandma was when she was diagnosed with Vasculine Dimentia. Surely to goodness, he isn't in the right mental health

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What has that got to do with anything? Just because one person develops an illness at a certain age doesn't mean that somebody else can't still be in possession of their faculties. I agree that the shows aren't as good now as they used to be but a big part of that is due to them having essentially lost all of their main actors. The scripts also aren't as strong but it's a massive leap from that to questioning someone's mental health just because of their age.

Quote: Dave @ May 15 2009, 10:45 PM BST

I think the BBC should take into account Roy Clarke's age. Even if he doesn't die, at 80 he could get seriously ill or develop dementia. They should get one last script out of him before it's too late.

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I'm sure Mr Clarke would *love* to red your comments!

Quote: Jack Massey @ May 15 2009, 11:20 PM BST

Clark is now at the same age as my Grandma was when she was diagnosed with Vasculine Dimentia. Surely to goodness, he isn't in the right mental health and it shows in the quality of his scripts and his comment 'I think the shows got funnier as its got on' Well I doubt this.

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You are doubting his mental health??? I don't think the programme is the most hilarious thing I've ever seen, but that's a matter of opinion. It doesn't mean he's mentally ill for Christ's sake!