Summer Wine - The News

New! Read a fascinating and detailed account of First of the Summer Wine, kindly compiled by Oz fan Adrian Daff. (updated Feb 2004)

How many fans remember the fascinating "prequel" to Last of the Summer Wine - called First of the Summer Wine?

Moved by the success of Last of the Summer Wine, writer Roy Clarke and the BBC decided to launch a new series looking at the famous characters - Compo, Clegg and Foggy etc - in their younger days, played by different people.

The series was set just before the outbreak of the Second World War and two series of 13 episodes was broadcast during the late 1980s. None of the filming was carried out in Holmfirth, the location of LOTSW.

Although the show enjoyed some early success - particularly among the existing fan base - it failed to reach a large enough audience penetration necessary for continued survival. As far as we know, the show was never broadcast abroad, and there have never been any recent repeats.

Clegg, Peter Sallis, was the only character from LOTSW appearing in FOTSW - he played the father of the younger Clegg character!

Summer Wine enthusiast William Craig w.a.craig@btinternet.com is appealing for help from fans with any information, particularly videos, of First of the Summer Wine.

Summer Wine Online would also like to hear from any fans with recollections or other details about the series to publish on the site.

FAN EMAIL ON FOTSW...

I have all of the episodes of FIRST OF THE SUMMER WINE on tape. Most of them are in good condition. I loved this program , I thought it was real social history. These were much more innocent times remember, people did wear their best clothes to go out for an evening, Norman Clegg's mother would have worried about him seeing girls, and Foggy's mother well might have brought him his dinner when he was out camping. Ivy wears a coat, with a piece of darker material let in to lengthen it, my mother did this for me when I started work, (times were hard). This series could not have gone on much longer, the lads would have all been called up and sent away. A lot of my friends did not like the show, the main comment was that the younger actors did not look right in the parts, this was not the way to look at it, you needed to think of it as a separate show all together. The Pilot show was mostly filmed at Beamish Open Air Museum, but I think that the Co-Op was in Netherthong. Peter Sallis was a treasure as Clegg senior, and I loved Wally Batty, especially when he was trying to grow for Nora. What a Treasure we have in Roy Clarke.

Hope this helps

Sue Kimber.

susank@talkgas.net

As far as I know, FOTSW has never been repeated on either BBC analogue channel, but if you are lucky enough to have UK Gold on Sky, then you need to keep a VERY careful eye on their scheduling, as they DO show it sometimes, and they show the pilot episode then both complete series, usually on successive days. As far as I know, this is the only way to see the programmes as they were never considered successful enough to release to video. However, for those who have seen the shows and can remember 'The Hyde Park Picture House', you will be pleased to know that the cinema really does exist - not only exists, but thrives, in Leeds! I've had no success whatsoever at finding any pictures of it on the Internet but if you would like to know exactly where it is, what they are showing and how much a visit will cost you, then visit their web-site at: http://www.leedscinema.com/ another site worth a visit, where you will find more information about the cinema, and it's history, go to: http://www.itchyleeds.co.uk/articles/39.html
Good luck, Bill - Pat Carline

patricianuk@yahoo.co.uk

Hello There,

Was some of First Of The Summer Wine filmed in Luddenden at all, or if not where was it filmed?The location of the Hyde Park Picture House also featured in How We Used To Live, 1954 - 1970. I have always been interested in the location for How We Used To Live. If you can help me at all, please e-mail me back.

Best Wishes

BENJAMIN SHATLIFF

benjamin.shatliff1@btopenworld.com

I would like to know if there are any video tapes or DVDs', of First of the Summer Wine, available for American video players or DVD players. Thank you for any help you can give me.

kkb@dmv.com