(Copyright
D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd. 2003, used with kind permission.)
“You
haven’t seen the last of the vintage Summer Wine”
On
the set of the world’s longest-running comedy series,
by
Craig Robertson – The Sunday Post/July 20th 2003
``SOMETIMES it's great fun. At other
times it's just waiting for the rain to stop.''
That
may sound a strange description of working on the world's longest-running TV
comedy series, but having spent time on
the set of Last Of The Summer Wine, I can tell you it's pretty accurate.
So it should be. The words belong to
Peter Sallis and he has been with the programme man and boy. Well, man and old
man. He has appeared as Clegg in every single episode since it first hit our
screens in 1973.
I joined the cast and crew on location
in deepest Yorkshire to get a flavour of what has allowed the gentle, offbeat
humour of Summer Wine to survive and
prosper into its fourth decade.
First script
``I always say I knew it would last,''
Peter Sallis told me, ``but really, who could have imagined this? When I got Roy Clarke's first script I
thought it was absolutely marvellous. So funny in an offbeat way. It had a
streak of surrealism running through it that appealed to me. Yet for all that,
at the end of every season we would shake hands and say, ‘Well that's it. It's
been fun, but it's probably
over'. Thirty years later we're still
here.''
Not
everyone is still there, of course, and Peter laments the passing of several
friends, particularly Bill Owen who played Compo for so long.
``Bill, in my opinion, gave the finest comedy performance of anyone on TV. He had nothing at all in common with Compo except they were the same height and weight. I recently watched the first episode for a bit of nostalgia and was amazed how Bill invented Compo right in front of my eyes. I don't think I realised at first just how good he was. When Bill died in 1999 we really thought that was it finished, even though we were in the middle of filming. But Roy Clarke came up with three extraordinary episodes in just three weeks that were the most moving, hilarious television I've seen.''
A
relative newcomer compared to Peter is Frank Thornton. Still fondly remembered
as Captain Peacock in Are You Being Served?, he has ``only'' been with the
programme for seven years, playing
Truly.
Frank had finished acting in a farce on
the West End at the grand old age of 76 when he got the call to come and do one
episode of Summer Wine. Seven years later . . .
``I thought I had no particular reason to work again, then I ended up here. It's the geriatric show of all time,'' he says with a laugh. ``We're lucky because they don't want old dancers or old singers but they still want old actors. It really is a marvellous show and Roy's writing makes it what it is. He
has a special quality about his
characters and it's a privilege to play them. I'm now 82, but I intend to keep
going for as long as they'll have me.''
A day's filming on location starts
with a 7.30 am meeting for breakfast and keeps going until bad light or rain
stops play. A long day for anyone, let alone an actor in his or her 80s.
This particular day we were outside the
Monkey pub in Thurgoland. I counted 34 people working on the set. I couldn't
tell you what half of them were doing, but they all seemed busy enough, doing
things with cameras, sound booms and
earphones - you can tell I picked up the technical stuff!
Dinosaurs
Others were stopping traffic, talking
into headsets, powdering faces and lighting things that needed to be lit.
Being on the set of Summer Wine is a bit
odd. Dinosaurs pass along hedgerows, you get snow in summer and people who
normally inhabit my living room are drinking tea.
It's a fun, friendly place where
passers-by are welcome to stop and watch, although a cough half-a-mile away or
the reflection off a white polystyrene cup can cause havoc.
Amid the controlled chaos, two figures
sat contentedly and let the vortex swirl around them.
Frank Thornton was napping in a chair,
while Peter Sallis cuddled a cup often with the slightly weary air of someone
who has seen it all before.
At that moment it was hard not to think
they looked every day of their combined 164 years.
All that changed when producer-director
Alan J. W. Bell decided it was time for their stand-ins to stand aside and they
would go for a take.
It was like someone had thrown a switch
and turned Frank and Peter into Truly and Cleggy. I guess it's called acting.
Fake
snow
The scene was for the Christmas episode,
hence the fake snow and the tinsel in the pub window. It calls for a tricky
dance routine to the tune of ‘Putting On The Ritz’ and it takes an age to get
right.
Assistant director Simone Dawson puts
them through their paces again and again . . . and again. Every time someone
takes their turn to not quite get it right.
The
summer sun is taking its toll on those wearing winter coats. Alan decides
enough is enough and he isn't going to get it any better. He's a perfectionist,
but knows that sometimes you have to settle for what you get. If anyone should
know, Alan should. He's been producer-director of Summer Wine for an
astonishing 22 years.
``It doesn't seem that long
because it's great fun,'' he says. ``I
like to keep a happy crew and if I can manage that it makes it more enjoyable for everyone. I won't have people around
who moan and grumble - anyone like that won't see a second series. Today it's
been raining, but that's just part of filming outdoors. Many a time I've
thought about moving the whole thing to the south of France, but I don't think
it would quite work the same! Finding suitable locations is becoming
increasingly difficult as we have become victims of our own success. There are
more and more tourists in Holmfirth and, while we don't mind them at all, it's
almost impossible to do scenes there because of the traffic.''
``Summer Wine's success came as a bit of
a fluke,'' Alan says disarmingly .``ITV were on strike and basically there was
nothing else to watch, so the country discovered this programme with a
relatively small, loyal following.
Nora's stockings
``They
realised it wasn't just about three old men wandering around the countryside. Then
Terry Wogan picked up on Nora Batty's wrinkled stockings and the rest was
history. We're the world's
longest-running comedy series and I must admit I look on that with enormous
pride. I think it shows we are doing it as well as we can. Yes, we work long
days, but who else gets paid for having so much fun?''
Last word on this TV phenomenon goes to
Peter Sallis. When I asked him to trawl through 30 years of memories and settle
on a favourite one, he had no doubt.
``My best memories are when filming was
finished for the day, the sun was still shining and Bill and I would sit on the
steps of the caravan and open a bottle of wine. Every summer evening I think of
those days and think what a lucky sod I've been.''
Two old men enjoying the last of the summer
sun and a bottle of wine? There's a television series in there somewhere!
(Many
thanks to Alan Morrison at ‘The Sunday Post’ for his help in not only making
this reproduction possible, but for his kindness and patience and ‘prompt
attention at all times’! and to my Mum, for spotting the article in the first
place, and saving it for me and thus, all of us – Pat Carline, 12th
August 2003)