CELEBRATING 30 YEARS OF LAST OF THE SUMMER WINE
BBC1 Documentary

Review by fan Patricia Carline 



I sat down, Sunday evening, to watch the Summer Wine
documentary celebrating 30 years of our favourite show and
the team surely did their best to do it justice. 

The original documentary on which this one was based was
excellent and the additional material has enhanced that. It
was lovely to see and hear Bill's own thoughts on the show
again and to hear Thora telling us how proud she was to be
in the show. I was really happy to hear from Brian Wilde, I
always felt that his lack of input in the original
documentary was a shame. 

I don't think I've heard him comment on 'Foggy' before and 
to hear his comparison to 'Mr Barraclough', Brian's former 
incarnation in 'Porridge', was a delight - apparently Mr 
Barraclough  dithered, whereas Foggy was positive - positively 
incompetent! It was nice also to hear his tributes to both Bill and 
Thora, and just to prove that you learn something new every day, 
Brian's admission that when it became obvious that he could not
film that series, he suggested they might try to get Frank
Thornton as his replacement. Brian also admitted that he
has been invited to make a return visit to LOTSW, and that
he may yet do so - So, Brian, if you read this, we would
love to see you make a special appearance - perhaps
escaping from the post lady who has been keeping you in
Blackpool all this time!

For me, the new additions from Peter, especially his
comments about the time when he realised Bill was really
ill and he recommended him to a specialist and his quite
obvious love of and admiration for Bill were most moving -
without in any way being 'syrupy' or 'sloppy'. Alan JW
Bell, explaining how, with the help of some neat but
discreet use of doubles and technical wizardry allowed them
to complete Bill's last episodes, for which they only had
some location film.

Peter's 'pieces to camera', filling us in on the future of
Summer Wine and introducing the newest characters and
honouring the contributions of other, longer standing
characters, like Smiler, which has grown since the advent
of Tom - was an absolute delight - if only because of
Peter's obvious delight in them and the new possibilities
they open for the continued growth and development of our
special vintage!

How wonderful to have Bert Kwouk, in both Chinese and
English, expressing his delight in joining the cast - even
if there was a sly Chinese dig at the BBC's notorious lack
of generosity when it comes to money.

Brian Murphy was also included, happily remembering his
days as George, being married to that other TV 'Dragon'
Mildred, (Yootha Joyce), in George and Mildred, reflecting,
somewhat tentatively I thought, on the future possibilities
of being next door neighbour to TV's ultimate 'Dragon' -
Nora Batty.

But for me, the part I will always remember, is Peter's
tribute to Roy Clarke, after the loss of Bill. He admits
that most of the cast thought that would be the end for
that series, then their astonishment and ultimate delight
in the 3 episodes that allowed all the fans around the
world to say farewell to a much loved friend - written in
only 3 weeks. How the last scene from 'Elegy to Fallen
Wellies' caused a record number of letters to be received
by the BBC, in praise of them for showing it and expressing
how touched they were by it.

Peter himself spoke for all of us when he described those
'Farewell' episodes -".... the most touching, most moving
and most hilarious programmes ever shown on television...."
Well said Peter, and thank you again, Roy, for writing them
and for having faith in Alan and the cast and crew, that
they could make such memorable television with your ideas
and words!

And yes - the point was firmly made that canned laughter
never has and never will be used for Summer Wine - why
would it with a whole audience in stitches, to provide true
laughter.

My only niggle - it would have been nice if Roy's
contributions could have been re-recorded, at least in part
- his '25 year' comments were out of sync with the '30th
birthday' and it would have been nice to hear something new
from him.

Just one thing - can someone please tell me, in which
episode did we see Barry and his breakfast egg, wondering
if he'd been a warrior and Glenda telling him he's a
worrier and she prefers him that way? - Blowed if I can
remember! It was a lovely out-take - I didn't think Barry
had the strength to do that to an egg cup!

Now there's an idea - a whole programme of out-takes, think
about it, Alan - you know it would sell!

Editor's Note: Many, many thanks Pat for your fascinating and 
highly detailed review. I know many of our American fans 
who could not view the programme will enjoy reading this. 
Photo courtesy Summer Wine Appreciation Society. 

Background Speaking before the broadcast, Producer Alan JW Bell (pictured above) told Summer Wine Online: "Thirty Years of Last of the Summer Wine' is an up-date of the documentary made to celebrate 25 years of the programme.  It includes new pieces by Burt Kwouk (Entwistle) and Brian Murphy (Alvin).  Brian Wilde (Foggy) wanted to be in the programme to say a few words about Bill Owen, whom he considered to be irreplaceable. Peter Sallis re-filmed his sequences seen in the original programme in order to tell the story of the series up to the moment, when new cast have joined.  It is an hour of comedy with moments of sadness when we salute those who have sadly passed away.  Not to be missed by fans of the series and Radio Times Letters Editor (there is a sequence about the audience previews)."  Clive Eardley, President of the Appreciation Society (pictured above) writes: "With a fresh new approach the 25-year documentary has been fully updated with lots of brand new interviews and clips that cover the 30 years of this remarkable television series. "Alan JW Bell, Producer and Director of the series has put a great deal of effort to bringing this documentary bang up to date."