PAT'S PIECE 
See "Pat's Piece Postbag" page! 

June 2004

In my last piece I highlighted the sterling work done by Clive and 'the two Margarets' at The Summer Wine Appreciation Society, which prompted the email communication below!

"Pat

I must point out that the committee of the Summer Wine Society also includes myself and Tony Burton. Tony and I have researched information for members, and during the early days I spent many days with Clive at the Central Library in Manchester researching all the original transmission dates and times. I continue to contribute to the journal and work as an active member of the committee.

Regards

Mike Fernley"

Well, you can imagine my embarrassment - but in my defence I must make the point that the only information I had was from the SWAS page onsite! Anyway, this email was promptly followed by a flurry of communication - the first of which was an apology, which I repeat here.

"To Mike Fernley and Tony Burton - please accept my apology for not including your names along with those of Clive and the 2 Margarets, had I known you were also on the committee I would have included you. Please be assured that we all appreciate the work you all do and that your names will be duly added to the SWAS page onsite."

But now for the news! The result of this flurry of communication is that Mike has kindly consented to join the team here at Summer Wine Online - much to the delight of Patrick and myself! We feel that Mike's associations and experiences with Summer Wine will add much to what we presently offer. We are looking forward to seeing his first contribution very soon and to reading his happy memories of his association over the years. We are also looking forward to receiving a suitable photo to add to our Team Rogues Gallery!

Oh - and Tony, if you read this and are inclined to get in touch, please feel free - we would love to hear from you!

Meantime, watch out for a postbag in the near future, keep the emails coming and keep watching! - Best wishes - Pat.

May 2004

Well, here we are – in the ‘merry month of May’ and you haven’t had a Postbag or Pat’s Piece for months – you probably think I’ve emigrated or something! So – I will start with an apology and an explanation – and a ‘Thank You’. This last year I have been suffering from a form of arthritis which has resulted in some problems with my joints and these last months I have been to-ing and fro-ing to hospital, seeing specialists and physiotherapists and I am happy to say that all is now as well as it can be and I can begin to get back to some sort of ‘normal’. My ‘Thank You’ is to all you fans out there who have kept writing to me with your queries and comments and my apology is to all those of you who haven’t heard from me!

Rather than try to do a massive Postbag I intend to do a special Pat’s Piece which will, hopefully, answer most of your queries and include as many of your comments as possible – so here goes!

Well, I am happy to tell you that planning is well in hand for another series – and it must be totally legit as it was actually mentioned in a recent Radio Times! Under the details of the last episode in the present series it says ‘A new series is planned’ – phew – I always worry until I see those happy words. I have heard from Alan JW Bell in the last few days and I hope to have more news from him very soon. I passed on to him the good wishes and the praise I’ve been receiving about the new series – every bit of it good – I must say we have thoroughly enjoyed every episode and we have been allowed glimpses of Glenda that we would not have thought possible before, her Mum Edie would have had a fit!

Now to address some of the many queries I have been receiving.

Firstly, many have asked about the future promised release of series 3 & 4 on DVD. Unhappily, ‘Playback’, the company given the right to produce future DVD’s of LOTSW appears to have abandoned their plans – they, like the BBC itself, do not seem to want our money. With so many fans out there complaining about the BBC’s lack of consideration for it’s license-paying fans, I am trying to find out the best person to approach on this issue. They were fast enough to bring out ‘The Office’ on DVD – it only made it to number 25 in the recent viewers ‘Top 100 Sitcoms of All Time’ vote – but ignore LOTSW with a pedigree to beat all comers and which managed to make it to number 14 in the viewers vote, and this in spite of the fact that here in the UK we get NO repeats and the last series had been shown nearly a year previously, (the new series started showing after the voting had closed). I wonder how well it would have done if it was shown almost endlessly like ‘Fawlty Towers’ and of course the winning show ‘Only Fools and Horses’, both of which seem to be always on our screens and thus in the public eye!

A question which has been asked by many of our friends ‘across the pond’ in the USA, ‘over the stream’ in Europe and even by those fans hanging up-side down on the other side of the world concerns how our ‘absent friends’ have been written out. This is a subject which cannot be far from the thoughts of any of those fans who are still waiting to catch up. I have to say that they have not been ‘written out’ or even ‘killed off’, ‘Wesley’ was mentioned briefly, in the past tense, by ‘Edie’ in the 2003 episode about ‘Clegg’s’ secret birthday – and that was all. In the most recent series, ‘Edie’ wasn’t mentioned at all, as I remember. This seems, in part at least, to reflect the BBC’s concerns; while it was considered entirely proper to pay full tribute to Bill Owen, who had been an original character, it was considered inappropriate to do the same for all those who have passed away. Much as we would all like to see them properly honoured, it would be too much to ask of Roy Clarke who writes it and of the rest of the cast and crew facing the loss of so many colleagues in so short a time, to cope with more sadness. The best tribute to all those we have lost is that ‘the show will go on’ and keep delighting us all for as many more years as possible and that we will hold their memory fresh in our hearts every time we re-run a tape or re-watch a televised episode.

This, of course, also applies to our most recent loss – the lovely Tony Capstick, as ‘second policeman’. I have had several queries as to whether or not he was seen in the new series, which completes it showing next Sunday, in the UK, and the answer is a resounding ‘yes’ – Tony, along with Ken Kitson as ‘First policeman’ is seen as often as ever and is as wonderfully daft as ever – their duologues in the patrol car are gems of comedy, each a small bright diamond which is capable of standing alone as an example of the very best of comedy writing and performance – and each a tribute to the fine contribution they made to the show. Please do not despair however – Ken Kitson is expected to return in the new series as ‘first policeman’, with a new partner – watch this space for further details! – My major request is that, as the characters are now so much an integral part of the show – could Roy please give them names, (preferably something fairly short and sweet that doesn’t take a lot of effort to type – PC Ken comes to mind!) – from comments I have received, I know many fans feel that this would be proper as everyone else has a name!

Among other queries have been several about ordering the SW CD and I am happy that we have now – with the cooperation of Clive Eardley of the Summer Wine Appreciation Society, been able to put full details on the SW CD page, which will make things easier.

One delightful query I had was from a gentleman whose parents are tremendous fans of SW but are not ‘Internet aware’ and do not feel they could cope with the technology – was there a fan club they could join? Well the answer to that one is a resounding ‘YES’ – it is, of course ‘ The Summer Wine Appreciation Society’  - of which we are very proud to be the official on-line representatives – founded in 1993 by President Clive Eardley and run by Clive himself with the invaluable assistance of ‘the two Margaret’s’ - Margaret Tillotson and Margaret Parson, three very hardworking people! Most of you, of course, know of Clive from the vast number of photos he has supplied for our colourful pages – without his contribution we would be lost and I know you will join me in thanking him – we always look forward to his latest offerings. May I suggest that those who haven’t yet explored that page go to the ‘SWAS’ page where you can read about the Society and how it was born – it is a wonderful demonstration of the dedication of a fan. Oh, and you will also find details there of how to join and what it costs – membership would make a wonderful gift for any fan especially those who don’t have Internet access – and costs so little considering how much work it involves and that Clive and ‘the Two Margaret’s’, like Patrick and myself do it for pleasure not pay!

Well, I’m going to close this piece now and do some more work on my other ‘Summer Wine’ projects for SW Online – these include the new Tribute page, (I’ve already received some tributes but please keep them coming!), a new Postbag – and don’t forget to visit our latest addition, ‘The Great Yorkshire Recipe Page’! This is as a result of other letters to my postbag – a lot of you have asked for recipes for traditional Yorkshire dishes to try for yourselves, especially our American friends – I guess the USA is a nation of cooks!

So ‘ta-rah’ for now  - and best wishes to you all, Pat.

An appeal to fans everywhere!

Many of the queries I receive ask about cast members that are no longer with us – including those who passed away some years ago – and I realised also that Patrick gets quite a few in the other mailbox. Regular visitors to the fan-site know that we do have tribute pages for several cast members but we are now planning a special page which will pay proper tribute to all cast members who are no longer with us, giving details about when they were in the show and for how long and something about their characters.

Now for the appeal – we would like to hear from you some memories of and tributes to those you remember from earlier days, so that they can be properly remembered – we find we have many fond tributes for our more recent losses, but very little for those we lost several, (or many) years ago.

Please send your tributes/memories to me at: last_sw@yahoo.co.uk - we will include them in the initial page and if we get more than we need, don’t worry – we can set up individual tribute pages if we have to and provide appropriate links. Oh, and when the page appears, if it jogs your memory – don’t worry, you will still be able to send your thoughts and we can still add them!

Come on now, don’t let us down, have a good trawl through your memories - we look forward to hearing from you soon.

Pat Carline.
April 2004

Review of the new Series February 2004 

The Latest Vintage – a First Sample!

Well, at last, the new 2004 Series has got under way and if it all matches the first episode, then it will have been worth waiting for!

“No Jurassic Parking” was a delight and the whole episode kept to few simple story lines – Barry had won a competition and the prize was something of a ‘sur-prize’, Howard remembers a birthday, gets the day right and the person wrong, Billy Hardcastle has a gripe about a chap with a big showy dog that lives up his street – and of course, aided and abetted by Tom Simmonite and Auntie Wainwright, Smiler is still trying to improve his image. Oh, and newcomer Alvin goes panning for gold and comes up with Nora!

To get things moving, Glenda rings Barry at work and tells him to get home as his prize has arrived – a model dinosaur! On arrival Barry discovers that the model will not fit on his bedside table – it does however fit nicely in the garage, leaving no room for his precious car! Frank and Billy take over the dinosaur and take it for a walk in the park – what a surprise awaits the show-off and his big aggressive dog!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Howard has remembered Marina’s birthday but can’t escape the warder and demands of the lads that they find and deliver a suitable present – hmmm, would you trust them an inch, with a large dinosaur hanging around?

And what of Smiler – well, imagine that long streak of pump-water, (as they say round here of anyone so tall and skinny), in a ruby-red velvet smoking jacket and a brown syrup, (sorry – ‘syrup = syrup of fig’ = wig!), - and you need to stop the tape and have a serious giggle!

And how is Alvin getting on with his gold rush? Actually, he isn’t – if there ever was any gold in that thar river, the Romans already had it and all Alvin has is a bad back and is bent double, (remind you of anyone?) Well, he struggles back up his ladder, startles Nora into spilling all the rubbish she’s just swept up. She orders Alvin to clean it up – he tries to clamber over the wall and promptly lands on Nora, to the delight of Ivy.

But back to Howard – he has overheard Pearl talking and realised it’s HER birthday, not Marina’s. a mad dash to the shops has resulted in a big bouquet of flowers and sheer luck brings him back just in time to waylay the lads and inform them of his error – they tell him to fret not, he’s to take the flowers in to Pearl, and they will leave the REAL gift on the doorstep – so it doesn’t get crumpled in his pocket! End result – one flattened Howard and the final comment from our two favourite policemen, (still determined to avoid paperwork and having already decided that the dinosaur they THOUGHT they saw was really a very large dog) – that the dog really does seem to be very affectionate! We are not told Howard’s thoughts – they are left to our imagination!

In this space I cannot hope to fill in all details, dot every ‘i’ and cross every ‘t’ – I can only give you a taster – but if this is a ‘fair sample’ then we are in for a 10-bottle case of excellent Summer Wine, a great vintage again!

Thank you, Roy, and Alan, and Peter, and Frank and everyone else from the cast right down to the ‘go-fers’, those important people who fetch and carry, all of whom conspire to bring us our gentle joy and laughter – I think you’ve done it again!

Pat Carline, co-editor.

Forthcoming Attractions!
I know it is a few weeks now since ‘that survey result’ in the Radio Times – and I have no intention of hauling the horrible thing out into the light of day again – but what I have found, in discussions on various Summer Wine fan site and Groups, is a quite widespread unease that the BBC, while apparently ignoring it, might be secretly planning the demise of the show.

Well, I have good news from the person who, it must be said, REALLY knows what is happening! A few days ago I was in communication with Alan JW Bell on another matter and among the information were a couple of facts which are very relevant here, and which I know he will not mind me passing on to you all. The exact quote is; “We are currently finishing off the 2003/4 series and planning the 2004/5 series (10 plus a Christmas special).”

I think that will tell us all we need to know – all we have to do now is wait as patiently as possible until they appear on our screens! I don’t think any of us seriously worried about the 2003/4 series being cancelled, but I must admit I was a bit concerned as to whether there would be anymore after that and on that score I feel a good deal happier – now all we need to do, for those of us in the UK, is to persuade the BBC to show some repeats of ‘Last of the Summer Wine’, instead of yet more repeats of the same old repeats of repeats of the same few series, much as I may like them!

Thank you to those of you who have already written to the ‘Pat’s Piece Postbag’,  - I will try to deal with them over the weekend – do keep them coming in! – BW’s Pat

About Pat's Piece...

The idea behind this new addition has, in part, come from my many friends ‘on the other side of the big pond’ who ask me many questions which I do my best to answer. Many of the questions relate directly to Last of the Summer Wine – especially to the earlier episodes which have not been seen outside the UK and about the characters they know from the episodes they are seeing now, how long they have been in it and how they may have changed over time – and also about cast members and other films or TV that they might be seen in, and of course the most common type of question ‘I remember an episode where Foggy marched into a stream – but I can’t remember what it was called/what year it was/etc. etc. etc. – can you help?’ 

There are, however, loads of other things that my Summer Wine friends want to know about that aren’t directly related to Last of the Summer Wine, questions about Yorkshire, about the meaning of some of the words used – like ‘What’s a bacon butty?’  and also requests for traditional Yorkshire recipes. I never cease to be amazed at how much interest in Yorkshire has been stimulated by Last of the Summer Wine and I hope, in ‘Pat’s Piece’ to be able to widen the horizons of the site a little and introduce you to a few other aspects of the UK’s largest county, to try and answer some of your questions and to throw in some recipes here and there, (given the requests I get, I imagine the great US of A being populated with these wonderful fans of Last of the Summer Wine, busy slaving over hot stoves to produce for their friends and families traditional ‘Yorkshire Tea –time treats’ and Yorkshire lunches and dinner parties, with authentic roast beef and Yorkshire pudding!). Oh, and every now and then I hope to sneak in a more personal view – just to stimulate discussion.

Now, the most important bit – your next question – I can hear it now, ‘Well, this is all well and good, but how am I going to get in touch – to ask my question or to comment on something?’ – Yes, well, I thought of that and decided it would be a good idea to have a separate email address for ‘Pat’s Piece’, rather than risk swamping the postbag and giving Patrick even more stress! Oh, and I would be really chuffed (pleased!), when you write, if you could just put – in the subject line – ‘Question’ or ‘Comment’ – it will make my life easier! The email address for ‘Pat’s Piece’ is: last_sw@yahoo.co.uk 

I look forward to hearing from you all – BW’s (best wishes!), Pat.