“Ginger would have loved it!”

Review by Pat Carline, Co-Editor of Summer Wine Online.  

Last night (Sunday Dec 22) we in the UK got to settle quietly in front of our TV sets to enjoy the first ‘Last of the Summer Wine’ Christmas Special in years – but in our house at least it didn’t stay quiet very long!

The title of this festive offering “A Short Burst of Fred Astaire” and the photos from this summers location work prepared us for some fancy footwork and all I can say is that Fred Astaire they are not – Fred Flintstone, maybe!

Actually, they did remarkably well – the grand finale at the bus stop is a sight I will long remember, and not only because it is the first time I have heard music and seen Lionel Blair at the same time without him actually dancing to it. Tom and Smiler in top hat and tails were a vision of loveliness, Cleggy, tap dancing in full armour – indescribable; Pearl and Howard as Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy – Pearl in a long blonde wig, Howard in full Mountie uniform – absolutely stunning! I will refrain from any comment on Truly of the Yard in tights, a long raincoat and a bad wig – I leave that to your imagination! But Billy did manage to look striking as Robin Hood – well, almost.

I think the most surreal thing I have seen for a long time is Pearl and Howard miming to the aforesaid Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy performing a love song, seen through the window apparently very much in love, had us in stitches – what did we do before video recorders? I’ll tell you, we missed a lot – I re-watched it this morning before settling down to this and I know I have still managed to miss a few gems through laughing too long – you wait till you see our Glenda displaying an awful lot more cleavage than Edie would have believed possible, let alone respectable!

A good deal of focus is given to new addition Alvin, (who has unearthed Compo’s old ‘One Man Band’ outfit and is using it to good effect), and Nora – their relationship is no love match, but it is developing nicely and shows all the signs of much delight ahead – well, for us anyway, though I think that Nora is enjoying every battling moment – Alvin is a perfect foil for her sharp and witty tongue, and he gives as good as he gets – wonderful to see Nora at her best again!

We were briefly introduced to Josephine Tewson as new character ‘Miss Davenport’ – the reason for Truly’s tights – I wish we could have seen him as Romeo to her Juliette and the award for sheer elegance has to go to Bert Kwouk looking truly Oriental and inscrutable in traditional Mandarin robes – not bad going for a true Yorkshireman from Hull!

Just a couple of niggles – first, where was Marina? We kept hearing about her but she never appeared, (my ‘other half’ was looking forward to seeing her in a minimalist version of the Mandarin robes as Entwhistle’s assistant in his mind-reading act!) and Alan, why oh why did you run the credits at the same time as ‘Putting on the Ritz’? – I’ve rerun them three times so far and I still can’t concentrate on them!

Special bouquets go to Damien Jackson whose performance as Santa Claus reminded me of Gene Kelly at his best, but who I wouldn’t recognise if he jumped up and bit me, as we only saw him disguised by whiskers, and of course, to ‘music man’ Ronnie Hazlehurst for yet another ‘twist’ on the Summer Wine theme – how does the man keep doing it?

Thank you, once again, to Roy Clarke for his wonderful writing, Alan JW Bell for his superb production and direction, the entire cast for giving us so much sheer joy and finally, thank you to all the crew without whom none of it would be possible – I think we tend to forget just how many people it takes to give us a half hour of laughter.

And finally – I apologise for there being no ‘postbag’, I will catch up in the New Year but I’m afraid personal responsibilities left me very short of time these last few weeks.

It only remains for me to wish you all the warmest of Seasonal Greetings and may you all have a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year in 2004 – Pat.

See more photos from the Christmas Special and new 2004 series.