Summer Wine - The News

TONY CAPSTICK
The "Summer Wine Policeman"

Read a special extended tribute from Pat Carline.

It is with regret that the Summer Wine site records the death of actor Tony Capstick (59) who played one of the regular policemen in LOTSW. His policeman colleague in the series, Ken Kitson, told the Summer Wine site that he was very saddened by Tony's death, and said his thoughts were with Tony's family.

Our photo shows Tony (right) with Ken "on duty" in LOTSW.

A BBC spokeswoman told Summer Wine Online: "We are shocked and saddened about the news of Tony Capstick's death. Tony's health problems were such that he was unable to work after the New Year. This is always a matter of great regret and sadness to the BBC. We are sorry that Tony lost his battle with his health."

Several emails have arived at the Summer Wine site following the news, here is a sample. Please note several have been edited for space reasons. Photos courtesy Summer Wine Appreciation Society.

Tony Capstick – a tribute from Alan J.W. Bell.
Producer and Director of ‘Last of the Summer Wine’

Tony Capstick was cast in the role of the second policeman after I had seen him speaking after a Variety Club Tribute to ‘Last of the Summer Wine’ in Leeds. His speech was very funny and he obviously had an enormous gift of comedy. For the past sixteen years, Tony brought to life the words of Roy Clarke (himself once a policeman) and made the police scenes highlights of the series.

His sense of humour always kept the filming atmosphere happy. I remember once, because we were filming on an incline, he looked very short next to his partner (played by Ken Kitson). I called for a six inch high box for Tony to stand on - which evened-out the height differential). At the end of the shot, I said we would film the two of them walking away. Tony said, “Will I be carrying my box?”

It was clear that Tony was not well this year, and we all gave him a great deal of support to help him complete the filming, which was very important to him. Sadly for us all, Tony didn't win his fight for life, but he has left us this year with some of his funniest scenes and we shall be reminded forever of his unique contribution to the series and its success.

Personally, I shall always remember a cast member who was thoroughly reliable, able to get the most from the script, and eager to accept direction. We will all miss him so much.

So sorry to hear of Tony`s death. Yet another of the team has gone. I love to think that LOTSW is still going on "up there". I do hope there will be more series, as, like life, it is evolving. Much as I miss the original characters, the new ones are an asset, they have been well chosen. I hope Kit Kitson is found a new partner of the same caliber at Tony Capstick.

Barbara Wray, New York, USA.

I am really sorry to hear that another of our SW actors has died. For me, the introduction of the SW police officers was one of the best things to have happened to the series, and the chemistry between the cast benefited from Tony and Ken's contributions. I always remember their faces when they discovered something else which the trio has just done! Their uniforms looked great but how I wish they would wear the "pointy" hats like your typical English bobbies! Surely, that would make them more funnier still?

Jane Thomas, Leeds, England (Aged 14)

Tony Capstick was a true entertainer and he and Ken were our favourite characters in Last of the Summer Wine. They added a lot more than you would think to the funny series.

Maude H

Please can I join your messages of sympathy for Tony Capstick. We live near Orlando in Florida (where many Brits come to visit for Disney) and we often wished we had local "bobbies" on the beat like Tony and Ken, hilarious characters.

Dan Wesley

It is funny how we take so many things for granted like the delightful policeman roles in Summer Wine. And now that Tony has past away, we look back at this role and realise how much of a popular character he was. I agree with one of the other comments, I think Tony and his "partner" Ken Kitson would have made a fascinating separate series on their own. This would have been superbly entertaining.

Roger Phillips, Scotland

Can I just thank your website for bringing us such a lovely piece about Tony Capstick and his contributions to Summer Wine. I was very dissappointed that in the broadsheet newspaper we read, they only allowed a few lines (and I had to really hunt to find that) to read about Tony's death. I visited your website earlier this week not really expecting to see a great deal more. After all, he was hardly a front-line actor in the series. But I was really heartened to read your extended contribution, plus the emails from fans. It just shows that people do care, after all. Many thanks.

Hannah Smith (14) Lancaster, UK

I am also fans of the Summer Wine policeman, I just loved them. I am pleased that other people realise how important they are to the series.

Tracey Mather, Portugal

My two sons were persuaded to join the police force (only one was eventually accepted) after our families enjoyment through the years of the two Summer Wine bobbies. They really made us laugh. Now we are living in sunny Portugal but my eldest is still serving with Hampshire Constabulary - and enjoying every minute of it!

Richard Grundy, America

Reading the other emails and your contributions about poor Tony really made think about how important is the Summer Wine community - cast, crew, fans, web teams etc. You paid him such a lovely respect, if only the rest of the world was like this. Over here, there would be nothing about a TV actor passing away (unless he was Hollywood material).

Pat Carline, UK

I find myself writing once more to mourn the
passing of yet another LOTSW regular - Tony
Capstick, who for some years has made up, with
Ken Kitson, the regular 'police presence' in the
comedy series. Tony, who was also well known here
in South Yorkshire as a broadcaster and stand-up
comedian, died yesterday at the young age of 59 -
he had been ill for some months and had fulfilled
no work engagements since the beginning of the
year. He and Ken made the perfect team and their scenes
together over the years gave us so much joy and
laughter - he will be sadly missed and our
sympathies are with his family, friends, fellow
workers and cast members at this time.

E M. (hotmail address)

Tony and Ken were my daughter's favourite characters, during her prayers at night, she always said a "god bless" to the two Summer Wine police officers. She just loved them. She will be very upset to hear the news.

Sam Guy, Hereford, England

First - please don't let the BBC use this as another excuse to try to axe our show. Second - it only really occurred to me how much Tony Capstick contributed to the humour on Last of the Summer Wine, after reading of his death in one of the newspapers. I made the mistake of looking at this as an almost incident part in the show but he made us laugh, I looked forward to seeing him (and his colleague) and will misss him dearly.

Karl Sworksi, San Diego, USA.

Please allow me through your marvelous website to say a very big thank you to the "British bobbies" from LOTSW who made us laugh and laugh. We will really miss Tony and the humorous expressions on his face

J T Horton, Los Angeles, USA

Your regular readers will be very surprised to hear that, actually, the two Summer Wine policemen are among our very favorite characters on the show. Our whole family as well as colleagues in the Orange County PD were shocked when we read the news on the website. You see, most of our family is in local or state law enforcement and, as such, we absolutely enjoy the antics of the two loveable police officers in your series. No firearms needed - and such a sense of humor and fairplay! As such, a lot of my colleagues are now also fans of the series, and I often take a video into the department for those who don't have the right cable channels to watch the show. Sadly, we always thought, the two were not in the show often enough. I even wrote to the BBC in America five years ago suggesting that the two ought to have their own series, and one program could be an "exchange" visit to LA! How we would have loved to meet them. Just wanted you to know that Mr Capstick had brought us all so much pleasure and fun over the years.

Angela Baliff, Hull, England

I used to listen to Tony Capstick on BBC Sheffield and remember his hit Capstick Comes Home with fond memories. But I always knew Tony as the Summer Wine Bobby. He was perfect for the series and will always remember him. I am sorry to hear of the health problems. I feel he and Ken could have gone on to much greater things, given the chance, and given a bigger part in the series.

The Lewis Family, Harrogate, UK

Please can we express our sympathies to the family and friends of Tony Capstick, I want them to know how much pleasure Tony gave us, he was a great entertainer and never received the recognition he deserved. I did not know he was suffering from health problems.

Robin, Arkansas, USA

I'm so sorry to hear about the death of Tony Capstick. He had a certain poise when he played his part. I really enjoyed the exchanges between him and Ken Kitson - they made a great team on camera - wonderful chemistry - you'd have thought they'd been police partners forever!

Once again, our Summer Wine family shrinks just a little and we find ourselves grieving another "friend" - we feel very lucky we have Tony on film so we can enjoy his comedic talents for many years to come.

His family, friends, and his Summer Wine family are in my thoughts and prayers.

Sam Driver, New York City, USA

I am deeply saddened that Tony never received much of a mention, even on the official Summer Wine site - you don't see many emails from people remarking on his contribution. But I for one always looked out for him, the series and the Summer Wine community will miss him dearly.

Richard Hella, New York, USA

Shocked when I saw the news on your website over the weekend...another Summer Wine character to go into that special place to join Compo and Co. I hope the series will continue OK.

Siddarth Nagaraj Age 12

I am distressed upon hearing the news of Mr. Capstick's death. Mr. Capstick, whose anonymous policeman was an intriguing yet vague character, was never given much scope in the series. Neither was his counterpart, Ken Kitson, whose character, the other policeman, was however a more overbearing, domineering character. However, Mr. Capstick was the perfect foil to Mr. Kitson's role because the chemistry between the two characters caused some funny scenes in the series. Mr. Kitson's confident, domineering character contrasted with the shallow, almost cowardly aspects of Policeman #2, played by Mr. Capstick. I remember in particular a brief scene from the opening episode of Series 15 "How To Clear Your Pipes", only one of many examples in which an attempt at conversation by Mr. Kitson's character is met by absolute miscomprehension and confusion from Mr. Capstick's side. In this case, Mr. Kitson attempts to start off a talk on the same wavelength-this time about the overlooming presence of imminent impulse and shock that a policeman has to face-something the character fears and that the writer, Mr. Roy Clarke, would have known about, due to his previous position as a policeman. Mr. Kitson defines this as the ultimate fear for any policeman, but Mr. Capstick, in a move indicative of his character's unclearly defined personality, disagrees, saying that his worst professional fear is not "the moment when 'it' hits you", but "the chief superintendent".