Compo Simmonite: “I could murder some fish and chips.”New
Foggy Dewhurst: “You usually do.”
Norman Clegg: “If ever there’s been a neglected subject in poetry, it’s vinegar.”
Last week’s market pub contemplation prompted further thoughts on a theme of the leisurely consumption of real ale, a reverie that led me to the venerable British television series, Last of the Summer Wine.
It’s hard to imagine a more unfashionable concept in the milieu of the smart phone, driverless car and sour pickle beer.
Perhaps that’s why I’m so attracted to the show.
For the uninitiated, Last of the Summer Wine ran from 1973 through 2010, an astonishing 37 years, with almost 300 episodes aired. Virtually all of them emphasize a timeless sense of place, with much location filming amid the workmanlike stone buildings and rustic, gorgeous rolling hills of Holmfirth, Yorkshire.
It’s “a whimsical comedy with a penchant for light philosophy and full-on slapstick (following) the misadventures of three elderly friends tramping around the Yorkshire countryside,” a basic narrative premise remaining unchanged throughout the program’s lengthy run.
Reruns of Last of the Summer Wine have been showing on KET (public television) for as long as I can remember, and while the electronic media of today’s world might enable one the selective luxury of binge viewing on-line, the series itself decidedly isn’t about today’s world.
As such, I prefer the old-fashioned manner of viewing: Pouring an adult libation (British heritage beers like Old Speckled Hen work particularly well) and sitting motionless in front of the television at 6:00 p.m. on Sunday with the missus, who after all is a citizen of the United Kingdom.
On those occasions when life gets in the way, there remain hundreds more episodes to watch, then watch again.
Last of the Summer Wine’s pilot episode was filmed in 1972 and aired in 1973. Astoundingly, plot elements subsequently enjoying a shelf life of decades are found to be largely intact from the very start, although I’d argue that the word “elderly” isn’t really a valid descriptor of the primary male characters, at least in the beginning.
In fact, while the first trio (Cyril, Clegg and Compo) might accurately be described as redundant, pensioned or retired, the actors portraying them, as well as their fictional characters, were in their early- to mid-50s when the series debuted in 1973. Along with various successors, they...Read more
