The End News Posted by Jonathan Capps on 5th March 2009, 19:43 Thanks to SoundableObject’s pestering, Robert has Tweeted about the final days of filming for Back to Earth, and it’s going to be this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We know this’ll be location stuff, but where it’ll be is anyone’s guess. I think it’d be a safe assumption to say that any Londoners (especially in the West) should be keeping an eye out this weekend with a view to snapping some pictures and sending them in to your Friendly Neighbourhood G&T. UPDATE: Today’s TOS update mentions these shoots, with the added detail that today is actually an extra studio day. We assume this leaves Saturday and Sunday for the planned location stuff.
I wonder if they’re gonna shoot around any London landmarks. They might want to show Big Ben or something in the background for when they first get back to Earth, so it immediately hits home where they are.
So will that add up to about 14 days of filming all together? Just a little under the number of days they would film three normal 30 minute episodes, these are 23 minute episodes so it does seem they will still cut quite alot of material though this is just speculation, I don’t know how much they filmed, or do I? No I don’t.
Also I am really confused by that comment weeks ago, Bobby Llew said the budget was teeny, from the set, costumes, guest star and that fact they are filming in HD seems to say to me that it has a high budget, atleast higher than an episode of Red Dwarf from the past.
They’re used to making a little go a long way. Maybe the teeny weeny budget was provided by Dave, and GNP weighed in with some extra moolah to bolster it? A reasonable investment if these shows could eventually lead to further episodes, and also justified if they plan to release extended footage on DVD in the future (presumably through BBC Worldwide again? Does 2Entertain still exist after the Woolies debacle? Too lazy to look it up.) The further thought occurs that the exaggerated “teeny-weeny budget” could have been a cunning ploy to unsuccessfully placate Norman ‘You owe me a living’ Lovett?
>Does 2Entertain still exist after the Woolies debacle? Too lazy to look it up. 2|E still exist. I think BBC Worldwide bought back some of the ownership, or tries, they were never in any danger though.
If these shows don’t close the door on Dwarf for good, and are successful, and lead to Dave (or even the BBC, which is content to bring back Rab C. Nesbitt and BIRDS OF A FUCKING FEATHER this year for Christ’s sake, but not Red Dwarf!) commissioning a whole new series of the show, chances have to be that: a) Lister won’t be in it b) Lister won’t be in much of it c) It won’t happen for several years until Craig Charles’ Coronation Street contract expired, and even then that is assuming that he would actually be willing to leave a highly paid full-time job with the show in order to make sporadic seasons of Red Dwarf.
Well it seems ITV are being very nice about this, it may be possible he will be given another 3 weeks off from filming where they can film a further 3 episodes next year, that is unless they do a ‘Rimmerworld’ type episode were it is mostly about one character, Cat is dying for an episode all to himself and they could always do a ‘Marooned’ with Lister only appearing at the very start and very end.
Yeah, actors take breaks from soaps all the time. There’s nothing to say he couldn’t get six weeks off for a new series, so long as the timing suits both shows.
Yeah but actors don’t USUALLY get breaks from soaps to film major series for rival channels. Also, most of these breaks actors get are simply holiday time rather than time off to film other shows. Maybe Corrie would happily give Craig 6-8 consecutive weeks off from filming, but does that mean Craig would want to actually work right through it (and on the so-called “hardest show to shoot on TV” to boot)? Everybody needs a break!
As I said they could have a ‘Marooned’ style episode, give Craig a week off. I doubt ITV would have a major concern about Red Dwarf, CS and RD are not shown at the same time or even day!
Yeah, the BBC is currently interested in the audience Rab C Nesbitt used to attract (rambling incoherant drunken Scottish wannabe philosophers) and the audience Birds of a Feather used to attract (morons).
I really like Birds of a Feather. Well, the earlier ones, anyway – it lost its way once Marks and Gran left, as I recall…
We could be getting New Dwarf quicker than we thought, Rob just posted this in response to a question about a comic relief special – “No we haven’t, but I think there’s talk of it” http://twitter.com/bobbyllew/status/1285830233 Even a “Give us ya’ money ya’ smegging smeg heads” like they did from the set of ‘DNA’ will do for me, it would make me watch the show.
Birds of a Feather’s return is complete news to me. (Not that I’m that fussed one way or antoher. I didn’t hate it, but it wasn’t a favourite show.) Rab C Nesbit… I saw the Christmas episode* and I thought it was a one off. I did wonder if they brought it back for a series, seeing it in the schedule, but wasn’t sure if it was just a repeat. I never checked to find out (usually watching something else when it’s on.) Ah well. If Back to Earth is a success BBC might change their mind. Part of me hope’s Dave continue with it since they were good enough to commission the specials, but obviously BBC would attract more viewers. *Yawn. I didn’t mind it in the past, but this kinda dragged. Doesn’t help that I find it difficult to understand what Rab is actually saying.
I’ll confess to dipping into Birds of a Feather now and again (which makes me a moron) but it went noticeably downhill when the two husbands were recast (or in the cast of the Greek one, reverted back to the original actor). No idea if this was the same time Marks and Gran left. It wasn’t awful at first, but it was later on. And it was never SO good for Pauline Quirke to turn around and say “I’m only prepared to do it again if the scripts are as superb as they used to be”, or words to that effect. It was mildly amusing at first, but it was no better than the majority of those BBC1 mainstream sitcoms that somehow generated a couple of laughs from the quagmire of mediocrity they inhabited. Whats next? ‘Keeping Up Appearances II’? ‘The Vicar of Dibley: The Next Generation’? ‘As Time Goes By: The Secret of the Ooze’? I’m not really for bringing back shows that have passed their prime, unless efforts are made to keep modernising them and making them relevant (which, whether you like Red Dwarf VII and VIII or not, you have to admit Doug Naylor has made great effort to do… a trend which looks set to continue with Back to Earth). However, if the Beeb MUST insist on bring back old shows for new episodes, I’d rather run the risk of possibly tarnishing the good reputations of classic (and, y’know, actually rather GOOD) shows like Dwarf, Blackadder, Men Behaving Badly… even Brittas, Game On, Thin Blue Line, Bottom… than bring back tripe like Feathers, To The Manor Born and Nesbitt. As for Only Fools and Horses… I’d love to see John Sullivan and the cast actually take up an opportunity to erase the memories of the overly long and laughter barren three parter specials froma couple of years ago, and craft a fittingly hilarious finale for one of the best shows ever aired… y’know, kinda like they did the FIRST time round, before they spoiled it.
> If Back to Earth is a success BBC might change their mind. Part of me hope?s Dave continue with it since they were good enough to commission the specials, but obviously BBC would attract more viewers. As the BBC has some financial interest in Dave, I’m sure that Dave would have no objections to the BBC commissioning a new series of Dwarf. They’re bound to secure the repeat rights, and they’ll get those tasty Dwarf ratings, at (presumably) a fraction of the cost of producing brand new ones themselves. It wouldn’t even surprise me if Back to Earth airs on BBC2 before the end of the year.
re Birds of a Feather. For some reason, earlier on today I was looking at Robert Llewellyn on imdb, and he appeared as a Tory Candidate in about 1990. Shocking.
> Yeah, the BBC is currently interested in the audience Rab C Nesbitt used to attract (rambling incoherant drunken Scottish wannabe philosophers) I haven’t watched much Rab C Nesbitt but what I have seen I’ve liked a lot. The recent repeats have been good (don’t know what series it’s been) and I thought there was something fresh and thought-provoking about the new Christmas episode. Gregor Fisher seems even more suited to playing Rab now he’s older! A new series can only be a good thing. Anything to get the BBC thinking that BBC2 sitcoms can still work. As for Birds of a Feather, I don’t think a return is confirmed, it was just a rumour due to Pauline Quirke’s recent comment that she would do it. Again I think it’s a good idea, even if I wouldn’t be interested in seeing it myself.
> As for Birds of a Feather, I don?t think a return is confirmed, it was just a rumour due to Pauline Quirke?s recent comment that she would do it. The reason she was commenting on it is because she has been asked to do it. She said she would if she liked the scripts. If the actresses agree, the show will be back. It’s not a question of ‘would the BBC want it?’ it’s a question of ‘will the cast do it?’. I hardly think any of them will likely decline.
>However, if the Beeb MUST insist on bring back old shows for new episodes, I?d rather run the risk of possibly tarnishing the good reputations of classic (and, y?know, actually rather GOOD) shows like Dwarf, Blackadder, Men Behaving Badly? even Brittas, Game On, Thin Blue Line, Bottom? than bring back tripe like Feathers, To The Manor Born and Nesbitt. I disagree. Especially in the case of Men Behaving Badly and Bottom which, with the age of the casts, would look pretty pathetic these days. >As for Only Fools and Horses? I?d love to see John Sullivan and the cast actually take up an opportunity to erase the memories of the overly long and laughter barren three parter specials froma couple of years ago, and craft a fittingly hilarious finale for one of the best shows ever aired? y?know, kinda like they did the FIRST time round, before they spoiled it. I REALLY disagree. If the “overly long and laughter barren three parter” told us anything, it’s that John Sullivan had run out of ideas for these characters. He’s writing “The Green, Green Grass” at the moment for fuck’s sake. OFAH’s reputation will never grow back if he keeps on picking at it.
>However, if the Beeb MUST insist on bring back old shows for new episodes, I?d rather run the risk of possibly tarnishing the good reputations of classic (and, y?know, actually rather GOOD) shows like Dwarf, Blackadder, Men Behaving Badly? even Brittas, Game On, Thin Blue Line, Bottom? than bring back tripe like Feathers, To The Manor Born and Nesbitt. I really disagree as well. I would actually say that those shows that you`d like to see come back(and Fools and Horses as well) all went on for longer than they should have done so artistically the BBC have very good reasons for not bringing them back. I also think they`d get a lot of stick if they did for most. The specials for To The Manor Born and Rab C. Nesbitt were both very well received so i can`t really fault the decisions taken there. It remains to be seen how sensible the choice is to revive Reggie Perrin though…
I used to love Rab C Nesbitt, but thought the christmas special was awful. If the beeb is dedicated to crafting such masterpieces as My Family, The Green Green Grass, or their new classic, The Old Guys (which not only has a near identical premise to the vastly superior Still Game, but is made by the same production team, for fuck’s sake!), then may god have mercy on us all.
Nice to see a full shot of Sophie. >Thank goodness we cancelled that order of black cats! Aside from the fact that RD does have a black cat, these are actually lucky in the UK. It’s in the US (and various other places) that black cats are considered unlucky.
> I REALLY disagree. If the ?overly long and laughter barren three parter? told us anything, it?s that John Sullivan had run out of ideas for these characters. He?s writing ?The Green, Green Grass? at the moment for fuck?s sake. OFAH?s reputation will never grow back if he keeps on picking at it. The first episode would have been a lot better had it featured Del Boy on Who Wants to be a Millionaire, as written until ITV dropped out at the last second and they had to concoct the cheesy, tacky “Gold Rush” show which ruined the effect. It also covered a lot of ground, too much really, in bringing the audience up to date… and probably could have done without Uncle Albert’s funeral altogether. The second episode was a good old fashioned Fools episode, more or less a standalone story, but dragged out to nearly an hour and a half. The third episode tied up a lot of loose ends in the Fools universe and still managed to leave the characters in a good place at the end, but nowhere near as perfect a finish as ‘Time On Our Hands’. The recurring theme was that every last one of them was far too long. I’d imagine that was the BBC requesting blockbuster episodes for the Christmas schedules, rather than John Sullivan thinking “I can’t possibly fit these shows into an hour”. A bit of disciplined script editing, cutting each episode down to 45 mins or an hour keeping only the best material from each show, and all three would have been very funny and satisfying episodes. There was just FAR too much padding. I don’t even think John Sullivan writes The Green Green Grass anymore does he? At the very least, there are other writers on board too, writing whole shows to themselves… which is strange, because he wrote every single episode of Fools.
By “laughter barren”, I didn’t mean to imply there was NOTHING in the way of amusement. Just there were too many contrived, obvious filler gags and extended periods without mirth. Edited down, those issues would no longer be relevant.
Oh, and Sullivan should never write for children ever again! Damien was fucking awful in the most recent Fools episodes. Didn’t help that (IIRC) all three episodes were filmed at some point in 2001, and then shown one per year… which meant by 2003, Damien’s ‘Ali G’ inspired wannabe gangster persona was extremely dated before the show had even aired!
The millionaires walking into the cartoon sunset ending was probably the best though. That being said, I hoped to catch up with the Trotters as millionaires… only to find that had all been stripped away, bringing them back to basics as it were. I understand why the writer decided to take that route, but part of me would rather he had just stuck with the millionaire ending rather than do that. I didn’t dislike the specials though. Amongst the lesser stuff there was still plenty of laughs. And the revisit to the Freddy the Frog storyline was interesting.
I liked the first and last special quite alot, by no means as good as OFAH was but still highly enjoyable. The second was quite funny too but is probably the worst OFAH episode, I loved the onion stuff but in the end that joke dragged on, Gary was funny. The Green Green Grass it written by a group of writers who share the episodes, I think John Sullivan written 3 of the nine episodes this Series.
>The first episode would have been a lot better had it featured Del Boy on Who Wants to be a Millionaire, as written until ITV dropped out at the last second and they had to concoct the cheesy, tacky ?Gold Rush? show which ruined the effect. Oh right. That’s why that episode was crap.
Yes, because it was so detached from reality due to the blatantly made up quiz show, and because such a large section of the show was devoted to the gameshow appearance which would have been fine if it had been Del on WWTBAM as that show was big news at the time and would have been a fun cross-over spoof. Del on Gold Rush was just crap, but with hardly any time to come up with an alternative what choice did the Beeb have? Del on The Weakest Link wouldn’t have met the requirements of the narrative, and no other real show offered the kind of money Del needed to win to get the Trotters out of schtuck… so they had to make one up. That, coupled with it being too long, made it disappointing. But it wasn’t crap. There are no Fools episodes that I consider “crap”… a couple are weaker than the usual standards, but none “crap”, not a single episode devoid of any redeeming features.
I fail to see how you can blame the shortcomings of an episode of a BBC sitcom on ITV. Since it was swapped so late in the day, we can assume that the beats in the WWTBAM sequence were near-identical to the Gold Rush replacement. The big “joke” is that Rodney is Del’s phone-a-friend and gets the question “wrong” (leading to a depressing denouement). Of course, if this had happened in a show that was “fixed in reality” (and I’m not sure why Gold Rush is so removed from reality. Have you see Tarrant’s new pile of wank?) like, say, Who Wants to be a Millionaire, the “phone a friend” bit wouldn’t make sense anyway. Who Wants to be a Millionaire has never been televised live. Regardless of this, the sequence is, at most, just 10 minutes long in an episode you’ve already described as overlong.
There was so much more wrong with the episode than that sequence. Its mere existence, for example. But it wasn?t crap. There are no Fools episodes that I consider ?crap?? a couple are weaker than the usual standards, but none ?crap?, not a single episode devoid of any redeeming features. I’d say that there were three such episodes. But then, I’ve nearly finished programming my brain to forget that they existed, so it’s alright.
Who Wants to be a Millionaire has never been televised live. That’s not actually true – the 300th show was definitely broadcast live, and I’ve got a sneaking suspicion that there was a week of live shows at one point, although I can’t confirm that. But as a general rule, yes, it’s recorded.
It was always presented ‘as live’. I don’t ever recall being aware that it wasn’t live until the news leaked of the first ?1m winner in around 2000 (head-to-head with the One Foot in the Grave finale). So most people could be forgiven for thinking it was live, and therefore it wouldn’t have really mattered. As for how the segment fitted into Fools… I already said the episode was too long. If it had been an hour long episode, with the WWTBAM section taking up 8 minutes of it, it would have been fine. It would have been funnier seeing Del on a real life show with which we’re familiar with its cliches and conventions, than some made up tacky show blatantly made up for the programme. I’m not saying if ITV hadn’t pulled out, the episode would have been fantastic. Just better. If they hadn’t pulled out, and it had been trimmed to 60 mins, I’m sure it would be a lot more fondly remembered today.
You’re right – I’d have happily glossed over the rape, murder, dismemberment and re-rape of the greatest sitcom ending of all time if Chris Tarrant had been on it.
I agree: 1996 WAS the greatest sitcom ending of all time. Or at least, it could have been. But the damage is done: they brought it back and undid it. Too late. “rape, murder, dismemberment and re-rape” is just a little over the top, no? And that’s why I’d rather see more Fools than Birds or Nesbitt: because it ended on a sour note, and we know, we’ve SEEN, John Sullivan do so much better. The 1996 episodes weren’t just the perfect ending for the show, but they were also three of the best Fools episodes ever made. What’s the worst that could happen? They make another one and it’s not very good? Most people feel that way aout the 2001-2003 specials anyway, so what difference does it make? Best case scenario: they make another one and it’s great, and erases the memory of the disappointing noughties episodes. Either way I think it has a higher hit ratio than Birds of a Feather, therefore I’d rather them take that risk.
Many people may have felt the same way about Red Dwarf, bringing it back after Out of Time with a pair of series generally regarded as inferior, but I don’t see many people around here decrying the fact that we’re getting new episodes in a few weeks.
I’ve been watching RDVIII this week, and I’ve always thought fondly of it. It really is funnier than you think. Okay, no classic episodes (Cassandra and Krytie TV being the best), but even though I’ve always hated Only The Good…, what struck me was the fact that it’s actually a pretty decent episode for the first 18 minutes or so.
Many people may have felt the same way about Red Dwarf, bringing it back after Out of Time with a pair of series generally regarded as inferior, but I don?t see many people around here decrying the fact that we?re getting new episodes in a few weeks. Thing is, Red Dwarf ended in a rather unfinished state with a) the cliff-hanger and b) the fact that they’re still 3 million years in deep space (although arguably, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. So more episodes are welcome. In Only Fools everything has been pretty much wrapped up. Ok, they’re not millionaires any more (and I think they should have left it with that) but the last episode left them in a reasonably comfortable state. Well as comfortable as they’ll be, which is kind of the point. That being said, I wouldn’t mind another Only Fools episode to catch up with the Trotters. As long as it’s written well and doesn’t undo, yet again, what has been written before. There was a episode of The Green Green Grass (or whatever it’s called) which involved Boycie thinking back to his exploits in Peckham with the Trotters. I kind of half watched it hoping I’d see a bit of new stuff. Turned out to basically be Only Fools clip show. Even showing Trotter stuff when Boycie wasn’t present. I wasn’t exactly surprised but… yawn. A Delboy cameo in GGG wouldn’t be a bad thing though. As long as he is written right.
Yeah, I’d be happy enough to actually watch The Green Green Grass if they had a crossover episode where the Boyces went back to Peckham and met up with the old cast. Even though, so far, TGGG has been bloody awful. > I?ve been watching RDVIII this week, and I?ve always thought fondly of it. It really is funnier than you think. I assume that was aimed at me, because I called VII and VIII “generally regarded as inferior”. I really like them both, especially VIII. But they are still generally regarded as inferior by most fans, especially round these here parts, so it seems.
Fair enough. I’ve been watching Dwarf VII this week. I have to admit there’s just something not right about watching the episodes with no laugh track. It’s jarring and distracting, and it’s making me worried about Back to Earth… :( Which I don’t want to be, because I hated prejudiced negativity and refuse to jump to conclusions before I’ve actually seen it, but I really do wish they had a laugh track (at the very least, it would be cool if they were to show it to an audience after airing and record a laugh track, as a DVD option… just in case…) But series VII really does look fantastic… but a little pixellated. There are scene where it is clear that in order to get a closer shot, they have just zoomed in on a smaller section of a larger/wider shot and it makes it look quite pixellated. Maybe it’s just my rapidly failing eyesight, I dunno.
And I have picked up a whole new appreciation for Stoke Me A Clipper, which was never really a favourite of mine. It still has its flaws, but I laughed so hard last night at the Ace Rimmer opening section, from start to finish. Other than the knight escaping from the AR machine, and the AR Ace Rimmer training session, this episode just grew on me considerably in the last day or two.
> There are scene where it is clear that in order to get a closer shot, they have just zoomed in on a smaller section of a larger/wider shot and it makes it look quite pixellated. Just two examples that come to mind. When we cut to a closer shot of Rimmer and Kryten on the Dallas street where they found Eric White’s body in Tikka To Ride, and when we have several quick zooms into Kryten’s face as he imagines Lister and Kochanski getting together and no longer needing hom (is it Duct Soup or Beyond a Joke? Can’t remember, haven’t gotten that far into the DVD yet.)
> Which I don?t want to be, because I hated prejudiced negativity and refuse to jump to conclusions before I?ve actually seen it I always find that helps actually, for example last year I thought the finale to Doctor Who was going to be gob smackingly shit just like the previous 2 years, I was wrong, couldn’t be happier to be wrong, thought the same for ‘The Next Doctor’ after the crap christmas episode we got the year before, I was wrong, good times!
I?ve been watching Dwarf VII this week. I have to admit there?s just something not right about watching the episodes with no laugh track. It?s jarring and distracting, and it?s making me worried about Back to Earth? :( The reason they are jarring and distracting is because they were written and shown with a laugh track that was edited out of the Xtended. It would not seem so if they were edited/performed that way.
>Many people may have felt the same way about Red Dwarf, bringing it back after Out of Time with a pair of series generally regarded as inferior, but I don?t see many people around here decrying the fact that we?re getting new episodes in a few weeks. Ahem. >There was a episode of The Green Green Grass (or whatever it?s called) which involved Boycie thinking back to his exploits in Peckham with the Trotters. I kind of half watched it hoping I?d see a bit of new stuff. Turned out to basically be Only Fools clip show. Even showing Trotter stuff when Boycie wasn?t present. That is fucking awful. >That being said, I wouldn?t mind another Only Fools episode to catch up with the Trotters. As long as it?s written well and doesn?t undo, yet again, what has been written before. The only good thing I’ll say about that FINAL trilogy, is that it ended with the revelation about Rodney’s parentage; something that had been clearly hinted at since day one. By ending it there, they kind of established that the show was never really about becoming millionaires, but about being family. Which is fair enough.
> By ending it there, they kind of established that the show was never really about becoming millionaires, but about being family. Which is fair enough. I quite like that take on it actually. Very nice. Still doesn’t beat walking off into the sunset as millionaires though :P
But at least they were financially secure, with a couple hundred grand to play with, so it wasn’t a case of ‘back to the daily grind’ and struggling. At least if we never see the Trotters again we get the impression that they’ll be, at the very least, stable. So it wasn’t an AWFUL ending, it was still a happy one.
The most stupid thing was the spreading of the episodes over three Christmases. It just makes you feel they were made for the wrong reasons – the BBC wanting them back as guaranteed ratings winners. They should have done two specials for Christmas 2001 then brought it back again a few years down the line, making it clear that it was the final FINAL one. Whatever, it’s fairly easy to pretend the 1996 trilogy is the real ending. Dwarf can be looked at in a similar way. You could say Out Of Time was the true end, or Back To Reality even. Why not throw even more of your toys out the pram and say Queeg was the last real Red Dwarf (when the Cat is looking at the dream recorder at the beginning of PU that could be a sign that the whole show from that point on was dreamed up by him). That ends a run of 6 absolutely perfect Red Dwarf episodes (Me2-Queeg), the only time this happens in the whole run. Aside from BITR pt.2-Pete pt.2, that is. I’m babbling. I been through hell, shut the hell up! I’m tryin to develop these pictures of the Devil to sell ’em.
Why not throw even more of your toys out the pram and say Queeg was the last real Red Dwarf (when the Cat is looking at the dream recorder at the beginning of PU that could be a sign that the whole show from that point on was dreamed up by him). Surely, if anything, that would mean that everything *up to* that point was a dream?
I’m probably talking through my arse, but the first picture of Katerina shown with Rimmer makes Chris’s mouth/lips look a tad odd. It’s almost as she’s kissed him, turned away and left him with a smidge of lipstick. Clearly though, if that were the case, he wasn’t overly impressed…
from bobbyllews twitter ’13 days filming. One scene to go’ .Christ. need to pinch myself here, only feels like the other day that back to the future IV was starting to seem more likely than .any. new RD. And yet now in just over a month we’re getting BRAND NEW RED DWARF it’s been ten years, so when the ball started rolling it feelt like everything was happening at light speed .good times.
Whats next? ?Keeping Up Appearances II?? Sorry, I meant to reply to this before – I would seriously LOVE a Keeping Up Appearances special. I love the show, even though the format was the same every bloody week. They definitely ended it at the right time at the time, and maybe I’m tempting fate, but I’m not sure I could resist a chance to catch up with it. It would have to be written pitch-perfectly, though, and address them getting older in some way. It’s right bang in the middle of Roy Clarke’s famous three sitcoms. Open All Hours is an incredible piece of work. Keeping Up Appearances is brilliantly funny, and the kind of mainstream family audience sitcom the BBC used to churn out effortlessly and then forgot how to do. Last of the Summer Wine I’ve always disliked – although I keep meaning to try the early episodes properly.
I quite like Last of the Summer Wine. Or rather used to. I went off it a bit mainly due to the repetitive nature. Gorgeous scenery though.
> She left the show at least a couple of years before she died? She did but then she came back again.
In fact it was quite a while ago that she left, I think it was when she was starring in the new Crossroads. When that was shit and got the boot she came back. She was still appearing in the show during the series that was screened last year.
So it survived without her then. Was she really that integral? I mean Last of the Summer Wine has weathered more lead cast departures/deaths than any show I can think of, besides soap operas. What makes this one any different?
Reportedly the BBC has already decided to axe the show anyway. 11 eps were shot last year and apparently only 1 will be broadcast. Crazy if true. At its best, I would rank Summer Wine up there with some of the best comedies around. Great actors, great location, great music and some wonderful writing. Unfortunately it has often sunk below that standard in recent years…
Summer Wine was best when they used to congregate in Ivy’s Cafe, when Wally Batty was still around, and the leads were Compo, Clegg and Foggy. I mean, Burt Kwouk’s in it now, ffs!
