Consider a TV crew, descending on a rural English village in
Yorkshire, where it regularly rains (and occasionally snows) in late Spring. Imagine the actors who played our three
favorite characters—Compo, Foggy, and Norman—laying in damp grass, atop stone
walls, or in thorny gorse, their feet pointed up at the sky, as they muse upon
the formation of the clouds, the divine plan behind wooly pullovers, or why
Compo finds Nora Batty so endlessly attractive. Life seems to pass so peacefully in "Last of the Summer Wine;" one imagines
that nowhere could be more pleasant for a TV crew to film than in Holmfirth and its environs. One could be so very, very wrong.
A good day of the series’ production might get as much as
five or ten minutes worth of completed film.
The crew would also film some of the scenes inside local buildings. The production would then move to the
studio, where other interior scenes were filmed in a more controlled
environment. Yet some locations, such as
Sid’s Café, featured so much prominent window space that portions of each scene
shot inside the physical location were carefully intercut with other sequences
meticulously reconstructed in the studio.
Then, after the completion of studio recording, and viewing all the
available footage, the decision might be made to return to Holmfirth and the
surrounding towns for additional filming.
All of this for, on average, six half-hour episodes per season.
The BBC produced many sitcoms in the early seventies. Most lasted no more than a single
series. Others, the more popular or
critically-acclaimed, might last a few years longer. But no series can boast the longevity of
“Last of the Summer Wine.” From the
airing of the pilot commissioned for "Comedy Playhouse" in 1973, to the final episode
shown in 2010, the series lasted an astounding thirty-seven years, and Roy
Clarke penned all 295 episodes. The
writer’s mystifying brief, to write something funny about “three old men,”
became a labor of love for the production teams who filmed it, and a cherished fan
favorite the world over. No other
situation comedy has lasted so long, or shown senior citizens in such a
positive light. It is, in a word,
unique.
The city of Holmfirth recognizes this. People pour into this part of Yorkshire
constantly. The location the film crew converted
each year into Sid’s Café has become an actual tea room called Sid’s Cafe. Compo’s home has become the Last of the
Summer Wine Exhibition, showing props and memorabilia from the show, and
selling officially licensed merchandise.
One can spend the night in Nora Batty’s house, next to which is The
Wrinkled Stocky Tea Room, named in honor of her famous leg coverings. (Another tea room, not a prior film site, has
named itself Compo’s). Dozens line up for the Summer Wine bus tour,
which takes fans out to various filming sites several times each day. And practically anywhere in the town, at any
time, one can expect to hear visitors talking excitedly amongst themselves
about their Summer Wine experience, or asking locals their recollections of
each year’s film production.
I’m one of those who loved the series enough to make the
pilgrimage to this former milltown in the heart of Yorkshire. I asked all the questions I could think
of. I ate in Sid’s Café. I took the bus tour. I stayed in a local hotel. I found the
locals kind and gracious and helpful. In
so doing, I came to understand all the little differences between the real Holmfirth
and the fictional town created for the series.
I find myself indebted to Roy Clarke, to all those involved in making
the series, and the locals who made my stay so enjoyable. For I have become part of the show I have
come to love, and it has become a part of me.
Thanks for following along,
Dragon Dave
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