TV On The Radio #10: Last Of The Summer Wine

This weekend was the 50th anniversary of Last of the Summer Wine, a sitcom about a bunch of ridiculous Yorkshire pensioners that ran for a total of 31 series before it breathed its last in 2010. I know this because I live in Holmfirth, the village (although it calls itself a town, it's not a town really) in which the show was set, a village which has thrived on LOTSW tourism for half a century. On Saturday, while Sam and I were trying to do our shopping, we had to navigate coach loads of fans (most of them now older than the show's characters) and cosplayers... yes, there were people wandering around dressed as Compo, Foggy, Clegg and Nora Batty. It was, as always, a right pain in the arse.

I watched the show as a kid, because it was just what you did round here. The main appeal was in working out where the location shots were filmed... increasingly, as the years went by, they weren't filmed in Holmfirth at all, but in surrounding villages such as Meltham, Honley, Marsden and Slawit (Slaithwaite) which is where I grew up. The show outlived most of its original cast: Michael Bates, who played Cyril Blamire in the original series, died in 1978. He was replaced by Brian Wilde as Foggy, who stayed with the show, on and off, till the mid-90s. Compo, who gave his name to the local Fish & Chip shop, was the show's main character until actor Bill Owen's death in 1999, after which he was replaced by his son, Tom. Of the originals, only the great Peter Sallis, the voice of Wallace & Gromit, outlived the show, though he was reduced to a sit down role by the final series, replaced in the "action" sequences by younger comedy actors such as Russ Abbott and Burt Kwouk. The show became an old folk's home for British thespians, with Brian Murphy, Frank Thornton, Thora Hird and Jean 'Hilda Ogden' Alexander joining the ranks over the years. Though I bailed out in the late 80s, my mum kept watching it, and still enjoys the repeats on UK Gold (or whatever it's called these days). Summer Wine is a time capsule of a certain type of Yorkshire village and its inhabitants... ironically most of the people who live in Holmfirth these days are comers-in. Compo probably wouldn't be able to afford a house round here anymore. (I barely can.)

Although the phrase "Last of the Summer Wine" sounds like it could originate from a Keats poem, it was actually coined by the show's creator, Roy Clarke, as a metaphor for living out the dregs of one's life in fine style. With that in mind, anyone referring to LOTSW in song must be familiar with the show itself, right?

It's just you and Foucault and my bass guitar

And I've seen you walk on water

And you wash your feet with my hair and my tears

I loved you in the runs the last of the summer wine.

Shurk - Foucault (feat. Jolliff)

Your guess is as good as mine.

Where have you been, Sonny Jim?

Where have you been all this time?

Drinking the last of the summer wine

On the run in the sun

High on the rocks

West of the Cox 

EMF - West of the Cox

Well, that's just Unbelievable.

Last of The Summer Wine

First of the Christmas Sherry

I guess it's just

Same poison, different berries

Dr. BigF MC - Black Hasselhoff

The Hoff name-drop got that one in here. 

This, on the other hand, I actually like... and not just because it also mentions Spider-Man...

Enough time has passed now 

We look like the cast of the Last of the Summer Wine

Mainly because I love the rest of the lyric...

'Cause my friend

You are worth the extra petrol

You are worth the extra data

You are worth the lunch I can't afford

Oh dude I'm like this with all my friends but

Can I come over and platonically play with your hair?

Can I come over and platonically play with your hair?

Pickle Darling - 5am

Pickle Darling are from New Zealand. Which means they must watch Last of the Summer Wine there! Bizarre.

Now here's Dennis Waterman. Yes, that one.

You said your last "I love you"

Drank the last of my summer wine

Took your shadows from my wall, babe

Took everything I thought was mine

Dennis Waterman - Nothing At All

As far as I know, Dennis never appeared in LOTSW. But he should have done.

Now, you might be expecting me to close today with this one. (Or you might not. It's hardly a Top 40 smash.)

Palma Violets - Last of the Summer Wine

But no. I'm going to cheat a little. Any excuse to play Nancy and Lee...