Hello all,
I've enjoyed reading the forums for a while now and have witnessed the expertise of members, so thought I'd pick your brains on the subject of Auntie Wainwright.
I grew up watching LOTSW (born '85, so mostly saw the later Foggy episodes, to the best of my recollection), and of course Auntie Wainwright was a prominent character (usually bossing around poor Smiler!), but I don't recall her relationship to Howard ever being mentioned. I have in the last few years bought a lot of the DVD sets (just finished watching 15 and 16), and in her early appearances naturally the relationship was clearly stated on several occasions; perhaps it's just a failure of memory, but I could have sworn that, growing up, the show never made any references to Howard being her nephew (indeed, I simply assumed 'Auntie' was a term of affection, or a title she'd adopted to seem more of a 'sweet old lady' to appeal to buyers!). I just wondered if this was in fact the case or if I am misremembering; I have yet to get hold of the later series so can't check!
One other question regarding Auntie Wainwright: it's pretty much accepted (given things like Compo's passport [stating a birth year of 1923; slightly off, but in the right area], First of the Summer Wine's aging of the main characters [inc. Clegg] as 18 in 1939, etc, discussed here and elsewhere: http://www.summerwine.net/community/showthread.php?9536-Compo-s-Passport/page2&highlight=ages) that the trio and most of the supporting characters were born in around 1921. Although, to my mind, Howard's early appearances gave me the impression he was somewhat Clegg's junior (I don't recall if any references were ever made to Howard having been at school with... well, virtually every single other character), that may simply have been Clegg's understandable exasperation at someone comparatively immature! But if Howard finishes LOTSW, like Clegg, aged nearly 90... how old is Auntie Wainwright?! Of course one often enough encounters aunts and uncles only slightly older, or indeed younger, than their nieces and nephews, but in the context of the series it's plainly made clear to the viewer that, in comparison with the trio and other supporting characters (even with how, on several early occasions, the ladies [inc. Thora Hird, whose character I always took to be the eldest amongst her circle because she was always in charge] treat Auntie Wainwright as though she's 'an old lady'), she was supposed to be (perhaps not inconsiderably?) older. Given she first appeared in 1988, Clegg et al would have been 67 or so- no spring chickens. But they regularly, to my recollection, refer to her as 'an old lady', and she herself downplays her predatory salesmanship with statements like 'I'm a harmless old lady'/ 'you should be ashamed, taking advantage of an old woman'. Which raises the question: how old could Auntie Wainwright be in the final episode? Perhaps 100? God knows she'll probably outlive Howard, simply so he'll never inherit all her money (after all, she does own half- sorry, three quarters- of Pollington Street!)
Thanks in advance for any thoughts!
I've enjoyed reading the forums for a while now and have witnessed the expertise of members, so thought I'd pick your brains on the subject of Auntie Wainwright.
I grew up watching LOTSW (born '85, so mostly saw the later Foggy episodes, to the best of my recollection), and of course Auntie Wainwright was a prominent character (usually bossing around poor Smiler!), but I don't recall her relationship to Howard ever being mentioned. I have in the last few years bought a lot of the DVD sets (just finished watching 15 and 16), and in her early appearances naturally the relationship was clearly stated on several occasions; perhaps it's just a failure of memory, but I could have sworn that, growing up, the show never made any references to Howard being her nephew (indeed, I simply assumed 'Auntie' was a term of affection, or a title she'd adopted to seem more of a 'sweet old lady' to appeal to buyers!). I just wondered if this was in fact the case or if I am misremembering; I have yet to get hold of the later series so can't check!
One other question regarding Auntie Wainwright: it's pretty much accepted (given things like Compo's passport [stating a birth year of 1923; slightly off, but in the right area], First of the Summer Wine's aging of the main characters [inc. Clegg] as 18 in 1939, etc, discussed here and elsewhere: http://www.summerwine.net/community/showthread.php?9536-Compo-s-Passport/page2&highlight=ages) that the trio and most of the supporting characters were born in around 1921. Although, to my mind, Howard's early appearances gave me the impression he was somewhat Clegg's junior (I don't recall if any references were ever made to Howard having been at school with... well, virtually every single other character), that may simply have been Clegg's understandable exasperation at someone comparatively immature! But if Howard finishes LOTSW, like Clegg, aged nearly 90... how old is Auntie Wainwright?! Of course one often enough encounters aunts and uncles only slightly older, or indeed younger, than their nieces and nephews, but in the context of the series it's plainly made clear to the viewer that, in comparison with the trio and other supporting characters (even with how, on several early occasions, the ladies [inc. Thora Hird, whose character I always took to be the eldest amongst her circle because she was always in charge] treat Auntie Wainwright as though she's 'an old lady'), she was supposed to be (perhaps not inconsiderably?) older. Given she first appeared in 1988, Clegg et al would have been 67 or so- no spring chickens. But they regularly, to my recollection, refer to her as 'an old lady', and she herself downplays her predatory salesmanship with statements like 'I'm a harmless old lady'/ 'you should be ashamed, taking advantage of an old woman'. Which raises the question: how old could Auntie Wainwright be in the final episode? Perhaps 100? God knows she'll probably outlive Howard, simply so he'll never inherit all her money (after all, she does own half- sorry, three quarters- of Pollington Street!)
Thanks in advance for any thoughts!
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