Blamire.

[amos hames]

How do other members Feel the direction of the show would have Taken if Michael Bates had lived. Would it have stayed as gritty as the first two series. I would like to have seen how Foggy and Cryil would have got on.

 

[brendalovescompo]

I had mentioned in other post how I loved the grittiness of the first 2 series. Do you mean if they would have added Foggy as a forth man? WOW, I could see Foggy and Cyril go a few rounds, Cyril would have told Foggy he was a bit neurotic and should not have retired the armed forces

 

[codfanglers]

I appreciate Blamire and the Blamire years, but they were not my overall favorite. Also, one can certainly argue that Foggy's first run was the best of Summer Wine (all those great Series and Episodes). The show was edgy during the Blamire years (not necessarily because of the character but because of the writing), however, I think the Foggy years focused more on mass appeal and was designed to go on for a long time.

 

[brendalovescompo]

agree, codfanglers. I don't think the edginess would have lasted. Foggy years by far the best for mass appeal and for going the long haul.

 

[Sarkus]

I was watching Series 3 recently and thinking about how Blamire would have played those scenes since most of that series was written with him in mind. The move to Foggy came rather late. So think of Blamire in the Great Boarding House Caper, or in the Kink In Foggy's (Blamire's) Niblick. Certainly the first episode was written for Foggy, but the rest very likely were intended to be Blamire episodes. Its an interesting exercise because the show was moving in the same direction it went with Foggy anyway, even though Foggy is much more the bumbling idiot then Blamire ever was or likely would have been.

 

[Philosopher Clegg]

I would have thought that had Blamire continued in the series then the chances are there would have been no Foggy. I agree though, it would have been interesting to see Blamire and Foggy together to see how they might have got on. I think the chances are that Foggy would have shown some deference to Blamire, who saw himself as being more from the managerial class who would occasionally put on airs and graces and a sense of superiority, especially around Compo.

As others have suggested, some of the third series was written for Blamire that became Foggy stories. It's also interesting that Blamire emphasized his military background on occasion, although Compo did point out that he only worked in the military stores. This is similar to the Corporal Signwriter putdown that was used against Foggy to bring him down to earth.

Had Blamire stayed in I think in time the early grittiness would have gone in much the same way it did with Foggy as the third man.