Brian Wilde

F

Foggy Entwhistle

Active Member
Couldn't they have written him back into the programme after the death of Bill Owen, I think Foggy and Truly in the show, maybe bullying Cleggy and Tom into things like bicycle polo or into testing machines built by Wesley would have worked, although it was going to be a tough ask making up for the loss of Compo.
 
I always thought after the death of Bill Owen it would have been an idea to bring back Brian Wilde - even if this would have spoiled the balanced trio as it would have had two 'authoritive' figures.

Wilde had the added advantage of being a fair bit younger, which suggested he could have done a good few years in the show again.

He was only 80 when he died in 2008, which is relatively young by LOTSW standards.

I understand he was often asked back, but said he'd done enough.

I think re-introducing an old favourite like Foggy would have been better than creating all those later characters - none of which seemed particularly successful.

The character of Billy Hardcastle was the best post-Compo character (he was actually created in the Compo days), yet somehow never got truly accepted by the general public in my opinion.
 
Foggy Entwhistle said:
Couldn't they have written him back into the programme after the death of Bill Owen, I think Foggy and Truly in the show, maybe bullying Cleggy and Tom into things like bicycle polo or into testing machines built by Wesley would have worked, although it was going to be a tough ask making up for the loss of Compo.
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I just don't see Truly and Foggy complimenting each other, but Roy Clarke probably could have made it work.
 
They should of just gotten rid of Truly and brung back Foggy. I have barely seen any of the Truly/Clegg/Compo years so I don't know how good he was in those, but He just never seemed the great type for LOTSW. He just doesn't have that afraid look when he's around women that I love about Foggy. One minute Foggy can be up himself and proud, the next thing, he's running away scared.
 
goodiesguy said:
They should of just gotten rid of Truly and brung back Foggy. I have barely seen any of the Truly/Clegg/Compo years so I don't know how good he was in those, but He just never seemed the great type for LOTSW. He just doesn't have that afraid look when he's around women that I love about Foggy. One minute Foggy can be up himself and proud, the next thing, he's running away scared.
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I think Truly was originally only going to appear in a few episodes as it looked like Brian Wilde wasn't able to appear in all of the series shown in early 1998, as it turned out Wilde didn't appear in any of it.

I thought Frank Thornton was excellent as Truly, and I don't see any good reason to have 'just gotten rid of Truly', as you put it.

But certainly with the loss of Bill Owen it would have been worth considering bringing back Wilde, if only for one episode.
 
From what I've read, Brian was asked to come back many times but didn't want to do it again. Truly, I think, was very good and he just may have been the 2nd best 3rd man, though I have to give it to Seymour, he was good too.
 
Although the shows' golden age was during Foggy's tenure, I think it would have been totally wrong to get rid of Truly as a character as it took the show in a new and fresh direction.

Although I must admit feeling very uninspired at first when the character of Truly was first introduced, I have grown extremely fond of Frank Thornton's excellent portrayal of the authorative (but not overly so like Foggy or Seymour) 3rd man.
 
I think Truly had some wonderful lines and his character 'got' Clegg. Know what I mean? The writing had Truly understand Cleggs wavelength beautifully.
 
It was a stroke of luck introducing Truly when they did.

When Bill Owen died just a couple of years later, Clegg had a new soul mate - it had been demonstrated with other third men that Compo proved to be a link between Clegg and the third man.

Truly was a gentler third man - and had more in common with Clegg than Blamire, Foggy and Seymour.
 
wstol said:
It was a stroke of luck introducing Truly when they did.

When Bill Owen died just a couple of years later, Clegg had a new soul mate - it had been demonstrated with other third men that Compo proved to be a link between Clegg and the third man.

Truly was a gentler third man - and had more in common with Clegg than Blamire, Foggy and Seymour.
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I couldn't have put it better myself.
 
wstol said:
It was a stroke of luck introducing Truly when they did.

When Bill Owen died just a couple of years later, Clegg had a new soul mate - it had been demonstrated with other third men that Compo proved to be a link between Clegg and the third man.

Truly was a gentler third man - and had more in common with Clegg than Blamire, Foggy and Seymour.
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Slightly puzzled by one aspect of this though concur the bulk. My quibble comes in the middle as I have always been of the view that Clegg was the middle man, the bridge between Compo and the third man. Particularly true in the Blamire days.

I also am a great Truly supporter. I felt he brought a fresh look to the show and gave Roy Clarke a whole new range of situation possibilities. To me there can be too much emphasis put on the actors. The genius of LOTSW was, after all, the writer, Roy Clarke.
 
Did Brian leave the series first time around because of a row with Bill Owen? I was reading an article from the 80s which stated that Bill Owen and Brian Wilde didn't get on.
 
Foggy Entwhistle said:
Did Brian leave the series first time around because of a row with Bill Owen? I was reading an article from the 80s which stated that Bill Owen and Brian Wilde didn't get on.
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Have had a quick skim of Andrew Vine's book. It was not specifically a row with Bill Owen. Wilde did not get on over well with anybody and was generally critical of many aspects including the script. He did rather naively tell a reporter that there was some friction and that got published which did not please rest of cast and crew. This is all in a chapter "Loyal but Disagreeable" which tells its own tale. Wilde just basically decided it was time to move on. Quote: 'He was also restless, saying, "Being an actor, life should be varied."'

Interestingly, one of the first thoughts for a replacement was Fulton MacKay, also from Porridge. That would have been interesting.
 
Big Unc said:
Interestingly, one of the first thoughts for a replacement was Fulton MacKay, also from Porridge. That would have been interesting.
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there was a bit about tht in the bright and ross book as well, brian had quit and they approached fulton then brian found out and was so angry he talked fulton out of it and decided 2 stay but he only stayed 4 a year, well thts how i remember it from tht book but i take vines as the definative 1 cause of how much effort he put into it, tbh ive stil gotta read the book fully ive only read the chapter bout the beginning and the end atm, i just cant find the time 4 it
 
Big Unc said:
Foggy Entwhistle said:
Did Brian leave the series first time around because of a row with Bill Owen? I was reading an article from the 80s which stated that Bill Owen and Brian Wilde didn't get on.
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Have had a quick skim of Andrew Vine's book. It was not specifically a row with Bill Owen. Wilde did not get on over well with anybody and was generally critical of many aspects including the script. He did rather naively tell a reporter that there was some friction and that got published which did not please rest of cast and crew. This is all in a chapter "Loyal but Disagreeable" which tells its own tale. Wilde just basically decided it was time to move on. Quote: 'He was also restless, saying, "Being an actor, life should be varied."'

Interestingly, one of the first thoughts for a replacement was Fulton MacKay, also from Porridge. That would have been interesting.
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Ever since I heard about Wilde and Owen not getting along, it has always stuck in the back of my mind. I am currently viewing the older Foggy episodes as well as the Seymour episodes. I noticed in the Foggy episodes, there seems to be an extra amount of dialogue just between Compo and Foggy. Sometimes Clegg is a bit in the background. To think these guys didn't get along and yet worked so closely for so many years is quite amazing. I haven't read Vine's book yet, but "Loyal but Disagreeable" sounds very appropriate.
 
I always thought that Clegg was intended to be, and remained, the middle man throughout. Blamire would never have associated with Compo without Clegg being friends to both. I think the same for Foggy, but less so for Seymour or Truly.
 
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