Finished Watching Another Round of Summer Wine

[codfanglers]

I have recently viewed most of the Summer Wine from Blamire to Hobbo for about the third full time. Each time I complete the saga I gain different insight on the show. So here are two of my recent observations.

1. I first discovered Summer Wine during series 24. The post-Compo era was the norm for me; with more characters wreaking havoc around town and countryside. After viewing all eras of the show, the years 2000-07 remained my absolute favorite. This has changed a bit with my last viewing of the entire show. I developed a stronger love for certain Foggy and Seymour moments (despite always enjoying them). Now, instead of one specific era with particular cast members, I find the whole show wonderful with certain pockets of pure brilliance. I still have a warm, comfortable feeling for seeing Truly, Clegg, Billy, Smiler, and Enwhistle all together, but I recognize that the absolute best of Summer Wine might very well be….

Series 8, Series9 (I especially love the first Seymour episodes where he was more of a wild inventor character than a snotty schoolmaster type, Series 12 and Series 24.

Of course this opens up a whole lot for debate. There are absolute great earlier Foggy episodes and Trully episodes but as for entire consistent Series, those might be best. Also, the short time of Truly and Compo together are special.

2. I have debated ealier my mixed opinions on the last four series. I grew to like the Hobbo era over time but developed an uneasy feeling for Series 29. It just seemed inconsistent with so many different guests taking major roles. However, after recently viewing episodes such as In Which Romance Isn't Dead – Just Incompetent and Get out of that, then? I realize there were still great moments.

Regarding the Hobbo era, my views of Hobbo, Entwhistle, and Alvin have changed.

Hobbo- I like him even more. He had great moments, such as times with Ms. Partridge in the library.

Alvin- He used to be my least favorite of the regular characters. He was always OK but I didn’t think he added too much to the show. I still don’t like the way he was brought in, replacing Compo with the opening scenes with Nora. Also, when Billy was still around, it seemed a little crowded with all the guys. However, I now see how he grew to be a strong character. He also ended up being a great accomplice to Entwhistle.

Entwhistle- I really did love Wesley, but I think Entwhistle was great, especially when he was first brought in. He was given so much of the spotlight in his first Series and had great moments when Clegg, Truly, etc. were first getting to know him (A Pick-up Of The Later Ming Dynasty, etc). However, it seemed each year his role gradually declined, which I am not so thrilled with.

Ultimately, Hobbo, Alvin, and Enwhistle were “great”. Whats not so good were the new roles of Morton and Toby. Less of them and more of Enwhistle and Alvin would have helped. Declined roles of Truly and Clegg obviously hurt the show and I think the show lost a lot with Billy’s departure. However, Ivy remained a backbone of the show and Josephine Tewson as Ms. Partridge was a great, later addition to Summer Wine.

I wasn’t expecting this “blog” to be so long, but I had to share. Thanks for reading!

 

[Big Unc]

Regarding the Hobbo era, my views of Hobbo, Entwhistle, and Alvin have changed.

Hobbo- I like him even more. He had great moments, such as times with Ms. Partridge in the library.

Alvin- He used to be my least favorite of the regular characters. He was always OK but I didn’t think he added too much to the show. I still don’t like the way he was brought in, replacing Compo with the opening scenes with Nora. Also, when Billy was still around, it seemed a little crowded with all the guys. However, I now see how he grew to be a strong character. He also ended up being a great accomplice to Entwhistle.

Entwhistle- I really did love Wesley, but I think Entwhistle was great, especially when he was first brought in. He was given so much of the spotlight in his first Series and had great moments when Clegg, Truly, etc. were first getting to know him (A Pick-up Of The Later Ming Dynasty, etc). However, it seemed each year his role gradually declined, which I am not so thrilled with.

Ultimately, Hobbo, Alvin, and Enwhistle were “great”. Whats not so good were the new roles of Morton and Toby. Less of them and more of Enwhistle and Alvin would have helped. Declined roles of Truly and Clegg obviously hurt the show and I think the show lost a lot with Billy’s departure. However, Ivy remained a backbone of the show and Josephine Tewson as Ms. Partridge was a great, later addition to Summer Wine.

I wasn’t expecting this “blog” to be so long, but I had to share. Thanks for reading!

During the recent discussion I have been analysing my attitude towards Hobbo and those last two series. I have a vague recollection that someone ascribed the Clegg role to Alvin recently. That was certainly not how I saw it. To my mind the intent was that Hobbo had the third man function, Alvin the Compo role and Entwistle the Clegg contemplative, cerebral nature.

The major problem with those last two series was, of course, the great reduction in the input from Truly and Clegg. In particular, Roy Clarke lost his Clegg mouthpiece. For some reason, he did not use Entwistle in the same treasured way and in a sense Roy Clarke ceased to talk to us.

But that was another factor. Not only was the input from Truly and Clegg greatly reduced but also the contribution from Alvin and Entwistle to the trio was way down on what used to be contributed by Compo and Clegg to any trio to which they belonged. I have said it before, with the onset of Hobbo there ceased to be a trio. It became a one man show - the Hobbo show.

And finally to Hobbo himself. To a considerable extent, the contribution of the third man was the delivery of delusions. With Foggy and to a certain extent Blamire it was their contribution to the war effort. With Seymour it was his inventions. With Truly it was exaggerated stories about his life in the Met (and the former Mrs Truelove). They were delusions about true situations. They were plausible, they were half true reminiscences vaunting the contribution of the narrator. In contrast Hobbo was just plain daft, his inputs way over the top and carried to extremes with his search for his mother. In a way it was sad. But bordering too much on fantasy by comparison with the grittiness of the real lives of the trios who had gone before.

 

[Pearl]

I think you hit the nail on the head there Big Unc.

 

[wstol]

Regarding the Hobbo era, my views of Hobbo, Entwhistle, and Alvin have changed.

Hobbo- I like him even more. He had great moments, such as times with Ms. Partridge in the library.

Alvin- He used to be my least favorite of the regular characters. He was always OK but I didn’t think he added too much to the show. I still don’t like the way he was brought in, replacing Compo with the opening scenes with Nora. Also, when Billy was still around, it seemed a little crowded with all the guys. However, I now see how he grew to be a strong character. He also ended up being a great accomplice to Entwhistle.

Entwhistle- I really did love Wesley, but I think Entwhistle was great, especially when he was first brought in. He was given so much of the spotlight in his first Series and had great moments when Clegg, Truly, etc. were first getting to know him (A Pick-up Of The Later Ming Dynasty, etc). However, it seemed each year his role gradually declined, which I am not so thrilled with.

Ultimately, Hobbo, Alvin, and Enwhistle were “great”. Whats not so good were the new roles of Morton and Toby. Less of them and more of Enwhistle and Alvin would have helped. Declined roles of Truly and Clegg obviously hurt the show and I think the show lost a lot with Billy’s departure. However, Ivy remained a backbone of the show and Josephine Tewson as Ms. Partridge was a great, later addition to Summer Wine.

I wasn’t expecting this “blog” to be so long, but I had to share. Thanks for reading!

During the recent discussion I have been analysing my attitude towards Hobbo and those last two series. I have a vague recollection that someone ascribed the Clegg role to Alvin recently. That was certainly not how I saw it. To my mind the intent was that Hobbo had the third man function, Alvin the Compo role and Entwistle the Clegg contemplative, cerebral nature.

The major problem with those last two series was, of course, the great reduction in the input from Truly and Clegg. In particular, Roy Clarke lost his Clegg mouthpiece. For some reason, he did not use Entwistle in the same treasured way and in a sense Roy Clarke ceased to talk to us.

But that was another factor. Not only was the input from Truly and Clegg greatly reduced but also the contribution from Alvin and Entwistle to the trio was way down on what used to be contributed by Compo and Clegg to any trio to which they belonged. I have said it before, with the onset of Hobbo there ceased to be a trio. It became a one man show - the Hobbo show.

And finally to Hobbo himself. To a considerable extent, the contribution of the third man was the delivery of delusions. With Foggy and to a certain extent Blamire it was their contribution to the war effort. With Seymour it was his inventions. With Truly it was exaggerated stories about his life in the Met (and the former Mrs Truelove). They were delusions about true situations. They were plausible, they were half true reminiscences vaunting the contribution of the narrator. In contrast Hobbo was just plain daft, his inputs way over the top and carried to extremes with his search for his mother. In a way it was sad. But bordering too much on fantasy by comparison with the grittiness of the real lives of the trios who had gone before.

I would say it was clear from the start of Hobbo's time that Entwistle was intended to be the new Clegg.

One of his lines after being called chicken was something like 'Why don't you sit here with us chickens?', a line already used by Clegg.

Despite Entwistle's philosphosy, he could never replace Clegg, and it would have been wrong to even try to.

As for Hobbo, his life was a complete fantasy - and we saw so little of his real life.

I wonder if the 'spy' persona was loosely based on his Basildon Bond character from his Madhouse series.

His search for his mother dominated his first series more than his second; and brought absolutely nothing to the show.

I seem to remember his character was surprisingly young, younger than Abbot himself. Presumably to make June Whitfield younger than she actually is!