Herman Teasdale/Moreton Beamish

[and7barton]

It's interesting that both the young characters were dropped, both Milbern & Babs, although I appreciate the former may have been dropped for his sudden weight loss. But I'm in split minds as to whether characters in their 20's work on the programme.

I think it was a bit of a mistake to have Mrs Avery and Babs as characters in the series. I think Roy Clarke realised this after a short while. Yet, we can all come up with a bunch of quirky characters who would have been great in the show. A few of them made a single appearance on the show. Others never showed up at all.
Crusher, I thought, went well in the show.

 

[JBCat]

I erroneously claimed that Helen Turaya never appeared in any other role than Babs.
Just discovered that she plays Denise in the medical series, "Always and Everyone". I've never watched it (those types of show aren't my cup of tea), but looking at the photos of the cast on google, I don't recognise her in any of the pictures !

according to IMDb she was only in 2 episodes of "Always and Everyone" in 2000, hope the viewer reactions to "Babs" did not put her off acting for good...

 

[and7barton]

according to IMDb she was only in 2 episodes of "Always and Everyone" in 2000, hope the viewer reactions to "Babs" did not put her off acting for good...

So, she was presumably playing the part of a patient rather than a member of the medical team ?

 

[Adanor]

I think it was a bit of a mistake to have Mrs Avery and Babs as characters in the series. I think Roy Clarke realised this after a short while. Yet, we can all come up with a bunch of quirky characters who would have been great in the show. A few of them made a single appearance on the show. Others never showed up at all.
Crusher, I thought, went well in the show.

This is how Mrs. Avery could have been accepted. Tom shows up riding a motorcycle with a sidecar that is empty. Nora looks at the motorcycle with an air of remembrance and asks who's it for? Tom replies that that's where Mrs. Avery, the widowed love of his life sits. But right now she is busy helping her mother who lives in another town (shadow of Hadrian's Wall?) It turns out that Mrs. Avery is a landscape artist and when she comes to Holmfirth, she cannot have any one living with her due to her artistic temperament. She invariably flushes out Howard and Marina as she sets up her easel to paint en plein air. When she goes riding with Tom on the motorcycle, she sits in the sidecar imaging how she would paint a certain landscape, Tom keeps up an endless flow of conversation. She rarely responds and he accuses her of not enjoying the scenery.

 

[RickAns]

I think Mrs. Avery could have worked as a character, possibly. I liked it when she worked with Tom to try and make his schemes work out. It felt she was starting to get along with Glenda and the ladies when she helped them out with something. Forget what it was, she threatened a guy or something. She seemed like a lady Compo would have liked, thus his son Tom by nature would have liked her as well. She was house proud like Nora and tried to get Tom to be a decent guy.

Just felt that Babs was too out of place. Nothing against her personally. Maybe they were trying hard to reach a younger audience at the time and then felt it was not working. The "rocker / headbanger" persona seemed too forced and not believable. When they got Barry to put on a wig and guitar to play a gig together... well, as the saying goes 'That dog don't hunt."

Crusher still could have worked out even if he lost a lot of weight as long as he was healthy to carry on. They could have said he went to the health club of "the Waist Land" episode. I do prefer Crusher's girlfriend with the rainbow hair (as Compo described) over Babs. Crusher's lady (sorry, don't know her name) was smart and witty enough from what I remember to hold a gossipy conversation with the ladies in the cafe. Which is more than can be said of Babs.

 

[Barrychuckle]

I think you both make very valid points here, perhaps the Babs character could have worked. Much of the LOTSW audience at the time was very conservative so didn't like the inference that she was still married but living with Tom. Add to the mix her daughter Babs who was a probably the least popular character in the entire series with Tom who was parachuted into the series but never really slotted into place and you can see why her character was destined for failure. It's nothing to do with the individuals it's all to do with the castings...

 

[RickAns]

I had the impression that Mrs Avery was divorced or widowed. Her husband died from some kind of accident or ran off. That Babs was her niece or young cousin. Thinking more her sister's daughter and that Mrs Avery was looking out for her for some reason. Vaguely remember Mrs Avery and Tom talking about those things. Maybe I imagined it. I'll need to go back and re-watch those episodes sometime.

 

[Sarkus]

Your recollection is correct Rick. That is how they were presented in the episodes.

I think part of the problem of why Babs didn't work is that she was made the focus of all four episodes she appeared in. For the audience at the time, still trying to get used to the show not having Compo, it was probably quite unsettling for the show to suddenly be so focused on younger characters at the expense of those they were used to seeing. That version of Tom (he was toned down in the next series) was also uncomfortable to many viewers even though he was arguably very similar to what Compo had started off as.

 

[RickAns]

What you say makes sense, @Sarkus. The loss of a major character such as Compo and to have 3 unknowns thrust in to center stage would be unsettling as a viewer. I do prefer the more toned down version of Tom starting from the next series as well. He did have some big shoes to try to fill.

 

[Adrian Morris]

I think Mrs. Avery could have worked as a character, possibly. I liked it when she worked with Tom to try and make his schemes work out. It felt she was starting to get along with Glenda and the ladies when she helped them out with something. Forget what it was, she threatened a guy or something. She seemed like a lady Compo would have liked, thus his son Tom by nature would have liked her as well. She was house proud like Nora and tried to get Tom to be a decent guy.

Just felt that Babs was too out of place. Nothing against her personally. Maybe they were trying hard to reach a younger audience at the time and then felt it was not working. The "rocker / headbanger" persona seemed too forced and not believable. When they got Barry to put on a wig and guitar to play a gig together... well, as the saying goes 'That dog don't hunt."

Crusher still could have worked out even if he lost a lot of weight as long as he was healthy to carry on. They could have said he went to the health club of "the Waist Land" episode. I do prefer Crusher's girlfriend with the rainbow hair (as Compo described) over Babs. Crusher's lady (sorry, don't know her name) was smart and witty enough from what I remember to hold a gossipy conversation with the ladies in the cafe. Which is more than can be said of Babs.

Crusher's girlfriend's name was Fran. I liked her even though her time on the show was limited to one scene in the Cafe.

 

[Barrychuckle]

I know it may sound harsh, but I didn't feel Tom was a particularly strong actor, he was a likeable character but I still feel he was made to fit after the passing of Compo. His previous acting career was mainly bit parts and he hadn't done much since LOTSW, most of the other actors in the series had had long and distinguished acting careers. Roy Clarkes skills are creating characters then leaving the casting to the director (I appreciate Cleggy is the exception to this) whereas Roy Clarke had to build storylines around Tom Owen who I feel wasn't a strong enough character/actor in his own right. Sorry if I'm being a tad too controversial

 

[Adrian Morris]

What you say makes sense, @Sarkus. The loss of a major character such as Compo and to have 3 unknowns thrust in to center stage would be unsettling as a viewer. I do prefer the more toned down version of Tom starting from the next series as well. He did have some big shoes to try to fill.

RickAns, I agree totally. Nothing against the actors being cast but I felt that bringing in three actors to 'replace' one was a bit over the top. When John Comer died it was a while before Crusher was bought in to 'replace' him. When Joe Gladwin died they didn't bring in anyone to replace him as I felt that Compo and Nora going at it was almost like a married couple.

 

[Sarkus]

RickAns, I agree totally. Nothing against the actors being cast but I felt that bringing in three actors to 'replace' one was a bit over the top. When John Comer died it was a while before Crusher was bought in to 'replace' him. When Joe Gladwin died they didn't bring in anyone to replace him as I felt that Compo and Nora going at it was almost like a married couple.

Actually, they didn't way very long at all. John Comer died after filming "Getting Sam Home" and the next series saw the introduction of Crusher, Howard, Pearl, and Marina. Plus, Wesley made his second appearance as a guest star and then became a regular supporting character in the final episode. To me it seems like that was Alan Bell's solution to losing a character - bring in a bunch of new ones. He did it again right away because Brian Wilde departed after Series 8. "Uncle of the Bride" gave us not just Seymour as Foggy's replacement, but also added Edie, Glenda, and Barry as regulars.

 

[Adrian Morris]

I stand corrected about Crusher. Foggy needed a replacement to maintain the main threesome. I read that Edie was brought in to provide a couple that would have the same sort of relationship that Sid and Ivy had. I think Howard, Pearl and Marina were brought in to increase the number of characters to expand the plot lines.

 

[Barrychuckle]

When the series started the main characters were all in their 50's (as the Summer Wino's pointed out the same age as John Barrowman is now - scary!!) as the characters got older/died they had to constantly bring in new characters. I do wonder if Michael Bates hadn't died so young how the series would have panned out?

 

[captain clutterbuck]

.............and you wonder if some of the stars of the era had not sadly been taken from us or been too ill to perform would they have made appearances as guests or even longer term roles. Here are three contenders Sid James, Tommy Cooper, Max Wall sure people can cite more.

 

[Barrychuckle]

.............and you wonder if some of the stars of the era had not sadly been taken from us or been too ill to perform would they have made appearances as guests or even longer term roles. Here are three contenders Sid James, Tommy Cooper, Max Wall sure people can cite more.

Or Morecambe & Wise, they would have been absolutely perfect as a cameo act!

 

[wstol]

Crusher was a direct replacement for Sid, I think there was a respectful gap of one episode (Crusher's appearance in the Loxley Lozenge was cut when the episodes were rearranged before transmission). He was no match for Sid, though he helped filled the void.

Fran seemed to be a casual replacement for Crusher. They did not appear in the same episode at all. I think this cameo was specially written as I seem to recall Yvette Fielding was visiting the show or something. Could Fran have become a regular?

To be fair, Howard, Pearl and Marina were brought in for 3 episodes at the end of Series 8 mainly because they had only just been involved in the stage show, and were being tried out on tv.

Also, I think Edie, Glenda and Barry were only intended for the special episode Uncle of the Bride, but in true LOTSW style they proved popular and people wanted to include them in the next series.

Wally Batty was never intended to be replaced, quite rightly, though a few years later he was 'sort of' replaced by Smiler when he became Nora's lodger. I thought this worked out very well, though many didn't.

I thought Tom was more interesting when he FIRST arrived in the show, with his entrepreneur style antics. In the end he was just another downtrodden Moreton Beamish.

 

[and7barton]

.............and you wonder if some of the stars of the era had not sadly been taken from us or been too ill to perform would they have made appearances as guests or even longer term roles. Here are three contenders Sid James, Tommy Cooper, Max Wall sure people can cite more.

Jimmy Cricket or Jack Douglas would have been good in the canoe scene instead of Arnpepper.

 

[Barrychuckle]

Or even someone like Ade Edmondson, he calmed down from his anarchic days and has an appreciation of Yorkshire now!!!