Impact of changing the third man.

[Sarkus]

According to Alan Bell's account Bates didn't decide to leave, he was let go after he contacted the show's then producer/director and told them he couldn't do the scenes in the scripts he'd received for Series 3. He wanted them to re-write them or delay filming to accomodate what he thought at the time was a temporary injury but they made the decision to go in a different direction. It was only later that doctors realized he had cancer, which is what killed him a few years later. That Ain't Half Hot decided to accomodate him, so he continued on that show.

 

[Adanor]

I agree. Hobbo was not very believable. He was not really very much of an authority figure as evidenced by his search for his mother, various pratfalls such as falling when the truck starts up, and other stupid stuff.

 

[wstol]

According to Alan Bell's account Bates didn't decide to leave, he was let go after he contacted the show's then producer/director and told them he couldn't do the scenes in the scripts he'd received for Series 3. He wanted them to re-write them or delay filming to accomodate what he thought at the time was a temporary injury but they made the decision to go in a different direction. It was only later that doctors realized he had cancer, which is what killed him a few years later. That Ain't Half Hot decided to accomodate him, so he continued on that show.

Hadn't heard that Michael Bates was effectively 'let go'. Was that in Alan JW Bell's book?

I know before the start of the fifth series of IAHHM the writers/producer had assumed Michael Bates wouldn't be back, and wrote him out by changing the setting to Burma, and leaving his character behind.

A devastated Bates said he was able to do more, so his character appeared in Series 5.

He died shortly afterwards.

 

[codfanglers]

Hello Susan, this post has been here a while but I am finally sitting down to respond to it. My comments are similar to some of my previous posts.

I think Summer Wine is unique in that its' inevitable character changes actually worked for the benefit of the show.

I enjoy the different characteristics of Foggy (his character was even a little different in his second time around), Seymour and Trully. When I watch the show from beginning to end I enjoy the Blamire years, but then it is exciting to see Foggy again (afterall, at that point I haven't seen him in rotation since approx. the 1998 era). Then it is great to see Seymour again (especially because his first few episodes are among my favorites). Then it is good to see Foggy again (especially because Series 12 might be the best). Then, since I started watching the show during the Trully years, it is great to see him again because ultimately, the era of Trully, Clegg, Billy, Alvin, Smiler, Tom, etc, running around is the show I started with.

I can''t say who I like best among Foggy, Seymour, and Trully, but I certainlylove the variety. As some members put it in previous discussions, the changes in the third man gave Clarke and Bell more material to work with over time.