Oh no, not another thread on Compo replacements and Keith Clifford under-used

[wstol]

As we've discussed before, the show dabbled in trying to find a replacement for Compo, to make a trio again, but never really committed to one character.

It looked liked Tom Owen was going to be the replacement (which, despite my initial thoughts, could have worked), then Keith Clifford was brought back after a handful of brief appearances, then Alvin.

Keith Clifford seemed to work the best, but his character often had to come home to the wife, possibly to give some screen time to Tom or Alvin.

Keith Clifford wasn't always given a third billing, and I don't think the public recognised him the same way as previous members of the trio.

Somehow his character just wasn't pushed in front of the public, if you like.

And now the same thing has happened with the last two DVD releases.

The last two cover pictures don't feature Keith Clifford or even Tom Owen.

One cover has a very dramatic picture of Clegg and Truly, with just the two actors' names. Fair enough. It's a great picture which allows the buyer to know these episodes follow on from the death of Bill Owen.

But the latest DVD has Clegg, Truly and Entwistle.

Still no sign of one of the Compo replacements, and I think the DVD distributor reckoned the DVD would do better with Burt Kwuok on the cover, as he's perhaps more well known than Tom Owen or Keith Clifford due to being in top films, notably the Pink Panther films.

 

[Nicko12345]

As we've discussed before, the show dabbled in trying to find a replacement for Compo, to make a trio again, but never really committed to one character.

It looked liked Tom Owen was going to be the replacement (which, despite my initial thoughts, could have worked), then Keith Clifford was brought back after a handful of brief appearances, then Alvin.

Keith Clifford seemed to work the best, but his character often had to come home to the wife, possibly to give some screen time to Tom or Alvin.

Keith Clifford wasn't always given a third billing, and I don't think the public recognised him the same way as previous members of the trio.

Somehow his character just wasn't pushed in front of the public, if you like.

And now the same thing has happened with the last two DVD releases.

The last two cover pictures don't feature Keith Clifford or even Tom Owen.

One cover has a very dramatic picture of Clegg and Truly, with just the two actors' names. Fair enough. It's a great picture which allows the buyer to know these episodes follow on from the death of Bill Owen.

But the latest DVD has Clegg, Truly and Entwistle.

Still no sign of one of the Compo replacements, and I think the DVD distributor reckoned the DVD would do better with Burt Kwuok on the cover, as he's perhaps more well known than Tom Owen or Keith Clifford due to being in top films, notably the Pink Panther films.

I do understand your point but I think the DVD guys have made the right decision on the new DVD cover.

If you have Tom Owen on the cover then for people seeing it in the stores there would be two main reactions imo: `Who`s that?` and `He wasn`t very good`.

If you have Keith Clifford on the cover then I think the reaction would be simply `who`s that?` for all apart from those who would buy the DVD anyway.

Burt Kwouk though, as you say, is much more famous and is something of a legend. Not just for Pink Panther but also for the Bond Films, Tenko, The Harry Hill Show and numerous other shows and movies. The reaction will be more `I like him` and `I didn`t realise he was in that`.