Post Series Questions

[captain clutterbuck]

If someone believes this has been discussed at length in the past then please let me know and I will remove the thread.

I find myself intrigued about one particular facet of the show at the moment and that is the cast's outfits . Parking Compo for the moment quite a number of the cast over time have worn the same outfit from day one to their leaving the series or indeed until the series ended . I often wonder if the Production company had multiple copies of the same clothes for each character or effectively they wore the same set of clothes episode after episode .

As an example take Foggy but for the odd episode where he was suited and booted he spent all of the time dressed in the same green coat, beige twill trousers brown shoes and that infamous cap were there multiple copies of all items I wonder . In terms of the shooting schedule would effectively they have to have the items dry cleaned between shoots if only single incidences of clothing were used.

My perhaps obvious second question concerns where they were all stored [in addition same question for the props] and where are they all now . I have not yet been to Holmfirth assume some small items are possibly in Compo's old house but what happened to the rest . I have seen actors interviewed who have appeared in blockbuster movies and they often purloin items they really liked when they were filming . I wonder if the cast took a souvenir from their time on the show.

One final poser I am sure some of the cast's vital statistics changed [Tom Owen is a good example] yet they would still be dressed in the same outfit hence did the wardrobe people have to seek out or make clothes of the same design but in a different size .

Any thoughts/information would be most welcome thank you in advance for any help offered .

 

[cciaffone]

I do remember seeing some posts some time ago about people in the show
ordering a ton of the pattern used to make Clegg's jacket.

 

[Sarkus]

In the anniversary special (both versions) Peter Sallis talks about his suit. It was actually provided by him, an old suit of his that he thought would suit the character and that he wore for the audition. James Gilbert even mistook it as a sign Sallis' was going through a rough patch until at the end of the audition Sallis mentioned why he had worn this older worn out suit.

So that was what he wore for several years. Eventually the BBC, at apparently great expense, had to duplicate it. I would assume that the same was true for the clothes worn regularly by other characters, that there were multiple sets of the same thing. However, some sharp eyed folks have mentioned noticing variations between scenes that would indicate a different copy was being worn that had a slight variation, say in shade or wear.

As to what happened to it all, my guess is that most was sold or disposed of, as was apparently the case with the sets. The actors may have ended up with some of it, and maybe a few fans or local folks.

 

[me2]

Yes, multiple sets of clothes had to be provided to accommodate not only the cast member, but the doubles and stunt men as well. I remember seeing a picture of Alvin and his double both dressed in costume. Another picture in a book I have has the whole cast and crew. Bill Owen and two others are all dressed as Compo.

One that might have been different was Marina. Jean Ferguson said once she bought most of Marina' s costumes at thrift or second hand stores.

 

[me2]

I haven't found the picture of Alvin and his double that I was looking for, but I did find another one. This has Alvin's and Billy's doubles in costume and behind Alvin's double is another person in Alvin's costume. You can't tell if it's really Alvin or another double. This picture can be found in the Photo Corner under A Spot for Member's Photos. It's Picture of the week #40 - on page 8 when I looked.

Picture #34 also has doubles for Clegg and Alvin in the background.

 

[captain clutterbuck]

Thank you for all replies thus far much appreciated . Having mentioned Foggy specifically I did a further search and found an article about a lady from St Louis Missouri who was a big fan of the show . Cheryl Robbins adored the show so much that when Foggy's clothes came up for sale in a charity auction Cheryl could not resist bidding and successfully secured them . The article goes on to say that Cheryl was investing in a store dummy to display the clothes in her home alongside many other items from the show. Cheryl may well be a member of the forum but using a character name as her login.

 

[chris]

I read somewhere that before every new series the beeb would buy an expensive jacket for Compo and then proceed to ruin it Bill thought it a waste of money.

 

[Adanor]

In the 3 Astaires, Compo puts on a suit of armor that he can't get out of and has to put other clothing on to hide the fact that he's wearing a suit of armor. So he shows up wearing his old moth eaten jacket. Was that over the armor or not?? I couldn't tell.

 

[Sarkus]

In the 3 Astaires, Compo puts on a suit of armor that he can't get out of and has to put other clothing on to hide the fact that he's wearing a suit of armor. So he shows up wearing his old moth eaten jacket. Was that over the armor or not?? I couldn't tell.

The issue there was that he couldn't get the helmet off, not the whole suit. So that's why we next see him with a wig and dress, and later with the helmet shaped bandaged head with sunglasses.

 

[captain clutterbuck]

I was wondering if any of the members had secured any of the memorabilia from the series and if so what is your most treasured possession . I recall a lady in one of the threads saying the her family had moved into Seymour's cottage which I imagine would be her most treasured possession related to LOTSW.

 

[Cap n Mac]

You know, I actually wish I knew more information on how the wardrobe department handled the main cast's costumes. The way I see it, maybe they alternated between donning the exact set of clothing for some episodes and switching into duplicates for other episodes. Methinks quite a few of these duplicates, for the actors and the doubles, were made over the years.

As for the current whereabouts of these costumes, that's a very good question. Unless there was a big costume sale I'm not aware of, they (sans what's been given away and the actors may have) may just be stored in some big area somewhere. I'd actually like to know, really.

 

[Norm]

I haven't unfortunately any LOTSW memorabilia although I do have a signed copy of "Fading into the Limelight". Which brings me back to clothes :- Cleggs shirts and ties started off in the very early series with stiff collars and ties which were often skew-whiff, a cardigan with frayed cuffs and rather worn looking boots,in other words he had a clean but slightly worn and patched look about him. Where as much later he looked quite smart in comparison with those earlier ones, a pity really as I prefer the worn look.

 

[maltrab]

I was wondering if any of the members had secured any of the memorabilia from the series and if so what is your most treasured possession . I recall a lady in one of the threads saying the her family had moved into Seymour's cottage which I imagine would be her most treasured possession related to LOTSW.

I have Foggy's cap, or at least one of them that he wore over the years

 

[barmpot]

I knw that when the BBC had items made especially often had three made. This was done with Clegg's replacement jacket, they had to get the cloth woven specially and three were made. Unfortunately they matched it all up with the original which was Peter Sallis's own and substituted side vents for the single centre vent of the original. Not so good continuity.