Your reviews are brilliant, I really hope you manage all 295! Have you heard the podcast where a guy had a similar idea, but only got as far as reviewing the pilot?
Series One (1973) Episode Reviews
- Thread starter David Piper
- Start date
Roger
Dedicated Member
Wally's name isn't mentioned until series 2 but we assume it is Nora's husband. The actor is not mentioned in the credits but it's clearly not Joe Gladwin.
David Piper
Dedicated Member
Thank you, Barrychuckle. LotSW has great rewatchability! I've gone over Series 1 a few times and there's never a dull moment. It will be fun to see how many episodes I will review (and what I will learn).
LotSW is already special to me. There are TV shows I know inside out, yet I rarely, if ever, feel the need to say anything about them. Summer Wine is among the handful of programs that appeals to me in that I want to write about it. There's a desire for immersion in that world; a world which is both familiar and foreign to me. Open All Hours, Roy Clarke's other great program, has a charm of its own, but I haven't the same fascination for it as I do Summer Wine.
I previously saw Wally in the Small Tune on a Penny Wassail Christmas special, so I knew it was him. I wonder if that was even Kathy Staff in that scene!
David Piper
Dedicated Member
(S01 E05) The New Mobile Trio
Original Airdate: December 10, 1973
The trio visits a road safety exhibition, inspiring Clegg to purchase a used car.
“The way you drive, we’d spend half the time in people’s back kitchens!”
~Cyril Blamire
The Trio runs through a lot of dialogue in the road safety exhibit, the library reading room, and Compo’s place. They tell a bunch of stories and reminisce a great deal. They mention a Mrs. Lucas and go on about the war. A script book would be handy as my tin American ears cannot always pick up the accent. I appreciate that Roy Clarke packed so many previous adventures in our lads’ lives, though!
Clegg scaring the hapless lad out of the “driver’s seat” at the exhibition was amusing. I think Cyril would have done well in Clegg’s place in that scene.
The boys still meet at the library, but Mr. Wainwright and Mrs. Partridge (Be still my heart!) are nowhere to be seen.
Ronald Lacey (Walter) has outstanding onscreen chemistry with the trio. Not only that, but he is a superb actor. When Lacey speaks his lines, it sounds natural; his dialogue in the “Spaghetti Hoops storage room” comes to mind. Good acting is excelling at performing natural, unselfconscious acts and speaking without sounding like it's acting; Ronald Lacey achieves both in this episode.
There’s a sadness about the scruffy, unkempt Walter. His eyes always look like he’s carrying around some great hurt, and he wears the expression of a man who’s trying but failing to find his way through this life.
Clegg and Cyril see Walter’s tenuous condition: and remark, almost with cruelty:
Clegg: “He’s got so much to live for, has Walter.”
Cyril: “Aye, all that stuff in [the] front room.”
Walter is embarrassed by the state of his storage room and makes feeble excuses for the hopeless state of it. Walter hoards expired foodstuffs and all kinds of random junk that he hopes to sell but rarely succeeds in doing so. He is an eccentric outsider, even by Summer Wine standards. In the “scruffy” department, he gives Compo a run for his money. Walter would have made for a great recurring character. It’s a pity that Ronald Lacey didn’t return for future appearances.
Tiny Mollie Maureen plays Walter’s mother. She looks after a ferocious-sounding dog that Walter brought home, but it’s never seen. Walter has a weakness for stray dogs. He tried to teach this one how to ride a bicycle but it kept falling off!
The New Mobile Trio has me craving Heinz Spaghetti Hoops (or Spaghetti Rings, as Clegg calls them). I actually have a can in the house...
There’s a brief comedic bit at the cafe in which Compo “goes after” Ivy, tickling her until she’s out the cafe door, much to Sid’s amusement.
The physical comedy has begun! The farmer and his tractor get run into by Clegg’s 1950s(?) car, which is so destitute that it has torn, jagged metal from it sticking out to the side, among its many other “charms”. The farmer’s legs are seen kicking about while his profanity-laced tirade is cleverly edited by the continual sounding of the car horn!
The final shot of Compo, Clegg, and Cyril once again running up that dusty road is a fine finish to what is in some ways a bittersweet episode. However, the humor of the boys and that jalopy is a dry run for the slapstick to come.
The New Mobile Trio is almost a perfect “10”, but I wish there had been more scenes devoted to Walter, a character I really liked, as well as more time devoted to the car hijinks. It would have been great fun watching the trio out on the road more–it would have made for a nice extended-length episode!
The opening scenes in which our heroes talk about the people they knew and the war are quite interesting, and I will concentrate more on those in future viewings; I did have some difficulty understanding some of the rapidfire dialogue and heavy accent. I also seriously need to get a Summer Wine script book!
My Rating: 9/10
Original Airdate: December 10, 1973
The trio visits a road safety exhibition, inspiring Clegg to purchase a used car.
“The way you drive, we’d spend half the time in people’s back kitchens!”
~Cyril Blamire
The Trio runs through a lot of dialogue in the road safety exhibit, the library reading room, and Compo’s place. They tell a bunch of stories and reminisce a great deal. They mention a Mrs. Lucas and go on about the war. A script book would be handy as my tin American ears cannot always pick up the accent. I appreciate that Roy Clarke packed so many previous adventures in our lads’ lives, though!
Clegg scaring the hapless lad out of the “driver’s seat” at the exhibition was amusing. I think Cyril would have done well in Clegg’s place in that scene.
The boys still meet at the library, but Mr. Wainwright and Mrs. Partridge (Be still my heart!) are nowhere to be seen.
Ronald Lacey (Walter) has outstanding onscreen chemistry with the trio. Not only that, but he is a superb actor. When Lacey speaks his lines, it sounds natural; his dialogue in the “Spaghetti Hoops storage room” comes to mind. Good acting is excelling at performing natural, unselfconscious acts and speaking without sounding like it's acting; Ronald Lacey achieves both in this episode.
There’s a sadness about the scruffy, unkempt Walter. His eyes always look like he’s carrying around some great hurt, and he wears the expression of a man who’s trying but failing to find his way through this life.
Clegg and Cyril see Walter’s tenuous condition: and remark, almost with cruelty:
Clegg: “He’s got so much to live for, has Walter.”
Cyril: “Aye, all that stuff in [the] front room.”
Walter is embarrassed by the state of his storage room and makes feeble excuses for the hopeless state of it. Walter hoards expired foodstuffs and all kinds of random junk that he hopes to sell but rarely succeeds in doing so. He is an eccentric outsider, even by Summer Wine standards. In the “scruffy” department, he gives Compo a run for his money. Walter would have made for a great recurring character. It’s a pity that Ronald Lacey didn’t return for future appearances.
Tiny Mollie Maureen plays Walter’s mother. She looks after a ferocious-sounding dog that Walter brought home, but it’s never seen. Walter has a weakness for stray dogs. He tried to teach this one how to ride a bicycle but it kept falling off!
The New Mobile Trio has me craving Heinz Spaghetti Hoops (or Spaghetti Rings, as Clegg calls them). I actually have a can in the house...
There’s a brief comedic bit at the cafe in which Compo “goes after” Ivy, tickling her until she’s out the cafe door, much to Sid’s amusement.
The physical comedy has begun! The farmer and his tractor get run into by Clegg’s 1950s(?) car, which is so destitute that it has torn, jagged metal from it sticking out to the side, among its many other “charms”. The farmer’s legs are seen kicking about while his profanity-laced tirade is cleverly edited by the continual sounding of the car horn!
The final shot of Compo, Clegg, and Cyril once again running up that dusty road is a fine finish to what is in some ways a bittersweet episode. However, the humor of the boys and that jalopy is a dry run for the slapstick to come.
The New Mobile Trio is almost a perfect “10”, but I wish there had been more scenes devoted to Walter, a character I really liked, as well as more time devoted to the car hijinks. It would have been great fun watching the trio out on the road more–it would have made for a nice extended-length episode!
The opening scenes in which our heroes talk about the people they knew and the war are quite interesting, and I will concentrate more on those in future viewings; I did have some difficulty understanding some of the rapidfire dialogue and heavy accent. I also seriously need to get a Summer Wine script book!
My Rating: 9/10
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A couple of interesting facts about this episode;
The background scene used in the car simulator was directed by Alan Bell, who became the regular director/producer after this series 5.
I only recently discovered that the brilliant Ronald Laceys daughter was the ditzy secretary Hillary in From May to December
The background scene used in the car simulator was directed by Alan Bell, who became the regular director/producer after this series 5.
I only recently discovered that the brilliant Ronald Laceys daughter was the ditzy secretary Hillary in From May to December
Roger
Dedicated Member
When they first meet Walter it is obvious that they have never met before but in the next scene when they are in the car, Compo says "this cigar lighter don't work" and Walter replies "Oh, Compo Simmonite, you're a fine one to be complaining about owt not working". It seems odd that Walter knew so much about Compo's reputation.
David Piper
Dedicated Member
I suppose one could be charitable and say that the quartet were on a particularly long car ride that day. Later at the cafe, Compos says, "We've been out all the mornin' having this accident." It wouldn't have taken long for Walter to learn Compo's employment status!
It seems as though the actors are more comfortable with all that Roy Clarke dialogue, as there is less forceful readings of the lines in this one. Peter Sallis still does it, but Michael Bates has definitely smoothed out his character's rough edges. Either that or I'm just used to how it sounds.
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That theory did cross my mind, but unlikely as firstly he wanted to sell them a car (or a replacement) and secondly it's likely to be over familiar for someone you've only known for a matter of hours.
I think this is simply a very small oversight in the writing. RC can be forgiven though, it must be near impossible to make up entire back stories for characters over 37 years and not have the odd contradiction here and there.
I think this is simply a very small oversight in the writing. RC can be forgiven though, it must be near impossible to make up entire back stories for characters over 37 years and not have the odd contradiction here and there.
David Piper
Dedicated Member
TV writers have been known to sacrifice character and logic consistency for a good one liner, haven't they?
Speaking of good lines, I like this exchange between Walter and Clegg:
Walter: "Look at them switches! 'Ey! 'Ey! Crammed full of extras!"
Clegg: "No essentials, just extras."
Speaking of good lines, I like this exchange between Walter and Clegg:
Walter: "Look at them switches! 'Ey! 'Ey! Crammed full of extras!"
Clegg: "No essentials, just extras."
David Piper
Dedicated Member
(S01 E06) Hail Smiling Morn or Thereabouts
Original Airdate: December 17, 1973
The trio are inspired by a local photography exhibit to make a day of taking their own photographs.
“I bet there’s Boris Karloff around here somewhere plugging into all this free electricity!”
~Cyril Blamire
Blamire is once again seen exiting his boarding house and walks about in his quiet neighborhood. Cyril meets up with Compo by the industrial mill area on their way to the library, all to Ronnie Hazlehurst’s timeless Summer Wine theme.
Cyril’s cultural interests appear genuine and not an affectation of placing himself above his fellow Yorkshiremen.
Compo has another of his massive sandwiches…does anyone know what’s in it?
Mr. Wainwright and Mrs. Partridge appear together for the last time in this episode. The two have a snogging session in a duck blind. It’s Mrs. Partridge’s final appearance; the weather seems especially warm in their scene together.
Peter Sallis slips as he makes his way into the newly-abandoned duck blind
Norman Clegg's house makes its debut. Clegg appears to live in a different house in a different part of town than what we later see. The door is different and opens in a different direction than the one in future episodes.
The interior of Clegg’s place isn’t nearly as nice as the one later seen. The sofa looks like a car’s back seat. There are some books on a case under the stairs and in front of the closed kitchen door.
A boom microphone is seen above Clegg’s head after the cut away from Cyril’s “I never went near Francine Jessup’s sand pit!”, which is a funny double entendre that dies with the studio audience.
A wedding portrait of what looks to be Mrs. Clegg in her wedding gown is a subject of discussion, though Clegg goes on about her having worn a navy coat and chapel hat. Compo says “She were always ugly then.” Clegg agrees! I don’t buy Clegg’s comments about his late wife. Norman and Mrs. Clegg most likely had a “Sid and Ivy”-style relationship. I suppose future episodes might shed more light on this.
The viewer gets to see Cyril’s photos (in sepia or monochrome) as they appear after he’s taken them. Some are awful in an amusing way, but a few are delightful. Let’s hope Cyril kept them and looked back fondly at his time with his lifelong chums Clegg and Compo.
The trio once again take refuge in the abandoned building. Cyril says “What a place to go to bed in!” Odd, since The Trio had been here before. Cyril the ex-military man is much more afraid than either Compo or Clegg.
Cyril mentions “Indo meditation.” A nod to Michael Bates' birthplace, perhaps?
At the pub, the boys have beer for breakfast. Compo looks to have eaten 6 or 7 packets of crisps, which Cyril calls “chips.” Compo downs a liter of ale, a quarter of which he chugs down just before leaving the pub. The barman looks perturbed at having to keep Clegg’s camping gear behind the bar (more like a window than a bar), and he gives Clegg a withering stare as Clegg turns his back to him!
The episode ends with a beautiful shot of the lads traversing a somewhat treacherous hill.
Where did this 30 minutes go? Hail Smiling Morn or Thereabouts is a delightful episode which focuses mainly on The Trio and their adventure. This episode is worlds away and above most episodes featuring the heavily-populated cast list in the show’s later years.
The photography idea was especially inspired and well rendered. Showing the results of Blamire’s photography was a nice touch and a great way to add laughs to the proceedings.
With the end of Series One, it appears as though Sallis, Owen, and Bates have already solidified their dynamic with one another, as their onscreen chemistry is brilliant.
My Rating: 10/10
Original Airdate: December 17, 1973
The trio are inspired by a local photography exhibit to make a day of taking their own photographs.
“I bet there’s Boris Karloff around here somewhere plugging into all this free electricity!”
~Cyril Blamire
Blamire is once again seen exiting his boarding house and walks about in his quiet neighborhood. Cyril meets up with Compo by the industrial mill area on their way to the library, all to Ronnie Hazlehurst’s timeless Summer Wine theme.
Cyril’s cultural interests appear genuine and not an affectation of placing himself above his fellow Yorkshiremen.
Compo has another of his massive sandwiches…does anyone know what’s in it?
Mr. Wainwright and Mrs. Partridge appear together for the last time in this episode. The two have a snogging session in a duck blind. It’s Mrs. Partridge’s final appearance; the weather seems especially warm in their scene together.
Peter Sallis slips as he makes his way into the newly-abandoned duck blind
Norman Clegg's house makes its debut. Clegg appears to live in a different house in a different part of town than what we later see. The door is different and opens in a different direction than the one in future episodes.
The interior of Clegg’s place isn’t nearly as nice as the one later seen. The sofa looks like a car’s back seat. There are some books on a case under the stairs and in front of the closed kitchen door.
A boom microphone is seen above Clegg’s head after the cut away from Cyril’s “I never went near Francine Jessup’s sand pit!”, which is a funny double entendre that dies with the studio audience.
A wedding portrait of what looks to be Mrs. Clegg in her wedding gown is a subject of discussion, though Clegg goes on about her having worn a navy coat and chapel hat. Compo says “She were always ugly then.” Clegg agrees! I don’t buy Clegg’s comments about his late wife. Norman and Mrs. Clegg most likely had a “Sid and Ivy”-style relationship. I suppose future episodes might shed more light on this.
The viewer gets to see Cyril’s photos (in sepia or monochrome) as they appear after he’s taken them. Some are awful in an amusing way, but a few are delightful. Let’s hope Cyril kept them and looked back fondly at his time with his lifelong chums Clegg and Compo.
The trio once again take refuge in the abandoned building. Cyril says “What a place to go to bed in!” Odd, since The Trio had been here before. Cyril the ex-military man is much more afraid than either Compo or Clegg.
Cyril mentions “Indo meditation.” A nod to Michael Bates' birthplace, perhaps?
At the pub, the boys have beer for breakfast. Compo looks to have eaten 6 or 7 packets of crisps, which Cyril calls “chips.” Compo downs a liter of ale, a quarter of which he chugs down just before leaving the pub. The barman looks perturbed at having to keep Clegg’s camping gear behind the bar (more like a window than a bar), and he gives Clegg a withering stare as Clegg turns his back to him!
The episode ends with a beautiful shot of the lads traversing a somewhat treacherous hill.
Where did this 30 minutes go? Hail Smiling Morn or Thereabouts is a delightful episode which focuses mainly on The Trio and their adventure. This episode is worlds away and above most episodes featuring the heavily-populated cast list in the show’s later years.
The photography idea was especially inspired and well rendered. Showing the results of Blamire’s photography was a nice touch and a great way to add laughs to the proceedings.
With the end of Series One, it appears as though Sallis, Owen, and Bates have already solidified their dynamic with one another, as their onscreen chemistry is brilliant.
My Rating: 10/10
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imitation700mb
Dedicated Member
Cyril actually states that it was Compo's 6th bag of crisps.
lotsw1984
Dedicated Member
Clegg is much more bold in the earlier series he more than holds his own with Nora in that scene
David Piper
Dedicated Member
The Norman Clegg as depicted in series one makes sense to me. After all, he's only 52 (going by Peter's actual birth year), so he's bound to get his back up a bit when confronted with strongwilled people.
Based on the handful of much later episodes I've seen, Clegg came off as more of a "Last Rational Man Standing" type of fellow, with the likes of Howard regularly dragging him out of his staid, humdrum routine.
My Top 3 Episodes of Series One ("Gold, Silver, Bronze"):
Gold: Pâté and Chips
Silver: Hail Smiling Morn or Thereabouts
Bronze: The New Mobile Trio
Thank you David for a very in-depth review of Series One.
I'm particularly impressed with all the small details that have been observed, many of which could easily be missed by the average viewer.
Pate and Chips has proved to be a very popular episode in recent polls - mind you, they are all good in this series.
I'm particularly impressed with all the small details that have been observed, many of which could easily be missed by the average viewer.
Pate and Chips has proved to be a very popular episode in recent polls - mind you, they are all good in this series.
David Piper
Dedicated Member
Summer Winos Volume 1: 1973-1978 arrived on September 13. The Winos even signed it with a nice "Heyup!"
Seeing as I've only finished series one, I'm reading as I watch and review episodes. I don't wish to be unduly influenced by their insights on the show. I may occasionally compare/contrast their views with mine, but only when I've completed my reviews, and not to any great length.
Summer Winos makes for fun late-night reading. The boys have a refreshing sense of humor and cheers to them both for doing what other online fans of TV series should be doing: Writing and publishing expanded versions of their website!
I've just started watching series two and will start a separate thread for that shortly.
codfanglers
Dedicated Member
Thanks for the reviews, David. I could be wrong, but I was always under the impression that Compo's sandwiches were thick slices of bread and a thick slice of a cheap brand of cheese.
I really love the scene at the end when they show Blamire's photos. It really captures the 50-year-olds acting like kids without a care in the world.
I can agree with your statement about this being far and away better than the "much" later years with the heavily populated cast, but I personally find the Series 8-11 era special. It brings in interesting and enjoyable characters like the Pegdens, Smiler, etc. but still maintains a strong focus on the trio.
David/Moderators
Your reviews are truly superb and insightful and I'm so glad you've taken the time to write them and clearly loved by all the barmpots on this site looking at the feedback. As a suggestion is there a way all the reviews can be compiled under a thread one after another then locked down without comments. This could then be a wonderful resource for people visiting the site just like the series broadcast listing?
There could then be a thread for each full series' of reviews? 1 down only another 30 to go
Your reviews are truly superb and insightful and I'm so glad you've taken the time to write them and clearly loved by all the barmpots on this site looking at the feedback. As a suggestion is there a way all the reviews can be compiled under a thread one after another then locked down without comments. This could then be a wonderful resource for people visiting the site just like the series broadcast listing?
There could then be a thread for each full series' of reviews? 1 down only another 30 to go
David Piper
Dedicated Member
I'll no doubt enjoy those later series a lot once I'm fully immersed in that era. It always happens to me when I'm watching, say, M*A*S*H, another program with numerous phases and cast changes.
At first I thought Compo's sandwich might have been a Ploughman's. There's one thing about British shows: The characters make me crave (much of) the food they eat or talk about eating! Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? single-handedly inspired me to have fish and chips several times over the past month!