SUMMER WINE STARS

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Wintertea

Well-Known Member
Hi everyone. I am new to this forum, so please be gentle with me. I'm a devotee of Last of the Summer Wine and consider it to be the finest sitcom of all time, bar none. I just wanted to relay to you all a story from late last year. We decided to make a Christmas comedy film, with our two young autistic daughters in the lead roles. To cut a long story short, we ended up with a 97-minute feature film, which received two big-screenings and made money for a children’s charity. The film was boosted by the on-screen and vocal contributions of a number of celebrities, all of whom took part without payment of any kind. Among these were Juliette Kaplan and Russ Abbot. Juliette kindly recorded a spoken introduction to the film... it was so much appreciated. Beautifully delivered. And Russ Abbot devoted a considerable amount of time to filming a very funny scene which went down extremely well with the cinema audience. I have to report that Russ was an absolute gentleman, and phoned me on numerous occasions to discuss the scene and how it would be filmed. In short, more evidence that the stars of LOTSW are every bit as likeable off-screen as on.
 
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Thankyou both. Other contributors to the film were Josh Widdecombe, James Acaster, Fred Macaulay, Hal Cruttenden, John Conteh, Nicola Sturgeon, Francoise Pascal, plus Carrie and David Grant. I think Russ Abbot's scene turned out to be the most popular.
 
Welcome to the forum Wintertea and what a way to announce your arrival . What a wonderful way to celebrate your family by having your daughters star in a film featuring some of the great stars of LOTSW and some wonderfully munificent celebrities who gave their time to such a great cause . It is heartwarming that you had the determination to not only to come up with the idea of a film but to contact all these stars and persuade them to take part . I hope you made a wheelbarrow full of money for such a worthy cause. :)
 
Thank you for your kind words. It was a sizeable project indeed, and we also 'roped in' our local MP, our vicar, members of the community and, as mentioned, Scotland's First Minister! It was all filmed in 4k and we were able to sell a handful of copies on Blu-ray. By doing this, we could show everyone what autistic children are capable of... both my daughters got stuck in and were unfazed by acting alongside well-known people. Russ Abbot was a treasure in the scene which saw him have a Skyped conversation with my younger daughter. So patient, so genuine and utterly hilarious.
 
Welcome, what a fantastic story. Being the grandmother of autistic twins it's brilliant to hear of such a positive story involving autistic children, they are so many none positive stories all over the place and so when autism is mentioned people think only of the negatives. Our boys are perfect, they are funny, beautiful and have so much to offer society in general. Its great to meet a fellow Summer Wine enthusiast and autism parent. I look forward to hearing more from you.
 
Thank you. Your grandchildren sound wonderful. Please pass on my very best wishes. The film was very much an attempt to raise awareness of autism. But it has only been seen locally and I sometimes wonder if I should try to get it viewed by a wider audience. My younger daughter was only 11-ish when she discovered the joys of LOTSW. She felt an immediate affinity with Norman Clegg... or Sir Norman, as he came to be named in our household!
 
Wintertea said:
Thank you. Your grandchildren sound wonderful. Please pass on my very best wishes. The film was very much an attempt to raise awareness of autism. But it has only been seen locally and I sometimes wonder if I should try to get it viewed by a wider audience. My younger daughter was only 11-ish when she discovered the joys of LOTSW. She felt an immediate affinity with Norman Clegg... or Sir Norman, as he came to be named in our household!
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I'd be very interested to see the film, how would we be able to view it?
 
I have copies of the film on Blu-ray disc. Do you have a player? If so, perhaps the forum moderator or site owner could facilitate a way of me getting a copy to you without you having to publicise your home address?
 
I don't have blueray unfortunately but for future reference you can privately inbox other members. I'll send you a message.
 
Greetings and Welcome, Wintertea!

What a great story about your kids acting and the LotSW stars who helped. Glad you decided to join the forums.

Cheers,
Rick
 
Only just seen this but can I say well done that man! Like Pearl I have personal experience of autism having a son, now 30, who was diagnosed as being on the spectrum at age 4. He is turning out to be creative in an illustration mode and reading his rap style poetry in pubs in Leeds where he lives. My son used to watch the programme when he was young with me on a Sunday evening and was quite taken with it.

And also good to met another fan of the show. Look forward to your further contributions in due course.
 
Thank you barmpot. Your son"s achievements are inspirational. You must be very proud of him. Interesting that he too enjoyed LOTSW, just as my younger daughter did. Turns out she is a natural actress - her performance in the film was (if I may say so) superb. And npw your son is also performing! Autism is so misunderstood.
I am thrilled to be a forum member. There"s nothing quite like being among like-minded people.
 
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