That Christmas Episode......"Extra Extra".......

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MoodyBlue

Dedicated Member
I was just thinking.......after my post regarding the most famous person to appear in our show I remember Terry and Ferret stating that the episode "didn't do much for them".......a point of view I entirely agree with !!!......
Then it got me really thinking.......Compo all dolled up...in the circus tent...with a gang of schoolkids...all dolled up......singing "Compo has gone and lost his wellies".....is as far away from Roy's original genius idea of 3 elderly gentlemen...strolling round...discussing life......and doing nothing in particular as you could ever get !!!!...
I know our show seemed to descend into slapstick in the later series[ even so,some episodes were exceptional though]......but if you sit down and watch his performance...it is really surreal......ALTHOUGH he really nailed it in his previous performance....and Cleggy reminding him to not forget his "lower lip" really helped !!.
X!
 
Adrian Morris said:
I felt when I first watched it and still feel like it was the worst episode ever.
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Worst - can we do that? Oh... then how about December 2005 "Merry Entwistle and Jackson Day"?
I know filming in town locations was probably often done early in the day or a Sunday to avoid having lots of pedestrian and vehicular distraction... but this episode looked like it was filmed after an apocalypse - I've nothing against Brighouse, but it's obvious the normal Holmfirth area locations were absent. This episode just did not look right, just not the same charm and character that we are used to.
 
"Big Day at Dream Acres" will always be the worst episode for me, but there are others I'm not really fond of. I find "Extra! Extra" alright, but I think it suffers from too much attention paid to the guest star in scenes without the shows characters (but I guess they felt he was a big name and could do that). It's also the first time we see Barry in about six years, so there is that.
 
It's really interesting that most of these not so great episodes were specials, watching the early episodes again makes me realise that the perfect formula is probably 30 mins max and paradoxically where there is not really a strong storyline. That is the brilliance of Roy Clarkes writing that some of his best work is when his characters don't really do much at all.
 
Barrychuckle said:
It's really interesting that most of these not so great episodes were specials, watching the early episodes again makes me realise that the perfect formula is probably 30 mins max and paradoxically where there is not really a strong storyline. That is the brilliance of Roy Clarkes writing that some of his best work is when his characters don't really do much at all.
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I so agree that some of the best scenes are where the characters are doing as little as possible.

As regards the 30 minute format, I think you would have to agree that Getting Sam Home, Uncle of the Bride and Crums were perfection in their extended format.

And 30 minute episodes such as The Kink in Foggy's Niblick, A Bicycle Made for Three, Jaws, and The Ice Cream Man Cometh just left you wanting more.
 
I love Getting Sam Home and the others they are brilliant but seem 'different' you sense the different format.

Don't get me wrong there are also some not so great 30 min episodes too. But one of my favorite early episodes is Inventor of the 40ft Ferret the storyline is basically Compo doesn't like going in churches, they end up going into one and then go home. But despite it's really simple synopsis it's absolutely brilliant. I felt they just tried to do too much with the poorer episodes, less is definintely more where LOTSW is concerned.....
 
I'm sure it's been mentioned before but rewatching the entire series again I must say I really didn't enjoy Some Enchanted Evening. Compo comes across as a little seedy and Noras assignations with him behind Wallys back seem as equally out of character. I suspect RC was just experimenting with the direction he wanted to take the series in. Personally I'm glad this style wasn't pursued. Am I the only one who disliked this episode?
 
Barrychuckle said:
I'm sure it's been mentioned before but rewatching the entire series again I must say I really didn't enjoy Some Enchanted Evening. Compo comes across as a little seedy and Noras assignations with him behind Wallys back seem as equally out of character. I suspect RC was just experimenting with the direction he wanted to take the series in. Personally I'm glad this style wasn't pursued. Am I the only one who disliked this episode?
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The first two series Compo is absolutely a less lovable rogue, with a harder edge to him. Along with Some Enchanted Evening, you have Spring Fever from Series 1. On the other hand, Clegg is also different, and I have always wished that we didn't lose that version of him. Clarke probably was responding to audience testing and feedback from the actors and directors in those early years.
 
Sarkus said:
The first two series Compo is absolutely a less lovable rogue, with a harder edge to him. Along with Some Enchanted Evening, you have Spring Fever from Series 1. On the other hand, Clegg is also different, and I have always wished that we didn't lose that version of him. Clarke probably was responding to audience testing and feedback from the actors and directors in those early years.
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Completely agree with you there Sarkus, Clegg is a really interesting character early on but gets 'dumbed down' later on. It was Nora's script in this that really seemed massively out of character for me. That said I'm judging this after 50 years and seeing the full evolution of the characters since so can't really be too over critical !
 
Clegg is also very interesting in the episode where he drives to Wales with Compo, Ivy, and Sid. He has an interesting time including when he gets out of the car to survey traffic conditions, has an interesting time reading the map with Compo and Sid, and backing the car into the wrong driveway. All very interesting. And of course, there's Foggy with his girlfriend and his injured foot.
 
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