The Switch from Blamire to Foggy

[codfanglers]

I watched Man from Oswestry last night. I am not sure if Summer Wine changed a whole lot from season 2 to season 3 but the change of the third man was really drastic. What were Lotterby and Clarke's intentions when they incorporated Foggy? Was it to keep Summer Wine going as it was or were they intentionally shifting the direction of the show? I think it was the latter.

I always viewed Blamire and Clegg as straight characters- they were really comedians themselves, but the comedy around Blamire was more about how he intereacted with Compo and various situations. Foggy, on the other hand, was more of a wild character himself, with his awkward organization, military grandeur, fast talking, and moments of freezing. This was the first time I watched Man from Oswestry in years. I was surprised about how once he entered, if was like "The Foggy Show". Clegg and Compo just took a back seat in the script. That individual episode was like when Hobbo first entered and all the emphasis was on him.

I was just curious about this whole thing because the entire dynamics of the trio seemed to change greatly.

 

[Pearl]

Some of the scripts were already written when Michael Bates pulled out, I think they did a bit of tinkering to accommodate Foggy's character. I've always thought they just adjusted the writing the Foggy character and it went from there.

 

[Adanor]

I have gathered that sometimes they write a character and then find an actor to fill out the character and then perhaps later on write stuff that they know the actor can do to further fill out the character. Sometimes its the reverse and the actor has already been chosen and the character is specifically designed around him. Since Brian Wilde had done many other characters in other shows; it's possible that once Brian Wilde was brought on board that they wrote the character in accordance to his particular range. And it is sort of regretful that Cleggy's total range was reduced.

 

[codfanglers]

I have gathered that sometimes they write a character and then find an actor to fill out the character and then perhaps later on write stuff that they know the actor can do to further fill out the character. Sometimes its the reverse and the actor has already been chosen and the character is specifically designed around him. Since Brian Wilde had done many other characters in other shows; it's possible that once Brian Wilde was brought on board that they wrote the character in accordance to his particular range. And it is sort of regretful that Cleggy's total range was reduced.

Well, I don't think Clegg's range was reduced for long, probably just for this one episode. Also, I remember what Pearl said about many of the scripts being written with Blamire in mind. However, Man from Owestry was definitely an exception.

 

[wstol]

I watched Man from Oswestry last night. I am not sure if Summer Wine changed a whole lot from season 2 to season 3 but the change of the third man was really drastic. What were Lotterby and Clarke's intentions when they incorporated Foggy? Was it to keep Summer Wine going as it was or were they intentionally shifting the direction of the show? I think it was the latter.

I always viewed Blamire and Clegg as straight characters- they were really comedians themselves, but the comedy around Blamire was more about how he intereacted with Compo and various situations. Foggy, on the other hand, was more of a wild character himself, with his awkward organization, military grandeur, fast talking, and moments of freezing. This was the first time I watched Man from Oswestry in years. I was surprised about how once he entered, if was like "The Foggy Show". Clegg and Compo just took a back seat in the script. That individual episode was like when Hobbo first entered and all the emphasis was on him.

I was just curious about this whole thing because the entire dynamics of the trio seemed to change greatly.

Most of Series Three was clearly written with Blamire in mind, and you may notice some dialogue should have been changed as it was too Blamire-like - talk about his landlady, and the 'Gee gees' for example.

In my opinion it wasn't until Series Four the show drastically changed - the writing suited Foggy more, and the format from here hardly changed for the next 30 years.

It would only be correct for the opener of Series Three to be like 'The Foggy Show'. A new central character had to be introduced, and quite quickly too so the character can be settled into those scripts already written that weren't going to be altered very much.

I thought The Man from Oswestry covered the introduction of a new character very well, if only more effort was put into I Was a Hitman for primrose Dairies.

It was sad to see the last of Blamire, but as they say, the show must go on.

 

[codfanglers]

Most of Series Three was clearly written with Blamire in mind, and you may notice some dialogue should have been changed as it was too Blamire-like - talk about his landlady, and the 'Gee gees' for example.

In my opinion it wasn't until Series Four the show drastically changed - the writing suited Foggy more, and the format from here hardly changed for the next 30 years.

It would only be correct for the opener of Series Three to be like 'The Foggy Show'. A new central character had to be introduced, and quite quickly too so the character can be settled into those scripts already written that weren't going to be altered very much.

I thought The Man from Oswestry covered the introduction of a new character very well, if only more effort was put into I Was a Hitman for primrose Dairies.

It was sad to see the last of Blamire, but as they say, the show must go on.

My comments about having so much emphasis on Foggy was n ot a complaint. I actually enjoyed it quite a bit. It just struck me because I haven't seen it for a while. Now as I flect on that episode, I can't help but to see a lot of similarities between it and Return of the Warrior, with Foggy struggling to get acclimated back to his old surroundings.

 

[Sarkus]

In addition to what others have said, I think the show was already moving in the direction of more physical comedy before Michael Bates was written out. "The Changing Face of Rural Blamire," "Ballad for Wind Instrument . . . ," and "Northern Flying Circus" are not all that different than the later physical episodes we think of Foggy being the main example of. And as noted, many of the episodes in series 3 were written for Blamire, not Foggy. For example, it was supposed to have been Blamire running into the ocean for a morning swim off Scarborough. One of the reasons Bates had to leave the show was because he couldn't do that kind of thing with the health issues he had developed since they filmed series 2.

So while the move to Foggy was significant, I don't think the show would have been as different had Bates been around longer as we tend to think. Clegg later changed, but to me that really didn't happen for a few more seasons. Even as late as the final episode of the first Seymour series you can see many elements of the original Clegg, IMHO.