Whoops 40th anniversary

Douglas Enwright

Dedicated Member
Well,it’s exactly 40 years ago tonight since that Christmas Eve night at the Butchers with Foggy,Compo,Clegg,Sid,Wally and Gordon Lippenscale (old Splutter) and myself.
Human League were the Christmas number one with Don’t you want me,a pint of beer was 51p and a packet of 20 cigarettes 78p,times were simpler and happier,kids played out all day,social media and selfies and likes didn’t exist,and there were only three channels on the tv,and no daytime tv,and the BBC still played the National anthem when it closed down at the end of the night,and Christmas tv was special then,even with just the three channels,we would look forward to buying the double edition of the Radio times and TV times and circling all the programmes we were looking forward to.
One of those programmes would have been Whoops,the Last of the summer wine Christmas special in 1981.
It’s the 40th anniversary of Whoops this Christmas,it’s my favourite Christmas episode and one of my favourites of any series,it has Foggy,Compo and Clegg at their peak,it has Wally and Sid in it too,but I love it for it’s sentiment of reminiscing about old friends and times gone by,and looking those friends up to be in the end reunited with them all.
I love it for it’s nostalgia of Christmas past,the old radios and tv’s in the shop window,the (now) old fashioned Christmas decorations in Sid’s cafe.
I love the way Foggy and Compo interacted in those days,exchanging insults that we often saw in the earlier series
Foggy : Why don’t you wear that outfit you’ve rarely worn- your work clothes
Compo : Ha bloody ha,eeurgh look at his face,he’s got a face like Uncle Dudley’s donkey
And I love the monologue by Cleggy about the excitement of his honeymoon,and how he thought he only had to take her a cup of tea in a morning,and how even now he can’t look at an illustrated medical book without thinking of Al Jolson.
I love the way they remember old friends,and decide to look them up,and when they do,have to get past a certain Mrs Enwright
Compo : Is Chuffer in ?
Mrs E : Who’s Chuffer when he’s at home ?
Foggy : He means Douglas,Mrs Enwright
Mrs E : Well why didn’t he say so,is there something wrong with him,Douglas,there’s a tramp at the door,get rid of him,and there’s two other weird looking beggars,don’t give them anything
I love how in the shed,the least socially equipped to do so,Compo,tries to keep the conversation flowing,and I wonder how many watching at home looked for the nobbly thing at the side of their knee,I know I did,and there is one !
Chuffer : The question is,does everyone have that nobbly thing ?
I love the silliness of the stunts,like jumping off a moving bus shouting Geronimo (Whoops is much more appropriate) and falling down the steps outside Nora’s,and how they go to their Christmas Eve drinks at the Butchers in the quiet part of the pub thinking no one wants to join them,with a somber start to the evening as Compo reflects on the demise of his passion
Cleggy : Why don’t we move in there where there’s more life
Compo : I don’t think I’m ready for life
Foggy : My God this is going to be a sparkling Christmas eve with him in this mood
Compo : One day you find that it’s all gone,all the raging lust for the pleasures of the flesh
Cleggy : I was glad when mine stopped raging and I could settle down to being 29
Compo : I never thought it’d happen to me
But I love how they are joined by Sid,and Wally,and their old friends Chuffer and Splutter,and that the women come looking for them
Duck impressions ! I don’t like the sound of that !
And in the end everyone goes home drunk and happy.
Exactly 40 years later I followed in their footsteps this Christmas,and recreated exactly their day,in the order they spent it,from looking into the electrical shop window to having a pint at night in the Butchers Arms,to see what’s changed,and what our trio would recognise today,exactly 40 years after their own Christmas there.
Starting with the scenes from the opening credits,
Merry Christmas everyone,
Chuffer x
 
The opening credits start with a shot of the bottom of Victoria street looking towards Towngate,it’s completely unchanged from 1981 and our heroes would not notice any difference in the 40 years that have passed,even Kayes the ironmongers is still there.
However I fear this is the last Christmas that they would recognise this area,the Holmfirth action plan is due to start next year,a 3.9 million pound redevopment aimed at easing traffic congestion and the are where most changes will occur is the area in this photo,they’re going to remove the footbridge over the river across from the Church square and completely modernise the are,I‘v seen the proposed photos of the plan and our trio will definately not recognise the area,although they can’t change the river,and the can’t change the square with the church and Sid’s cafe,but we will have to see,I would rather they left it,but for now it’s unchanged from that Christmas in 1981
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Also on the opening credits is this scene of Foggy,Compo and Clegg walking up Daisy Lane towards Daisy Lane books,with Compo pausing to look in the shop window,the area is completely unchanged from 1981 and they would feel completely at home there,Daisy Lane books is still there,and the shop that Compo is looking in is still there,however now it’s C J hair design established 2021,I don’t know what the shop was when Compo was looking in it this time,I’v noticed it’s been various things over the years,I remember it once being called Choc & Treats,and in the 1986 Christmas special five years later,in Merry Christmas Father Christmas Seymour Compo and Cleggy stop at the shop window to watch a toy train going round a track,I suppose it’s a sign of the times that these three little shops here are a hairdressers,a tattooist and a sun bed spray tan shop.
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We begin by Compo looking into the electrical goods shop window,dropping hints to Foggy and Clegg about Christmas presents,I’d love to go in there and buy one of those radios,it’s all still recognisable,except all they would find in here now is coffee and gin,and craft ales and cocktails,it’s called Oscars and I’v called in here many times for a coffee or a beer
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Great pictures, Douglas. Glad there is an interest to improve things like congestion. Just hope the place does not get "modernized" too much.
Yes RickAns,an awful lot of places are having money spent on improvements,like Seymours cottage and the Boshaw trout that I mentioned in another thread,and lots of places in Holmfirth itself too,I just worry that they will modernise it too much and we lose the character and soul of Summer Wine.
 
Hi @Douglas Enwright got a question about your last picture post. Looks like there is something pixelated out on the left side just below half way up. I have both the UK and US versions of this episode on DVD and neither have that censor mark.

So I wonder if your screen cap is from a TV broadcast capture. The placement from what I can tell seems to be more over a tea kettle than the brand name Tefal of the cooker to it's left. Not even close to covering up the brand name. Does not look like a video compression artifact, too structured to be a reflection off the kettle. Not complaining about your picture, just curious if or why that would be censored.

Are the broadcasters anti - tea kettle? They blocking out the image of the cooked bird on the cooker box?? Do you notice this before / after the time spot you took the capture? Sorry my caps are a little darker. Should have taken them off a brighter monitor or tweaked the levels a little. Can do later if need be. Thanks.

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Excellent work & pictures D E.
Great you'er taking the time & effort to put these posts up for our pleasure & pinpointing shops that we walk past without realising their significance. Much appreciated. Thank you.
 
Hi @Douglas Enwright got a question about your last picture post. Looks like there is something pixelated out on the left side just below half way up. I have both the UK and US versions of this episode on DVD and neither have that censor mark.

So I wonder if your screen cap is from a TV broadcast capture. The placement from what I can tell seems to be more over a tea kettle than the brand name Tefal of the cooker to it's left. Not even close to covering up the brand name. Does not look like a video compression artifact, too structured to be a reflection off the kettle. Not complaining about your picture, just curious if or why that would be censored.

Are the broadcasters anti - tea kettle? They blocking out the image of the cooked bird on the cooker box?? Do you notice this before / after the time spot you took the capture? Sorry my caps are a little darker. Should have taken them off a brighter monitor or tweaked the levels a little. Can do later if need be. Thanks.

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Well I honestly have never noticed that before RickAns,thanks for pointing that out,I have absolutely no idea,I wonder why they did that.
 
The trio are walking away from the electrical goods shop/Oscars now and heading for the cafe,they’re walking to the right of the cobblers shed towards the Nook pub and brewery (in reality this would have been a short cut to the cafe) but recently they’ve put this board up that you can see which would stop them doing that now,you can however walk round the front of the cobblers which is actually called Cobblers,a shoe repair and key cutting little shack that is still there 40 years later and completely recognisable to them,it’s always been painted white as it was in 1981 but they’ve now painted it grey,the barrels are from Oscars,into the cafe then where I will try and sit at the same table and order tea and a sticky bun,and see what’s changed
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The trio are walking away from the electrical goods shop/Oscars now and heading for the cafe,they’re walking to the right of the cobblers shed towards the Nook pub and brewery (in reality this would have been a short cut to the cafe) but recently they’ve put this board up that you can see which would stop them doing that now,you can however walk round the front of the cobblers which is actually called Cobblers,a shoe repair and key cutting little shack that is still there 40 years later and completely recognisable to them,it’s always been painted white as it was in 1981 but they’ve now painted it grey,the barrels are from Oscars,into the cafe then where I will try and sit at the same table and order tea and a sticky bun,and see what’s changed
View attachment 4553View attachment 4554
Thank You for the amazing pictures. It is a pity they have blocked off that short cut to the Cafe as I think it was one of the most interesting set of steps in the series. Sky TV has just started to show the series here again and those have shown up quite a few times. It is good to watch the characters walk towards them and see how worn and uneven the steps are and to try and guess how many people have walked over them since the time they were built.
 
Thanks D E, I hadn't realised that was the electrical / tv shop, but knew it was the shop frontage that Tom ended up on the runaway chaise longue, even though he entered the premises at Hinchliffe mill !
 
Thank You for the amazing pictures. It is a pity they have blocked off that short cut to the Cafe as I think it was one of the most interesting set of steps in the series. Sky TV has just started to show the series here again and those have shown up quite a few times. It is good to watch the characters walk towards them and see how worn and uneven the steps are and to try and guess how many people have walked over them since the time they were built.
Thanks Adrian,glad you are able to watch more episodes,I know which steps you mean,but taking this route they wouldn’t use them,they stay on level ground,and yes they certainly have seen some footsteps over the years,they go to that old part later when they reminisce about their schooldays,thankyou for the comment
 
Thanks D E, I hadn't realised that was the electrical / tv shop, but knew it was the shop frontage that Tom ended up on the runaway chaise longue, even though he entered the premises at Hinchliffe mill !
Almost every time I watch an episode Graham I recognise a shop or a house that’s completely different now,that I didn’t realised they had used,I didn’t realise that’s where Tom ended up on the Chaise lounge,I’ll have to watch carefully next time,thankyou.
 
Next up Foggy Compo and Clegg head up to the cafe where Compo asks Sid for three coffees because the tea is terrible,I managed to sit in pretty much the same table,it’s completely different than when they came in in 1981,but of course they would recognise it today,it’s exactly the same as they knew it after it had been decorated,in real life though the counter is behind me as I took the photo,not to my right as it appeared in the show
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