Goodnight Sweet Ferret

Landmark Series 30 of Last of the Summer Wine has just finished with the episode Goodnight Sweet Ferret. Despite it being a landmark series it did not feature anything special, in fact it could be one of the worst series yet. It is still unknown if their will be a 31st series but despite ‘Hobbo’ being very annoying I hope their is. Why doesn’t ol’ Roy look back on the very first few series to figure out why the series gained a lot of respect by bringing normal back to the television. Since then more ’stunts’ and ’supporting’ characters have entered the programme, ruining the original concept of three old men wondering the town discussing life. Of course you cannot help the cast dying off but instead of letting the programme get into the state it is now they should have cancelled it while at it’s prime. To be honest Alan has injected too many ‘money’ shots into the programme, like Roy he should look at the earlier series with the tighter shots. Unfortunately it is too late now but the currently very long cast list should be trimmed down a lot if it is to survive the next possible series, get rid of ‘The Captain’, Morton, Nelly and all those that was not in the programme before 1992. I am happy that the Policemen are getting more scenes though as they are very welcome parts of the programme. Also please return to proper background music instead of cut and paste recordings of Hazlehursts soundtracks, I think it is best as when he made the soundtracks, all the music was perfectly timed to the characters footsteps and other situations but now just seems like interscene connecting music which is not what it is supposed to be.

Conclusion, look at your own mistakes. Less is more. So heres to making series 31 a good one!

Some Adventures of the Inventor of the Mother Stitch

The first proper episode of Series 30 of Last of the Summer Wine was Some Adventures Of The Inventor Of The Mother Stitch but could you tell the difference between it and I Was A Hitman For Primrose Dairies? Barely. The most laughs I got out of this episode was seeing the needlessly long title come up during the dull white opening titles. \’Hobbo\’, well lets face it, is an idiot, why does he think he was part of M15? If he is going to act like that all the time then it will get boring very, very quickly.

There was also changes of characters. Glenda has changed from a naive but feisty middle aged madam to a nosey parker who ignores her husband to stare at \’The Captain\’. Pearl has also changed from a sarcastic sadistic shrew into a calm and dull wife, the old pearl would always keep Howard under control at all times. Also, please, why are there so many people with square heads and short messy grey hair? It is very hard to keep up who is who.

Storywise, was there any storylines? It all seemed to be random exerts of standard conversion sequences. Why has so much changed since only series 29 which was in my opinion one of the best series.

If it ain\’t broke, don\’t fix it. No wonder the BBC say they ma not commision another series. Stop at an even number.

I Was A Hitman For Primrose Dairies

The first episode of series 30 of Last of the Summer Wine aired today at 7:30pm. It featured the biggest shake up of the cast since its inception. Two of the trio from series 29 were reduced to secondary characters, they being Clegg and Truly. In their place are established charactor Entwistle and new character ‘Hobbo’.

‘Hobbo’ is a mentalist former Primrose Dairies Milkman who believes he once had ties with MI5 and being a Milkman was a cover. Always making strange hand movements (much like Foggy used to) once causing a Waiter to drop a very large tray of Sandwiches.

Other changes include the return of ‘The Captain’ who is the head of the local Golf club that Barry visits. As usual there was a guest star in this episode, this time being Mortar who was the Debt collector who often visited Tom a long time ago but he is now retired so they are now friendly towards each other. Auntie Wainwright makes a return but seems to have lost weight and now looks not a day older than when she first arrived in Holmfirth in the 1980s! It has also reduced the amount of screen time the secondary characters have so it is very much like it was in the 1980s.

The most major change is the change of colour of the credits, from the familiar yellow to white. I have no idea why they changed the colour but perhaps it was in memory of Kathy Staff who died a couple of weeks ago who was attributed at the end of the closing credits. This is not the first time the credits have been white, from series 3 until series 4 and during the reign of Seymour the credits were also white. The typeface has stayed the same since series 29 however.

The plot – Luther ‘Hobbo’ Hobdyke, a retired milkman with strong links to MI5, arrives in the village. Very soon, calling upon his experiences on numerous dangerous missions overseas as a master spy, he forms a small team of reluctant volunteers, consisting of Alvin and Entwistle, ready to react to any emergency in the village. Finding that Hobbo has moved in next door, Clegg and Truly recall that he was never much of a milkman, but have to admit that his needlework is always exemplary. (Thanks to the BBC)

So do you like series 30 so far? Or has it changed to much? Please vote in my poll to the right!

When is the next episode? I have no idea but when I find out I will post it here by which time it will be 2009 so Happy New Year!

UPDATE: The next episode will air on April 19th and is called Some Adventures Of The Inventor Of The Mother Stitch!

Here Yesterday, Gone Today

The second batch of shops closed yesterday under the Woolworths shop closure programme including my local. I went yesterday and photographed it for old times sake. I also went inside and what a shock! Two thirds of the store was sectioned off with all the shelves being dismantled. All the remaining shelves in the rest of the shop were also empty (except strangely the CD section, rubbish songs this year perhaps?). You would never believe how many people were grabbing the last remaining sweets from the infamous Pick ‘N’ Mix section. It was very sad to see it in such a state. This shop in particular was never that nice compared to the likes of Fareham and Portsmouth shops but I liked it purely for nolstalgic reasons. The tackiness was its charm.

Anything under a sixpence? Not a chance! A biscuit tin, for example, was ‘80% off’ yet it was still £34! No wonder Woolworths entered administration because it is far too expensive. Also being a all purpose general merchandise store also didn’t help because there was no need for such a shop anymore as there are plenty of convienience stores and supermarkets to purchase ‘general merchandise’ from, why go to an old fashioned shop like Woolworths?

In the latter years most people ‘hung’ around the sweets and drinks section never venturing to the back of the shops unless you had time to spare. Or in my shops case, noone went inside at all other than to buy lottery tickets. So clearly you can see why Woolworths got into this state. They did not move with the times. Still, I will miss them and who knows, I may even start my own ‘mini market’ chain to take its place!

So that is it for another year, Happy New Year!

Reminder: Do not forget – Last of the Summer Wine New Year Special is on tonight on BBC One at 7:30pm!

Third Last of the Summer Wine

Kathy Staff, who played the stern Northern battleaxe Nora Batty in Last of the Summer Wine, has died today. Everyone in my household are very upset and hope she will Rest In Peace.

She was famed for her Wrinked Stockings and ‘relationship’ with her next door neighbour Compo. Her wooden broom keeping him and everyone else at a safe distance! Norman Clegg and Ivy are now the last two original charactors left on Last of the Summer Wine from 1973. Of course we shall also remember her for her roles in Open All Hours and Crossroads.

While we all mourn her we must think of the brighter things in life, whatever they are, and try to move on. R.I.P. Kathy Staff.