The Stalwarts

The fifth episode of my YouTube Series “Summer Wine Decanted”.

In the early series the Trio are joined by four regular characters; Sid and Ivy, the owners of the local café and Compo’s next-door neighbours, Nora and Wally Batty. Join me in the Yorkshire countryside and re-trace their parts in this record-breaking TV sitcom.

The year 2023 marks 50 years since the pilot and first series of “Last of the Summer Wine” were broadcast. This series of videos is filmed in many of the well-known, and some less well-known, locations seen in the programme.

Summer Wine Decanted – Episode 5

Here is a sneak preview of filming for the next episode of my “Summer Wine Decanted” docu-series on my YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@upstagedbyadog – episode 5 will be available 7pm (UK BST) on 12 June 2023.

Do you recognise the steps? Nora would chase me off with a broom if she saw all this stuff on her path!

The Third Man

The fourth episode of my YouTube Series “Summer Wine Decanted” is now on my YouTube channel.

Our main characters seem to need a leader, a “Third Man” to take command. Over time this function was fulfilled by several Third Men.

The year 2023 marks 50 years since the pilot and first series of “Last of the Summer Wine” were broadcast. Join me in the Yorkshire countryside and re-trace their parts in this record-breaking TV sitcom.

Clegg, the Everyman

Peter Sallis appeared as Norman Clegg in all 295 episodes of “Last of the Summer Wine” and all episodes of the prequel “First of the Summer Wine”. Join me in the Yorkshire countryside and re-trace 37 years of his part in this record-breaking TV sitcom.

The year 2023 marks 50 years since the pilot and first series were broadcast. This series of videos is filmed in many of the well-known, and some less well-known, locations seen in the programme.

From Pilot to Pinnacle

This is the first episode in my YouTube series, Summer Wine Decanted.

The year 2023 marks 50 years since the pilot and first series were broadcast.

This is the story of the BBC TV sitcom “Last of the Summer Wine”, from its humble start to becoming a world-wide favourite and the longest running situation comedy in the world.

This series of videos is filmed in many of the well-known, and some less well-known, locations seen in the programme.

Summer Wine Decanted

So, after nearly two years of research, writing, location filming, and editing, here it is…

The BBC TV sitcom “Last of the Summer Wine”, was the longest-running comedy programme in Britain, and the longest running situation comedy in the world. The year 2023 marks 50 years since the pilot and first series were broadcast. This is the introduction to a series of videos shot on location that feature all the regular characters and the well-known and talented actors in the show, including some British comedy legends.

See this introduction video and the rest of the series on my YouTube channel.

My First Completed Project

I was born in the Grimsby / Cleethorpes area but left there when I was young, so my only exposure to the area was on visits to see family. I do remember everything looking “grim”, in Grimsby, and the Cleethorpes arcades that were exciting as a child had started to lose their sparkle. Permission was obtained from the Docks Authority for filming, the licence cost £5! This video was made in 1988 (I was 27) even in those days the Grimsby docks had vastly less trade than in the 1950’s.

I was able to get the video digitised, so I can now share the video: Dry Dock (1988) – Recollections of Grimsby and Cleethorpes

I used a Panasonic 8mm tape camcorder and edited on to VHS tape with a JVC HQ video recorder and a simple video mixer. As a result, some of the edits are a little off and may be ragged. I have resisted the temptation to make any significant changes to the editing.

The music has been remastered: The original recording of the music in the first section (Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique) was not available, so a newer recording has been used that is at a slightly different tempo, so the edits do not property match the music. The other two tracks (Erasure – The Circus, and Pet Shop Boys – It’s A Sin) match the original recordings used. Any resemblance to Erasure’s official video (which also appears to have been shot in Grimsby and Cleethorpes) and this video is entirely coincidental. I had not seen the Erasure video until recently and some of the shots in it are remarkably similar to my video!

How my Interest in Theatre and TV Developed into Creating Video Projects

I was interested in tv and theatre production from as early as I can remember. As a child if I was drawing something it would be a tv studio or theatre set with lights and cameras. At school I studied drama and often acted in school plays. Due to the lack of interest in the technical side of theatre production at school another student and myself were primarily responsible for most of the lighting and sound for school productions under the occasional supervision of a random disinterested teacher.

When the headmaster was directing a play for the local amateur dramatic society, he approached me to join as they needed a younger person for one of the roles. By the age of 18 I was running a mobile disco with the other student, and we had become responsible for all the lighting and sound for the drama society. This led us to provide technical services to several schools and drama societies in a semi-professional capacity. In addition, I was also acting in some of the productions.

I was now also a part-time reporter for a local newspaper, primarily writing local stories and reviewing amateur and professional theatre productions.

In the late 1980’s I bought an 8mm video camera and shot various events, but the affordable technology was not practical or adequate quality for making anything generally presentable. I did create a few finished videos, one of which is my tribute to the highs and lows of my home town, that I recently managed to get digitised to upload to YouTube.

We both had full-time jobs and then my colleague joined BBC TV in London as a sound technician, which meant he was not able to continue the school and drama society shows due to his work schedule. I continued as long as I could, but eventually work and home commitments meant that I also had to end the drama work.

Many years later, and still interested in anything related to art, media, and theatre I started helping with set design, lighting, and operating cameras to create videos for other people on video platforms.

My interest in the inner workings of theatre and tv production have not diminished, so I started writing a script for what I anticipated would be a short series of videos for my YouTube channel. After months of researching and writing the project has grown into many more episodes than anticipated and spawned ideas for many other similar projects.

The initial filming for this particular project should start in early 2022.