Compo.

Pearl

Pearl

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I've recently seen a comment on a post where a woman thinks Compo has special needs which got me thinking, does anyone else think this?
Personally having a bit of experience with special needs kids and adults I don't really see it but I was wondering if anyone felt the same.
 
I remember Ricky Gervais commenting along these lines when he was criticised by the PC brigade for his character Derek being disrespectful to those with special needs and should be banned. He said that you can say that about many comedy characters, he cited Frank Spencer and said you could say the same about him. Although many may disagree I always find Ricky talks a lot of common sense.
 
His urges for Nora are needs of a definitely special variety that even Wally never went near but no he was determinedly proud of his perennial youthful demeanour and scruffiness in equal measure.
 
I don't see even a hint of special needs in Compo. I think Bill Owen plays Compo beautifully as a big kid that never grew up. All of our main characters are like that in many ways, being deliberately created like that by the writer. This is central to the show I think, the charm of these three codgers living out their twilight years getting up to mischief and refusing to grow old gracefully.
 
I think Compo just took life a day at a time and enjoyed what it gave. I often wondered, Compo kinda became the central character of the show, was it designed that way, or did Bill Owens excellent portrayal of Compo make him so?
 
Thinking about it a psychiatrist could have a permanent surgery in Summerwineland, all the third men were delusional in different ways, you had Compo, Alvin as well as the one off barmpots who would regularly risk their lives in crazy stunts.

You could say pretty much every character had special needs, but had they not they would have been very dull characters!!!!
 
I don't think so. I have friends who are special needs and I don't see it either. But Barry's right, a psychiatrist can definitely evaluate all the characters! Like for example, I think Marina has daddy issues because no one with a healthy relationship with their father dresses and acts like that...and a bunch of things about me just started to make sense! Lol Seriously tho, I think Compo was just lazy.
 
Compo was probably not on the Special Needs spectrum. But, back then, there were probably many folks who were of that ilk and made do with "Compo-like" behaviors. Nowadays, there is much attention being paid to children with Special Needs. So what happens when these Special Needs children pass the magic age of 18 and are officially adults? Does the Special Needs spectrum disappear?

Oh yes, speaking of kids who were just called "lazy." They are now being reevaluated and are now officially diagnosed with ADHD.
 
Compo was such a good punter that the bookie left him a television in his will. No more rental repossessions.
 
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