Recent content by Sarkus

Bell said in his book that the script wasn't very good, a rarity for Clarke. Wilde and he discussed it and decided to let it be re-done without Foggy, a plan that I think paid off as its one of my favorite holiday specials. I assume that Foggy would have been in the place Howard takes, which...

It's been a couple of years, but for a while I had LOTSW on perpetual loop. That said, I'd often watch 2-4 episodes a night but not really be paying close attention at all times. At that rate I'd go through the whole lot in as little as six months on occasion. That being said, there are a few...

I'll admit to being intrigued by Marina. Sure, she had a reputation, but it seems to have been highly exaggerated. Either version - the original widow or the later perpetually single version, lol.

In fairness, Kathy Staff's health was the issue and there was no way to transition her out. Her absence in Series 30 was, according to Bell's book, a very last-minute development and they had to scramble to throw something together to cover for that. Stella as her sister taking care of Nora's...

Bell is the one who said he never quite fit, again in his book. I don't agree with him, as I liked the character and felt he was a good direction to go right after Bill Owen's death. Trying to fit in another "Compo" wasn't going to work, as we saw with Tom. Alvin brought some of those...

Alan Bell in his book said he left for health reasons, specifically back problems. Never seen any confirmation of that from Keith Clifford, though, and have always wondered since that was after a few years of the four person group that also included Alvin. Just my opinion, but it always seemed...

While I know they change their voices for their characters, I'm always somewhat surprised at how actors sound with their natural voices.

The character never left, the actor did for six years. He was occasionally referenced but never seen between "Barry's Christmas" (1990) and "Extra! Extra!" (1996). Alan Bell in his book says this was by Mike Grady's request, who felt it would help his career.

Bell's book says that he and Clarke didn't initially think the play characters were worth bringing over, but as Adanor said, they liked the chemistry they had when Howard and Pearl were recast for the second year run of the play. By that time, they had also lost John Comer, and I do think...

I don't recall which book I read it in, but either Vine or Bell said it was longer because the BBC wanted something with more episodes they could sell to other markets, such as the US, where seasons were much longer than just six or eight episodes. IIRC, Bell says there was also a belief that...

I recall there being some talk here that some episodes from the first two series were edited given their more mature content and the show being viewed as a family show by the time DVDs came along. IIRC, there is a scene in "Some Enchanted Evening" that was removed in some releases where Nora is...

Actually, that was an original Blamire moment. From Andrew Vine's book, a quote from Sydney Lotterby: According to Vine, the plan for Series 3 was to make the trio more active, presumably because audiences had liked the Series 2 episodes where the characters were out and about - such as the...

I don't believe its accurate that Wilde did not give notice. According to Alan Bell in his book, Wilde told them he was going to depart the show after "Getting Sam Home" and even sat down with BBC execs after it was done filming and said the same thing. He rather humorously ignored all of that...

Yes, the direction ad supported programming has gone is quite sad. It feels like these companies are trying to push you even more towards the subscription services. Even there, though, ads are beginning to be a bigger part of the picture. Amazon charging me quite a bit per month for free (but...

As its the holidays, I was eating some fruitcake the other night, and of course, I had it with butter. The idea of putting butter on it was something LOTSW taught me, as I'd never been told to do that all those years ago when as a child I was forced to eat it. As a result, I did not have fond...