Goodbye Compo

I don't think there would have been much point in writing in an on screen death for Nora, since her character was already written out of the show - and that the actress was only dead during the making of the very last six episodes.

I'm not sure it would have been appropriate having an on screen death for Sid - ONLY because his last episode was Getting Sam Home, which was 100% about death, and having another 'funeral' or 'death' episode would have been too much, and also a bit confusing too for some people.

I have to say though, Roy Clarke writes about death very well, and had he tackled the deaths of Sid, Nora, Wally, Wesley etc, there would have been some excellent writing I'm sure.
 
I would have liked a little vignette to all of our sadly missed stars who passed away , almost like a Hitchcock film where we know he appears but not when . Something we remember these stars for features in a shot and would most definitely not be referred to by the cast but the real fans would be able to spot . It offers a nod to those stars who have given us so much . By way of an example perhaps Eli's Glasses could appear in Auntie's windows in close up [ I know there was a sought of tribute in the crowd when everyone is outside Cleggy's house when he does not want to be disturbed but it's hardly subtle] when one of the characters is looking in the window for a prospective purchase. Just a thought :-

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It seems that on screen deaths are very rare in TV series - wonder if there is a reason for this?

Apart from Morse where we always know another person in Oxford will cop it this week - made me nervouse when studying in Oxford!
 
I felt saying Nora had gone to Australia didn't fit. I know she had family but you wouldn't get her on a plane to some foreign land

How come Tom lives in the wooden Hut in the allotment but he was living in Compos house with Mrs Avery but now Alvin lives there. Did Compo rent?
 
amos hames said:
I think Nora should have had a on screen death. She was a major part of the show and such a drab way to explain her exit. As should sid as he was a major player too
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Many in the audience of LOTSW are in their twilight years and they know that the Grim Reaper is nearby. They really don't need to be reminded of that fact and that's probably why many actors and actresses were quietly written out.
 
Ch74 said:
I felt saying Nora had gone to Australia didn't fit. I know she had family but you wouldn't get her on a plane to some foreign land

How come Tom lives in the wooden Hut in the allotment but he was living in Compos house with Mrs Avery but now Alvin lives there. Did Compo rent?
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The British Government has made it incredibly easy for anyone in England to go to Australia.

The powers to be found out that Alvin was a natural foil for Nora so they had to put him in Compo's house. And they probably had to give him that little table and chairs so he would never have to go down the stairs and through the door as the stench coming out was reported to be horrible.
 
For the most part the show was pretty consistent with how it handled the death of the actors involved. If they were still actively playing their characters when they died that characters passing eventually got a mention (usually). If they were not actively playing their characters nothing was ever said beyond whatever explanation was given (if any) when their character departed the show. Obviously Bill Owen/Compo was a major exception, but it was also a major difference in terms of a) Compo being the "star" of the show and b) Bill Owen dying in the middle of filming a series. They had to directly and immediately deal with that in a way that didn't ever apply again.

It would have been nice if they had done something to note the passing of Nora, but as noted the timing was awkward. When they sent Nora off to Australia the second time at the beginning of Series 30 I'm sure they hoped Kathy Staff would improve in her health and return to the show. By the time she died in December 2008 that Series had aired, and around that same time the BBC tried to cancel the show quietly. While it did come back for the short final series, they weren't really in a position to do anything major for Nora, and as the audience hadn't seen her for two years having an episode devoted to Nora would have seemed very late. Only Roy Clarke could explain why some minor mention didn't happen.
 
captain clutterbuck said:
........ and yet the interior shot of what was supposedly Compo's House when occupied by Alvin [ As seen in a Tale of Two Sweaters] showed it had been completely revamped and looked more than habitable .
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Alvin impressed me as being much more prosperous than Compo or Tom/Mrs. Avery. I imagined that he had bought the house from the council, as seems to be a fairly common practice in real life, and had enough additional cash or credit available to make massive improvements. Mrs. Avery started the process by cleaning the place up, so it was already more habitable by the time Alvin appeared.
 
Marianna said:
Alvin impressed me as being much more prosperous than Compo or Tom/Mrs. Avery. I imagined that he had bought the house from the council, as seems to be a fairly common practice in real life, and had enough additional cash or credit available to make massive improvements. Mrs. Avery started the process by cleaning the place up, so it was already more habitable by the time Alvin appeared.
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That or the place was remodeled by the council somewhere between Tom's brief stay and the first time we see the interior after Alvin moved in, which wasn't for a few years after he became a regular.
 
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