Series 12, Episode 1; Return of the Warrior

wstol

Dedicated Member
I remember watching this for the first time in 1990. Having heard Brian Wilde was returning, I was stunned to see Michael Aldridge's name in his usual billing. Then intrigued at Brian Wilde's stand-alone credit.

Was it all a mistake, and that Aldridge would remain, and Wilde was a guest star?

It all became clear that Aldridge was kind enough to make a cameo in this episode to mark the departure of one character, and the return of another. He is in the first five minutes. This is a unique episode as this never happened with the other 'third men'.

The scene where Seymour says goodbye is very touching. Compo shaking his hand looks very geniune.

Soon after, Compo and Clegg are bored - like in The Man from Oswestry. The whole episode is a very knowing reflection of this episode.

I thought at the time things would be exactly the same as they were before with Foggy. And to some extent they were, the obvious difference being more cast members. In 1990 though, the show was still excellent - this is one of the very best series.

Foggy returns. The most obvious change is his glasses. One would imagine Wilde wanted to wear his real glasses of 1990, as opposed to the ones he had in 1976.

Great stuff where Foggy keeps trying to catch up with Compo and Clegg, and nice moments where Foggy is reunited with Nora and Ivy.

One change in Foggy's character was his talk of the Japanese, and the impressions he did of them. This was never mentioned before, but it worked well.

It was sad to see Seymour go, but the return of Foggy was the best ever replacement for him. This episode is one of the finest ever, and paved the way for the magnificent 1990 series - every episode a gem.
 
this a very poingnant episode i think, it shows for at least 10 minutes what it would be like if it werent a trio in the show and it doesnt work i think (which is why i think the period post compo when it was just clegg and truly and a sprinkling of the other characters doesnt work), i like this episode dont get me wrong it one of my favourites and i loved the fact michael aldridge appeared to give seymour a send off, yes a big change in foggy was his glasses and his japanese impressions but i think both changes are better, i know brian changed those glasses in the early 80's but he kept his old ones just for summer wine, i agree its a shame seymour had to leave but foggy was the best replacement possible and this whole series was fantastic, oh and just incase you was wondering i only saw this episode for the first time when it was on gold in 2004/5, this was just a few weeks short of me watching summer wine for the first time.
 
this a very poingnant episode i think, it shows for at least 10 minutes what it would be like if it werent a trio in the show and it doesnt work i think (which is why i think the period post compo when it was just clegg and truly and a sprinkling of the other characters doesnt work), i like this episode dont get me wrong it one of my favourites and i loved the fact michael aldridge appeared to give seymour a send off, yes a big change in foggy was his glasses and his japanese impressions but i think both changes are better, i know brian changed those glasses in the early 80's but he kept his old ones just for summer wine, i agree its a shame seymour had to leave but foggy was the best replacement possible and this whole series was fantastic, oh and just incase you was wondering i only saw this episode for the first time when it was on gold in 2004/5, this was just a few weeks short of me watching summer wine for the first time.

I remember after Seymour bus drove off, Clegg and Compo discovered they had FREEDOM! That excitement only lasted a few seconds before it became boredom. Finally, it was Foggy to the rescue. I don't remember word for word, but didn't they first actually meet Foggy when we was hanging onto something in one of his mishaps? And didn't Foggy's first words to Compo and Clegg have something to do with his great skill in handling the mishap? That boasting sure set the tone for Foggy's second run.
 
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