the last surviving main LOTSW characters

M

manfromoswestry

Dedicated Member
And by that, I mean the two actors who have been in every episode from the beginning -- Peter Sallis and Jane Freeman. Does anyone know what they have been up to since LOTSW's cancellation? I would imagine they've long since retired, but don't know for sure.
 
I could be wrong, but I've always have read and heard from others that only Peter has been in every episode from start to finish.
 
Ron-po said:
I could be wrong, but I've always have read and heard from others that only Peter has been in every episode from start to finish.
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I now realise where this query came from:

manfromoswestry said:
And by that, I mean the two actors who have been in every episode from the beginning -- Peter Sallis and Jane Freeman. Does anyone know what they have been up to since LOTSW's cancellation? I would imagine they've long since retired, but don't know for sure.
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It is incorrect. Peter Sallis is in all 295 episodes. Jane Freeman did 274.

I do not think Jane Freeman has done anything since LOTSW. But for Peter sallis see:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0758608/
Maybe some Wallace and Gromit.
 
Jane Freeman also does not appear in the final episode of the series, How Not to Cry at Weddings, though for what reason I've never seen explained. Alan Bell's book (which I just finished) says that the cast and crew were certainly aware it was a possibility it was the final episode, but Bell had been told the decision would not be made until after the series aired. Which was not the case in the end.
 
Sarkus said:
Jane Freeman also does not appear in the final episode of the series, How Not to Cry at Weddings, though for what reason I've never seen explained. Alan Bell's book (which I just finished) says that the cast and crew were certainly aware it was a possibility it was the final episode, but Bell had been told the decision would not be made until after the series aired. Which was not the case in the end.
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This is what disturbed me about the episode as well. Surely they could have fit her in there. Even if they didn't give her any lines, but she should have been in that scene where they took that group photo of the ladies. They had Marina and and NPC friend of Glenda's.
 
Inexcusable not having Jane Freeman in the final episode.

With the age of the cast, and the BBC's dislike of the show, every series had to be considered to possibly be the final one, so you have to make sure characters from the beginning are present - purely so their appearances span the whole length of the series.

As said before, I would have thought some footage could have been included, just so she was in the programme. Afterall, they (thankfully) included Peter Sallis in it, even though he wasn't involved with most of the general filming.

We really did need a proper final show, with Sallis, Freeman and also Thornton, but...

I really did hope last year they would just make one final special to say goodbye to all that, which would have also tied in with the 40th anniversary.
 
wstol said:
As said before, I would have thought some footage could have been included, just so she was in the programme. Afterall, they (thankfully) included Peter Sallis in it, even though he wasn't involved with most of the general filming.

We really did need a proper final show, with Sallis, Freeman and also Thornton, but...

I really did hope last year they would just make one final special to say goodbye to all that, which would have also tied in with the 40th anniversary.
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Sallis was in every episode by design, even after Clegg and Truly were reduced to secondary characters. That was a decision Bell made. They were always written into each episode with some interior scene that could be filmed on a controlled sound stage since it was considered too risky to take them on location to Holmfirth anymore. The interior bus scenes in the last episode were all studio shot. So there wasn't any particular intent on including Clegg in the final episode beyond that.

Jane Freeman was in a different position. Even though she appeared in nearly all episodes in later years, it wasn't quite the same. I guess someone could go try and figure out what the last episode before "How Not To Cry . . ." she wasn't in, but my guess is that she either asked not to be in it or something to that affect and nobody really thought it would necessarily be her last appearance as Ivy. The final episodes were already delivered to the BBC when the decision was announced. And remember, even though the BBC cancelled the show, there was interest by at least one other network in picking it up. Bell says in his book that he was all but guaranteed another season by the head of UKTV at the time, who shortly after resigned after he was overruled by some internal finance committee. So there may have been a strong belief by Bell and the cast that the show would get some sort of final chance to say goodbye even if the BBC did decide to end it as a regular series.

Its too bad that the BBC didn't do that, and its obviously too late now to do it. That they chose to skip any kind of 40th anniversary remembrance tells us that there is no current interest in acknowledging the show. But I suspect that a lot of that may be hard feelings from the last few years, in particular how public and vocal Bell was at the time and has been since about how poorly he feels things were handled. Even if he is entirely right.
 
wstol said:
Inexcusable not having Jane Freeman in the final episode.

With the age of the cast, and the BBC's dislike of the show, every series had to be considered to possibly be the final one, so you have to make sure characters from the beginning are present - purely so their appearances span the whole length of the series.

As said before, I would have thought some footage could have been included, just so she was in the programme. Afterall, they (thankfully) included Peter Sallis in it, even though he wasn't involved with most of the general filming.

We really did need a proper final show, with Sallis, Freeman and also Thornton, but...

I really did hope last year they would just make one final special to say goodbye to all that, which would have also tied in with the 40th anniversary.
Click to expand...

Soooo, How Not To Cry was the last?
 
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