Last of the Summer Wine

The death of Bill Owen could have spelled the end for Last of the Summer Wine. How do you say goodbye to one of the most beloved characters in Brisith television history and cary on with the show? However, the show does a superb job of writing out Compo without making it trivial.



The show starts out like many others: Nora, Ivy, Pearl, and Edie are practicing for an upcoming musical performance. Howard is plotting with Clegg to get away and see Marina. Truly has ordered a trunk full of white wellys he wants Wesley to help him open. However, things soon turn tragic when Nora decides to give Compo the suprise of his life in the form of a flash from her revealling shirt.



The resulting scenes still bring a tear to my eye. Seeing the reactions of Clegg, Truly, Nora, and Ivy as they hear the news of Compo's passing in the hospital waiting room are among the saddest of the series. At the end, Truly and Wesley arrange for a send off for Compo and, with the rest of the cast standing behind him, Clegg finally gets to give a send off worthy for his old friend.



This episode was the first of a trilogy of episodes which dealt with Compo's death but it was arguably the best of the three. They could have easily left it with this episode and no one would have ever been the wiser.