Looking back now, this was the golden age of The Last of the Summer Wine. Very much up to Foggy's last episode when he departs for the first time.
Getting Sam Home was a feature length Christmas episode. It was entirely shot on film, there was no laughter track and Alan J W Bell very much shot it like a cinema film.
In 2023 the film print was upgraded for a high definition release. The episode looked better than it did back in 1983 with the grainy 16mm film look gone.
Roy Clarke adapted his novel for the screen. The characters give their thoughts on screen. The language here is a bit salty, we have not had that since the 1970s. There is also a lot of glimpses of thighs, yearnings of older men who still want to feel the female flesh.
Sam is ill in hospital. Peter Russell brilliantly plays him because he looks like he is at death's door. Sam has had slim pickens from his wife who has kept him in the shed. Sam got his fun from Lily Bless Her (Lynda Baron) twice a week.
When Sam arrives home, he persuades Foggy, Clegg and Compo to take him round to Lilly Bless Her for one more frolic. Trouble is he dies in Lily's bed with a big smile on his face.
Our trio have to take Sam's dead body back to his house and they need to borrow Sid's chip van to do it.
When Sam's widow puts him to rest in the shed, Lilly persuades the trio to being him back to her house instead.
When this was first shown, I must have watched this umpteenth times on video. I remember the whole family laughing heartily.
Getting Sam Home was the best Christmas special of the show. It is so consistently funny with some great slapstick scenes, especially with Sam's creepy smile as his corpse gets moved about. Roy Clarke writes it so well, giving the characters some poignant or wistful lines.
Actor John Comer who played Sid had died by the time this was broadcast. He was so ill, his voice had to be dubbed by another actor.
Some of the regulars have little to do in this episode such as Nora and Wally Batty. Ivy gets her moment at the end when she saves the day for everyone.
There is a tender moment when Sam's widow stops to offer Lily a lift home after the funeral. An acknowledgement from her that Lily did so much to keep Sam happy through the years.
Getting Sam Home was a feature length Christmas episode. It was entirely shot on film, there was no laughter track and Alan J W Bell very much shot it like a cinema film.
In 2023 the film print was upgraded for a high definition release. The episode looked better than it did back in 1983 with the grainy 16mm film look gone.
Roy Clarke adapted his novel for the screen. The characters give their thoughts on screen. The language here is a bit salty, we have not had that since the 1970s. There is also a lot of glimpses of thighs, yearnings of older men who still want to feel the female flesh.
Sam is ill in hospital. Peter Russell brilliantly plays him because he looks like he is at death's door. Sam has had slim pickens from his wife who has kept him in the shed. Sam got his fun from Lily Bless Her (Lynda Baron) twice a week.
When Sam arrives home, he persuades Foggy, Clegg and Compo to take him round to Lilly Bless Her for one more frolic. Trouble is he dies in Lily's bed with a big smile on his face.
Our trio have to take Sam's dead body back to his house and they need to borrow Sid's chip van to do it.
When Sam's widow puts him to rest in the shed, Lilly persuades the trio to being him back to her house instead.
When this was first shown, I must have watched this umpteenth times on video. I remember the whole family laughing heartily.
Getting Sam Home was the best Christmas special of the show. It is so consistently funny with some great slapstick scenes, especially with Sam's creepy smile as his corpse gets moved about. Roy Clarke writes it so well, giving the characters some poignant or wistful lines.
Actor John Comer who played Sid had died by the time this was broadcast. He was so ill, his voice had to be dubbed by another actor.
Some of the regulars have little to do in this episode such as Nora and Wally Batty. Ivy gets her moment at the end when she saves the day for everyone.
There is a tender moment when Sam's widow stops to offer Lily a lift home after the funeral. An acknowledgement from her that Lily did so much to keep Sam happy through the years.
