Last of the Summer Wine : Millennium Special (Last Post and Pigeon)

Millennium Special (Last Post and Pigeon)


Having just gotten the Series 21 DVD, I was watching the millennium special, Last Post and Pigeon. Is it just me, or was this one of Roy Clarke's more interesting and touching scripts? Of course, Compo playing the Last Post was also in honor of the war veterans, but the solemn ending also seemed to me like a touching tribute to Bill Owen as this was the last episode he filmed. Does anyone know whether the tear under his eye on the last close-up, right before the picture faded, was scripted or was it a spontaneous reaction as he filmed his final scenes? There's also a completely unrelated line from Clegg just before Comp plays the bugle. They're hanging a commemorative wreath on a tree near Dunkirk, where Compo fought during the war, and afterwards Clegg alss lays some flowers at the foot of the tree. When the others look at him questioningly, he says "For the Rabbit. You [Compo[ shot a rabbit as well." All those years later, Cleggy remembered that Compo inadvertently shot a rabbit during the heat of a battle. It's silly but also rather sweet, and it's a perfect example of why Cleggy is my favorite LOSTW character.

This episode was also the first time Dora Bryan appeared as Ros, Edie's sister who's just come back to town after running away with a married man (I think it's implied that he died and that's possibly one reason she decided to come back home). She first meets up with Edie in a cemetery where they lay flowers on someone's grave. I don't think they ever directly said whose it was, but that Edie goes there every Sunday. But am I right in thinking that the grave seemed to be that of Edie and Ros's mother (and I suppose also Seymour's, since he was their brother)? In any event, there's another touching line during that scene that keeps sticking in my mind. Speaking of the deceased person I assume is their mother, Edie says to Ros "She never stopped thinking about you", to which Ros replies very sadly something like, "If she hadn't been such a sweetheart, I'd have lived easier", implying that Ros did feel some guilt about leaving her family behind and also possibly that part of the rift between the sisters had to do with Ros inadvertently hurting their mother. Which makes sense since Edie must have been quite close to her mother if she visits the grave weekly. And I liked Glenda's reponse when Edie was being bitter and asking why she should accept favors from Ros: "We all need favors."

Another question, though: when they hung out the "Welcome Home, Ros" banner, does anyone have any idea who that other lady was at Edie's house beside Wesley, Glenda, and Barry? Some relative I'd imagine, but they never say who.

To be honest, Roy Clarke doesn't necessarily specialize in belly laughs, but I'm sometimes struck with his poignant and sensitive character writing-- when the spouses stop shouting at each other long to have a meaningful exchange. I'm not saying he's the greatest comedy writer ever (from interviews I've read, I don't think he even thinks he specializes in conventional comedy), but he certainly has a unique talent with words and character study. Apart from the lines I mentioned, can anyone else about think of any poignant or "soft" moments that standout throughout the series?




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