List of Last of the Summer Wine characters
The following is a list of characters in the British television sitcom Last of the Summer Wine. The main series focused primarily on a trio of old men and their interaction with other characters in the town. Due to the longevity of the series, it was often necessary to replace key characters due to an actor's death, illness, or unavailability for other reasons. Many characters were first seen in "one-off" appearances and were popular enough or felt to have enough potential for them to be brought back as regulars, in some instances replacing previous members of the cast. Some characters also featured in the prequel series as well as several shorts.
''Summer Wine'' trio
Cyril Blamire
The first "third man", and the most childishly argumentative and snobbish, Blamire was the contrast to Compo. Blamire was fired up by displays of youthful enthusiasm, energetic gusto, or any sign of the British spirit. He served as a corporal in the British Army in the Royal Signals regiment during "The Great Fight for Freedom" as a "supply wallah" in India and retains his military bearing. Michael Bates was born in India and actually served as a Major with the Gurkhas in India.He was a Tory and a self-important know-it-all with upper-class aspirations, who often dissociated himself from the other two, especially Compo, as he considered himself superior to them. Because of his sophisticated interests and insistence on table manners, Compo liked to refer to him as a "poof". Cyril would often reprimand Compo whenever he addressed him by his given name, as he preferred the "more rounded tone of Mr Blamire" and would say that Compo had to touch his "tatty cap" whenever he did so.
Out of all of the third men, Blamire tolerated Compo's antics the least and treated him the worst, such as occasionally telling Compo he should kill himself by "read the tailgate of a reversing lorry". In spite of this, Compo and Blamire were close, as shown by Compo's misery in the episodes immediately after he left. Despite his snobby nature, Blamire had more common sense than most of his successors. Bates left the cast in 1975 due to cancer and concentrated on his role in It Ain't Half Hot Mum. Blamire was written out of the series; it was said that he had left the moment he heard that an old flame had recently been widowed. The last the audience hears of him is a very organised letter, instructing Clegg and Compo to meet their old classmate, Foggy Dewhurst. After Foggy's first episode, Cyril is mentioned once in season five's "Deep in the Heart of Yorkshire". Cyril Blamire is one of the few characters established in this series who does not appear in First of the Summer Wine.
William "Compo" Simmonite
Norman Clegg
Walter C. "Foggy" Dewhurst
Walter C. "Foggy" Dewhurst was the second ‘Third Man’, a former soldier who liked to boast of his military exploits in Burma during the Second World War. In fact, he had been a signwriter; and unlike Blamire, many of his old military stories were untrue.Although he considered himself very regimental and heroic, when confronted Foggy was generally meek and incompetent, even a coward. Like the previous third man – and all subsequent third men – he considered himself the leader of the trio, and frequently took charge of Compo and Clegg. Foggy was infamous for trying to figure out a solution to the trio's everyday problems, only to make them much worse. In earlier years, Foggy wore a scarf with regimental colours on it. When Wilde left the series in 1985 to star in his own sitcom and to pursue other TV work, it was explained that Foggy had moved to Bridlington to take over his family's egg-painting business.
Returning in 1990 after the sudden departure of Michael Aldridge, he claimed he had tired of egg painting, and wanted to return to his old life. A regular skit from this period included Foggy crossing paths with a stranger and then rambling about his supposed military career, typically boring each stranger to death. At other times, he would try to recreate scenarios from his military days, which also confused and bored passing strangers. He would often explain that he was a trained killer, which would inevitably lead to him getting into trouble and on the odd occasion being arrested. During his second stint, Foggy was shown to have mellowed somewhat and he did not argue with Compo as much as he had done previously. In 1997, when Wilde's illness stopped him taking part, he was written out of the series in the Special, "There Goes the Groom", in which the character was only seen in brief, non-face shots, played by a double. This episode also introduced his successor, Truly. When episodes are repeated on Drama feature-length episodes, including this one, are omitted, so viewers new to the series may be confused by Foggy's sudden disappearance.
An unconscious, hung-over Foggy was swept off to Blackpool by the local postmistress. There he inadvertently proposed to her in a verbal slip-up over the wedding rings of which he had taken charge "for safe keeping". But he must have at least liked her, as he was never heard from again after that. Foggy's real first name was revealed to be Walter ; "Foggy" is a nickname, derived from the traditional song "The Foggy Foggy Dew"; perhaps also because, in his earlier episodes, he would occasionally "blank out" everything around him to help him concentrate, particularly when he was thinking up new ideas or finding solutions to problems. This is particularly noticeable in the episode "The Man from Oswestry". In one of his earlier episodes, his name is hinted to be Oliver when Clegg finds one of his old army trunks with the initials 'COD'. Due to his dislike of Compo's attire and nature, he was often seen making insults of disgust to Clegg and often addressed Compo as "him" or "that man".
In First of the Summer Wine episode "Not Thee Missus", the young Foggy is called Graham by his mother. In this series, he is played by Richard Lumsden.
Seymour Utterthwaite
The third 'third man'. A snobbish inventor and ex-school headmaster, Edie and Ros's brother Seymour always felt it was his duty to educate the masses, and in particular, Compo and Clegg, to whom he was reintroduced by his brother-in-law, Wesley Pegden, shortly before the wedding of Wesley's daughter. Seymour went to school with Clegg and Compo but lost touch when he went to grammar school. Whereas Cyril and Foggy tried to solve the problems of the residents of Holmfirth, when Seymour was around he always liked to invent, but the resulting inventions invariably led to disaster – especially for Compo, who was always the reluctant test subject and called him a twit whenever anything went disastrously wrong. Despite this, he was well-liked by the other two and was more willing to play along with their childish antics than his predecessors. He did have occasional bouts of bravery: in series 9, episode 6 he contradicted Pearl, Ivy and Nora Batty in one sitting for which Clegg, Compo and a random passer-by heartily congratulated him.Seymour usually blamed the failure of his inventions on divine punishment for his once having had an affair with a barmaid. Seymour's house, outside the town, was modified into a laboratory, filled with new devices and contraptions that seldom, if ever, worked properly. His sister Edie always spoke very highly of him and how he was 'educated', refusing to take into account his continual failed inventions. Because Seymour's inventions were always built poorly he would normally get Wesley to fix them. Seymour had previously been the headmaster of a school, although it is not entirely clear how successful he was in running it. When Compo and Clegg were in his home Seymour would often put on his old headmaster's gown and treat the two of them like schoolchildren when trying to explain a new invention. This included making them sit on small wooden chairs once typical of infant schools. He sometimes appeared to take an unhealthy delight in corporal punishment, and was appalled to hear that it has been prohibited.
Miriam Utterthwaite is Seymour's ex-wife who left him. Her final message to Seymour was "your oven is in the tea" as a reference to his failed inventions. She is mentioned on many occasions during Seymour’s time on the show.
While Aldridge played Seymour, actor Paul McLain played the younger version of the same character in First of the Summer Wine. When Aldridge left the series in 1990 for personal reasons, Seymour was last seen leaving on a bus to take up a new job as interim headmaster at a private school—just as Foggy returned.
There were allegedly plans for Seymour to make a comeback, but Michael Aldridge died in 1994. The character was never alluded to again. However, a photo of Seymour can be seen on Glenda’s fireplace in the late 1990s, but it disappeared by the early 2000s.
Herbert "Truly" Truelove
The fourth ‘third man’, Herbert Truelove known was a retired policeman. He was initially played with a pompous self-importance in all things criminal. However, this aspect of the character was fairly quickly softened, and Truly became more relaxed and fun-loving, and can be more of an equal match at the local pub than his predecessors as third man. He can also be a bit more devious with practical jokes or witty schemes. Likewise, he can be equally sly in getting people out of a scrape or just helping out a friend. He is divorced, and makes disparaging comments about "the former Mrs Truelove". The former Mrs Truelove, whose real name is Mabel, is an unseen character.Because of his previous job in the police, he refers to himself as "Truly of the Yard". As he is less snobbish and pompous, like his predecessors, he gradually became more likeable and made fewer snide remarks over Compo's attire. He also appeared to be more respected than his predecessors by the other regular characters such as Wesley and Howard, as well as the local ladies. In the two final series, he is demoted to a secondary character along with Norman Clegg, so his role as third man was filled by Hobbo.