By James Robert Shaw (The Wind up Geek)
The BBC may have said its goodbyes to Last of the Summer Wine in 2010, but the cast and crew of the longest running sitcom series in television history are hoping fans of the show will support a spinoff pilot.
Summer Wine’s producer and director, Alan J W Bell, has returned to the series’ roots in the Yorkshire town of Holmfirth to film this pilot. Ken Kitson and Louis Emerick who played hapless police constables Cooper and Walsh are in partnership on this project. And some of the original crew are also lending support to the production and have waived fees in hope to get the project off the ground. The script, according to Afternoon Tea, was written by Roy Clarke and is titled Hobocops.
Now Ken, Louis and Bell have turned to crowdfunding to find financial backers for a feature-length film or short series of their antics.
And they have not ruled out the return of some of the famous characters that made Last of the Summer Wine so popular over the years.
Quoted in the Huddersfield Daily Examiner, associate producer Terry Bartlam said:
“…in Cooper and Walsh there was scope for a breakaway series and Alan came up to Holmfirth to make two short films to remind the views of how good Ken Kitson and Louis Emerick are as actors.
“Some of the original crew joined in and refused payment and they are all confident there is a lot of mileage in Cooper and Walsh.”
Ken and Louis have their own two-hour improvisational stage show called An Arresting Night with Cooper and Walsh. In the span of two hours, PCs Cooper and Walsh try to enjoy all the perks a job out in the country offers but the higher crime of the big cities just can’t compare to the strange incidents they stumble across in the Yorkshire countryside.
A sample clip uploaded to YouTube by Terry Bartlam.