Last of the Summer Wine (TV Series) Hail Smiling Morn or Thereabouts (1973) User Reviews

Four letter words.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 6/10 · 26 September 2021]

The trio decide to head off on a camping trip, and armed with a camera, snap all the local wildlife.

As it stands, this is the highest rated episode of this first series, for me it's one of the more average episodes, I can't say it made me laugh, it made me feel somewhat sentimental, it's more a comforting watch, lots of the show's finest elements are here, including the trio, refusing to grow up, embarking on a mission, and of course a sparring Sid and Ivy.

There are a few chuckles, Mr Wainwright and Mrs Partridge are pretty amusing, clearly the basis for Howard and Marina, Clarke definitely loves the idea of canoodling couples, sharing clandestine meetings in the dales.

It's amazing how different this episode is to the episodes from years later, here we have some language, and even pictures featuring naked ladies, hard to imagine either happening in the show's later years, it's definitely slightly more gritty.

Series two would be different, with a little more emphasis on some of the other characters.

It's a decent end to the first series, but the show is still in its infancy, classic episodes would follow, 6/10.

Picture in the country

[Prismark10 · 5/10 · 24 May 2016]

Hail Smiling Morn or Thereabouts is the final episode of the first series of Last of the Summer Wine.

The series is yet far from the classic it would become in a few years time. There is some embryonic stuff that writer Roy Clarke would mine for some years to come. The randy librarian who has the hots for his assistant, a married woman and they sneak into some quiet places for so time together would be repeated a dozen or so years later by Howard and Marina.

In this episode our trio go camping and dabble in the art of photography. More accurately Blamire takes some rubbish pictures when he is not bickering or reminiscing with Compo.

I did feel the first series was not as funny but at least it established some of the side characters such as Ivy and Sid.

In real life Bill Owen and Michael Bates had a fractious relationship during filming which probably did not help matters. Owen was left wing and Bates was right wing. They stayed in separate hotels during filming.

More smiles than laughs

[professoritterrohl · 4/10 · 24 April 2019]

The episode starts with the female librarian scurrying away frightened down the street. We later learn that she thought the chief librarian had unzipped his trousers inappropriately. This rather crude out of place joke came as quite a surprise as its an uncharacteristic joke for Last Of The Summer Wine. In this episode Blamire tries his luck at photography and camps out along with the others in order to photograph a sunrise. Its slow moving episode that seems somewhat panned out. Little mundane things such as looking at a picture frame and walking through a door take far longer than seems necessary. There is also a distinct lack of laughter from the audience at the dialogue heavy scenes which really doesn't help the pacing. This episode concludes a rather disappointing first series but at least the characters are well established at this stage.