Tom's tribute to dad Compo

Jun 11 2002 By Val Javin, The Huddersfield Daily Examiner

AS WE meet in the theatre car park, Tom Owen is stacking pictures into his car.

One slips its cover. The subject is unmistakable. The woolly hat, worn jacket and wellingtons could only be one character, Compo.

We're in Holmfirth to talk about Tom's new venture, a one-man show curiously titled 14 By 3.

It's about the lives and careers of two men, two actors, father and son, Bill and Tom Owen.

And it is impossible to ignore another unique element to their relationship. It is thought no other actor has gone into a series to play the son of his own father. Certainly no-one has had to do it under the tragic circumstances which faced Tom.

Bill Owen's death from cancer in 1999 propelled Tom into the world's longest running TV comedy series. He soon found himself doing much as his father had done, living and working for chunks of his life in the rural setting of the Holme Valley.

"I don't think any of us thought the show would continue without Compo. He was such an integral part of it. When dad died, coming into the show was one of the hardest things I've had to do. Emotionally it wasn't easy.

"It was impossible to follow Compo. People say I look like him and have some of his mannerisms but it would have been a mistake to copy him. Millions of people loved Compo."

Tom says the only way he could cope with taking on the role of Tom Simmonite in the series was to treat it as any other acting job. Hardly easy when he was joining a series where many of the cast had worked with his father for years.

"They worked with him for 27 years. I wasn't the only one grieving."