TV characters tangle with Church and law

Sep 6 2002 By Brigid Shaw, The Huddersfield Daily Examiner

PRODUCERS of Last of the Summer Wine relied on divine intervention when they realised their `vicar' didn't look much like a clergyman.

And so they called in the real McCoy - the Rev Sean Robertshaw, team rector for the Upper Holme Valley.

Viewers will see him in the new series of the programme to be screened next year.

Mr Robertshaw said he was initially asked by Andrew Bray, spokesman for Holmfirth Business Association, to write a Yorkshire poem for the 30th anniversary dinner of the programme and say grace.

"Then the following Monday the programme makers rang me up and said they needed a vicar and was I available!

"I thought, `Why not?' They have given so much to the community, why not give a little back? I played the role of an Anglican minister taking a funeral of a mythical member.

"It was nice to be able to give them a bit of advice about funerals."

While filming he was also able to meet comedian Norman Wisdom, a character in the show.

"He was a really nice man, very unassuming, funny, warm and chatty," he said.

Peter Levy, the TV regional newsreader and BBC Radio Leeds presenter also landed a part.

He played a cyclist distracted by a stuffed gorilla being carried by Howard in one episode. He fell off his bike in shock after seeing the pair.

Peter only got 24 hours notice of his debut.

A colleague said: "He did it in one take!"

Local police traffic sergeant Andy Addy also got chance to meet some of the cast when he dropped by to discuss road closures to help with filming.