Sitcom's plot needs an extra-special touch

Nov 20 2002 By Henryk Zientek, The Huddersfield Daily Examiner

GARDEN centre owner Carl Brook will be following the plot closely when a new series of Last of the Summer Wine begins next year.

For he transformed part of his site at Brooklands Nurseries at Totties, Scholes, Holmfirth, into an allotment for an episode in the long-running BBC sitcom.

Garden centre staff planted a small plot with vegetables, including beans and potatoes.

They also provided a set of old gardening tools for the actors to use during the two days of filming.

The look was completed with a chicken run and two ramshackle sheds, supplied by the BBC props department.

The scenes involved Summer Wine regulars Peter Sallis as Clegg, Frank Thornton as Truly, Tom Owen as Tom Simmonite and Keith Clifford as Billy Hardcastle.

The episode also features actor Christopher Beeney, best known for roles in the period drama Upstairs Downstairs and ITV sitcom In Loving Memory.

Mr Brook said: "The crew filmed here last year and returned this year. They picked the site because of the views it offers over the Holme Valley.

"It was a pleasure to have them here."

He joked: "They said the coffee at our coffee shop was far better than in their canteen!"

The episode will be screened next year.