The Four Third Men Trivia Quiz

Answer: Blamire

Michael Bates had something of a privileged upbringing, attending Uppingham School and Cambridge University, before being commissioned as an officer in the British Indian Army during the Second World War. He entered the acting profession after leaving the army, eventually gaining a reputation as a character actor with significant roles in a number of films and television series during the 1960s and 70s. However, it was only when "Last of the Summer Wine" was picked up as a series that he achieved a starring role, when he was cast as Blamire alongside Bill Owen and Peter Sallis.

Having started "Last of the Summer Wine" in 1973, when it initially began as a "Comedy Playhouse" pilot before being picked up as a series, in 1974 Michael Bates was cast in the role of Rangi Ram, the native bearer attached to the Royal Artillery concert party that formed the central premise of Jimmy Perry and David Croft's second sitcom, "It Ain't Half Hot Mum".

Answer: Blamire

Cyril Blamire was the first of the "third men" in "Last of the Summer Wine". He undertook his military service in the Royal Corps of Signals during World War II, which he described as "The Great Fight for Freedom". Reaching the rank of corporal, he saw most of his service in India where he acted as a storeman, or "supply wallah" as he described himself. Blamire's time in the army led him to retain a typical military bearing in his interactions, with upper-class pretensions that generally led him to consider himself superior to Clegg and especially Compo (whom he often referred to as a "grotty little herbert").

Michael Bates himself had a distinguished career in the army, having been commissioned into the 9th Gurkha Rifles in March 1942 and seeing service during the Burma Campaign. He was eventually discharged at the end of the war having received a mention in despatches and reached the rank of major.

Answer: Foggy

Brian Wilde had built a solid reputation as a character actor since he began his career in the mid-1950s. In 1973, the year that "Last of the Summer Wine" started as a "Comedy Playhouse" pilot, he was cast in one of another series of pilots, this time all written for comedy actor Ronnie Barker under the overall title "Seven of One". The episode in which Wilde appeared with Barker was titled "Prisoner and Escort", in which Wilde played Mr Barrowclough, one of two prison officers escorting recently convicted Norman Stanley Fletcher, played by Barker, to Slade Prison. "Prisoner and Escort" was one of two pilots from the "Seven of One" strand to be picked up by the BBC as a full series, being commissioned as "Porridge".

A year after the start of "Porridge", Wilde replaced Michael Bates in "Last of the Summer Wine", being cast as the new 'third man', Walter "Foggy" Dewhurst. Although quickly assuming the role of the supposed leader of the trio, as Blamire had, Foggy was often seen as something of a pompous buffoon who, despite his upright and regimental bearing, and plethora of heroic stories, was generally quite cowardly when confronted.

Answer: Foggy

Although Foggy often regales people with his military exploits in Burma during the Second World War, having an apparent multitude of heroic tales, he, in fact, saw service as a sign-writer and, unlike his predecessor Blamire, saw virtually no action. Although he was an old school friend of both Compo and Clegg, as indicated when he came back into their lives, his family had an egg-decorating business in Bridlington. Upon his first departure, Foggy announced that he had been given a position in the family business.

However, it was his disillusionment with egg-decorating that led to his return, arriving at the same time as Seymour departed for his new position.

Answer: Seymour

Michael Aldridge gained his first notices for acting while attending Gresham's School, where, playing the title role in "Othello", he was reviewed in The Times. Foregoing university, he instead began working in 1939 in repertory theatre - this was interrupted by the Second World War, when he was called up to the RAF. Following his military service in the Second World War, he began to appear on screen, eventually building up a successful CV on television, with his credits including the BBC's 1979 production of "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" and "Reilly, Ace of Spies" for ITV.

Cast in "Last of the Summer Wine" in 1986 following the departure of Brian Wilde, his character of Seymour Utterthwaite was a departure from his predecessors. As opposed to the uptight military bearing of Blamire and Foggy, Seymour was an enthusiastic, yet unfortunately ill-advised inventor, Seymour often roped both Compo and Clegg into testing some new device or tool, often with Compo as the guinea pig - the failure of his inventions was usually blamed on divine intervention as a result of a previous indiscretion with a barmaid.

Answer: Seymour

Seymour Utterthwaite returned to reacquaint himself with his old schoolfriends Compo and Clegg when he attended the wedding of his niece, Glenda, the daughter of Seymour's sister Edie Pegden and her husband Wesley. At the time, Wesley, played by Gordon Wharmby, had made a number of appearances in "Last of the Summer Wine" since 1982, but his wife Edie had not been seen. She, along with her brother and daughter, were introduced in the feature-length episode "Uncle of the Bride", broadcast on New Year's Day 1986.

Edie was played by the noted comedy actress Thora Hird. Three years prior to their both appearing in "Last of the Summer Wine", Aldridge had been a guest star in an episode of Hird's sitcom "Hallelujah!", playing Brigadier Langton, the superior officer to Captain Emily Ridley of the Salvation Army.

Answer: Truly

Despite wanting to act from an early age, Frank Thornton began his working life in insurance, as his father wanted him to get a "proper" job. However, he quickly enrolled in evening classes at the London School of Dramatic Art, eventually proving good enough to persuade his father to finance his studies as a day student, leaving his insurance job. Almost immediately after being demobilised from the RAF following the Second World War, he joined a repertory company and began acting professionally. He soon began appearing on television, gaining a reputation as a character actor, often in supporting roles in comedy shows. He gained possibly his most famous role in 1972, when he was cast as Captain Peacock in the pilot episode of "Are You Being Served?", which ran from 1973 to 1985, and was revived as "Grace & Favour" (known as "Are You Being Served? Again!" in the United States) in 1992.

In 1997, Brian Wilde departed "Last of the Summer Wine" for the second time, owing to illness. On his suggestion, Frank Thornton was approached to replace him, and was cast as the fourth 'third man', Herbert "Truly" Truelove, becoming the final incumbent to be cast during the lifetime of Bill Owen, who played Compo. The trio of Compo, Clegg and Truly were in place for series 19 and 20, and the first few episodes of series 21.

Answer: Truly

Truly entered the lives of Compo and Clegg at the same time as Foggy disappeared off to Blackpool. A retired policeman, with a degree of self-importance when it came to criminal matters (often referring to himself as "Truly of the Yard"), he rapidly endeared himself to his new comrades, Compo and Clegg, as someone much more inclined to engage in the banter and general japery that was their daily endeavour.

In addition, Truly proved to be more of an equal match to Compo's sharp tongue than his predecessors, at the same time showing himself to be more tolerant of Compo's tatty appearance. Being less pompous and snobbish, Truly also gains more respect among his neighbours than was the case with Blamire, Foggy, or Seymour.

Answer: Blamire

Michael Bates appeared in both "Last of the Summer Wine" and "It Ain't Half Hot Mum" between 1974 and 1975. However, by the end of the second series of "Last of the Summer Wine", he had begun to find the demands of shooting too strenuous - the show required a significant amount of location filming, while the actor's health had begun to deteriorate.

After the conclusion of series 2 of "Last of the Summer Wine" in 1975, having appeared in 14 episodes, Bates left to concentrate on the studio-based "It Ain't Half Hot Mum", which he continued in even after he was diagnosed with cancer. Having completed work on the fifth series of "It Ain't Half Hot Mum" in late 1977, he died in January 1978.

Answer: Foggy

Brian Wilde had two separate stints as Foggy in "Last of the Summer Wine". Initially joining the cast at the start of series 3, he remained until series 8 in 1985, when he elected to leave to pursue other opportunities; this saw Foggy leaving for Bridlington and his family's egg-painting business. Five years later, with the departure of Michael Aldridge, Wilde returned for a second period in the role, lasting a total of seven years. Illness prevented him from returning for Series 19 in 1998; Wilde recommended to the producers that Frank Thornton should instead be cast as his replacement.

The character of Foggy written out by being swept off to Blackpool by the local postmistress, to whom he had inadvertently proposed marriage.

Answer: Seymour

Michael Aldridge spent a total of four years in "Last of the Summer Wine", while continuing to play roles in other series during his tenure, including a BBC production of "The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe". He elected to leave the sitcom, and generally retire from acting, as a result of his wife's increasingly poor health, as he became a full-time carer.

In the context of the series, Seymour departs to take on the post of interim headmaster at a nearby private school - the character had been mentioned as having previously served in a similar role. Following his departure from "Last of the Summer Wine", Michael Aldridge's final acting role came in 1991 in an adaptation of Kingsley Amis' novel "Stanley and the Women".

Answer: Truly

Following his casting as Truly in 1997, on the recommendation of his predecessor Brian Wilde, Frank Thornton remained with "Last of the Summer Wine" until the series ended in 2010, although his involvement in the latter years became more limited - during the last two series, by which time he was almost 90 years of age, it had become difficult to get insurance for both Thornton, as well as Peter Sallis (who played Clegg), for filming the location scenes in the Yorkshire countryside.

As a result, both Clegg and Truly became secondary characters in the series, with the main roles as the three men taken by Brian Murphy as Alvin, Russ Abbot as Hobbo and Burt Kwouk as Entwhistle. "Last of the Summer Wine" finally ended in August 2010 at the conclusion of its 31st series.