Those used to the later years of the show might not recognize this as the same show. It's very different, with a smaller cast, lower budget, more indoor scenes, no slapstick and mainly back and forth dialogue comedy. Even the look of the town is different.
It was 1973, Holmfirth was a former mill-town. The streets look grimy. There is more cynicism. The focus is almost exclusively on the trio. And it's a rough draft of the characters.
Cleggy, who lost his wife two years before and now made redundant after years as a Lino salesman at the Co-op is more talkative and cynical. Although you can see glimpses of his philosophical self springing forth on occasion.
Compo is scruffier, Blamire is loud and opinionated. Sid and Ivy fight A LOT. Nora is only seen in a few episodes; Wally wouldn't be seen until series two. I'm not sure what Roy Clarke planned for Wainwright the librarian. His character was unlikable and one-dimensional. Perhaps he could have developed beyond that given more time.
The comedy comes from the interaction between characters who are radically different from each other.
My favorite episode of Series one is The New Mobile Trio. It's the first episode with actual slapstick and it's quite good.
Roy Clarke was still molding the characters in this first series, and it's a pleasure to watch them evolve over the years.
