| Last Of The Summer Wine character | |
|---|---|
| |
| Howard Sibshaw | |
| Gender | Male |
| Hair | Grey |
| Job | Retired |
| Actor | Robert Fyfe |
| Appearances | |
| First | Catching Digby's Donkey |
| Last | How Not to Cry at Weddings |
(1985–2010) shy, simpering, henpecked husband of Pearl, and lover of Marina; he regularly takes her on dates when Pearl is not around. In some episodes, Marina would exclaim, "Oh Howard!", followed by Howard's "Oh Marina!". He is a creative but unconvincing liar. He and Pearl live next door to Clegg, and, much to the annoyance of Clegg, Howard is always pestering him for aid in his various schemes to escape Pearl and be with Marina. Over the years he has come up with countless disguises, cover stories and hideaways to allow him to see Marina, all of which have ultimately been doomed or exposed. He tends to ignore Marina when he's out with her, partly out of fear of his wife Pearl, and partly because he gets so deeply caught up in fabricating charades to cover up his affair. However, their relationship doesn't appear to have gone beyond hand-holding and moony-eyed gazing (much to the annoyance of Marina). Howard is often too busy worrying about Pearl to pay Marina any kind of romantic attention, and it is hinted that even if the opportunity ever did arise, Howard would be too cowardly to go through with it anyway! Howard first appeared in the Bournemouth summer season show of the series, and was popular enough and felt to have enough potential that he was soon made a regular character. At first, he, Pearl and Marina were used semi-regularly, but as time passed and their popularity grew, they appeared in every episode. Howard and Pearl's surname was given as Sibshaw in Roy Clarke's novel 'The Moonbather' in 1987, but not used in the series until 2010, in the episode "Howard and the Great Outdoors".