Original: The original trio consisted of Bill Owen as the scruffy and child-like Compo , Peter Sallis as deep-thinking , meek Norman Clegg and Michael Bates as authoritarian and snobbish Blamire .
Simplified: The three originally were Norman Clegg ( Peter Sallis ) , Cyril Blamire ( Michael Bates ) , and Compo Simmonite ( Bill Owen ) .