Overview - Last of the Summer Wine
Date of release
Genres
- Comedy
Spoken Languages
- English
Production companies
Name: BBC
Production country United Kingdom
Overview
Unencumbered by wives, jobs or any other responsibilities, three senior citizens who've never really grown up explore their world in the Yorkshire Dales. They spend their days speculating about their fellow townsfolk and thinking up adventures not usually favored by the elderly. Last of the Summer Wine premiered as an episode of Comedy Playhouse in 1973. The show ran for 295 episodes until 2010. It is the longest running comedy Britain has produced and the longest running sitcom in the world.
Seasons
Name: Specials
Episode: 28
Date first aired:
Name: Season 1
Episode: 7
Last of the Summer Wine's first series originally aired on BBC1 between 12 November 1973 and 17 December 1973. All episodes from this series were written by Roy Clarke and produced and directed by James Gilbert. The pilot episode, alternately known as "The Last of the Summer Wine" and "Of Funerals and Fish," originally premiered on the BBC's Comedy Playhouse on 4 January 1973 at 8:00 p.m. "The Last of the Summer Wine" was the first episode of that show's fourteenth series. The pilot warranted a positive enough that the BBC ordered a full series of episodes which premiered on 12 November 1973. The first series was released on DVD in region 2 as a combined box set with series 2 on 2 September 2002.
Date first aired:
Name: Season 2
Episode: 7
Last of the Summer Wine's second series originally aired on BBC1 between 5 March and 16 April 1975. All episodes from this series were written by Roy Clarke and produced and directed by Bernard Thompson. Although ratings from the first series were not good, the BBC ordered a second series of Last of the Summer Wine after the first season aired but were delayed due to strike action. The second series was eventually produced and aired during March and April 1975. For the first time, series 2 saw two episodes make it into the top ten programs of the week, starting with the opening show, "Forked Lightning," which was watched by over 18 million people. Joining the cast this season was Joe Gladwin as Wally Batty, Nora Batty's henpecked husband. Series 2 would also mark the final appearance of Blamire, played by Michael Bates, who left at the end of the series due to health problems. The second series was released on DVD in region 2 as a combined box set with series 1 on 2 September 2002.
Date first aired:
Name: Season 3
Episode: 7
Last of the Summer Wine's third series originally aired on BBC1 between 27 October 1976 and 8 December 1976. All episodes from this series were written by Roy Clarke and produced by Sydney Lotterby. Five episodes were directed by Sydney Lotterby but two, the two parter, "The Great Boarding House Bathroom Caper" and "Cheering Up Gordon", were directed by Ray Butt. Although none of the episodes from series 3 made it into the top ten programmes of the week on their initial screening, a repeat showing of the final episode, "Isometrics and After," attracted 15 million viewers during a repeat screening in spring 1977. Also notable was the inclusion for the first time of a two-part episode consisting of "The Great Boarding House Bathroom Caper" and "Cheering Up Gordon," both featuring guest appearances by Philip Jackson as Compo's nephew, Gordon. Blake Butler reprises his role from the first series as the librarian, Mr. Wainwright, before departing the show again at the end of the year. The most notable change this season, however, was the addition of Brian Wilde as the new third-man of the trio, Foggy Dewhurst, an ex-military sign painter. Wilde would play this role twice: between 1976 and 1985 and then again from 1990 until 1997, when he was forced to leave due to health problems.
Date first aired:
Name: Season 4
Episode: 8
Last of the Summer Wine's fourth series originally aired on BBC1 between 9 November 1977 and 4 January 1978. All episodes from this series were written by Roy Clarke and produced and directed by Sydney Lotterby. The fourth series was released on DVD in region 2 as a combined box set with series 3 on 26 July 2004. A box set featuring just series 4 was released for region 1 on 9 September 2008.
Date first aired:
Name: Season 5
Episode: 7
Last of the Summer Wine's fifth series originally aired on BBC1 between 18 September and 30 October 1979. All episodes from this series were written by Roy Clarke and produced and directed by Sydney Lotterby. The fifth series was something of a departure; it was the first to include two-part episodes and introduced a small number of new characters such as Compo's oft-mentioned but never seen nephew and was also notable for an increase in the more physical comedy for which the programme would become more well-known latterly. The fifth series was released on DVD in region 2 as a combined box set with series 6 on 5 March 2007.
Date first aired:
Name: Season 6
Episode: 7
Last of the Summer Wine's sixth series originally aired on BBC1 between 4 January and 15 February 1982. All episodes from this series were written by Roy Clarke and produced and directed by Alan J. W. Bell. The sixth series was released on DVD in region 2 as a combined box set with series 5 on 5 March 2007.
Date first aired:
Name: Season 7
Episode: 6
Last of the Summer Wine's seventh series originally aired on BBC1 between 30 January and 6 March 1983. All episodes from this series were written by Roy Clarke and produced and directed by Sydney Lotterby, except for "Getting Sam Home", which is produced and directed by Alan J.W. Bell. The seventh series was released on DVD in region 2 as a combined box set with series 8 on 3 March 2008.
Date first aired:
Name: Season 8
Episode: 6
Last of the Summer Wine's eighth series originally aired on BBC1 between 10 March and 14 April 1985. All episodes from this series were written by Roy Clarke and produced and directed by Alan J. W. Bell. The eighth series was released on DVD in region 2 as a combined box set with series 7 on 3 March 2008.
Date first aired: