Last of the Summer Wine is a British sitcom set in Yorkshire created and written by Roy Clarke and originally broadcast by the BBC from 1973 to 2010. It premiered as an episode of Comedy Playhouse on 4 January 1973, and the first series of episodes followed on 12 November 1973. Alan J. W. Bell produced and directed all episodes of the show from late 1981 to 2010. The BBC confirmed on 2 June 2010 that Last of the Summer Wine would no longer be produced and the 31st series would be its last. Subsequently, the final episode was broadcast on 29 August 2010. Since its original release, all 295 episodes, comprising thirty-one series—including the pilot and all films and specials—have been released on DVD. Repeats of the show are broadcast in the UK on BBC One, Gold, Yesterday, and Drama. It is also seen in more than 25 countries, including various PBS stations in the United States and on VisionTV in Canada. With the exception of programmes 'rebooted' after long hiatuses, Last of the Summer Wine is the longest-running TV comedy programme in Britain and the longest-running TV sitcom in the world.
William John Owen Rowbotham, was an English actor and songwriter. He was the father of actor Tom Owen. He is best known for portraying Compo Simmonite in the Yorkshire-based BBC comedy series Last of the Summer Wine for over a quarter of a century. He died on 12 July 1999, his last appearance on-screen being shown in April 2000.
Brian George Wilde was an English actor, best known for his roles in television comedy, most notably Mr Barraclough in Porridge and Walter "Foggy" Dewhurst in Last of the Summer Wine. His lugubrious world-weary face was a staple of British television for forty years.
First of the Summer Wine is a British sitcom written by Roy Clarke that aired on BBC1. The pilot originally aired on 3 January 1988, and the first series of episodes followed from 4 September 1988. The show ran for two series of six episodes each, with the final episode airing on 8 October 1989. The pilot episode was produced and directed by Gareth Gwenlan. Both series of episodes were produced and directed by Mike Stephens. The show has never been repeated by the BBC but has occasionally been repeated on Gold. The show was broadcast in Australia on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation network in the early 1990s.
Wyatt's Watchdogs is a 30-minute BBC1 situation comedy that starred Brian Wilde and Trevor Bannister. Created and written by Miles Tredinnick, the six-episode series was transmitted in the autumn of 1988. Alan J. W. Bell directed and the music was composed by Ronnie Hazlehurst.
William Simmonite, better known by his nickname of Compo, was a character in the world's longest-running sitcom, Last of the Summer Wine.
"There Goes the Groom" is the 1997 Christmas special of the BBC sitcom Last of the Summer Wine first shown on 28 December 1997. It was the first to feature Frank Thornton as new third man leader Herbert "Truly of the Yard" Truelove. The episode also marked the final appearance of Foggy. The trio in this episode consisted of: Compo, Clegg and Truly.
Last of the Summer Wine's first series originally aired on BBC1 between 4 January 1973 and 17 December 1973. All episodes from this series were written by Roy Clarke and produced and directed by James Gilbert.
Last of the Summer Wine'ssecond 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.
Last of the Summer Wine'sfourth 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.
Last of the Summer Wine'sfifth 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.
Last of the Summer Wine'ssixth 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.
Last of the Summer Wine'sseventh series originally aired on BBC1 between 25 December 1982 and 27 December 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.
Last of the Summer Wine'seighth series originally aired on BBC1 between 30 December 1984 and 17 March 1985. All episodes from this series were written by Roy Clarke and produced and directed by Alan J. W. Bell.
Last of the Summer Wine'sninth series originally aired on BBC1 between 1 January 1986 and 27 December 1987. All episodes from this series were written by Roy Clarke and produced and directed by Alan J. W. Bell.
Raymond William Butt was a British television producer and director. He worked on several sitcoms for BBC television and became best known for Only Fools and Horses.
Last of the Summer Wine's twelfth series aired on BBC1. All of the episodes were written by Roy Clarke and produced and directed by Alan J. W. Bell.
Last of the Summer Wine's eighteenth series aired on BBC1. All of the episodes were written by Roy Clarke and produced and directed by Alan J. W. Bell.
Norman Clegg, often nicknamed Cleggy, is a fictional character from the world's longest-running sitcom, Last of the Summer Wine. He was the only character to appear in every episode of the programme.
