Ripping Yarns is a British television adventure comedy anthology series. It was written by Michael Palin and Terry Jones of Monty Python fame and transmitted on BBC 2. Following an initial pilot episode in January 1976, it ran for two series — five episodes in September and October 1977 and three episodes in October 1979. Each episode had a different setting and characters, looking at a different aspect of British culture and parodying pre-World War II literature aimed at schoolboys. In the title, "ripping" is a chiefly British slang colloquialism for "exciting" or "thrilling", with "yarn" used in the sense of a story.
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 relaunched 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.
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.
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'sthird series originally aired on BBC1 between 27 October 1976 and 24 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.
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.
The Last of the Summer Wine's twenty-ninth series aired on BBC One from 22 June to 31 August 2008. All of the episodes were written by Roy Clarke and produced and directed by Alan J. W. Bell.
The tenth series of Last of the Summer Wine aired on BBC1 in 1988. All of the episodes were written by Roy Clarke and produced and directed by Alan J. W. Bell.
Last of the Summer Wine's twentieth series aired on BBC One. All of the episodes were written by Roy Clarke and produced and directed by Alan J. W. Bell.
Last of the Summer Wine's twenty-first series aired on BBC One. Most of the episodes were written by Roy Clarke and produced and directed by Alan J. W. Bell.
Last of the Summer Wine's twenty-second series aired on BBC One. All of the episodes were written by Roy Clarke and produced and directed by Alan J. W. Bell.
Last of the Summer Wine's twenty-fourth series aired on BBC One. All of the episodes were written by Roy Clarke and produced and directed by Alan J. W. Bell.
Last of the Summer Wine's twenty-fifth series aired on BBC One. All of the episodes were written by Roy Clarke and produced and directed by Alan J. W. Bell.
Last of the Summer Wine's twenty-sixth series aired on BBC One from December 2004 through May 2005. All of the episodes were written by Roy Clarke and produced and directed by Alan J. W. Bell.
Last of the Summer Wine's thirty-first and final series was aired in 2010, beginning on 25 July. All six episodes in series 31 were 30 minutes in length. All of the episodes were written by Roy Clarke and directed by Alan J. W. Bell.
