Last of the Summer Wine: Story, Cast and Series Facts

Story and premise

Last of the Summer Wine is a British sitcom created and written by Roy Clarke that was originally broadcast on the BBC. Last of the Summer Wine premiered as an episode of Comedy Playhouse on 4 January 1973 and the first series of episodes followed on 12 November 1973. From 1983 to 2010, Alan J. W. Bell produced and directed all episodes of the show. 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. Tom Owen criticised the BBC for not permitting a special final episode. Roy Clarke, however, stated that he was fully aware this was the last series, and preferred the show to have a quiet ending. The final line was said by Peter Sallis, the longest serving actor. Repeats of the show are broadcast in the UK on Gold, Yesterday and Drama. It is also seen in more than twenty-five countries,including various PBS stations in the United States and on VisionTV in Canada. Last of the Summer Wine is the longest-running comedy programme in Britain and the longest-running sitcom in the world.

Series details

• Title: Last of the Summer Wine
• Format: Scripted
• Language: English
• Genres: Comedy
• Premiere date: 1973-11-12
• Final broadcast date listed: 2010-08-29
• Status in TVmaze: Ended
• Network listed by TVmaze: BBC One
• Network country: United Kingdom
• Typical episode runtime: 30 minutes
• TVMaze ID: 8049
• IMDb ID: tt0069602
• TVDB ID: 77945

Cast and credited roles

• Peter Sallis — Norman Clegg
• Bill Owen — Albert "Compo" Simmonite
• Frank Thornton — Herbert "Truly" Truelove
• Brian Wilde — "Foggy" Dewhurst
• Michael Aldridge — Seymour Utterthwaite
• Michael Bates — Cyril Blamire
• Jean Alexander — Auntie
• Jean Fergusson — Marina
• Juliette Kaplan — Pearl
• Kathy Staff — Nora Batty
• Robert Fyfe — Howard
• Stephen Lewis — Smiler

Seasons in the TVmaze catalogue

• Season 1: premiered 1973-11-12; final listed air date 1973-12-17; episode order: 6.
• Season 2: premiered 1975-03-05; final listed air date 1975-04-16; episode order: 7.
• Season 3: premiered 1976-10-27; final listed air date 1976-12-08; episode order: 7.
• Season 4: premiered 1977-11-09; final listed air date 1978-12-26; episode order: 9.
• Season 5: premiered 1979-09-18; final listed air date 1981-12-25; episode order: 9.
• Season 6: premiered 1982-01-04; final listed air date 1982-12-25; episode order: 8.
• Season 7: premiered 1983-01-30; final listed air date 1984-12-30; episode order: 8.
• Season 8: premiered 1985-03-10; final listed air date 1986-01-01; episode order: 7.
• Season 9: premiered 1986-01-04; final listed air date 1987-12-31; episode order: 14.
• Season 10: premiered 1988-10-16; final listed air date 1988-12-24; episode order: 7.
• Season 11: premiered 1989-10-15; final listed air date 1989-12-23; episode order: 8.
• Season 12: premiered 1990-09-02; final listed air date 1990-12-27; episode order: 11.
• Season 13: premiered 1991-10-18; final listed air date 1991-12-22; episode order: 7.
• Season 14: premiered 1992-10-25; final listed air date 1992-12-26; episode order: 10.
• Season 15: premiered 1993-10-24; final listed air date 1995-01-01; episode order: 11.
• Season 16: premiered 1995-01-08; final listed air date 1995-02-26; episode order: 8.
• Season 17: premiered 1995-09-03; final listed air date 1996-12-29; episode order: 12.
• Season 18: premiered 1997-04-20; final listed air date 1997-12-29; episode order: 11.
• Season 19: premiered 1998-01-04; final listed air date 1998-03-08; episode order: 10.
• Season 20: premiered 1999-04-18; final listed air date 2000-01-02; episode order: 11.
• Season 21: premiered 2000-04-02; final listed air date 2000-06-04; episode order: 10.
• Season 22: premiered 2001-04-01; final listed air date 2001-12-30; episode order: 11.
• Season 23: premiered 2002-01-06; final listed air date 2002-03-10; episode order: 10.
• Season 24: premiered 2002-12-29; final listed air date 2003-12-21; episode order: 12.
• Season 25: premiered 2004-02-08; final listed air date 2004-12-19; episode order: 11.
• Season 26: premiered 2005-03-13; final listed air date 2005-12-18; episode order: 11.
• Season 27: premiered 2006-03-05; final listed air date 2006-12-28; episode order: 9.
• Season 28: premiered 2007-07-15; final listed air date 2007-09-23; episode order: 10.
• Season 29: premiered 2008-06-22; final listed air date 2008-08-31; episode order: 11.
• Season 30: premiered 2008-12-31; final listed air date 2009-06-21; episode order: 10.

Source and licence

Adapted from Last of the Summer Wine on TVmaze. The synopsis is reproduced as plain text; catalogue facts, cast and season records are selected and reformatted. This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, following the TVmaze API licence. Network and web-channel credits identify the service listed in this source; they do not establish current streaming availability.