First of the Summer Wine – Uncovered!". Summer Wine Online. Summer Wine Appreciation Society. Archived from the original on 13 February 2012 . Retrieved 2 April 2017. a b "BBC – Press Office – Last Of The Summer Wine recommissioned for BBC One" . Retrieved 26 June 2009.

Roy Clarke (writer) & Alan J. W. Bell (director) (23 December 1989). "What's Santa Brought for Nora Then?". Last of the Summer Wine. Series 11. BBC One. Christmas Special. Roy Clarke (writer) & Alan J. W. Bell (director) (2 February 2003). "In Which Gavin Hinchcliffe Loses the Gulf Stream". Last of the Summer Wine. Series 24. Episode 6. BBC One. Britain's Best Sitcom–Top 11–100". BBC. Archived from the original on 14 January 2006 . Retrieved 2 April 2017.Roy Clarke (writer) & Alan J. W. Bell (director) (27 December 1993). "Welcome to Earth". Last of the Summer Wine. Series 15. BBC One. Christmas Special. 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. [1] Subsequently, the final episode was broadcast on 29 August 2010. [2] Since its original release, all 295 episodes, comprising thirty-one series—including the pilot and all films and specials—have been released on DVD. [3] Repeats of the show are broadcast in the UK on BBC One (until 18 July 2010 when the 31st and final series started on 25 July of that year), Gold, Yesterday, and Drama. It is also seen in more than 25 countries, [4] 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. [5] [6]

Atkinson, Neil (16 August 2005). "Is it the Last of Summer Wine?". The Huddersfield Daily Examiner . Retrieved 5 April 2017. Summer Wine Music and Lyrics". Summer Wine Online. Summer Wine Appreciation Society. Archived from the original on 30 April 2008 . Retrieved 2 April 2017. a b "BBC calls time on Last Of The Summer Wine". The Independent. 2 June 2010 . Retrieved 2 June 2010.a b c d Roy Clarke (writer) & Alan J. W. Bell (director) (31 December 2008). "I Was A Hitman for Primrose Dairies". Last of the Summer Wine. Series 30. BBC One. New Years Special. Last of the Summer Wine – Cheering Up Gordon". British Board of Film Classification Database. British Board of Film Classification . Retrieved 2 April 2017. Lambert, David (10 February 2008). "Ah, That 1976 Vintage of the BBC Program Comes to DVD Next Month!". TVShowsOnDVD.com. TVShowsOnDVD.com. Archived from the original on 30 May 2008 . Retrieved 22 May 2008.

In 1983, Bill Owen suggested to a newly returned producer Alan J. W. Bell that Roy Clarke's novelisation of the show should be made into a feature-length special. Other British sitcoms such as Steptoe and Son and Dad's Army had previously produced films made for the cinema, but the BBC were initially sceptical as they had never before commissioned a film based on a comedy programme for original broadcast on television. They nevertheless commissioned a ninety-minute film named Getting Sam Home, which was broadcast on 27 December 1983, and started a trend which would continue with other British sitcoms, including Only Fools and Horses. [13]Mangan, Lucy (6 November 2007). "Cable girl: why has the Summer Wine lasted?". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media . Retrieved 4 December 2007.