| Season Number: | 1 |
| Bgcolour: |
|
| Num Episodes: | 6 |
| Network: | BBC1 |
| Film Start: |
|
| Next Season: | 2 |
Last of the Summer Wine first series originally aired on BBC1 between 4 January 1973 and 17 December 1973.[1] All episodes from this series were written by Roy Clarke and produced and directed by James Gilbert.[2]
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 "The Last of the Summer Wine" was the first episode of that show's fourteenth series.[3] The pilot received a positive enough reaction that the BBC ordered a full series of episodes, premiering on 12 November 1973.[4]
The trio in this series consisted of:
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Michael Bates | Blamire |
| Bill Owen | Compo |
| Peter Sallis | Clegg |
| No. | Title | Original airdate | Disc | |
| 1 (Pilot) | Comedy Playhouse "Of Funerals and Fish" | 4 January 1973 | 4 (Included as Extra feature on Series 31 & 32 boxset) |
| No. | No. in series | Original title (top) Alternative title (bottom) | Original airdate | Prod. code | Disc |
The first and second series were released by Universal Playback as a combined box set in September 2002. The pilot episode is not included and some episodes have been altered from their original broadcast, prompting criticism from the show's fan base, however a rerelease of the box set in 2011 had the altered episodes restored to original episodes, however the pilot still was not included in the rerelease. The pilot episode was released on the final boxset series 31 & 32 as an extra on disc four on 15 August 2016.[5]
| The Complete Series 1 & 2 | ||||
| Set Details[6] | ||||
| ||||
| Release Date | ||||
| Region 2 | ||||
| 2 September 2002 | ||||
Book: Bright , Morris . Robert Ross . Last of the Summer Wine: The Finest Vintage . BBC Worldwide Ltd . 2000 . London . 0-563-55151-8 . registration .