 Though the exterior shots were always filmed on location in Holmfirth and the surrounding countryside , the interior shots were , until the early 1990s , filmed in front of a live studio audience at BBC Television Centre in London . The amount of location work increased , however , as studio work became a drain on time and money . Under Alan J. W. Bell , Last of the Summer Wine became the first comedy series to do away with the live studio audience , moving all of the filming to Holmfirth . The episodes were filmed and then shown to preview audiences , whose laughter was recorded and then mixed into each episode 's soundtrack to provide a laugh track and avoid the use of canned laughter . 
