 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 <unk> in Canada . Last of the Summer Wine is the longest @-@ running comedy programme in Britain and the longest @-@ running sitcom in the world . 
