The original trio consisted of Bill Owen as the mischievous and impulsive Compo Simmonite, Peter Sallis as easy-going everyman Norman Clegg, and Michael Bates as uptight and arrogant Cyril Blamire.

Although many felt that the show's quality had declined over the years,[7] Last of the Summer Wine continued to receive large audiences for the BBC[8] and was praised for its positive portrayal of older people and family-friendly humour.

Instead, Clarke proposed that the men should all be unmarried, widowed, or divorced and either unemployed or retired, leaving them free to roam around like adolescents in the prime of their lives, unfettered and uninhibited.

Clarke switched back to his original preference shortly before production began,[6] a title that was shortened to Last of the Summer Wine after the pilot show.

When Took heard that James Gilbert and Roy Clarke were looking for a place with a centre surrounded by hills for their new television programme, he suggested the idea to Duncan Wood, who was at that time filming Comedy Playhouse.

Hazlehurst then recorded the music using an orchestra consisting of a guitar, harmonica, two violins, a viola, cello, accordion, horn, double bass, flute, and percussion.

Bell criticised this decision, stating that "millions still enjoy the series and the actors love being involved" and that it would be a terrible blow to the shops and businesses in Holmfirth who have come to depend on tourist revenue.

[46][47] Entwistle, played by Burt Kwouk, had been a supporting character brought in to replace Wesley Pegden after the death of actor Gordon Wharmby, but his role on the show steadily increased in the previous two series.

[50] This group was rounded out by characters at two locations frequented by the trio: John Comer and Jane Freeman as Sid[51] and Ivy,[52] the quarrelling husband-and-wife owners of the local café; and Blake Butler and Rosemary Martin as Mr Wainwright[53] and Mrs Partridge,[54] the librarians having a not-so-secret affair.

The biggest expansion came in 1985 when four characters from the stage adaptation of the show were brought over to the series proper: Howard (Robert Fyfe), Pearl (Juliette Kaplan), Marina (Jean Fergusson), and Ivy's nephew, "Crusher" Milburn (Jonathan Linsley).

[58] The only addition with no professional acting experience was the Holmfirth resident Gordon Wharmby, who performed so well during his audition as mechanic Wesley Pegden, that Alan J. W. Bell cast him in one episode.

Pegden would make two more appearances before being brought in permanently as Edie's husband and Seymour's brother-in-law after positive audience reception, becoming a regular character starting in Uncle of the Bride.

[44] During the late 1970s, after the introduction of Foggy, the plots of Last of the Summer Wine moved away from the original dialogue-packed scenes in the pub and the library; guest actors were brought in to interact with the trio in new situations.

Although many of these guest appearances lasted for only one episode,[62][63] some led to a permanent role on the show, as in the cases of Gordon Wharmby,[64] Thora Hird,[65] Jean Alexander,[66][67] Stephen Lewis,[68] Dora Bryan,[69] Keith Clifford,[69][70][71] Brian Murphy,[72] Josephine Tewson,[73] June Whitfield,[74] Barbara Young,[75] and Trevor Bannister.

[76] Other noted guests on the programme included John Cleese,[77] Ron Moody,[78] Sir Norman Wisdom,[79] Eric Sykes,[80] Liz Fraser,[81][82] Stanley Lebor,[83] and Philip Jackson.

[90] After Compo died in 1999, his son, Tom Simmonite, filled the gap for the rest of that series,[42] and Billy Hardcastle joined the cast as the third lead character in 2001.

[92] The role of supporting character Entwistle steadily grew until the beginning of the 30th series, when he and Alvin were recruited by Hobbo Hobdyke, a former milkman with ties to MI5, to form a new trio of volunteers who respond to any emergency.

Regular subplots since the 1980s included: Howard and Marina trying to have an affair without Howard's wife finding out (a variation of the Wainwright-Partridge subplot of the 1970s),[53] the older women meeting for tea and discussing their theories about men and life, the police officers trying not to work,[98] Auntie Wainwright trying to sell unwanted merchandise to unsuspecting customers,[99] Smiler trying to find a woman,[100] Barry trying to better himself (at the insistence of Glenda),[101] and Tom trying to stay one step ahead of the repo man.

Titled "Last Post and Pigeon", the show ran for sixty minutes and dealt with the trio's pilgrimage to visit World War II graves in France.

[46] 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.

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.

[113] A 2008 release named Last of the Summer Wine: Vintage 1976 focuses on the third series of the show and includes bonus interviews with Peter Sallis, Brian Wilde, and Frank Thornton.

The new programme was written by Roy Clarke and used different actors to follow the activities of the principal characters from Last of the Summer Wine in the months leading up to World War II.

[122] Using new actors to perform the roles of Compo, Clegg, and Foggy, the play featured the trio as they attempted to get to the bottom of the disturbance created by a near-naked man in the town.

[123] In 2010, it was announced that long-time supporting cast members Ken Kitson and Louis Emerick would spin their characters off into their own stage adaptation, titled An Arresting Night.

Kitson and Emerick, who appeared together on Last of the Summer Wine as Police Constables Cooper and Walsh from 2003 to 2010, reprised their roles in an improvised stage play.

Written by Roy Clarke as an unbroadcast original story, the novel featured Compo, Clegg and Blamire helping their friend, Sam, enjoy one last night with a glam girl.

Ronnie Hazlehurst used the resulting list for an independently released CD collection titled Last of the Summer Wine: Original Music from the TV Series.

Alan J. W. Bell responded that Radio Times has always been anti-Last of the Summer Wine, and Roy Clarke remarked that people who dislike the show "shouldn't switch it on" if they are "too idle to turn it off".

[31] The show came 14th in a high-profile 2004 BBC poll to find Britain's Best Sitcom,[9][141] and was praised for portraying older people in a non-stereotypical, positive, and active manner.