Last of the Summer Wine (series 29)

The Last of the Summer Wine's twenty-ninth series aired on BBC One from 22 June to 31 August 2008. All of the episodes were written by Roy Clarke and produced and directed by Alan J. W. Bell.

Last of the Summer Wine
Series 29
Country of originUnited Kingdom
No. of episodes11
Release
Original networkBBC One
Original release22 June (2008-06-22) –
31 August 2008 (2008-08-31)
Series chronology

Outline

The trio in this series consisted of:

Actor Role
Brian Murphy Alvin
Peter Sallis Clegg
Frank Thornton Truly

Last appearances

List of episodes
Title Airdate Description Notes
Enter The Finger 22 June Barry's fitness-mad neighbour annoyingly outshines him in all things physical. When it comes to karate, however, Barry has friends who can help him even the balance.
  • Guest Appearance of Brian Conley.
  • This episode was dedicated to Brian Wilde who died earlier that year.
  • Audience of 3.39m – 50th most watched programme of the week.
Will the Genuine Racer Please Stand Up? 29 June Howard decides to disguise himself from Pearl but discovers it is not as easy as he thought.
  • Audience unknown.
A Short Introduction To Cooper's Rules 6 July Just as PCs Cooper and Walsh master the art of fighting crime from the rear, Barry spoils it all by taking a retired vicar out for the day.
  • Guest Appearance of Nicholas Smith
  • A very rare instance of an episode being shown on BBC Two due to late change in listings because of the late finish of the men's final of the 2008 Wimbledon Championships. (The only other instance of the show being on BBC Two was late one night in 1996, when the first episode was shown as part of the 'Pilot Paradise' strand.)
  • This episode is unique in that it revolves almost entirely around PCs Cooper and Walsh, who are usually secondary characters. Clegg and Truly are barely seen in this episode.
  • In this episode, PC's Cooper and Walsh are finally given names after years of being referred to as "1st Policeman" and "2nd Policeman."
  • 1.75 million viewers watched this episode.
Is Jeremy Quite Safe? 13 July A retired jewel thief regales Marina and Miss Davenport with fanciful stories of his past exploits in the South of France. When Auntie Wainwright finds an old safe without a key, who better to open it?
  • Guest Appearance of John Challis.
  • Audience unknown. Episode shown at 5.05pm. This was probably the earliest start time for a first run episode of Last of the Summer Wine in the series' entire run. The following repeat of Doctor Who failed to reach the top 70 programmes that week.
All That Glitters Is Not Elvis 20 July When Alvin and Entwistle see Lance trying to convince his wife that Elvis is still alive, they feel a duty to help the King make an appearance.
Eva's Back in Town 27 July Eva, an old acquaintance of Alvin's makes an appearance, and proves to be just the woman to make Howard's life more complicated.
In Which Romance Isn't Dead – Just Incompetent 3 August Barry has a lonely neighbour on his hands and takes it upon himself to find him a girlfriend. But who, and how? Meanwhile, Howard is desperate for Pearl to find him attractive again.
The Mischievous Tinkle in Howard's Eyes 10 August Howard discovers there are better ways than the mobile phone to contact 'certain acquaintances', and quite openly, too – morris dancing bells. Elsewhere, Alvin and Entwistle have fun on rollerskates.
  • Audience unknown.
Of Passion And Pizza 17 August Mervyn is deeply in love with 'Her' at the pizza take-away, but lacking the courage to tell her himself, he unfortunately makes the terrible mistake of letting Entwistle and Alvin try to bring them together.
  • Guest Appearance of Philip Fox.
  • This episode has an unusual self-referential moment in which Tom off-handedly mentions that Smiler has disappeared.
  • Audience unknown.
It's Never Ten Years 24 August Clegg and Truly reminisce fondly about their old friend Compo, who suffered at the hands of Nora Batty – and them, thus teaching Alvin a thing or two.
  • The only episode to be a 'clip show', featuring clips of Bill Owen.
  • Although the title ‘It’s Never Ten Years’ refers to ten years since Compo’s death, it’s actually not ten years since either the character or the actor died - Compo’s death occurred in the episode ‘Elegy for Fallen Wellies’ broadcast on 23 April 2000 (8 years earlier) and Bill Owen died on 12 July 1999 (9 years earlier).
  • Tarzan of the Towpath and Last Post & Pigeon clips are featured
  • Audience unknown.
Get Out of That, Then 31 August Lenny, heavily chained, is determined that he has a showbusiness future as an escapologist. Sidekick Cliff is not as enthusiastic.
  • Guest Appearances of Barbara Young, Tommy Cannon and Bobby Ball, (the third time for Cannon and Ball).
  • Barbara Young makes a guest appearance as Florrie in this episode, before returning in series 30 as the regular character of Stella.
  • This episode marks the final appearance of Nora Batty due to the death of Kathy Staff. Kathy was unable to appear in Series 30 due to ill health, and died four months after this episode's broadcast.
  • This also marks the final episode to feature Clegg and Truly as part of the main trio due to insurance costs. They become secondary characters in Series 30 and Series 31.
  • From this episode until the end of the series, the programme is credited as BBC Productions.
  • Audience of 4.8m – 27th most watched programme of the week. A later time slot seems to have helped the ratings for this episode to return to previous levels.

DVD release

The box set for series 29 was released by Universal Playback in May 2016, mislabelled as a box set for series 29 & 30.

The Complete Series 29 & 30
Set Details[1]
  • 21 episodes
  • 4-disc set
  • Language: English
Release Date
Region 2
16 May 2016

References
  1. "Last of the Summer Wine Series 29 & 30 [DVD]". Amazon. Retrieved 20 August 2016.
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