Last Of The Summer Wine axed says producer

Dec 17 2008 by Neil Atkinson, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

THE BBC is set to pull the plug on Last Of The Summer Wine.

The shock news was given to the man who has brought the show to the nation’s TV screens for more than two decades.

And Alan J W Bell said it was a “terrible” blow.

He said the news stunned actors and staff who have worked for 35 years on the world’s longest running comedy series.

The news will also come as a serious blow to shopkeepers and traders in Holmfirth, who have enjoyed a tourism boom as a spin off from the hit show.

Mr Bell, the series’ producer and director for 27 years, said

BBC chiefs confirmed to him they are not commissioning another series of the comedy.

The Corporation last night insisted no final decision had been made.