Vintage show ends

Dec 17 2008 by Andrew Baldwin, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

NOW we know. The end of the road has finally come for Last Of The Summer Wine, the longest-running TV comedy in the world.

But the programme’s principal has remained the same since it was first aired way back in 1973.

Unashamedly gentle and nostalgic, the wonderful scripts of Roy Clarke were threaded with the simple understanding that men never grow up – retired from the workplace, they revert to mild delinquency.

Just this weekend we lost the wonderful Kathy Staff – forever Nora Batty..

The news of her death left many people distraught and triggered the decision to pull the programme.

Fans will wonder why. It still pulls in many viewers, remains popular and has rejuvenated itself over the years despite the passing of actors who played leading parts.

Sadly, the BBC never seems to have valued Summer Wine that much – giving it scant publicity over the years.

Viewing of this kind has gone out of the window in the eyes of TV bosses, to be replaced by reality TV and foul-mouthed ranters who are content with humiliating others. Executives are wrong. Many people want programmes that are gentle, heart-warming and do not feed off cruelty.

One question for Holmfirth now is: How long can the town continue living off Last Of The Summer Wine?