Last of the Summer Wine series 7

Last of the Summer Wine's seventh series originally aired on BBC1 between 25 December 1982 and 27 December 1983.[1] All episodes from this series were written by Roy Clarke and produced and directed by Sydney Lotterby,[2] except for "Getting Sam Home", which is produced and directed by Alan J.W. Bell.

Last of the Summer Wine
Series 7
Last of the Summer Wine Series 7 & 8 DVD
No. of episodes8
Release
Original networkBBC1
Original release25 December 1982 (1982-12-25) –
27 December 1983 (1983-12-27)
Additional information
Filming dates
  • Series 7: 1982
  • Christmas Specials: 1982, 1983
Series chronology
← Previous
6
Next →
8
List of episodes

The seventh series was released on DVD in region 2 as a combined box set with series 8 on 3 March 2008.

Outline

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The trio in this series consisted of:

Actor Role
Bill Owen Compo
Peter Sallis Clegg
Brian Wilde Foggy

First appearances

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Last appearances

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  • Sid (1973–1983)

List of episodes

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Christmas Special (1982)

Title Airdate Description Notes
All Mod Conned 25 December Deciding to abandon the commercialised side of Christmas, Foggy books a caravan for the trio.
  • The runtime for this episode is just over 33 minutes.
  • Included on the Series 7 & 8 boxset.

Regular series

Title Airdate Description Notes
The Frozen Turkey Man 30 January Compo and Clegg decide that Foggy needs a woman, and they persuade a barmaid that he is a Millionaire.
  • This episode had ratings of 15.95 million viewers, making it the 5th most watched programme of 1983.
The White Man's Grave 6 February Deciding that Wally needs a break from Nora, the trio decide to swap Clegg with Wally.
The Waist Land 13 February Foggy hits upon a money making idea – Selling junk food to people from the local health club.
Cheering Up Ludovic 20 February Ludovic has bought a tatty old van, but is too drunk to drive it. So it's up to Clegg to test drive it.
The Three Astaires 27 February Foggy volunteers the trio to help out at a church concert party, but Compo can't resist trying on a suit of armour
  • Second and final appearance of John Horsley as the local vicar.
The Arts of Concealment 6 March Foggy demonstrates his army camouflage techniques, to the dismay of a group of cyclists.
  • The cyclists belong to the Yorkshire Terrier Cycle Collective.

Christmas Special (1983)

Title Airdate Description Notes
Getting Sam Home 27 December The lads visit Sam in hospital, and agree to his request that he wants to spend one last night with his 'other woman', Lily Bless'er. Unfortunately, while at Lily's, Sam dies. It's up to Foggy, Compo, Clegg and Sid to get him back home in such a way that his wife Sybil thinks he died in his own bed. But that's not the end of their troubles, and worse still, Ivy is determined to find out what the four are up to.
  • This was a 90-minute special, a film made for television.
  • This was the first episode to have no laughter track.
  • Based upon Roy Clarke's Last of the Summer Wine Novel.
  • The novel on which this episode is based, originally published in 1974, actually featured the character of Cyril Blamire, but was rewritten for the 1983 reprint to feature Foggy instead.
  • The title 'Getting Sam Home' is not given onscreen, but is used in all reference books and television listings.
  • First and only appearance of Sam.
  • Guest appearance of Lynda Baron as Lily Bless'er.
  • This episode marked the final appearance of Sid. John Comer's voice was affected by illness, so his lines were dubbed by actor Tony Melody. Comer died 6 weeks after the broadcast, and Tony Melody would later appear as a landlord in the 2003 episode The Second Husband and the Showgirls.
  • This is the second time the title music, with added lyrics, was sung by The Mike Sammes Singers.
  • This episode marked the first appearance of Ken Kitson playing a policeman.
  • David Williams makes his first of three appearances as Norris Fairburn. He would reprise his role in the following series episode “Who’s Looking After the Cafe, Then.” as well as "Will Stella Find True Love with Norris Fairburn?" in the 2009 series 26 years later.
  • Included on the Series 7 & 8 boxset.
  • in 2023 the original film negatives were scanned in High Definition 1080i and the restored television film was broadcast for the first time in HD on BBC Four on Christmas Eve 2023.[3]

DVD release

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The box set for series 7 and 8 was released by Universal Playback in March 2008.

The Complete Series 7 & 8
Set Details[4]
  • 15 episodes
  • 3-disc set
  • Language: English
Release Date
Region 2
3 March 2008

Notes

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  1. ^ Bright and Ross (2000), pp. 178–181
  2. ^ Bright and Ross (2000), p. 164
  3. ^ Mensah, Katelyn. "Last of the Summer Wine, One Foot in the Grave restorations to air on BBC". Radio Times. Radio Times. Archived from the original on 20 January 2024. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
  4. ^ "Last of the Summer Wine Series 7 & 8". Amazon. Retrieved 21 August 2016.

References

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Bright, Morris; Robert Ross (2000). Last of the Summer Wine: The Finest Vintage. London: BBC Worldwide Ltd. ISBN 0-563-55151-8.

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