Last of the Summer Wine (series 25)

Last of the Summer Wine's twenty-fifth series aired on BBC1. All of the episodes were written by Roy Clarke and produced and directed by Alan J. W. Bell.

Last of the Summer Wine
Series 25
Country of originUnited Kingdom
No. of episodes11
Release
Original networkBBC One
Original release21 December 2003 –
18 April 2004
Series chronology

Outline

The trio in this series consisted of:

Actor Role
Keith Clifford Billy Hardcastle
Peter Sallis Clegg
Frank Thornton Truly

Cast changes

Louis Emerick takes over from Tony Capstick as the 2nd Policeman following the latter's death a year before. The former previously played the role twice in the late 1980s.

List of Episodes

Christmas Special (2003)

Title Airdate Description Notes
A Short Blast of Fred Astaire 21 December
  • Alvin becomes a regular from this episode till the end.
  • Audience of 5.9m - 38th most watched programme of the week.
  • Lionel Blair makes an appearance at the end, as himself and Damian Jackson as Santa Claus.

Regular series

Title Airdate Description Notes
Jurassic - No Parking 8 February Barry wins a contest and receives more prize than Glenda can handle.
  • From this point onward (until the end), Norman Clegg is given reduced roles owing to Peter Sallis' health, Although he occasionally had slightly larger roles.
  • Audience of 5.9m - 40th most watched programme of the week.
The General's Greatest Battle 15 February Clegg, Truly, and the others end up destroying a mannequin that is supposed to ride with Nora in the holiday float.
  • Norman Wisdom makes his sixth guest appearance as Billy Ingleton
  • First time Billy's house is seen and first time his wife is heard talking
  • Audience of 5.76m - 39th most watched programme of the week.
Spores 29 February Truly and Billy aid a woman in finding her "Lionel" while Alvin tries to get a photograph of Nora Batty.
  • Guest appearances of Roy Hudd and Anita Carey.
  • Audience of 4.86m - 61st most watched programme of the week.
Happy Birthday Robin Hood 7 March When he sees Marina wearing a wedding dress and being driven through town, Howard becomes distraught, putting a damper on Billy's plans to celebrate Robin Hood's birthday.
  • Audience of 5.27m - 44th most watched programme of the week.
Who's That With Barry and Glenda - It's Not Barry and Glenda 14 March Truly, Clegg and Billy surprise Barry in the wood carrying a suitcase. Truly deduces that he is up to something serious and decides to investigate. Meanwhile, Glenda is also concerned about Barry and his suitcase, and decides to follow him (dressed as a man) to see if another woman is involved.
  • Audience of 5.93m- 44th most watched programme of the week.
  • Jean Alexander is billed in the opening credits but does not appear.
An Apple a Day 21 March Nora Batty informs Alvin that he has volunteered to take some old-timers out for the day. After enlisting some support from Clegg and Truly, they all proceed to the Scrooby's distant farm to pick them up. But taking out Bert and his cranky old wife Sal isn't going to be easy.
  • Billy Hardcastle does not appear in this episode.
  • Audience of 5.86m - 37th most watched programme of the week.
Barry Becomes a Psychopathic Killer - But Only Part Time 28 March Smiler needs to get rid of an unwanted admirer who thinks he has money. Clegg, and then Barry, are recruited to dampen her enthusiasm.
  • Billed as 'Barry Becomes a Psychopathic Killer' in the Radio Times listing for the episode.
  • Audience of 4.62m - 32nd most watched programme of the week.
Things To Do When Your Wife Runs Off With a Turkish Waiter 4 April Barry unwittingly becomes the friend of a lonely man whose wife has deserted him. This minor inconvenience turns into a major embarrassment when it turns out the man's favorite hobby is "charming the birds out of the trees" with "sweet music".
  • Audience of 5.49m - 39th most watched programme of the week.
Beware of Laughing at Nora's Hats 11 April Clegg, Truly, Alvin and Billy unite to help end a long running feud between Nora Batty and Audrey Craig, which began when Audrey laughed at one of Nora's hats.
  • Audience of 4.87m - 51st most watched programme of the week.
Yours Truly - If You're Not Careful 18 April Clegg, Alvin, Billy and Entwistle play a trick on Truly to make him think his ex-wife the "former Mrs Truelove" is keen to get in touch with him and visit.
  • This episode marks the final appearance of Tony Capstick as the policeman due to his death six months before. Louis Emerick, would take over his role from the 2004 Christmas special until the show's end.
  • Audience of 5.81m - 34th most watched programme of the week.

DVD release

The box set for series twenty five was released by Universal Playback in September 2014, mislabelled as a box set for series 25 & 26.

The Complete Series 25 & 26
Set Details[1]
  • 22 episodes
  • 4-disc set
  • Language: English
Release Date
Region 2
29 September 2014
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References
  1. "Last of the Summer Wine Series 25 & 26 [DVD]". Amazon. Retrieved 20 August 2016.

See also
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