Last of the Summer Wine (series 28)

Outline

The trio in this series consisted of:

Actor	Role
Brian Murphy	Alvin
Peter Sallis	Clegg
Frank Thornton	Truly

Last appearances

Smiler (1988, 1990-2007)

List of Episodes

Title	Airdate	Description	Notes
The Second Stag Night of Doggy Wilkinson	15 July	An old friend – Doggy – is getting re-married and invites Clegg, Truly, Alvin, Entwistle and Howard to his stag night at a local inn. At nearly 80, for Doggy it’s more a ‘stag afternoon’ to celebrate his last day of freedom. Doggy is disappointed that this stag night is less fun than his last, and to make matters worse, he just can’t remember the name of his bride to be. When he gets into a singing mode, he falls from a table and has to be wheeled home in a handcart - but manages to kiss a policeman on the way. Pearl is suspicious of Howard’s whereabouts, and goes to the Inn where, unfortunately, Truly has arranged for Marina to be a Strip-o-gram girl for Doggy’s stag night.	Guest appearance of Eric Sykes Audience of 3.28m - 68th most watched programme of the week.
What Happened to the Horse?	29 July	Clegg, Truly and Alvin never miss an opportunity to mislead Howard, so when Alvin observes that a particular strip of woodland looks as if it could be haunted, they soon convince him of its authenticity. Howard accepts the story that nobody goes to the wood at a certain time because of weird sightings of a ghostly tinker, and immediately sees the opportunity to go there for an innocent nature walk with Marina. To scare Howard, Alvin dresses-up to look like the ghostly tinker, however, into the wood comes Barry who is dressed in a costume for a part he has in an amateur dramatic production. When Alvin and Barry see each other, they both think they have seen the real ghostly tinker and flee. The local police see the frenzied escape of the men in Entwistle’s truck and give pursuit. When Alvin – wide eyed and ghostly -looks out from the truck, the Police car skids off the road into a roadside sign.	audience unknown.
Variations on a Theme of Road Rage	5 August	Howard purchases a used car, not knowing that the previous owner still has a claim to it.	Audience of 3.2m - 64th most watched programme of the week.
In Which Howard Gets Double Booked	12 August	Howard agrees to take Pearl out on the same night that he's promised to take Marina out as well.	Audience of 3.96m - 37th most watched programme of the week.
Will the Nearest Alien Please Come In	19 August	Truly and Alvin look for alien life.	Guest appearance of Mark Curry. Audience of 4.02m - 43rd most watched programme of the week.
Elegy for Small Creature and Clandestine Trackbike	26 August	Clegg reluctantly agrees to let Howard bring his new bicycle in to his house out of sight from Pearl, but is dismayed when he finds that it is a track bike. When Truly, Alvin and Entwistle are assisting Clegg to get the bike out of his house, Pearl appears and wants to know to whom it belongs. Howard tells her that it belongs to Clegg. Later the men happen upon Tom who is grieving over the death of a dear friend. After getting him drunk, they wheel him back on an abandoned supermarket trolley. Howard implores Clegg to dress-up as a motor cyclist and just be seen by Pearl with the bike. The ladies hear the noise of the bike and are just in time to see Clegg roar-off in pursuit of Tom in the supermarket trolley, which has silently rolled away. Pearl is convinced that Clegg is really a biker and, for a short while, Howard is in the clear.	From this episode until Sinclair and the Wormley Witches, Nigel Hess temporarily took over as composer. audience unknown.
The Crowcroft Challenge	2 September	Alvin and Howard agree to take up the Crowcroft Challenge, not realizing what it entails.	Audience of 4.1m - 37th most watched programme of the week.
Must Be Good Dancer	9 September	Alvin, Tom and Truly try to persuade Smiler to dance.	Audience of 4.08m - 41st most watched programme of the week.
In Which Howard Remembers Where He Left His Bicycle Pump	16 September	Howard bumps into an old flame.	Audience of 3.95m - 43rd most watched programme of the week.
Sinclair and the Wormley Witches	23 September	Sinclair wants to be exorcised but doesn't bargain for Smiler doing the exorcising.	Final appearance of Smiler. His absence is explained by Tom in the next series. Audience of 4.6m - 39th most watched programme of the week.

DVD release

The box set for series twenty eight 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.

See also