Last of the Summer Wine Mrs Partridge, the librarians having a not-so-secret affair. Butler and Martin, however, were dropped as major characters after the first series. According to Peter Sallis, Roy Clarke felt there was little more he could do with them. Although the show initially focused on the trio and four to five supporting characters, the cast expanded over the years to include an ensemble of eccentric characters who rounded out the show. The biggest expansion came in 1985 when four characters from the stage adaptation of the show were brought over to the series proper: Howard (Robert Fyfe), Pearl (Juliette Kaplan), Marina (Jean
Last of the Summer Wine The original cast of "Last of the Summer Wine" also included a handful of characters with whom the trio regularly interacted. Kathy Staff was chosen to play Compo's neighbour, Nora Batty. Gilbert was initially sceptical about casting Staff but changed his mind after she padded herself to look bigger and read from a scene between her character and Owen's. This group was rounded out by characters at two locations frequented by the trio: John Comer and Jane Freeman as Sid and Ivy, the quarrelling husband-and-wife owners of the local café; and Blake Butler and Rosemary Martin as Mr Wainwright and