Last of the Summer Wine Holmfirth any more. The situation escalated to the point that Bell filmed a scene in which Nora Batty put her house up for sale. Every episode of "Last of the Summer Wine" was written by Roy Clarke. The "Comedy Playhouse" pilot and all episodes of the first series were produced and directed by James Gilbert. Bernard Thompson produced and directed the second series of episodes in 1975. In 1976, Sydney Lotterby took over as producer and director. He directed all but two episodes of the third series – Ray Butt directed "The Great Boarding House Bathroom Caper" and "Cheering up
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