Last of the Summer Wine (series 3) Last of the Summer Wine (series 3) Last of the Summer Wine's third series originally aired on BBC1 between 27 October 1976 and 24 December 1976. All episodes from this series were written by Roy Clarke and produced by Sydney Lotterby Five episodes were directed by Sydney Lotterby but two, the two parter, "The Great Boarding House Bathroom Caper" and "Cheering Up Gordon", were directed by Ray Butt. Although none of the episodes from series 3 made it into the top ten programmes of the week on their initial screening, a repeat showing of the final episode, "Isometrics and After,"
Last of the Summer Wine hated this at first and insisted that it remain a temporary working title, while the cast worried that viewers would forget the name of the show. The working title was changed later to "The Library Mob", a reference to one of the trio's regular haunts early in the show. Clarke switched back to his original preference shortly before production began, a title that was shortened to "Last of the Summer Wine" after the pilot show. "The Last of the Summer Wine" premiered as an episode of BBC's "Comedy Playhouse" on 4 January 1973. The pilot, "Of Funerals and Fish", received