First of the Summer Wine original series making an appearance in the prequel. With the success of "Last of the Summer Wine", the BBC approved a new series which Roy Clarke would carry over characters of the original show. With the new series, Clarke hoped to show the lives of his characters as they were in the "first summer" of their lives, as opposed to the last summer depicted in "Last of the Summer Wine". While there would still be the "shadow of the Grim Reaper" hanging over them, this time it would be because of World War II, not due to their old age.
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