Last of the Summer Wine episodes from series seventeen and the 30th anniversary documentary. A 2008 release named "Last of the Summer Wine: Vintage 1976" focuses on the third series of the show and includes bonus interviews with Peter Sallis, Brian Wilde, and Frank Thornton. Subsequently, every episode from the third to the twenty-seventh series has been released on DVD in "Vintage" collections, many including special features and interviews. A spin-off prequel show, "First of the Summer Wine", premiered on BBC1 in 1988. The new programme was written by Roy Clarke and used different actors to follow the activities of the principal characters from "Last
Last of the Summer Wine Mildred", where he played the hen-pecked husband to a strong-willed woman. In 2008, the BBC announced that Russ Abbot would join the cast in series 30 as a relatively youthful actor. Abbot was cast to allow Sallis and Thornton to reduce their role on the show to indoor scenes only. Abbot portrayed Luther "Hobbo" Hobdyke, who formed a new trio with Entwistle and Alvin. Entwistle, played by Burt Kwouk, had been a supporting character brought in to replace Wesley Pegden after the death of actor Gordon Wharmby, but his role on the show steadily increased in the previous two series.