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 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.