Last of the Summer Wine Barry trying to better himself (at the insistence of Glenda), and Tom trying to stay one step ahead of the repo man. "Last of the Summer Wine" is the longest-running comedy programme in Britain, and the longest running situation comedy in the world. Each series has between six and twelve episodes; most were thirty minutes in length, with some specials running longer. There were 295 episodes and 31 series between 1973 and 2010, counting the pilot, all episodes of the series, specials, and two films. In 1978, the BBC commissioned a "Last of the Summer Wine" Christmas special instead of
The Abbey (TV series) pilot, with a view to a series if the one-off was popular enough. The episode gained an estimated 2.3 million viewers and somewhat poor reviews. ITV commissioned a full series of "The Abbey" for broadcast on ITV2 in 2008. Filming was due to begin in January 2008 but the series was later cancelled. The Abbey (TV series) The Abbey is a British television situation comedy produced by Baby Cow Productions for ITV, about dysfunctional celebrities with various vices that seek sanctuary at The Abbey to overcome their problems. It is written by Morwenna Banks, directed by Johnny Campbell and executive