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 Archers on BBC Four on 1 January 2007, focused on "The Archers". It was narrated by Stephen Fry and included interviews with current actors and scriptwriters. The Archers The Archers, having aired over 18,700 episodes, is the world's longest-running radio serial. Broadcast on BBC Radio 4the BBC's main spoken-word channelthis soap opera was initially billed, "an everyday story of country folk" and now, "a contemporary drama in a rural setting". Five pilot episodes were aired in 1950 and the first episode was broadcast nationally on 1 January 1951. A significant show in British popular culture, and with over five million listeners,