Are You Being Served? the first series on 14 March 1973. Although the first series was aired in the same timeslot as "Coronation Street" on ITV, consequently receiving relatively little attention, the repeats shown later in the year were much more successful. The show became a ratings hit, and after a successful 13-year run, "Are You Being Served?" came to an end on 1 April 1985. Of the original cast, only Frank Thornton, Mollie Sugden, John Inman, Wendy Richard and Nicholas Smith appeared in all 69 episodes of the programme's 13-year run; these five later featured in the sequel sitcom, "Grace & Favour" (also
Last of the Summer Wine consecutive full series of episodes. The entire series is now available on home video, both in box sets with two series of episodes each, and in a complete collection which features every episode of "Last of the Summer Wine" plus all films and specials. Three "best of" collections as well as sets devoted to individual series have been released for region one. The first, simply titled "Last of the Summer Wine", was released in 2003 and includes early episodes from the 1970s and 1980s. The second collection, titled "Last of the Summer Wine: Vintage 1995", followed in 2004 and includes