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 (series 1) episodes, however the pilot still was not included in the re-release. The pilot episode was released on the final boxset series 31 & 32 as an extra on disc four on 15 August 2016. Last of the Summer Wine (series 1) Last of the Summer Wine's first series originally aired on BBC1 between 4 January 1973 and 29 December 1973. All episodes from this series were written by Roy Clarke and produced and directed by James Gilbert. The pilot episode, alternately known as "The Last of the Summer Wine" and "Of Funerals and Fish," originally premiered on the BBC's "Comedy