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 Playhouse on 4 January 1973 "The Last of the Summer Wine" was the first episode of that show's fourteenth series. The pilot received a positive enough reaction that the BBC ordered a full series of episodes, premiering on 12 November 1973.