First of the Summer Wine - Series One DVD (2 disc set)

2011 UK release

2 disc set in excellent condition.

Serving as a prequel to the long-running "Last of the Summer Wine" which itself ran for 32 years.

The pilot originally aired on 3 January 1988, and the first series of episodes followed from 4 September 1988. The show ran for two series of six episodes each. The 2nd season on dvd is extremely rare, often fetching prices in the region of R900 plus. 

First of the Summer Wine is a prequel to Roy Clarke's long running show, Last of the Summer Wine, portraying the youth of the principal characters from the mother show in the months leading up to World War II. With the possibility of war hanging over them, the young men and women enjoy their youth while trying to find a place for themselves in the world. The show used young, mostly unknown actors to play the characters, with only two actors from the original series making an appearance in the prequel.

The actors were required to mimic the vocal characteristics and mannerisms already established in Last of the Summer Wine to create a continuity between the two series.

First of the Summer Wine followed a group of young men and women, some of whom were adapted from Last of the Summer Wine, with others being specifically created for the new show. The men consisted of Paul Wyett as the scruffy and immature Compo Simmonite; David Fenwick as meek and deep-thinking Norman Clegg; Paul McLain as snobbish ladder-climber Seymour Utterthwaite; Richard Lumsden as the eager soldier Foggy Dewhurst; Gary Whitaker as the love-smitten Wally Batty; and Paul Oldham as their friend, Sherbet. The women consisted of Helen Patrick as the object of Wally's affections, Nora Renshaw; Sarah Dangerfield as Ivy; Joanne Heywood as Dilys, Judy Flynn as Lena, and Linda Davidson as Anita Pillsworth.

The adults around the young people act as supporting characters. Peter Sallis and Maggie Ollerenshaw play David and Violet Clegg, Norman's parents. Sallis had played the role of Norman in Last of the Summer Wine and Ollerenshaw had appeared in 3 episodes. Derek Benfield portrays Mr Scrimshaw, the manager of the shop where Ivy, Dilys, Sherbert, Norman and Seymour work.

First of the Summer Wine takes place between May and September 1939, in the months leading up to World War II. The series revolves around the diary entries of the young Norman Clegg. Each episode begins with him resting on his bedroom windowsill and greeting the day; the words "the diary of Norman Clegg, aged 18 years" introduce the theme of each episode.

Episodes revolve around the antics of the young men of a small Yorkshire village and their usually level-headed female counterparts, all of whom are grappling with the world around them, their youth, and their experiences with the opposite sex. With rumblings of war on the European continent as Hitler's Nazi Germany and the United Kingdom become increasingly poised for war, the lives of the young men and women will be changed forever.