Writer Roy Clarke nearly turned down the project because he felt a sitcom about three old men was a dull concept, and it was his idea to make them unmarried, widowed, unemployed or retired so they could roam free like adolescents.

The show's title went through several changes: Clarke's original choice 'The Last of the Summer Wine' was initially disliked by BBC producers and temporarily replaced with 'The Library Mob' before being switched back and eventually shortened to 'Last of the Summer Wine'.

Holmfirth was suggested as the filming location by producer Barry Took, who had performed there as a stand-up comic in the 1950s and later filmed a highly rated documentary episode there before recommending it to the show's creators.

Under producer Alan J. W. Bell, Last of the Summer Wine became the first British comedy series to abandon the live studio audience, moving all filming to Holmfirth and instead recording laughter from preview audiences to mix into the soundtrack, avoiding canned laughter.

Tensions between Holmfirth residents and the crew over compensation once escalated so much that producer Bell considered abandoning filming in the town, and he even filmed a scene showing Nora Batty putting her house up for sale in response.

Michael Bates left the show in 1976 after falling ill just before filming the third series, forcing Roy Clarke to hastily rewrite the scripts to introduce a new third man, Foggy Dewhurst.

Gordon Wharmby, who played mechanic Wesley Pegden, was the only cast member with no professional acting experience; he was originally a Holmfirth resident who impressed the producer so much during his audition that he was cast and eventually became a permanent character.

The BBC initially disliked composer Ronnie Hazlehurst's mellow theme tune and asked him to make it faster for comedic effect, but his original slower version was eventually accepted and became iconic; the harmonica part was played by Harry Pitch, previously known for the 1970 hit 'Groovin' with Mr Bloe'.

Queen Elizabeth II reportedly told actress Thora Hird in 2001 that Last of the Summer Wine was her favourite television programme, and Prince Charles said his grandmother, the Queen Mother, had introduced him to the show.

A 2003 Radio Times survey found that Last of the Summer Wine was the show readers most wanted cancelled, receiving about a third of nearly 12,000 votes, twice as many as the runner-up Heartbeat.