date_of_birth stephen lewis 
London Weekend Television ( LWT ) was the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends , broadcasting from Fridays at ___MASK42___ . 15 pm ( at ___MASK73___ pm until 1982 ) to Monday mornings at 6am . From 1968 until 1992 , when LWT ' s weekday counterpart was Thames Television , there was an on - screen handover to and from LWT at each end of the weekend ; from 1993 to 2002 , when LWT ' s weekday counterpart was Carlton Television , the transfer occurred invisibly during a commercial break as Carlton and LWT shared studio and transmission facilities . Hi - de - Hi ! is a BBC television sitcom shown on BBC1 from ___MASK36___ January 1980 to 30 January 1988 . On the Buses is a British sitcom created and written by Ronald Wolfe and Ronald Chesney ( although stars Stephen Lewis and Bob Grant also wrote several episodes ) broadcast from ___MASK29___ to 1973 . It spawned three spin - off feature films and a stage version . Despite the writers ' previous successes with " The Rag Trade " and " Meet the Wife " with the BBC , the corporation rejected " On the Buses ", not seeing much comedy potential in a bus depot as a setting . The comedy partnership turned to a friend , Frank Muir , Head of Entertainment at London Weekend Television , who loved the idea ; the show was accepted and despite a poor critical reception became a hit with viewers . In a 2004 poll to find Britain ' s Best Sitcom , " On the Buses " was rated 53rd . Richard Spendlove MBE ( born Carlton , Nottinghamshire ___MASK25___ ) is a British radio producer / presenter and television writer . BBC Television is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation . The corporation has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since ___MASK91___ . It produced television programmes from its own studios since 1932 , although the start of its regular service of television broadcasts is dated to 2 November ___MASK82___ . Stephen Lewis ( 17 December 1926 -- ___MASK32___ August 2015 ) , credited early in his career as Stephen Cato , was an English actor , comedian , director , screenwriter , and playwright . He is best known for his roles as Inspector Cyril `` Blakey '' Blake in the LWT sitcom and film versions of On the Buses , appearing for the length of the series , ( along with Bob Grant and Anna Karen ) , Clem `` Smiler '' Hemmingway in Last of the Summer Wine , and Harry Lambert in BBC Television ' s Oh , Doctor Beeching ! . You Rang M ' Lord ? is a BBC television sitcom written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft , the creators of " Dad ' s Army ", " It Ain ' t Half Hot Mum " and " Hi - de - Hi !" It was broadcast between ___MASK86___ and 1993 on the BBC ( although there had earlier been a pilot episode in ___MASK90___ ). The show was a comedy set in the house of an aristocratic family in the 1920s , contrasting the upper - class family and their servants in a house in London , along the same lines as the popular drama " Upstairs , Downstairs ". The British Broadcasting Corporation ( BBC ) is a British public service broadcaster . It is headquartered at Broadcasting House in London , is the world ' s oldest national broadcasting organisation , and is the largest broadcaster in the world by number of employees , with over ___MASK98___ , ___MASK45___ staff in total , of whom 16 , 672 are in public sector broadcasting ; including part - time , flexible as well as fixed contract staff , the total number is 35 , ___MASK22___ . Comedy Playhouse is a long - running British anthology series of one - off unrelated sitcoms that aired for ___MASK62___ episodes from 1961 to ___MASK44___ . Many episodes later graduated to their own series , including " Steptoe and Son ", " Meet the Wife ", " Till Death Us Do Part ", " All Gas and Gaiters ", " Up Pompeii !", " Not in Front of the Children ", " Me Mammy ", " That ' s Your Funeral ", " The Liver Birds ", " Are You Being Served ?" and " Last of the Summer Wine ", which is the world ' s longest running sitcom , having run from January 1973 to August 2010 . Last of the Summer Wine is a British sitcom created and written by Roy Clarke that was originally broadcast on the BBC . It premiered as an episode of " Comedy Playhouse " on ___MASK41___ January 1973 , and the first series of episodes followed on 12 November 1973 . From 1983 to 2010 , Alan J . W . Bell produced and directed all episodes of the show . The BBC confirmed on 2 June 2010 that " Last of the Summer Wine " would no longer be produced and the 31st series would be its last . Subsequently , the final episode was broadcast on 29 August 2010 . Tom Owen criticised the BBC for not permitting a special final episode . Roy Clarke , however , stated that he was fully aware this was the last series , and preferred the show to have a quiet ending . The final line was said by Peter Sallis , the longest serving actor . Since its original release , all thirty - one series  including the pilot and all Christmas specials  have been available on DVD . Repeats of the show are broadcast in the UK on Gold , Yesterday , and Drama . It is also seen in more than twenty - five countries , including various PBS stations in the United States and on VisionTV in Canada . " Last of the Summer Wine " is the longest - running comedy programme in Britain and the longest - running sitcom in the world . The Rag Trade is a British television sitcom broadcast by the BBC between ___MASK15___ and 1963 and by LWT between ___MASK2___ and ___MASK70___ . Alan J . W . Bell ( born ___MASK48___ ___MASK50___ ) is a British television producer and director . He has produced and / or directed many BBC series since the early 1970s , most notably " Last of the Summer Wine ", " Ripping Yarns " and the TV adaptation of " The Hitchhiker ' s Guide to the Galaxy ". He was also assigned to re - edit and improve Ronnie Barker ' s short 1982 film , " By the Sea ". Other comedy shows include " There ' s a Lot of it About ", " The Hello Goodbye Man ", " The Clairvoyant ", " Wyatt ' s Watchdogs ", " Dogfood Dan and the Carmarthen Cowboy " and " Split Ends ". Peter Sallis , OBE ( born ___MASK36___ ___MASK47___ ) is an English actor , well known for his work on British television . He gained worldwide fame as the voice of Wallace in the Academy Award - honored " Wallace and Gromit " films . Roy Clarke OBE ( born ___MASK27___ ___MASK63___ ) is an English comedy writer best known for creating the sitcoms " Last of the Summer Wine ", " Keeping Up Appearances ", " Open All Hours " and its sequel series , " Still Open All Hours ". Oh , Doctor Beeching ! is a BBC television sitcom written by David Croft and Richard Spendlove which , after a broadcast pilot on ___MASK48___ ___MASK85___ , ran for two series from 8 ___MASK7___ , with the last episode being broadcast on 28 September 1997 . The series is notable for being the last in a series of three comedies by co - writer David Croft to use many of the same actors , starting with " Hi - de - Hi !", and followed by " You Rang , M ' Lord ?" and was also the last full series written by David Croft . Britain ' s Best Sitcom was a BBC media campaign in which television viewers were asked to decide the best British situation comedy . Viewers could vote via telephone , SMS , or BBC Online . This first round of voting was conducted in ___MASK87___ , after which the BBC published a list of the top ___MASK33___ selections . From this list , they produced a 12 - episode television series broadcast by BBC Two from January through March 2004 . VisionTV is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel that broadcasts multi - faith , multicultural , and general entertainment programming aimed at the ___MASK83___ and over demographic . Frank Herbert Muir , CBE ( ___MASK42___ February ___MASK99___  2 January ___MASK16___ ) was an English comedy writer , radio and television personality , and raconteur . His writing and performing partnership with Denis Norden endured for most of their careers . Together they wrote BBC Radio ' s " Take It From Here " for over 10 years , and then appeared on BBC radio quizzes " My Word !" and " My Music " for another 35 . Muir became Assistant Head of Light Entertainment at the BBC in the 1960s , and was then London Weekend Television ' s founding Head of Entertainment . His many writing credits include editorship of " The Oxford Book of Humorous Prose ".