Kathy Staff (Nora Batty) and Bill Owen (Compo) have been with Last of the Summer Wine from the beginning when it was created in 1973 for the BBC series, Comedy Playhouse. It’s a little ironic that the world’s longest running sitcom is about a group of elderly “adolescents” in the twilight of their lives wandering the Yorkshire countryside, but Summer Wine has endured real-life ups and downs of ill-health, character departure and, ultimately, the death of both Bill Owen and Kathy Staff.

Brilliantly written by one man, Roy Clarke, the series was also a breath of fresh air in that it was one of only a handful, if not the only one at the time, that showed the great English countryside and wasn’t all set in a studio. Should you find yourself within shouting distance of the town of Holmfirth in the future, take the tour, it’s fun. Click here for info.

In the meantime, think about couple #14 – Nora Batty and Compo. How can you not? See how well they get on?

Don’t forget to go to the polls tomorrow and VOTE for your top three British comedy couples of all-time!