The madcap antics of Compo, Foggy and Clegg proved that age was no barrier to men behaving badly. But the reality of insuring elderly actors is putting a premium value on the stars of the Last of the Summer Wine.

The gentle comedy following Holmfirth’s eccentric residents has been a BBC fixture since 1973. Famed for its outdoor stunts, such as Compo hurtling down a hill in his tin bath, the show has survived the retirement and death of leading actors.

However, insuring its cast of pensioner actors against injury caused by Nora Batty’s threatening slipper is creating a challenge for producers.

Frank Thornton, 87, who joined the cast as the pompous Herbert Truelove in 1997, has been banned from filming outdoor scenes for the next BBC One series.

“It’s to do with insurance,” said Thornton, who secured television immortality as Captain Peacock in Are You Being Served?. He told The Stage, the entertainment industry’s newspaper: “I film all my scenes in a studio now.”

A BBC spokesman said: “It is difficult to insure actors over the age of 80 to film on outdoor locations. We have a duty of care to our talent and production team and would need to ensure we have the proper procedures in place if an accident occurred.” Programme sources said that the hills of Holmfirth presented a particular danger to actors over a certain age.

Producers will knit together scenes with Peter Sallis, also 87, who is returning as Norman Clegg, the longest-running lead character in television comedy. Brian Murphy, 74, of George and Mildred fame, joined the cast in 2003 as Alvin Smedley, after the death of Bill Owen, who played Compo, the bane of Batty’s life. Kathy Staff, 79, continues as Batty but the BBC is hoping to bring a youthful edge to the cast with the introduction of Russ Abbot, the comedian, who is only 60.

Insurance against injury, accident or death on set is a significant issue for film and television productions. Hollywood studios employing stars of Tom Cruise’s status face a £10 million liability for on-set fatality or life-threatening injury.

Insurers demanded that a substitute director should accompany Robert Altman on set when the director of M*A*S*H continued making feature films into his 80s.

Paul Thomas Anderson, the director of the Oscar-winning There Will Be Blood, acted as insurance “assistant” on Altman’s final film before his death in 2006.

The Rolling Stones undergo a testing medical before insurers sign off band members for each world tour. But that did not prevent the postponement of concerts after Keith Richards, 64, fell out of a coconut tree in Fiji.

Turul Brown, scheme director of IMS Film Insurance, which specialises in the entertainment world, said:

“Actors over 70 are a risk for underwriters but unless they have a specific medical complaint they can normally be covered.”

IMS keeps a close eye on flamboyant film directors who may put actors at risk. Mr Brown said: “We have someone on set during big films to perform risk assessments. Directors sometimes do not have health and safety at the forefront of their minds.”

When Heath Ledger died of a drug overdose this year, the producers of the film he had yet to complete, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, faced a $15 million insurance claim if the project was abandoned. Ledger had been named an “essential element” under the film’s cast insurance policy. But the director, Terry Gilliam, recast the dead actor’s role with Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell.

Last of the Summer Wine, written by Roy Clarke and filmed in West Yorkshire, is believed to be the longest-running sitcom in the world. This year tributes were paid to Brian Wilde, the actor who played Foggy, who died aged 80.

CLASSIC VINTAGE

—Originally premiered as an episode of the BBC Comedy Playhouse on January 4, 1973

— The BBC hated the programme name and wanted to call it The Library Mob

— The Queen told Dame Thora Hird in 2001 that it was her favourite programme and the Queen Mother’s too

— Roy Clarke, the writer, opposed casting the London actor Bill Owen as Compo until a readthrough where the actor played “northern”

— The lilting theme was composed by Ronnie Hazelhurst, whose music opened Yes Minister and Are You Being Served?

— Holmfirth was chosen as the location after Barry Took made a BBC documentary about a working men’s club in the village

— Kathy Staff forged a new career in Crossroads but quit in 2002 because the motel soap was “sex for the sake of sex”

— It is the longest-running comedy programme in Britain

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