He was then auditioned for a one-line part in Last of the Summer Wine, which had begun in 1973, filmed in and around the Yorkshire town of Holmfirth. The Producer, Alan J.W. Bell, was so impressed with Wharmby's "natural" performance that, instead, he cast him in the more prominent role of the bumbling Wesley Pegden for another episode and Clarke later wrote him in as a regular. Although initially overawed by working with Thora Hird as his screen wife from 1986, Wharmby eventually started giving her "notes", to the veteran actress's great amusement.