Auf Wiedersehen, Pet
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Auf Wiedersehen, Pet is a popular British comedy-drama series about a group of seven British migrant construction workers: Wayne, Dennis, Oz, Bomber, Barry, Neville and Moxey, who are living and working on a German building site.
It was created by Franc Roddam and mostly written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, who also wrote The Likely Lads, What Ever Happened to the Likely Lads? and Porridge. The first two series of the show were broadcast in 1983 and 1986 on ITV. A successful revival of the show saw two series and a Christmas special shown on the BBC in 2002 and 2004.
It notably starred Tim Healy, Kevin Whately, Jimmy Nail, Gary Holton, Christopher Fairbank, Pat Roach and Timothy Spall as the leading roles.
The Magnificent Seven
- Wayne Winston Norris (Gary Holton, 1983-1985) - Wayne, as he so accurately describes himself, is a 'jack the lad' type of character. He's a chirpy carpenter who's proud of his Cockney roots. His obsession with women often lands him and his friends in troublesome situations. He drives a flash red BMW and often wears his trademark red/blue hockey jacket. He is by far the most cool and stylish member of the gang. The character of Wayne died in the year 2000 due to a blood disease, by way of explaining why he was no longer in the show. He was replaced by his illegitimate son Wyman (although this character was met with far less approval than Wayne, and was, according to some critcs, "a great deal more irritating and far less likeable). Gary Holton died in 1985 due to a heroin overdose during the filming of the second series, before filming was finished. Often, Wayne's absence in the second series is explained in dialogue with phrases like "He's gone to town to look for girls", so the audience is not left wondering where he is. The series was not filmed in chronological order; indeed, he is present in the final episode in Spain but sometimes absent in the first half (set in England). At the start of the last episode, Tim Healy announces that it is dedicated to the late Gary Holton.
- Dennis Patterson (Tim Healy) - Dennis, whether he likes it or not, has been hailed as the leader of the seven. When we first meet the geordie bricklayer, he is divorcing his first wife Vera. He later has an affair with a German on-site secretary named Dagmar. In series two, he's working for a dodgy Berwick Upon Tweed gangster called Ally Fraser. He has two children and a very short temper. At the opening of the third series, he is driving a mini-cab for a living.
- Albert Arthur Moxey (Christopher Fairbank) - Moxey is the only character not introduced in the first episode. He's a Liverpudlian plasterer with bad acne, a stutter and a constant cold. However, despite his bland but friendly exterior, he has a dark side: he's on the run from the law (for arson) after breaking free from jail, and this always makes him anxious. He emigrated to Australia in the final episode.
- Leonard "Oz" Osbourne (Jimmy Nail) - Oz is a forward, abrasive, drunken, ugly, Geordie lout with a tart of a wife and a constant xenophobic attitude to Germans. His major passion in life is getting into fights and Newcastle United. He re-united his five surviving pals at his phony funeral, which led them off on new adventures overseas.
- Neville Hope (Kevin Whately) - Neville constantly lives under the shadow of his formidable wife Brenda. He is almost always miserable about something or other, much to the irritation of his friends. He has 3 children in Newcastle - and also his heart. He married young and has no regrets about it.
- Brian "Bomber" Busbridge (Pat Roach, 1983-2004) - Bomber is a quiet West Country brickie with rippling muscles and a bushy beard. He very often 'goes with the flow' and lets others make decisions, much to the respect and admiration of his associates. He laid his last brick before the final two episodes.
- Barry Taylor (Timothy Spall) - Barry is a bashful, boring, bumbling Brummie electrician with a large vocabulary and a nice motorbike. His irritating tendencies to be 'boring' are always mimicked as the centre of jokes by his mates, mostly in fondness. He married a beautiful Russian woman named Tatiana who ran away with another man ... except from that he's had no luck with girls whatsoever.
Supporting cast
The main supporting cast from all four series- Julia Tobin as Brenda Hope (series 1-4)
- Michael Sheard as Herr Grunwald (series 1)
- Michael Elphick as McGowan (series 1)
- Caroline Hutchinson as Vera Patterson (series 1)
- Su Elliot as Marjorie Osbourne (series 1-2)
- Bill Paterson as Ally Fraser (series 2)
- Val McLane as Norma (series 2)
- James Booth as Kenny Aimes (series 2)
- Bryan Pringle as Arthur Pringle (series 2)
- Bill Nighy as Jeffrey (series 3)
- Noel Clarke as Wyman Norris (series 3-4)
- Michael Angelis as Mickey Startup (series 3)
- Zelda Tinska as Irena (series 3)
- Aleksandar Mikich as Dhori (series 3)
- Branka Katic as Tatyana Taylor (series 3-4)
- Dragan Micanovic as Kadi (series 3)
Origins
Series 1
The first series, produced by Central for ITV in 1983, is the story of seven out-of work builders from various parts of England who are forced to look for work in West Germany. (The title refers to their farewells to their wives and girlfriends - "Auf Wiedersehen" being German for "Farewell", and "Pet" being a North-East English term of endearment.):- Dennis, a bricklayer from Newcastle upon Tyne
- Oz, a bricklayer from Newcastle upon Tyne
- Neville, a bricklayer from Newcastle upon Tyne
- Moxey, a plasterer from Liverpool
- Bomber, a bricklayer from Bristol
- Wayne, a carpenter from London
- Barry, an electrician from Wolverhampton
The series was extremely well-received, with praise for the writing and acting.
Series 2
A second series of 13 episodes followed in 1986, in which the boys are reunited initially to help Barry complete some building work on his house. Dennis is working for a crooked businessman, Ally Fraser (played by Bill Paterson), after building up large gambling debts to him. Dennis encourages the rest of the gang, to help renovate a country manor house owned by Ally but end up falling afoul of the suspicious locals. When things become a little too hot for Ally he flees to Spain and invites them to follow suit and redecorate his Spanish villa. Once in Spain the gang are soon mistaken for criminals themselves, and the series ends with them fleeing the Spanish police in a motor yacht, together with Barry's fiancée who had only expected a wedding at sea.The second series was less successful because the characters were no longer under the same kind of pressure they had been in Germany. Even in Spain they were more likely to encounter expatriate Brits than foreigners who could bring out their patriotic tendencies. The series was also clouded by the death of Gary Holton (Wayne) from a drug overdose during production. Holton died before the Spanish indoor scenes were filmed. The script was reworked to explain Wayne's absence from these indoor scenes. In one critical scene, where Bomber manhandles Wayne away from Ally's girlfriend in a nightclub, a double was used.
Revival
Series 3
In 2002 the show was revived, this time as a 6-part series made by Ziji Productions for BBC One. The original writers and all of the surviving cast returned, and were joined by Noel Clarke as Wayne's son Wyman. The storyline revolves around a plan by a corrupt politician (played by Bill Nighy) to demolish the Middlesbrough Transporter Bridge (a real-life industrial landmark) and sell it for reconstruction elsewhere. Persuading Oz to get the old gang back together, he then plans to cheat them out of their share of the profits, until a Native American from Arizona (played by Gordon Tootoosis) turns up to announce that he would like to buy the bridge for the benefit of his tribe's casino.The special effects depicting the demolition of the bridge are so realistic that many people believed it was really being demolished, forcing the BBC to add a caption to the last episode reassuring them that it was still there.
Despite some initial scepticism that the reunion would not work, the show was an immediate hit.
Comic Relief sketch
Some of the cast made an appearance on Comic Relief's Red Nose Day 2003, in which they find a suitcase full of money in a Miami hotel room and assume it belongs to a drug dealer who wants to shoot them - but actually it belongs to U2, who invite them to their penthouse.Series 4
A fourth series of 6 episodes was aired on BBC One from 4 January to 8 February 2004. Most of the story involves the characters working for the British Embassy in Havana, with Neville being reluctantly recruited as a spy for the British and Oz falling in love with a local ballet dancer. Despite extensive negotiations between the BBC and the Cuban Government, it was not possible to obtain permission to film in Cuba, so the series was actually shot in the Dominican Republic.Special
A new "special" comprising two 1-hour episodes was shot in Bangkok and Chiang Mai in July - August 2004 and was broadcast on BBC 1 on 27 and 28 December. Shooting in Bangkok took place partly in the red-light district Soi Cowboy. Pat Roach, although suffering from cancer, had hoped to appear in the miniseries but in the event he was not well enough and died in July. In a nice, and for some touching scene, Dennis reads a letter to the rest of the group while they are all dining in a restaurant, where Pat's character 'Bomber' explains his reasons for not having joined them. The group lift their glasss and drink a toast; "to Bomber !".The story sees the remaining six working in a British Embassy somewhere in central Africa that is about to be overrun by rioters. Most of them escape uninjured, except for Oz who sustains a painful injury to the backside protecting a female staff member (with whom he is of course having an affair) from a bomb. The boys then move on to Laos and later Thailand, where Barry's Russian ex-wife (from Series 3) turns up to announce that she is carrying his child following a brief "reconciliation". Barry is then kidnapped and held by guerrillas in a village in Laos. When the others follow they are also captured, but Dennis has the idea (inspired by the film The Bridge on the River Kwai) of working for the villagers to prevent the guerillas from moving them on. Eventually they are able to steal the guerilla leader's mobile phone and send a call for help. It turns out that the man who set them up to the guerillas was actually Neville's corrupt spymaster (from Series 4). Deprived of their hostages the guerillas decide to kidnap him instead.
In the final scenes Dennis, Neville and Oz ask the Embassy to give them an assignment in a nice peaceful country - and find themselves heading back to Germany once more. Following a dedication to Pat Roach, the closing credits of the final episode are accompanied by the opening theme tune from Series 1, bringing the show full circle.
Pat Roach's death was just one factor in the show's final cancellation. The cast and writers have stated that they wanted to go out on a high and not allow the show to become stale.
Episode guide
Series 1:
- If I Were a Carpenter - 11 November
- Who Won The War Anyway? - November 18
- The Girls They Left Behind - November 25
- Suspicion - December 2
- Home Thoughts From Abroad - December 9
- The Accused - December 16
- Private Lives - December 30
- The Fugitive - January 6
- The Alien - January 13
- Last Rites - January 20
- The Lovers - January 27
- Love And Other Four Letter Words - February 3
- When the Boat Goes Out - February 10
Series 2: ITV,
- The Return of the Seven Part I - February 21
- The Return of the Seven Part II - February 28
- A Law for the Rich - March 7
- Another Country1 - March 14
- A Home from Home - March 21
- Cowboys - March 28
- No Sex Please We're Brickies - April 4
- Marjorie Doesn't Live Here Anymore - April 11
- Hasta la Vista - April 18
- Scoop - April 25
- Law and Disorder - May 2
- For Better or Worse - May 9
- Quo Vadis Pet - May 16
Series 3:
Series 4: BBC 1,
- Britannia Waives the Rules - January 4
- Our Men in Havana - January 11
- A Gift from Fidel - January 18
- Moonlighting - January 25
- Dangerous Liaisons - February 1
- The End of the Affair - February 8
Christmas special: BBC One, 2004
- Au Revoir: Part 12 December 28
- Au Revoir: Part 22 December 29
1Not a typo - there were actually two episodes with the same title, although separated by a little over 16 years.
- The Return of the Seven Part I - February 21
- The Return of the Seven Part II - February 28
- A Law for the Rich - March 7
- Another Country1 - March 14
- A Home from Home - March 21
- Cowboys - March 28
- No Sex Please We're Brickies - April 4
- Marjorie Doesn't Live Here Anymore - April 11
- Hasta la Vista - April 18
- Scoop - April 25
- Law and Disorder - May 2
- For Better or Worse - May 9
- Quo Vadis Pet - May 16
Series 3:
Series 4: BBC 1,
- Britannia Waives the Rules - January 4
- Our Men in Havana - January 11
- A Gift from Fidel - January 18
- Moonlighting - January 25
- Dangerous Liaisons - February 1
- The End of the Affair - February 8
Christmas special: BBC One, 2004
- Au Revoir: Part 12 December 28
- Au Revoir: Part 22 December 29
1Not a typo - there were actually two episodes with the same title, although separated by a little over 16 years.
- Britannia Waives the Rules - January 4
- Our Men in Havana - January 11
- A Gift from Fidel - January 18
- Moonlighting - January 25
- Dangerous Liaisons - February 1
- The End of the Affair - February 8
Christmas special: BBC One, 2004
- Au Revoir: Part 12 December 28
- Au Revoir: Part 22 December 29
2These episodes had no on-screen titles; these are the titles given on the official BBC website.
Theme music
| Season 1 (ITV, 1983) | (David Mackay/Ian La Frenais) Vocals by Joe Fagin |
(David Mackay/Ian La Frenais) Vocals by Joe Fagin |
| Season 2 (ITV, 1986) | (David Mackay/Ian La Frenais) Vocals by Joe Fagin |
(David Mackay/Ken Ashby) Vocals by Joe Fagin |
| Season 3 (BBC, 2002) | (Mark Knopfler) |
|
| Season 4 (BBC, 2004) | ||
| Special (BBC, 2004) | (David Mackay/Ian La Frenais) Vocals by Joe Fagin |
A 7" single, "Breaking Away" b/w "That's Living Alright", was released and became a UK hit single, peaking at number 3. Unusually, the B-side of this record became much better known than the official A-side.
Joe Fagin also reworked "That's Living Alright" for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. "That's England Alright" was released on 5 June 2006.
External links
- [The Original Auf Wiedersehen, Pet Homepage]
- [Auf Wiedersehen, Pet at TV.com]
- [Official BBC AWP site]
- [The Auf Wiedersehen, Pet DVD Campaign] Many scenes were cut when the show was released on video due to copyright restrictions on music playing in the background, and commercial break captions. This site hosts a campaign for the DVD release of completely restored episodes.
- [BBC Press Release] Pdf file about Season 3
- [Sunday For Sammy] Bi-Annual concert which in the past has featured live Auf Wiedersehen, Pet shorts.
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