Auf Wiedersehen, Pet

Auf Wiedersehen, Pet
File:Aufpet2.jpg Auf Wiedersehen, Pet
Created by	Franc Roddam
Starring	Gary Holton Tim Healy Timothy Spall Pat Roach Kevin Whately Christopher Fairbank Jimmy Nail
No. of series	4
No. of episodes	40
Production
Producers	Central for ITV, Witzend Productions for BBC
Running time	50 mins (1983-1986) 60 mins (2002-2004)
Original release
Network	ITV (1983-1986), BBC (2002-2004)
Release	November 11, 1983 – December 29, 2004

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.

In 2005, the show was chosen as the subject of the first episode of the BBC documentary series Drama Connections.

The Magnificent Seven

• 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 Newcastle-Upon-Tyne gangster called Ally Fraser, who has a notorious reputation throughout the northeast. He has two children and, at times can be seen to have a short temper. At the opening of the third series, he is driving a mini-cab for a living.
• 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 - and also his heart in Newcastle. He married young and has no regrets about it, although in the third series he was clearly suffering from a mid-life crisis.
• Leonard "Oz" Osbourne (Jimmy Nail) - Oz in the original series was a forward, abrasive, drunken, ugly, Geordie lout with a tart of a wife and a constant xenophobic attitude to Germans, and later on Turks and Spaniards too. His major passions in life were getting mortal drunk and Newcastle United. For the third series, in which he re-united his five surviving pals at his phony funeral leading them off on new adventures overseas, the character had changed somewhat, becoming more mature and less violent.
• Barry Taylor (Timothy Spall) - Barry is a bashful, boring, bumbling West Midlander (he mentions connections with West Bromwich and Wolverhampton) 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 has been married twice, once to a local girl named Hazel (played by Melanie Hill), then to a Russian woman called Tatania. Both marriages end in divorce.
• Wayne Winston Norris (Gary Holton, 1983-1986) - 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 congenital heart problem (according to his son, who never met Wayne and knows little about his life or death), 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.
• Albert Arthur Moxey (Christopher Fairbank) - Moxey is the only character not introduced in the first episode. He's a Liverpudlian plasterer with bad acne and originally a stutter, although he has clearly had it cured by the time of the third series. However, despite his friendly exterior, he also 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.
• Brian "Bomber" Busbridge (Pat Roach) - Bomber is a quiet West Country brickie [known as the gentle giant, the toughest member of the group with a towering height of 6"6 & a great physical shape] with rippling muscles and a bushy beard, having worked as both a professional wrestler and a nightclub bouncer. 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.

Supporting cast

The main supporting cast from all four series

• Julia Tobin as Brenda Hope (series 1-4 & special)
• 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)
• Melanie Hill as Hazel Redfearn (series 2)
• Bill Nighy as Jeffrey Grangier (series 3)
• Noel Clarke as Wyman Norris (series 3-4 & special)
• Michael Angelis as Mickey Startup (series 3)
• Zelda Tinska as Irena (series 3)
• Gordon Tootoosis as Joe (series 3)
• Aleksandar Mikich as Dhori (series 3)
• Branka Katic as Tatiana Taylor (series 3-4 & special)
• 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

They find work on a German building site but are forced to live in a small hut that reminds them of a POW camp. The rest of the series is driven by the interactions and growing friendships between the various characters: for instance, Barry is an obsessive bore, Neville is an insecure young newlywed, Oz is aggressive and jingoistic, and Wayne is a womaniser. Dennis, being older, more experienced and generally more mature than the others, becomes the de facto leader of the group. Over the course of 13 episodes the "Magnificent Seven" enjoy lots of comic and romantic adventures, until a change in German tax laws forces them to return home.

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 received mixed reviews, some thought it was much better than the first series but some felt that it was not as great as they had no longer been under the strain they were in Germany. 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.

Interestingly, this series featured a re-cap of last episode's events in a voiceover from Dennis at the start of each episode bar the first. This gimmick was not continued for the fourth series.

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 glasses 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.

Episodes

Main article: List of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet episodes

Theme music

	Opening Credits	Closing Credits
Season 1 (ITV, 1983-1984)	Breaking Away (David Mackay/Ian La Frenais) Vocals by Joe Fagin	That's Living Alright (David Mackay/Ian La Frenais) Vocals by Joe Fagin
Season 2 (ITV, 1986)	Get it Right (David Mackay/Ian La Frenais) Vocals by Joe Fagin	Back with the Boys Again (David Mackay/Ken Ashby) Vocals by Joe Fagin
Season 3 (BBC, 2002)	Incidental music	Why Aye Man (Mark Knopfler)
Season 4 (BBC, 2004)	Incidental music	Incidental music
Special (BBC, 2004)	Incidental music	Breaking Away (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.

See also

• "Zwei Kleine Italiener"

External links

• Auf Wiedersehen, Pet at bbc.co.uk
• The Original Auf Wiedersehen, Pet Homepage
• Auf Wiedersehen, Pet at TV.com
• The Auf Wiedersehen, Pet DVD Campaign
• The Most Upto Date Auf Wiedersehen, Pet Fan Website
• Sunday For Sammy Bi-Annual concert which in the past has featured live Auf Wiedersehen, Pet shorts.
• Auf Wiedersehen, Pet at IMDb