As unemployment hit three million in the early '80's, British builders were forced to go abroad in search of work. This gave Franc Roddam ( director of the brilliant 'Quadrophenia' ) the idea for a television series, which he pitched to Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais. 'Auf Wiedershen, Pet' reached the airwaves in 1983, and quickly established itself as unmissable Friday night viewing. 'That's Living Alright' by Joe Fagin, the show's closing theme, made the pop charts.
Three Newcastle bricklayers - happily married Neville Hope ( Kevin Whately ), hard-drinking Dennis Patterson ( Tim Healy ) and hard-living Oz Osbourne ( Jimmy Nail ) travel to Dusseldorf where they find themselves sharing a hut with girl chasing Cockney carpenter Wayne ( Gary Holton ), ex-wrestler from the West Country 'Bomber' Busbridge ( Pat Roach ), boring Brummie electrician Barry Taylor ( Timothy Spaull ) and Liverpudllian arsonist/plasterer Moxey ( Christopher Fairbank ). The phrase 'male bonding' might have been invented for 'AufPet'. 'Oz' perversely proved the most popular with viewers, a hard-man blessed with some dubious personal habits.
The show benefited from the fact that the cast were unknowns. Over the course of thirteen weeks, the public grew to love and care about the 'Magnificent Seven'. As a comedy drama it was free to explore riskier areas, such as the time Neville was accused of assaulting a German girl. Other 'guest' characters included the late Michael Elphick as 'Macgowan' whose presence in the hut was like that of the snake in the Garden of Eden, and a young Ray Winstone as 'Colin', a deserter from the British Army. Among the more memorable scenes were the gang's amusement at finding Neville moonlighting as a waiter in an Indian restaurant, Oz waking up after a drunken night to find himself back in Newcastle, Barry and Wayne attempting ( and failing ) to chase two airline stewardesses on a motorcycle, and the destruction of the hut by fire in the final episode.
After the first season ( I.T.V. tried to replicate its success with a show about fishermen, entitled 'Eh, Brian? Its A Whopper!' It flopped ), talk was rife of a movie version with the lads helping to rebuild the Falkland Islands following the war between Britain and Argentina. This was abandoned ( but alluded to in the first episode of the second series ). Instead they found themselves working on a derelict mansion in the English Countryside, where they came into conflict with the snobbish locals, most notably landlord Arthur Pringle ( Brian Pringle ). Bill Paterson was brilliant as gangster 'Ally Fraser'. For the remainder of the series, they were in Spain. The second run was overshadowed by the tragic death of Gary Holton from a drugs overdose. Though Wayne managed to be in every major scene, his absence was still noticeable ( a double had to be used on one occasion ). That seemed to be it for 'AufPet'.
In 2002, the lads were back, this time in a six-part series for the B.B.C. where they bought, dismantled and sold the Middlesborough Transporter Bridge to a tribe of native Americans. Noel Clarke played 'Wyman', Wayne's illegitimate son. The revival was better than it had a right to be, though the decision to alter some of the characters - most notably Oz - was questionable.
In 2004, they were off to Cuba, but the show seemed to have run out of ideas. Oz's love affair with a ballerina was almost as absurd as Neville being recruited by M15.
They bowed out at the end of that year with a superb two-part special set in Thailand. Though it too was overshadowed, this time by Pat Roach's death. The last scene bought a lump to the throat of any true 'AufPet' fan - Neville, Oz and Dennis bound for Dusseldorf yet again, while Joe Fagin's 'Breaking Away' accompanied the credits. Off the lads went into the pages of television history - gone but definitely not forgotten.
Three Newcastle bricklayers - happily married Neville Hope ( Kevin Whately ), hard-drinking Dennis Patterson ( Tim Healy ) and hard-living Oz Osbourne ( Jimmy Nail ) travel to Dusseldorf where they find themselves sharing a hut with girl chasing Cockney carpenter Wayne ( Gary Holton ), ex-wrestler from the West Country 'Bomber' Busbridge ( Pat Roach ), boring Brummie electrician Barry Taylor ( Timothy Spaull ) and Liverpudllian arsonist/plasterer Moxey ( Christopher Fairbank ). The phrase 'male bonding' might have been invented for 'AufPet'. 'Oz' perversely proved the most popular with viewers, a hard-man blessed with some dubious personal habits.
The show benefited from the fact that the cast were unknowns. Over the course of thirteen weeks, the public grew to love and care about the 'Magnificent Seven'. As a comedy drama it was free to explore riskier areas, such as the time Neville was accused of assaulting a German girl. Other 'guest' characters included the late Michael Elphick as 'Macgowan' whose presence in the hut was like that of the snake in the Garden of Eden, and a young Ray Winstone as 'Colin', a deserter from the British Army. Among the more memorable scenes were the gang's amusement at finding Neville moonlighting as a waiter in an Indian restaurant, Oz waking up after a drunken night to find himself back in Newcastle, Barry and Wayne attempting ( and failing ) to chase two airline stewardesses on a motorcycle, and the destruction of the hut by fire in the final episode.
After the first season ( I.T.V. tried to replicate its success with a show about fishermen, entitled 'Eh, Brian? Its A Whopper!' It flopped ), talk was rife of a movie version with the lads helping to rebuild the Falkland Islands following the war between Britain and Argentina. This was abandoned ( but alluded to in the first episode of the second series ). Instead they found themselves working on a derelict mansion in the English Countryside, where they came into conflict with the snobbish locals, most notably landlord Arthur Pringle ( Brian Pringle ). Bill Paterson was brilliant as gangster 'Ally Fraser'. For the remainder of the series, they were in Spain. The second run was overshadowed by the tragic death of Gary Holton from a drugs overdose. Though Wayne managed to be in every major scene, his absence was still noticeable ( a double had to be used on one occasion ). That seemed to be it for 'AufPet'.
In 2002, the lads were back, this time in a six-part series for the B.B.C. where they bought, dismantled and sold the Middlesborough Transporter Bridge to a tribe of native Americans. Noel Clarke played 'Wyman', Wayne's illegitimate son. The revival was better than it had a right to be, though the decision to alter some of the characters - most notably Oz - was questionable.
In 2004, they were off to Cuba, but the show seemed to have run out of ideas. Oz's love affair with a ballerina was almost as absurd as Neville being recruited by M15.
They bowed out at the end of that year with a superb two-part special set in Thailand. Though it too was overshadowed, this time by Pat Roach's death. The last scene bought a lump to the throat of any true 'AufPet' fan - Neville, Oz and Dennis bound for Dusseldorf yet again, while Joe Fagin's 'Breaking Away' accompanied the credits. Off the lads went into the pages of television history - gone but definitely not forgotten.