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''Goodnight Sweetheart'' is a British science fiction
time travel Time travel is the concept of movement between certain points in time, analogous to movement between different points in space by an object or a person, typically with the use of a hypothetical device known as a time machine. Time travel is a w ...
sitcom, starring
Nicholas Lyndhurst Nicholas Simon Lyndhurst (born 20 April 1961) is an English actor. He began his career as a child actor and became best known for his role as Rodney Trotter in the sitcom ''Only Fools and Horses'' (1981–2003). He also had major roles in other ...
, created by Laurence Marks and
Maurice Gran Maurice Bernard Gran (born 26 October 1949, in London, England) is an English writer and one half of scriptwriting duo Marks and Gran. He co-wrote the sitcoms ''The New Statesman'', '' Birds of a Feather'' and '' Goodnight Sweetheart'' with La ...
, and produced by the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
. The sitcom is about the life of Gary Sparrow, an accidental
time travel Time travel is the concept of movement between certain points in time, analogous to movement between different points in space by an object or a person, typically with the use of a hypothetical device known as a time machine. Time travel is a w ...
ler who leads a double life through the use of a
time portal Time portals are doorways in time, employed in various fiction genres, especially science fiction and fantasy, to Time travel, transport characters to the past or future. They differ from Time travel, time machines in being a permanent or semi-p ...
, which allows him to travel between the
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
of the 1990s and the London of the 1940s during the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. The sitcom's creators, who also created '' Birds of a Feather'' and ''
The New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members ...
'', wrote most of the plots for the episodes. The sitcom premiered on
BBC 1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
on 18 November 1993 and ran for six series until its conclusion on 28 June 1999, with repeats after this date being aired on ITV3,
Gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...
,
Drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...
, Yesterday and
Forces TV The British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS) provides radio and television programmes for His Majesty's Armed Forces, and their dependents worldwide. Editorial control is independent of the Ministry of Defence and the armed forces themsel ...
on Sky Digital. Lyndhurst's involvement in the sitcom allowed him to win the Most Popular Comedy Performer at the
National Television Awards The National Television Awards (often shortened to NTAs) is a British television awards ceremony, broadcast by the ITV network and initiated in 1995. The National Television Awards are the most prominent ceremony for which the results are voted ...
in 1998 and 1999. On 2 September 2016, the sitcom received a one-off special entitled ''Many Happy Returns'', following events after the final episode. The sitcom itself later received a musical adaptation in 2017, while plans for a sequel by Marks and Gran remain active as of 2022.


Premise

''Goodnight Sweetheart'' is about the life of Gary Sparrow (
Nicholas Lyndhurst Nicholas Simon Lyndhurst (born 20 April 1961) is an English actor. He began his career as a child actor and became best known for his role as Rodney Trotter in the sitcom ''Only Fools and Horses'' (1981–2003). He also had major roles in other ...
). In 1993, Gary works as a TV repairman, who struggles with his life and the marriage to his ambitious wife Yvonne, while being best friends with Ron Wheatcroft, a printer whose marriage is on the brink of collapse. On attending a TV repair call-out in London's
East End The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...
, Gary accidentally discovers a
time portal Time portals are doorways in time, employed in various fiction genres, especially science fiction and fantasy, to Time travel, transport characters to the past or future. They differ from Time travel, time machines in being a permanent or semi-p ...
at ''Duckett's Passage'', which leads to
war time The history of standard time in the United States began November 18, 1883, when United States and Canadian railroads instituted standard time in time zones. Before then, time of day was a local matter, and most cities and towns used some form ...
London. The incident leads him to encountering Phoebe Bamford, a pretty barmaid who works in the "Royal Oak"
pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...
, her father Eric who runs the pub and Reg Deadman, a dim-witted but friendly policeman. The meeting with Phoebe leads Gary to strike up a relationship with her and on finding he can use the time portal to travel between this time and the present, uses it to continue seeing Phoebe. To ensure his visits do not interfere with history, Gary brings in assistance from Ron as a confidant, to aid him with problems and to supply him with 1940s five-pound notes and
identity documents An identity document (also called ID or colloquially as papers) is any document that may be used to prove a person's identity. If issued in a small, standard credit card size form, it is usually called an identity card (IC, ID card, citizen ca ...
. Gary soon finds himself leading a double life as a result of using the time portal. When visiting Phoebe, he explains his absences through working as a
secret agent Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangib ...
, using his knowledge of future wartime events to his advantage in the deception, while also claiming to be a singer-songwriter, passing off modern pop songs as his own and supplying many items from the present that were
rationed Rationing is the controlled distribution of scarce resources, goods, services, or an artificial restriction of demand. Rationing controls the size of the ration, which is one's allowed portion of the resources being distributed on a particular ...
in wartime Britain. When with Yvonne, Gary initially claims his absences to be major call-outs for his work but after quitting his job in 1995 to buy and run a shop called "Blitz 'n' Pieces" – selling goods he acquires in the 1940s as rare memorabilia, to maintain access to the time portal in the present – he uses it to lie that he has to be absent to conduct buying trips for stock. Over the next five years, life for Gary is further complicated by his relationship to the two women. Phoebe eventually takes over the running of the Royal Oak after the death of her father Eric, later marrying Gary, despite him committing bigamy. The pair's marriage results in them having a son, Michael, before moving into a luxury flat in
Mayfair Mayfair is an affluent area in the West End of London towards the eastern edge of Hyde Park, in the City of Westminster, between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane. It is one of the most expensive districts in the world. ...
, with Reg becoming a doorman in their building after retiring from the police. Although Yvonne becomes pregnant, only to suffer a miscarriage in the process, she later manages to become a success with her organic
beauty products Cosmetics are constituted mixtures of chemical compounds derived from either natural sources, or synthetically created ones. Cosmetics have various purposes. Those designed for personal care and skin care can be used to cleanse or protect ...
, opening a company and transforming into a millionaire, allowing her and Gary to own a luxury apartment. Ron later faces a divorce, losing both his home and control of his printing company, adding to Gary's problems, who eventually allows him to have the lease for his Mayfair flat in the present. During his time in the past, Gary has encounters with several historical figures, including
Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...
,
George Formby George Formby, (born George Hoy Booth; 26 May 1904 – 6 March 1961) was an English actor, singer-songwriter and comedian who became known to a worldwide audience through his films of the 1930s and 1940s. On stage, screen and record he s ...
and
Noël Coward Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time'' magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and ...
, while also dealing with some of the peculiar effects of time travel during various trips. ''Goodnight Sweetheart'' eventually concludes in 1945 during
VE Day Victory in Europe Day is the day celebrating the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces on Tuesday, 8 May 1945, marking the official end of World War II in Europe in the Easter ...
. In 1999, Yvonne becomes suspicious of Gary's frequent absences and follows him to the shop, where she witnesses his disappearance through the time portal. Gary later becomes trapped in the past when the portal closes after he saves
Clement Attlee Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, (3 January 18838 October 1967) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955. He was Deputy Prime Mini ...
from an assassination attempt by poisoning. He later deduces that it was his destiny to travel back in time with the purpose of saving Attlee's life and the portal closed because he had fulfilled this purpose. Gary is resigned to the fact that he is forced to stay with Phoebe and their son, though he writes a message behind a strip of wallpaper of his Mayfair flat, knowing that Ron is redecorating it in 1999. Gary’s writing appears before Ron and Yvonne in real time advising him to tell Yvonne everything. He does so off camera and Yvonne advises him that she no longer wishes to have any contact with him, which he accepts. The final episode of the original series cuts to Yvonne standing at the gates of Blitz 'n' Pieces, wondering whether or not they would meet again, before being joined by Ron. In 1945, Gary is standing in Duckett’s Passage, wondering the same, before being joined by Phoebe and Michael.


Many Happy Returns

In the one-off 2016 special, Gary is still married to Phoebe as they live through the 1960s with their son Michael, who is now a teenager. Gary, missing the modern world, decides to visit the hospital where his younger self is being born but inadvertently encounters his father who faints, leaving him to hold his younger self. The incident causes Gary to be thrown into the future in the 2010s, arriving in the men's toilets of a trendy burger joint in east London, where his former shop was. During his visit, Gary meets Yvonne, now a multimillionaire investor, with Ron as her tenant in the basement. To his shock, Gary learns that Yvonne got pregnant before the closure of the time portal in 1999 and that he now has a 16-year-old daughter named Ellie. After meeting her, Gary contemplates living a double life again, upon finding a new time portal has opened, hoping to get to know his daughter, whilst still maintaining his life in the 1960s.


Episodes

A total of 59 episodes were made, including a Christmas special in 1995 and a special in 2016. Marks and Gran, the creators, wrote the first series; many later episodes were written by other writers. As in Marks and Gran's sitcom ''Get Back'', most episodes of ''Goodnight Sweetheart'' — and the programme — were named after popular song titles, others being derived from film titles. The show is named after the song " Goodnight, Sweetheart", a popular song of the 1930s and 1940s, popularised by
Al Bowlly Albert Allick Bowlly (7 January 1898 – 17 April 1941) was a Mozambican-born South African– British vocalist and jazz guitarist, who was popular during the 1930s in Britain. He recorded more than 1,000 songs. His most popular songs includ ...
in 1931; it was later sung by Nick Curtis as the series signature tune. During one episode Gary and Phoebe refer to Bowlly's death during the Second World War. Because of a script-editing error, two episodes (series one, episode six and series four, episode two) were both titled "In the Mood". There is no special connection between these two episodes.


Cast


DVD releases

All six series and the 1995 Christmas Special have been released on DVD in the UK (Region 2) with edits made to certain episodes, the Christmas special was released on the third series DVD. The first five series have been released in Australia (Region 4). * Note although the 2016 special "''Many Happy Returns''" has not been released onto DVD it was released digitally September 2016 on
BBC Store BBC Store was a video on demand store that launched in the UK on 5 November 2015 and opened the BBC Archive to consumers, allowing them to buy episodes or series of a show and download them (using dedicated BBC Store apps). BBC Store was approve ...
.


Future

The show's writers and producers have stated they have received thousands of emails and letters regarding the show wishing for its return to the small screen. Laurence Marks and
Maurice Gran Maurice Bernard Gran (born 26 October 1949, in London, England) is an English writer and one half of scriptwriting duo Marks and Gran. He co-wrote the sitcoms ''The New Statesman'', '' Birds of a Feather'' and '' Goodnight Sweetheart'' with La ...
have both stated that while there are no plans to bring the series back, it might possibly come back if the musical is made and is a success. On 5 July 2016 it was announced that the show would be returning to
BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...
for a one-off special, as part of the BBC's "landmark sitcom season". Unlike the original series, which was filmed in London, it was filmed and produced at dock10 studios, in
Salford Quays Salford Quays is an area of Salford, Greater Manchester, England, near the end of the Manchester Ship Canal. Previously the site of Manchester Docks, it became one of the first and largest urban regeneration projects in the United Kingdom fol ...
. Marks and Gran wrote the script and Lyndhurst returned to the role of Gary Sparrow. The special episode aired on 2 September 2016 on BBC One. It received overwhelming praise by fans of the show and was trending on Twitter for eight hours after it been broadcast. Marks and Gran announced on Twitter on 6 October that the BBC had passed on making a new series.


Musical

Since 2014 there has been talk of ''Goodnight Sweetheart'' being turned into a musical and in December 2017, dates for the long anticipated stage musical were announced. This jukebox style musical would feature well-known songs from the 1940s and 1980s with the world premiere taking place at the
Brookside Theatre The Brookside Theatre is a 194-seat studio theatre situated in the centre of Romford in the London Borough of Havering, Greater London. The theatre was established in 2012 and plays host to many full scale theatre productions; musicals and pla ...
, Romford in September 2018.


References


External links

*
''Goodnight Sweetheart''
at the
British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...
* * * {{British Comedy Guide, tv, goodnight_sweetheart
''Goodnight Sweetheart''
at British TV Comedy Guide 1993 British television series debuts 1999 British television series endings 1990s British comedy-drama television series 1990s British comic science fiction television series 1990s British romantic comedy television series 1990s British sitcoms 2010s British comedy-drama television series 2010s British comic science fiction television series 2010s British romantic comedy television series 2010s British sitcoms Adultery in television BBC comedy-drama television shows BBC romance television shows BBC science fiction television shows BBC television sitcoms British romantic drama television series British time travel television series English-language television shows Television series about marriage Television series by Fremantle (company) Television series set in the 1940s Television shows set in London Television shows shot at Teddington Studios World War II television comedy series