As I've mentioned before, PBS was the source of the vast majority of my UK telly back in the dank and dark epochs before the advent of the blessed interwebs. Though I've since come to see the prodigious limitations of PBS in this regard, I'm ever so grateful for the goodies that it managed to acquire for me. One of those little treats was the fun little show called GOODNIGHT SWEETHEART.
It was an elusive bugger at the time, as the programme slot continued to move about; pre-internet there was no real way to chase it, either. TV guides were nearly useless back in those days. Thus I only managed to catch a few episodes, and it was pushed into the rear of the memory box. I'm not sure that I ever knew the name of the show back then, and as it popped up on occasion over the years, I could remember only the barest details. Well, fairly recently I've seen the entire six-season series, and it is just as fun as I'd remembered! It stars Nicholas Lyndhurst, who plays the accidental time-traveller Gary Sparrow. Gary is basically a nebbish, an average chap with an average job, hanging out with his best mate Ron and being nagged by his bossy wife Yvonne. The thing gets going when Gary, a TV repairman, is on a job in Whitechapel. He takes the wrong turn into an alley, and steps through a time portal back into 1941 during WWII...right in the middle of the Blitz. Thus begins the fun!
Gary wanders in to the Royal Oak pub, where he meets the lovely barmaid Phoebe Bamford, who is presently to become very important in his life, and the amiable but empty-headed Copper Reg Deadman. Gary comes to the realisation of what has happened, makes the prerequisite bumbling anachronistic comments and displays a complete ignorance of the era(which he covers up by implying he's with MI-5, so his answers might threaten "national security"), then goes back through the portal into the 1990s, and takes stock of what has happened.
On his return he tells his friend Ron, a printer by trade, the whole thing. From that point on, Ron is the source of forged period currency, government papers, ration books, and hilarious quips and one liners about Gary's adventures. Things get even more interesting as Gary moves back and forth between time periods, married to Yvonne in one, and developing a relationship with Phoebe in the other, using a WWII history book as a guide. Describing more at this point would say more than I should, as plenty happens that one should discover for themselves. One thing that I will mention is that, starting with series four, BOTH women, Yvonne & Phoebe, are recast with different actresses. It was a bit disconcerting and never quite as satisfying for me after that, but the show remained enjoyable to the end.
I'm a fan of time travel stories and have an interest in WWII Britain, so this show was a big treat for me. I also loved the hilarious complexity of Gary trying to lead a double life, juggling two women and two time periods...it's the most charming time travel comedy set in the 1990's/WWII about a nebbish bigamist that I know of. :)
It was an elusive bugger at the time, as the programme slot continued to move about; pre-internet there was no real way to chase it, either. TV guides were nearly useless back in those days. Thus I only managed to catch a few episodes, and it was pushed into the rear of the memory box. I'm not sure that I ever knew the name of the show back then, and as it popped up on occasion over the years, I could remember only the barest details. Well, fairly recently I've seen the entire six-season series, and it is just as fun as I'd remembered! It stars Nicholas Lyndhurst, who plays the accidental time-traveller Gary Sparrow. Gary is basically a nebbish, an average chap with an average job, hanging out with his best mate Ron and being nagged by his bossy wife Yvonne. The thing gets going when Gary, a TV repairman, is on a job in Whitechapel. He takes the wrong turn into an alley, and steps through a time portal back into 1941 during WWII...right in the middle of the Blitz. Thus begins the fun!
Gary wanders in to the Royal Oak pub, where he meets the lovely barmaid Phoebe Bamford, who is presently to become very important in his life, and the amiable but empty-headed Copper Reg Deadman. Gary comes to the realisation of what has happened, makes the prerequisite bumbling anachronistic comments and displays a complete ignorance of the era(which he covers up by implying he's with MI-5, so his answers might threaten "national security"), then goes back through the portal into the 1990s, and takes stock of what has happened.
On his return he tells his friend Ron, a printer by trade, the whole thing. From that point on, Ron is the source of forged period currency, government papers, ration books, and hilarious quips and one liners about Gary's adventures. Things get even more interesting as Gary moves back and forth between time periods, married to Yvonne in one, and developing a relationship with Phoebe in the other, using a WWII history book as a guide. Describing more at this point would say more than I should, as plenty happens that one should discover for themselves. One thing that I will mention is that, starting with series four, BOTH women, Yvonne & Phoebe, are recast with different actresses. It was a bit disconcerting and never quite as satisfying for me after that, but the show remained enjoyable to the end.
I'm a fan of time travel stories and have an interest in WWII Britain, so this show was a big treat for me. I also loved the hilarious complexity of Gary trying to lead a double life, juggling two women and two time periods...it's the most charming time travel comedy set in the 1990's/WWII about a nebbish bigamist that I know of. :)