Goodnight Sweetheart is coming back with Nicholas Lyndhurst returning to star
The actor will reprise his role as time travelling lothario Gary Sparrow in a special episode of the classic 90s sitcom
Talk about a blast from the past! Goodnight Sweetheart, the much-loved 1990’s British sitcom which ran for six series on BBC1, is returning with Nicolas Lyndhurst reprising his role as time travelling romeo Gary Sparrow.
A one-off special episode is being made as part of the BBC’s landmark sitcom season, 17 years after the show ended.
Lyndhurst's Gary Sparrow is a TV repairman who finds himself leading an extraordinary double life as he time travels between present-day and the Second World War. In the 1990s he is married to ambitious Yvonne but in the war-torn capital he strikes up a passion for a second woman, Phoebe.
Now the original creators, Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran (Birds of a Feather, The New Statesman), have written a brand new script which sees Sparrow face the consequences of his time travel and go somewhere he’s never been before, as Goodnight Sweetheart is about to be catapulted into the 21st century.
The show will be part of the BBC’s landmark sitcom season celebrating the heritage and legacy of BBC comedy over the past 60 years.
The season, which runs in the autumn, will revisit some of Britain’s iconic comedies including Are You Being Served? and Porridge and will also feature Young Hyacinth, a prequel to Keeping Up Appearances.
Marks and Gran, creators and writers of Goodnight Sweetheart, said: “Gary has been trying for the last 17 years to find a way back to the present. Now he’s found one, and he’s asked us to turn it into a TV show, featuring much-loved old Goodnight Sweetheart friends and one or two new ones.”
Shane Allen, Controller of BBC Comedy Commissioning added: “The whole sitcom season is geared towards giving comedy royalty their due recognition and in Goodnight Sweetheart we have heavy-weight writing and performing talents reunited in this hugely popular and fondly remembered show. The conceptual update is sublime and it was heart-skipping stuff to read – it’s an absolute belter.”
Jon Rolph, Executive Producer of Goodnight Sweetheart said: “I’ve long been keen to catch up with the life and various times of Gary Sparrow, so it’s an absolute delight to see Goodnight Sweetheart take its place in the landmark sitcom season”.
