Auf Wiedersehen, Pet

Get It Right - this must be the best TV Comedy-Drama of all-time! From the origins of it's classic first series in 1983 and it's equally enjoyable and 'troublesome' second series through to the welcoming third and fourth series after a 16-year gap, and the final special in 2004 - it's all such glorious stuff from a cast and crew of brilliant writers, directors and actors.

The characterisations are superbly crafted and it's very hard not to love these guys who at one point represented the turmoil of Maggie Thatcher's working-class Britain. There are many wonderful episodes to be viewed throughout the series that not only will have you rolling off the couch, but also reaching for the odd hankie or two.

A much-deserved Award-winner!

Very few things capture a time and spirit as eloquently as this TV series. Germany is the setting for a band of 'brothers' fleeing the mass unemployment and uncertainty of Thatcher's Britain in search of work, money and hope. This TV series contains natural acting, pathos, humour and a gritty realism that manages to combine drama and comedy without an emphasis on sentimentality or bawdy laughs. The series chronicles the debacles of a motley crew of British workers uncertain about Germany, their lives and their futures. Promised a hostel with swimming pool, they end up in a barren hut with no amenities yet friendships are forged and a social life centered on Beck's Beer and brothels ensues. With a memorable soundtrack and performances from relatively unknown actors that inspire, their pursuits become a part of the viewers' lives in a way that very few modern TV series capture. Oz, Dennis, Moxey, Bomber, Barry, Neville and Wayne become personal friends of the viewing public along the way in this story of the working man, ordinary lives and extraordinary situations that although filmed over twenty years ago remain timeless.

I'm writing this 5 episodes into the first BBC screening of the new (third) series. After a 15 year break, I was sceptical that the old magic of this classic series would no longer be there. My fears were unfounded. This is British TV at its very best. The writing is as superb as it ever was back in the 80s. The six surviving main characters, the new seventh `lead' (replacing the late Gary Holton's character, as his son) and all the supporting characters are just excellent. Ten out of ten, no question. I'm taping the entire series and once it finishes I'm going to have a night in with a six-pack and watch the whole lot right the way through again from start to finish. Let's hope that the rumoured fourth series also comes to fruition.

I remember watching the first series of this as a 12 year old boy with my parents and loving every minute of it. 20 years later I own all four series on DVD and still enjoy them as much as I did the first time round. Lets be honest, how many programmes can we honestly say that about?

The first series was pure genius. Relatively unknown actors proving you don't need big names to make some of the most watchable, amusing and heartwarming television around. Since then of course many of the actors have gone on to be household names.

The second series was also great, probably as good as it could ever have hoped to be. The third and fourth series in my opinion aren't as good and I feel have suffered by moving to the BBC. They seem too clean cut and professional, something the lads were never intended to be. However, I still find them very watchable, but that is mainly down to the characters created in the early 1980's.

I doubt there'll be any more episodes now that bomber (the wonderfully understated Pat Roach) is no longer with us. To me this is the end of a TV era.

One of the classic series of the 1980s, 'Auf Wiedersehen, Pet' works well as an ensemble piece, with every character complementing the other - Dennis, the sensible one (Tim Healy), Neville, the nervous one (Kevin Whatley), Barry, the dumb one (Timothy Spall), Oz, the crazy one (Jimmy Nail), Bomber, the tough one (Pat Roach), Wayne, the horny one (Gary Holton), and Moxey, the boring one (Christopher Fairbank). They're brickies on a building site in Dusseldorf, and the interest comes in watching them survive being thrown together.

Two series appeared in the early eighties, with the series being curtailed by Holton's untimely death during recording of series 2. Almost every episode was a winner - laughs, pathos, camaderie, and a real sense of liking of the characters involved. Well written, with a pair of great theme tunes (sung by Joe Fagin), and a good cast of supporting actors (Michael Elphick turns up now and then, Ray Winstone plays an army man AWOL), this drama really couldn't miss.

And the final couple of series reunited all the characters (bar Wayne - we saw his son Wyman, instead) for more laughs and an ultimately touching finale. Highly recommended and, surprisingly, not dated at all.