Auf Wiedersehen, Pet: They're back, older if not wiser

By GREG DIXON

Too many old television hits - from The Forsyte Saga to The Brady Bunch - have escaped from where they belong, our memories, and been reworked for the box or the big screen over the past decade.

Now this fashion for recycling the great and the grating delivers a third series of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet (TV One, 8.40pm).

Old fans will no doubt be trembling with fear as well as anticipation. How could a show which provided a real if comic insight into the true cost of Thatcher's Britain be revived in bland Blair country? Like the mass unemployment from which its story sprang, Auf Wiedersehen was surely of its time.

But nearly everyone who made the first two series (1983 and 1986) so wonderfully memorable - including creator Franc Roddam and writers Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais - have returned.

As it turns out, its resurrection was down to chance. Original cast members Kevin Whately (Nev), Jimmy Nail (Oz) and Tim Healy (Den) revived their old characters for a charity show in 2000. Clement and La Frenais penned a few new scenes. Everybody had a blast.

Roddam, who has the rights to the show, got wind of all this and pitched a new series to the BBC (it originally screened on ITV).

The Beeb was wary.

"When the idea of bringing Auf Wiedersehen, Pet back was first broached, I thought it would be a glorified trip down Memory Lane," said BBC head of drama serials Laura Mackie.

"But this series takes the characters on a new journey, and it works on its merits."

British viewers agreed. Around 12 million tuned in for the first episode in April, and nearly all the reviewers praised it.

Whately, who like all the other living cast members leapt at the chance to recreate the part that launched his career, got a bit of shock when he saw what the years had done to his old acting pals.

"When the new series was announced they printed photos of the original series next to pictures of the new one. It horrified me seeing those baggy faces staring out."

The years haven't been kind to the characters, either. As they come together for another job (involving a bridge, Arizona and mystic Indians), Den is driving a drug dealer around in his cab, Moxey's a kitchen hand for a crook and Nev has tax troubles.

Only Barry has done well, making millions with his "import/export" business.

The first episode, while a little slow as it brings us up to date, suggests the old crackling wit is still there.

Will the renewed acclaim have the lads signing up for a fourth series? Never say auf wiedersehen, pet.