In this celebrated comedy-drama, seven itinerant British builders find camaraderie and chaos while seeking work in Europe and beyond.
In the grip of a recession, seven unemployed construction workers from different corners of Britain independently travel to Düsseldorf to find work. They are the reluctant leader Dennis Patterson (Tim Healy); the abrasive loudmouth Leonard “Oz” Osborne (Jimmy Nail); the naive newlywed Neville Hope (Kevin Whately); the cheerfully neurotic Barry Taylor (Timothy Spall); the philandering cockney Wayne Norris (Gary Holton); the taciturn plasterer Albert Moxey (Christopher Fairbank); and the gentle giant Brian “Bomber” Busbridge (Pat Roach). Thrown together by circumstance, they end up sharing a squalid hut on a German building site, forging a fractious but enduring friendship. The second series finds them reunited in Britain, undertaking renovation work for Newcastle gangster Ally Fraser (Bill Paterson), a job that takes them from a country estate to a villa in Spain and embroils them in his criminal affairs. Sixteen years later, the surviving members of the group reform for a series of new adventures, beginning with a scheme to move the Middlesbrough Transporter Bridge to Arizona.
Few programmes captured the social landscape of 1980s Britain with the same raw authenticity as Auf Wiedersehen, Pet. Created by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, the serial was a direct response to Thatcher-era mass unemployment, sending a new “Magnificent Seven” into economic exile. Its genius was to filter the grand subjects of class, regional identity, and masculinity through the small-scale squabbles of its well-drawn archetypes. The comedy arose from cultural clashes and character flaws, but it was always grounded in a profound sense of pathos for a generation of men whose skills were no longer wanted at home. The hugely successful BBC revival reintroduced the characters to a new century, cementing the programme’s status as a key text of modern British television.
Broadcast: ITV – Central, 26 Episodes, 11 November 1983 – 13 June 1986; BBC One, 14 Episodes, 28 April 2002 – 29 December 2004
Creators: Dick Clement, Ian La Frenais, Franc Roddam
Written by: Dick Clement, Ian La Frenais
Producers: Martin McKeand (ITV), Joy Spink (BBC)
Theme Music: “That’s Livin’ Alright” performed by Joe Fagin
Main Cast: Tim Healy (Dennis Patterson), Kevin Whately (Neville Hope), Jimmy Nail (Leonard “Oz” Osborne), Timothy Spall (Barry Taylor), Christopher Fairbank (Albert Moxey), Pat Roach (Brian “Bomber” Busbridge), Gary Holton (Wayne Norris), Bill Paterson (Ally Fraser), Bill Nighy (Jeffrey Grainger)
