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If you think back to television programmes in the 1980s there's not too much to get excited about, and if you were one of those 10,806,000 viewers who tuned into ITV on Friday 11 November 1983 at 9pm then you would've been forgiven if you thought Auf Wiedersehen, Pet was a German language programme.

The idea of three Geordies, an ex-pyromaniac Liverpudlian, the UK's most boring Brummy, an ageing Bristolian wrestler and a Cockney chippie, all being played by largely unknown actors, didn't exactly conjure ideas of a smash hit programme. However the outstanding characterisation and brilliant storylines written by La Franais and Clement and the interplay between the actors on-set proved Auf Wiedersehen Pet was a classic in the making. Gary Holton was Casanova Wayne Norris, Tim Healy played the anchorman Dennis Patterson, Timothy Spall played boring Barry Taylor, Jimmy Nail played "Oz" Osbourne, Pat Roach was ex-wrestler Bomber Busbridge, Christopher Fairbank was Moxey and Kevin Whately played the forever hen-pecked Neville Hope. Little did they know at the time, but la Frenais and Clement had just created not only the most famous comedy/drama of the 1980's, but a programme that would be a landmark for British television. Thirteen episodes of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet were commissioned which allowed enough time for both the storyline and the audience to build.

The first series of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet ran between 1983 and 1984 with viewing figures steadily rising and topping the 14 million mark, Ian la Frenais and Dick Clement had a huge hit on their hands and they had just written television history. The true-to-life storylines were believable, capturing the reality of honest working men screwed by the system. As for other members of the cast, both Michael Sheard and Peter Birch who were British, played the parts as site managers Herr Grunwald and Herr Ulrich perfectly. Governing the building site in a typical German manner, and having constant run-ins with the British workforce from Hut B. Michael Elphick, who later starred in ITV's "Boon" played hard man McGowan and Caroline Hutchinson played Dennis' estranged wife Vera Patterson.

In early 1984, and with the show becoming more and more popular, it aroused the interest of the tabloid media. Auf Wiedersehen, Pet was appealing to the working class so with stories appearing in The Sun and the Daily Mirror it was excellent promotion. Further proof of the popularity of the show was the theme tune, "That's living alright" sung by Joe Fagan, reaching number three in the chart in January 1984. After the run of thirteen episodes had finished the British public wanted more. There had to be a second series of the show and in February 1985 filming began on Auf Wiedersehen Pet 2. The cast were no longer unknowns. Auf Wiedersehen, Pet was a huge hit and had turned all of the Magnificent Seven into stars in their own right and the pressure to come up with high quality material to match, or even surpass, the original was great. Ian la Frenais and Dick Clement duly obliged and again wrote another thirteen episodes of brilliant comedy/drama.

The story began three years on and the lads from Hut B had each gone their separate ways, and it was left to Barry to reunite the lads with an SOS call to renovate his soon-to-be marital home in Wolverhampton. During the series the magnificent seven completed building work for Dennis' Glaswegian gangster boss, Ally Fraser. Renovating the run-down Thornley Manor in Derbyshire and turning it into an old folks home. They had hilarious scenes with Brian Pringle, who played Arthur Pringle, the surly ex-RAF landlord of the Barley Mow. Filming also took the cast to the hot Mediterranean sunshine when Ally Fraser instructed Dennis and the lads to complete building work on his swimming pool at his luxury villa on the Costa Del Crime in southern Spain, with the Spanish police tracing Fraser's every move. Playing Fraser's girlfriend "Vicki" was 27 year old Lesley St John. Speaking in 1985 Lesley said "Vicki is streetwise though but she doesn't know big words and Ally is always putting her down. I wouldn't stand for that in real life!". It was during Vicki's scenes with Oz that Lesley's real-life partner advised her to wear an extra pair of knickers during the filming of a bedroom scene. "It's a passionate scene if you think that Oz's unshaven chin, string vest and socks are passionate" said Lesley sardonically "I could never strip you can't imagine the trouble they've had even getting me into a bikini. It's my legs I'm worried about..."

It was towards the end of filming in the Autumn of 1985 that sadly Gary died. In many ways he was inseparable from the fictitious Wayne and it said a great deal for the loyalty the cast members had developed for each other that a further series, tentatively to be set in Russia renovating the British Embassy, was never made. It just wouldn't have been the same without Gary, or Wayne...

In February 1988 it was reported that a long-awaited third series of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet was rolling into production and the filming of six brand new episodes was going to begin in the July. Speaking at the time, Kevin Whately said "We are all keen to do it. I imagine that the storyline will start off in Newcastle then go somewhere exotic". However, the plans came to naught and it was fifteen years after Gary's death that the news broke that Jimmy Nail was in talks with the BBC to resurrect the show in 2000. Auf Wiedersehen, Pet 3 hit our screens in April 2002 with Gary's character being taken over by new recruit Noel Clarke who played Wayne's son "Wyman". Wyman joined the magnificent seven with the news of his Father's passing from heart defect, so it was left to Wyman to fill the shoes of the Don Juan of Tilbury.

As for Gary, he gave us the brilliant portrayal of cockney Casanova Wayne Norris and it was also a legacy for which he will never be forgotten by Auf Wiedersehen, Pet fans.

AWP out takes

Below are four bloopers taken from the filming of Auf Wiedersehen Pet, huge thanks to Darren Kirsop-Frearson for providing the clips. Click on the screen shots below to view the movies

AWP sound clips

Here we have 17 sound samples of Wayne at his best, taken from Auf Wiedersehen Pet. The samples are all in .WAV format - simply click 'play' to listen to each one.

Many thanks to Virgil for letting us use the clips taken from his AWP Sound Site

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