Nicholas Lyndhurst will bring accidental time traveller Gary Sparrow into the 21st century as Goodnight Sweetheart returns to TV.
Goodnight Sweetheart is the latest classic BBC show to be revived for the broadcaster’s landmark sitcom season, which also features revivals of comedies including Are You Being Served?, Porridge and Keeping Up Appearances.
Nicholas Lyndhurst as Gary Sparrow with co-stars Elizabeth Carling and Emma Amos (PNR)
The 90s sitcom, which ran for six series, follows former TV repairman Gary who leads an extraordinary double life after discovering a time portal leading to Second World War-era London.
After 17 years away from the character, Only Fools And Horses star Lyndhurst will return for a one-off special episode.
Show creators and writers Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran have promised their script sees Gary go somewhere he has never been before.
Nicholas Lyndhurst will return to Goodnight Sweetheart (Daniel Leal-Olivas/PA)
Marks and Gran 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.”
The landmark sitcom season, set to begin in the autumn, marks 60 years since Hancock’s Half Hour moved to BBC Television.
Porridge is also returning (PA)
Shane Allen, controller of BBC Comedy Commissioning, said: “The whole sitcom season is geared towards giving comedy royalty their due recognition and in Goodnight Sweetheart we have heavyweight 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.”
Executive producer Jon Rolph 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.”
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