Wye Aye Man (Auf Wiedersehen, Pet)

Member Name: alirigby

Product:	Auf Wiedersehen, Pet
Date:	23/05/02 (860 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great Cast, Good Script, Generally a great drama

Disadvantages: none

The hit 1980’s drama has recently returned to our screens, BB1 Sunday nights 9-10pm.

Bit of Background:
Auf Wiedersehen, Pet was first broadcast on ITV in November 1983, set in Germany it was about a group of labourers who found work abroad due to the recession; it followed the camaraderie and exploits of the lads as they shared a small, grotty hut on site.
A second series was shown in 1986.


Cast & Characters
The first episode reunites us with the lads and what they’d been up to:

Dennis Patterson – Tim Healy
Divorced twice and very broke, drives a drug dealer around in his cab, living in a small, depressing flat.

Neville Hope – Kevin Whatley
Still married and loyal to Brenda (she still wears the trousers), runs his own business selling prefabricated houses. Has 2 teenage daughters and a young baby.

Leonard Jeffrey 'Oz' Osbourne – Jimmy Nail
Having been in and out of trouble, now lives in a quaint cottage in a village near Middlesborough. Has a scheme to share with the lads.

Brian 'Bomber' Busbridge – Pat Roach
We don’t hear much about what Bomber’s been up to, it’s clear he’s in the best of health.

Barry Taylor – Timothy Spall
His Import/Export business made him a millionaire; he lives in a mansion with his young Russian bride.

Moxey – Christopher Fairbank
Still a petty criminal, he steals a lot of money from the owner of the club he works in and needs to hide.

Wyman – Noel Clarke
This is Wayne’s son, a new character keen to find out about his dad from the gang. Gary Holton who played Wayne died during the filming of the second series.

Brenda – Julia Toben
Neville’s wife, she’s messed up their VAT bill and needs to find a solution.

Jeffrey Grainger – Bill Nighy
Disgraced MP who spent time in
the clink with Oz (who saved him on a number of occasions).
The original cast are more established and famous now, but all fall into their old roles comfortably (particularly Jimmy Nail!).
The series is written by Dick Clement and Ian LaFrenais and directed by Paul Seed.

The Story so far:
Episode One
The first show started showing all the lads meeting at a funeral 16 years since they were all last together. Soon it is revealed that they are paying their respects to Oz. This had me very cross; ‘You can’t have Auf Wiedersehen, Pet without Oz’ I moaned at my fiancé, until it is revealed he isn’t really dead he just knew this was the only way he could get all his all crew back together at the same time!
The old Oz is dead to a certain extent; the new Oz doesn’t drink or fight (not yet anyway!). Oz has recently been released from prison, whilst inside he met Jeffrey Grainger MP who has now approached him with a proposal. He wants to develop the Middlesbrough dockland area and gives Oz the incentive to recruit a team of lads to help remove the transporter bridge which is in the way.
Although they need to find 75k to pay for labour, they look to make around 250k from selling the bridge once it’s dismantled.
Once Oz has got the lads together he puts this to them, eventually they all agree to take part in the venture and raise the cash to fund it; as Dennis is broke they decide to club together to cover his share, they manage to convince him after tracking him down in his cab and confronting the drug-dealer scum he has to drive around.

Episode Two:
In the second episode the gang start work on the bridge; they have some trouble getting their heads around the fact that they’re the bosses now! Their job is made more difficult as the cheap, foreign labour is a mixture of Serbs and Kosovans who absolutely hate each other; they are put to work on opposite sides of the river. Nevill
e is disturbed by the terrible conditions the workers live in, it is then revealed they are actually illegal immigrants smuggled into the country.
Bomber’s health problems are also highlighted when he collapses in the pub, it transpires that he’s on medication and therefore not as indestructible as the lads believed.
The lads soon find out that there may not be a buyer for the bridge, and are faced with the prospect of being broke and left with a lot of scrap metal!

Episode Three:
By the third episode a journalist is on the prowl, investigating the illegal labour, she charms Neville into giving her a story. The whole scheme could be in danger of collapsing, but Brenda (Neville’s wife) comes to the rescue suggesting they give the journalist the papers Moxey stole from his boss, Mickey Startup’s, safe which prove he is the mastermind behind the black market labour.
Oz sees Barry’s wife, Tatiana, in a compromising position with her ‘so called’ brother Kadi; he decides not to tell Barry just yet. Convinced there is something wrong Barry, Dennis and Bomber spy on Kadi as he works at Barry’s factory; they discover that he is using Barry’s business as a cover to smuggle drugs. Barry confronts Tatiana about it, but she doesn’t think it’s an issue.
Oz gets a shock when he goes to see his son Rod sing; he is trying to build some kind of relationship with him, he turns out to be dressed as a drag queen singing in a gay club! Rod admits to Oz that he’s gay, which Oz just can’t accept.
It then turns out that the bridge deal has fallen through and the best Grainger will offer them is 50k and they’ll have to sell it for scrap; the scheme looks like it’s well and truly failed.
Oz is willing to take the blame, but desperately wants to rescue the venture; he puts an advert on the Internet saying ‘ Bridge for Sale’. Amazingly a Native Amer
ican Indian, Joe replies expressing his wish to buy the bridge.

Episode Four:
We meet Joe in fourth episode, he is from Arizona and wants the bridge so that he can provide better access to his tribe’s casino, from which they get most of their revenue. Presently a river lies between the casino and the main road and it can only be reached 50 mile round trip detour, a bridge would shorten the journey and attract more tourists to the casino.
This all sounds great, until the lads find out that they don’t actually own the bridge. Oz happens to be sleeping with Grainger’s assistant Sarah who helps them out. Sarah manages to wangle them a deal with Grainger so that they can buy it from him for 75k and then sell it onto Joe.
Although this sounds like a good deal, not all the lads are in agreement and they don’t like to think that they are conning a good man like Joe who just wants to help his people. They admit their mistake to Joe and tell him to buy the bridge directly from Grainger; Joe can see the injustice the lads have suffered and offers to pay them to go to Arizona and erect the bridge; they will not get a lot of money upfront but they will get a percentage of the casino’s increased revenue over the next five years.
Barry is threatened by Kadi and is luckily saved by Joe who comes across them and brandishes a rather large knife! Oz tells Barry about Tatiana and Kadi being together and the lads get together with Barry at his mansion and confront the pair. Barry demands a divorce and also the use of Kadi’s plane to transport some of the bridge steel to Arizona.
Bomber’s health is of concern to Denis, Bomber insists on going to Arizona as he needs to be ‘part of something’; methinks he may have a nasty disease.
The lads jet off to Arizona (flying on the cold, uncomfortable freight plane) and settle into a desert motel. As they’re relaxing by the pool they are suddenly aw
are that they’re surrounded: by a Drugs Enforcement Agency swat team!
What did Kadi put in their luggage?

Overall:
There is always the worry that it just won’t be the same, however I think this series maintains interest, humour and continues to develop the characters well. The script is witty, intelligent and fresh and the good old Geordie humour is still there. The cast is brilliant and they all work well together, falling into the old roles like an old pair of slippers!
This is a definite high point of a Sunday night, highly recommended.

Summary: