Living
la vida dulce!
The
boys are off to Cuba as Auf Wiedersehen, Pet returns to BBC ONE
on Sunday 4 January 2004 at 9.00pm
 One
of the BBC's most popular dramas of 2002 is back for another series
and the magnificent seven will be reunited again as Auf Wiedersehen,
Pet heads to the Caribbean island of Cuba.
At
the end of the last series, the famous gang of British brickies
drove off into the Arizona sunset with money in their pockets and
clear consciences. Having successfully relocated the Middlesbrough
Transporter Bridge from the River Tees to the Arizonan desert, there's
no job too big for them!
Dick
Clement and Ian La Frenais' new series takes Oz (Jimmy Nail),
Dennis (Tim Healy), Neville (Kevin Whately),
Barry (Timothy Spall), Moxey (Christopher
Fairbank), Bomber (Pat Roach) and Wyman
(Noel Clarke) to the Cuban capital, Havana, to
drink rum, smoke cigars, dance the rumba and live 'la vida dulce!'
Havana
is a city of beautiful Spanish colonial buildings with a faded and
sometimes crumbling beauty. Restoration is fast becoming a priority
and it is for this reason that the gang are employed by the Overseas
Estates Development (O.E.D.) department to rebuild the British Ambassador's
residence in Havana.
A branch
of the Foreign Office, the O.E.D. is responsible for the building,
repair and maintenance of estates abroad.
But
that's not their only mission. While there, one of the team is singled
out to become a British secret agent and becomes 'Our Man in Havana',
following in the footsteps of Alec Guinness who played a similar
role in the 1959 film from the novel by Graham Greene.
Living
in Havana brings a number of surprises: Oz develops an interest
in ballet, Dennis returns to his role as the gaffer, Barry's phone
bill goes through the roof as he can't get through a day without
speaking to his therapist in England, and the rest of the gang swap
their bottles of beer for mojito cocktails.
"The
last series of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet was more popular than we could
ever have imagined, reaching audiences of 12 million," says
Laura Mackie, Head of Drama Serials.
"The
audience have a huge affection for the characters and it's fantastic
that everyone agreed to come back for another series. It's rare
to find a programme that is received with such warmth – we're
really lucky to have it."
Franc
Roddam, executive producer and creator of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet added:
"I think these are the best scripts so far. Dick and Ian have
excelled themselves.
"In
fact, I wish we'd discovered that the Foreign Office had the Overseas
Estates Development department years ago. We could have sent the
boys off building and renovating embassies and residences across
the globe!"
Auf
Wiedersehen, Pet is written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais,
produced by Chrissy Skinns (Jeffrey Archer - The Truth) and directed
by Maurice Phillips (episodes one to three) and David Innes Edwards
(episodes four to six).
The
executive producers are Laura Mackie and Franc Roddam.
In
2002, Auf Wiedersehen, Pet won The National Television Award for
Most Popular Drama and Best TV Comedy Drama at The Comedy Awards.
The
new series starts on BBC ONE, Sunday 4 January 2004, 9.00pm
Salsa,
sun and cigars: Diary of a Cuban adventure
Production
and cast credits
Tim
Healy is Dennis Patterson
Kevin
Whately is Neville Hope
Timothy
Spall plays Barry Taylor
Jimmy
Nail is Leonard 'Oz' Osbourne
Christopher
Fairbank plays Albert Arthur 'Moxey' Moxall
Pat
Roach is Brian 'Bomber' Busbridge
Noel
Clarke is Wyman
The
Pets: Introducing the girls
Facts
and figures
Notes
to Editors
They're
back! And this time they’re off to Cuba as Auf Wiedersehen,
Pet returns to BBC ONE (03.02.03)
All the
BBC's digital services are now available on Freeview,
the new free-to-view digital terrestrial television service, as well
as on satellite and cable.
Freeview
offers the BBC's eight television channels, interactive services
from BBCi, as well as 11 national BBC radio networks.
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