This very popular show, running for several years, and six series, in the 1990's finally gave television viewers the chance to think of Nicholas Lyndhurst as someone other than Rodney Trotter. Despite what must have been an overwhelming feeling of typecasting for Lyndhurst from the earlier sitcom it only takes a few minutes viewing of 'Goodnight Sweetheart' to accept him entirely within this role as television repairman Gary Sparrow.
Gary is married to Yvonne and they live a relatively happy, albeit uneventful, suburban life together. This all changes - for Gary anyway - when he accidentally discovers the portal to another dimension of time, which takes him into the wartime streets of east-end London, where (with surprising rapidity) he meets, and falls in love with cockney barmaid Phoebe Bamford. From this moment on Gary is torn between two time zones and two women.
These are the plot basics, within which the show's writers manage to create an impressive array of plot-lines and more than fifty episodes. Needless to say that Gary's somewhat tedious and routine existence is dramatically transformed by this remarkable turn of events, as he spends his days flitting randomly between the two eras, somehow without unduly arousing the suspicions of either woman, despite his far-fetched succession of excuses; none of which causes either Phoebe or Yvonne to suspect that there might be another woman involved in all of this. Obviously neither would suspect the time-travelling talents Gary has acquired, but - women being women - it stretches even the most flexible credibility to imagine that neither would become dubious of their wandering paramour's repeated and inexplicable absences. Still, it is all in the name of comedy, and the cast plays it well throughout.
There is only one person privy to all of Gary's secrets, and that person is his best friend (in the present day) Ron Wheatcroft. Only he is aware of Gary's trans-era philandering - leading eventually to bigamy - and only he truly sees Gary for the essentially selfish, callous and self-centred person that he actually is. Although we, the viewer, regard Gary as the nice guy/hero of it all, this is a man who really only ever thinks of his own requirements and desires, whilst making convenient use of everyone else. Ron is useful to him because he is a skilled printer who can produce the appropriate wartime documentation and five pound notes essential to his luxurious 1940's lifestyle. These - now obsolete - type of fivers were eventually removed from circulation in Britain, precisely because they were too easy for forgers to print; but during WW2 they were still in use; although probably few working-class people ever saw one because of their high value at the time. Meanwhile; back in the '40's Gary takes advantage of Phoebe's naivete and her dimwit (platonic) friend Reg's stupidity, to impress them that he is a secret agent and talented songwriter. This last 'skill' being achieved by the simple (for a time-traveller) expedient of playing classic songs well-known to the viewer, but as yet unheard of several decades in the past. All the while Gary is paying his way with an endless supply of forged banknotes, and buying items at 1940's prices which he takes with him back to him own future-time to sell as semi-valuable antiques.
For the entire duration of the war Gary has it all his own way, as long as friend Ron keeps printing the money for him. Indeed Gary's greed and selfishness even extends to charging rent to Ron when he (Ron) moves into the luxury apartment which Gary still owns in the present day; conveniently forgetting that he was only able to buy it (in the '40's) because printer friend Ron provided the money for him to do so. If not for the charm and light touch provided by Lyndhurst's amiable personality; along with some sympathetic script-writing; this would be a thoroughly dislikeable person when you see the real him. Again, only Ron sees this. In a memorable quote he points out that 'You've got a nasty side to you Sparrow.' How true. Indeed, in one episode Ron even voices the opinion that Gary might actually be a psychopath. This subtext to Gary's personality might appear to be looking rather too deeply into the persona of a sitcom character; but it is obviously something the writers were consciously and deliberately aware of, otherwise why would they have the character of Ron even bothering to voice such thoughts and opinions of his supposed friend. Despite all of his character flaws Gary remains sympathetic to the viewer because of his one saving grace; in that throughout his selfishness, he is, after all, not malicious. He is simply amoral, and taking advantage of the remarkable turn of fate which could only happen in TV sitcom land.
At the beginning of series four there is a significant change of cast on the female side, with Dervla Kirwan (Phoebe) being replaced by Elizabeth Carling, and Michelle Holmes (Yvonne) being replaced by Emma Amos. This is only mildly disruptive to the character of Phoebe, who remains essentially as originally written; but Emma Amos is so significantly different in every way to her predecessor that it is difficult for the viewer to maintain interest (or credibility) in her portrayal of Yvonne. Indeed her persona is so harsh and unsympathetic as compared to her predecessor in the role that one cannot help wondering if this change in character reflects some specific and deliberate intention on the part of the writers, or is simply the result of miscasting, which resulted in this actress/characterisation incompatibility. This stretch in viewer credulity is tested to the limit when Yvonne - quite incredibly - becomes a multi-millionairess virtually overnight as the executive of her self-created trendy health-food/cosmetics business. At this point Gary's affections (and probably those of most viewers also) turn increasingly toward his wartime love Phoebe.
As with many long-running sitcoms the writers ingenuity must have become increasingly strained to create new plot lines. Additional characters make their unlikely appearance; such as newfound friend Noel Coward (excellently played by David Benson), George Formby, Clement Atlee, and, even more improbably, Jack the Ripper. Although generally they manage well in this regard, the stories do tend to become somewhat more fanciful as we approach the final series, and indeed as Gary and 1940's cast approach the end of the war, which eventually, and perhaps inevitably, marks the end of the show; apart from one add-on catch-up episode tacked on some sixteen years after the main run of the show ended. This late addition is tolerable, albeit a bit pointless; but no doubt many fans of the show were happy to get this little extra anyway. It's okay, in its way.
Overall this is an entertaining show. Frequently rerun on British television it is well worth watching if you haven't seen it before. Or even worth watching again to remind you of how much fun it was the first time around.
