Viewers have urged the BBC to bring back Goodnight Sweetheart after the one-off return was deemed a huge success.
Nicholas Lyndhurst reprised his role as time traveller Gary Sparrow in Friday night’s revival of the British sitcom.
The special BBC1 episode – written by original creators Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran – beat the opposition in the ratings with 3.7 million viewers (19.5% share) and a peak of four million.
Goodnight Sweetheart (BBC/Retort/Scott Kershaw)
Gardeners’ World on BBC2 was watched by 2.4 million, Lady C And The Castle on ITV attracted 2.2 million and Eight Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown on Channel 4 got 1.6 million.
Young Hyacinth, a prequel to Keeping Up Appearances, which was broadcast straight after Goodnight Sweetheart, was watched by 3.4 million viewers, a peak of 3.5 million and a 17.8% share.
No decisions have yet been made about making a full series of the sitcom, commissioned as part of a season of one-off specials celebrating the heritage of BBC comedy.
Young Hyacinth (BBC/Colin Hutton)
Both shows received a warm response from fans following the return of Are You Being Served? which was panned by viewers, and Porridge.
Nicholas’s former co-star in Only Fools and Horses, John Challis, was among the viewers who enjoyed Goodnight Sweetheart.
John, who played Boycie in Only Fools and Horses, wrote on Twitter:
Good to see Nick Lyndhurst doing what he does best.#GoodnightSweetheart
— John Challis (@BeingBoycie) September 2, 2016
Comic Jason Manford also heaped praise on the episode.
Just caught up with #GoodnightSweetheart on BBC1. Would be surprised if that's not a full series soon. Nice to see 'em back.
— JasonManford (@JasonManford) September 3, 2016
Goodnight Sweetheart ran for six series on BBC One.
Nicholas last played Sparrow, a former TV repairman and accidental time traveller who leads an extraordinary double life, 17 years ago.
Other fans also called for the return of the show.
Oh that was wonderful. Like catching up with old friends. @bbccomedy please please please please PLEASE make more!!!! #GoodnightSweetheart
— Ben (@Benjysays) September 2, 2016
If the BBC don't commission a new series of #GoodnightSweetheart, they're crazy.
— Chuck Thomas (@chuckthomasuk) September 2, 2016
Viewers also praised the performance of Kerry Howard as a young Hyacinth in the prequel to Keeping Up Appearances.
Derren Litten, who wrote the return of Are You Being Served?, approved:
Thought @THEKERRYHOWARD was sensational in #YoungHyacinth – the show beautifully shot, gorgeous soundtrack, should have been on an hour.
— Derren Litten (@DerrenLitten) September 2, 2016
With some work here and there, that could be a cracking Sunday night comedy series #YoungHyacinth
— Guy Lambert (@GRALambo) September 2, 2016
wait is Kerry Howard actually Patricia Routledge from the past??? This is insane 😂😂😂 #YoungHyacinth
— Ryan Love (@RyanJL) September 2, 2016
Earlier this year, Keeping Up Appearances’ star Patricia Routledge suggested that she was unimpressed with the idea of the corporation revisiting some of Britain’s best-loved TV series.
“Why are they doing this sort of thing?” the actress, 87, was quoted as saying. “They must be desperate.”
Kerry described her response as “sad”, saying: “I think she should be incredibly flattered that the BBC are paying homage to all these great shows.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel