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GOODNIGHT SWEETHEART |
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Series Overview
Gary Sparrow - Nicholas Lyndhurst Yvonne Sparrow - Emma Amos Phoebe Bamford - Elizabeth Carling Ron Wheatcroft - Victor McGuire Reg Deadman - Christopher Ettridge 
OTHER GOODNIGHT SWEETHEART SEASONS Season 1 Season 2 Season 3 Season 4 Season 5 OTHER SCIENCE FICTION COMEDIES 3rd Rock From the Sun Red Dwarf Clone Hyperdrive Supernova no Heroics Quark OTHER TIME TRAVEL SHOWS Timecop Doctor Who Daybreak Journeyman 
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Series OverviewThe sixth series of this time travelling sitcom is also the last, but you wouldn't know it from any episode except the last. Gary Sparrow is still juggling two wives, one becoming a successful nightclub singer and the other a charity celebrity following the takeover of her successful business last time around. Everybody is present and correct. Nicholas Lyndhurst keeps managing to keep the central character likeable despite not being likeable. Victor McGuire's maintains loyal standy friend Ron and Christopher Ettridge is the the stupid Reg Deadman. Elizabeth Carling takes hasn't got a lot to do as Phoebe and Emma Amos even less as Yvonne. So it's business as usual except that this series has slightly more in the way of science fiction (evil doubles, time technicians, travelling even further back by entering the portal in the wrong direction, Jack the Ripper in the modern day) and less about the war (since it's heading towards VE day by this point). Over its six seasons, GOODBYE SWEETHEART proved to be popular despite being quite weak comedically. Though it might merit a footnote in the history of science fiction, it won't linger long in the memory. TopMine's a DoubleGary's marriage in the present is coming apart at the seams whilst his wife in the past is also getting annoyed with him. When he is struck by lightning as he passes through the portal, an evil twin is created who takes over running both his lives and does a better job of it. The concept of people being split into their good and bad sides is nothing new in science fiction and this episode does nothing new with it either. It is a bedroom farce of lookalikes coming in one door and out the other, catching each other where they shouldn't be and causing double takes from the rest of the cast. On the stage this might be funny, but on the TV it really isn't. The casting of Yvonne as the bad guy in Gary's present marital problems gives us a few hints as to where this series might be going. TopAll About YvonneUnable to deal with the problems in her marriage any longer, Yvonne kicks Gary out the house and his life. At the same time, Phoebe hears some things that make her wonder about Gary's other life as a spy. Shocked by this turn of events, he is forced to try and find a way to win his modern wife back. Gary finally gets his comeuppance as Yvonne chucks him out. It's something the character has deserved for a long time and we can't say that we didn't enjoy it. It's also nice to see Ron enjoying his life for a change as well. What hasn't changed is the humour, which remains patchy at best and nonexistant at worst. TopCalifornia Dreamin'Both Phoebe and Yvonne decide that the time will soon be right to move to California. Gary manages to distract Phoebe by taking over a nightclub in which she can be the headlining singer, but his other wife seems determined. This episode is a more laugh-free zone than it has been of late. The sequence of Reg's retirement party is unnecessarily painful to watch and puts a downer on anything that comes after it, even if it is a rare case of Gary thinking of someone else's feelings for a change. TopGrief EncounterPhoebe gets a chance to appear in David Lean's adaptation of Noel Coward's BRIEF ENCOUNTER, leaving Gary with some panic about being recognised for both his face and 'his' songs. In the present, Yvonne finds that her business is now under threat from her unscrupulous partner. There's not a lot to laugh at in this episode with all the characters going through one crisis or other and nobody, including the audience, having a good time. Gary tries once again to explain the paradox of time travel to Ron and it is one of the most inept explanations yet put on screen. But then that's the point. At least the recreation of the film set is pretty authentic. TopThe 'Ouses In BetweenWith Gary still struggling to keep things together with both wives, he goes down Duckett's Passage from the other end and finds himself in a London of another time, a time when the captital was being terrorised by a serial killer known as Jack the Ripper. GOODNIGHT SWEETHEART becomes the latest in a long line of science fiction tinged shows to have a dalliance with the Ripper known as Jack. It just seems that the genre doesn't know how to leave him alone. Still, the plot twist is playful and takes us away from the weekly dip in Gary's marital problems and it is his meeting of Reg and Yvonne's doubles in the new time that cause the most fun and interest anyway. Unfortunately, the comedy aspect continues to underperform. TopJust in TimeThe arrival of a technician from the future to seal a destabilising time rift leaves Gary forced to make a final decision as to which side of the rift he is going to spend the rest of his life. There is more dramatic meat in this story as Gary is finally forced to make a decion between his wives, but also when he is faced with the stark reality of what that is going to mean for his future life. The discussion between Ron and the technician as to the nature of time is as close as the show has come to any real science. The comedy aspect also improves here with more laughs than the show has come up with in a long time. TopHow I Won The WarWith Yvonne spending her new money on every charity imaginable, Gary and Phoebe have time to go on a tour of the troops in Belgium with an entertainment troupe. They get lost and end up behind enemy lines with Gary as ranking officer. Gary gives a stirring speech cobbled together from a number of sources in an otherwise poor attempt at comedy. It takes longer to get to the Belgium plotline than it does to play out and none of it is very funny. TopSomething FishieRon's contemplating suicide, but Gary's more worried about the two gangsters that are threatening Phoebe's nightclub. This episode is marked out once again by the hero's complete disregard for a friend in need. His treatment of a pal who is thinking about killing himself is despicable, which undermines any attempt at making anything he does or says even remotely funny. TopFlash, Bang, WallopYvonne is accepted onto the judging panel for a literary prize and is given a book about the life of Noel Coward in which appears a photograph of the great man with his arm round 'close personal friend' Gary Sparrow. Gary has to go to great lengths to stop her from seeing the photograph or the game will be up. Another peril of time travel sneaks into the show, but it doesn't bring with it a strong enough situation to raise the comedy to any remarkable level. TopAccentuate the PositiveLocal MP (and future Prime Minister) Attlee opens a boy's school in the East End. Whilst there, an attempt is made on his life, which is foiled by Gary. When he returns to the time portal, he finds that it is closed, possibly forever. In the present, Ron has to explain to Yvonne why she saw Gary disappearing in the shop's back yard. Yvonne finally finds out about Gary's time travelling in this, the last ever episode of GOODNIGHT SWEETHEART, but as a finale to an entire season it's all a bit flat. The expected confrontation between Yvonne and Gary is sidestepped and the attempt on Attlee's life is never properly justified. Who wanted it and why it was done never being properly clear. It's also an attempt that is foiled by Gary giving a simple warning rather than some act of heroism. The final moments attempt for some sort of nostalgia and sadness, but is a rare acting mis-step Nicholas Lyndhurst fluffs the last line. It really is time to say GOODNIGHT SWEETHEART, but there are unlikely to be tears in the eyes. Top |
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