not as good as all the hype

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

'Goodnight Sweetheart' was one of the classic British sitcoms from the 1990's. It was on in a decade where we enjoyed 'One Foot in the Grave' 'Men Behaving Badly' and 'Father Ted' Though quite rightly, the seventies is regarded as the golden era of British sitcom, the nineties were also right up there in my opinion.Gary Sparrow (Nicholas Lyndhurst) is just an ordinary man. He's a TV repairman. He's married to the sarcastic Yvonne (Michelle Holmes) and his best mate is Ron (Victor McGuire). One day, he is called to a place called Ducket's Passage, he goes down the road and he time travels back to 1940's London, where the Blitz is taking place. He goes into a pub called the Royal Oak. The Landlord is Eric(David Ryall) and he owns the pub with his daughter Phoebe (Dervla Kerwin). Gary begins dating Phoebe in war time London, posing as an MI5 agent. This leads to him stuck between two worlds. The second series begins with the news Eric has died in an air raid, so pub regular and policeman PC Reg Deadman (Christoper Ettridge) begins working in the pub part-time. However though it looks as though Gary's time travelling life could be over come the third series, when workmen start building on Ducket's Passage. He has to wait until the shops they are building are built and he opens a shop called 'Blitz and Pieces' where he sells War memorabilia he picks up from the 1940's for practically nothing and sells them. Series four sees Gary and Phoebe marry, so Gary in some ways becomes a bigamist and Phoebe also gives birth, so Gary has a Son named Michael. Series five sees Yvonne become a multi millionaire and Gary and Phoebe buy a flat up west and live a floor below Noel Coward (David Benson). As Gary owns the flat, Ron moves into it in the present day. The final series sees the whole saga resolved and Gary gets stuck in 1945.The fourth series saw two major cast changes with Michelle Holmes and Dervla Kerwin leaving and being replaced by Emma Amos and Elizabeth Carling. I did prefer Holmes as Yvonne than Carling as Holmes was a bit more sarcastic. Yet it didn't really effect the series that much as without doubt the later episodes were the best. Nicholas Lyndhurst was outstanding as Gary, as was Victor McGuire as Ron and Christopher Etteridge as Reg.The later episodes were the better ones in my opinion, as the plots became much more adventurous and led to some of the best episodes. It is little surprise therefore to see the classic episodes appearing in the latter half of the sitcom, such as 'The Leaving of Liverpool' where Gary and Phoebe visit Phoebe's Grandmother in Liverpool. A great two parter was 'We Don't Want to Lose You' followed by 'But we think we're going to have to' where Gary has to take on the Nazi's with the help of the French resistance. Another classic was 'The 'ouses' Between Us' where Gary goes through the wrong time gate and ends up in 1888 and he solves why Jack the Ripper was never caught. But the best episode for me was 'When Two World's Collide' where Phoebe ends up in the 1990's and there's a brief moment where she meets Yvonne. The episode after due to an uncontrolled time gate sees Ron in the 1940's much to Gary's annoyance.Due to it being a romantic sitcom, not every episode was hilarious though all were well written, with wonderful plotting and many episodes were very funny and led to pain in laughter. Yet it was also full of dramatic moments as well, such as when Gary meets Reg in 1998 where he is suffering from dementia. Another very sad moment was when nobody attended Reg's Police retirement party. It was very sad for me as by that point Reg had emerged as my favourite character in the series.'Goodnight Sweetheart' continues to get repeated on ITV3 and all the episodes can be enjoyed on DVD. It is a classic sitcom in my opinion. You also learn a lot as well from a Historical point of view. If I could be any sitcom character, I would be Gary Sparrow, being able to time travel with two women on the go would be awesome.

When happily married TV repair man, Gary Sparrow (Nicholas Lyndhurst), asks a policeman for directions to a customer's house, he inadvertently walks down an alleyway and straight through a time barrier.Oblivious at first, and still lost, he enters The Royal Oak public house and observes the period decor and costume, assuming he has walked into a "Theme Pub". But he soon realises he's somehow travelled back into the past. When an air raid begins, he finds himself in the Landlord's cellar with other regulars and also the Landlord's attractive daughter, Phoebe.The two become close when Gary performs "miraculous" first aid on Phoebe's father and he agrees to return and pay her a visit. To his relief, Gary finds he can travel at will between the 1940's and the 1990's via Duckett's Passage - and both lives become often perilously intertwined.In order to access the passage with greater ease, Gary leases a new shop in a new, nearby complex and fills it with war memorabilia which he easily acquires from his other life. To survive in the 1940's, his 1990's friend, Ron, a printer, forges wartime monetary notes and he passes as an important war worker (spy).Neither his modern wife, Yvonne, nor his wartime sweetheart, Phoebe, are aware of his double life and this leads to some hilarious near misses.Gary impresses the Royal Oak customers with his renditions of modern popular songs which he claims he wrote himself whilst maintaining his bogus spy career with advanced war information which he learns from his present day history books.Almost every possible scenario is covered, making each episode truly entertaining. Highly recommended if you like nostalgic, wartime Britain.

Goodnight sweetheart is one of the most underrated British comedies to date.Brilliant plot, superb characters and the story lines get better and better as the series goes on.Perhaps people's perceptions of this great show are tainted by the fact Nicholas Lyndhurst plays the main character as people still see him as "Rodney".In GNSH Lyndhurst is able to show what a great actor he is unlike his previous one dimensional character in "Only fools…" He is joined by a great cast which really makes the show more enjoyable to watch.It is light hearted, foolhardy and slapstick.If you're interested in time travel and comedy then this is for you.If you love British comedy then this is for you.Awesome! I wish it would make some kind of comeback.I'm in the process of writing a "spin-off" of the show based on Gary Sparrow's grandson for a university assignment. How amazing it would be if something like this actually came true!

This is a lovely, gentle comedy. Nicholas Lyndhurst proves his versatility in his portrayal of Gary Sparrow, a man genuinely torn between two women. The two female leads are also interesting - sarcastic Yvonne, dynamic yet insecure and practical Pheobe, strong but also insecure. Despite the fact that he is a cheat, you find yourself sympathising with Gary's situation. He loves and needs both women, and his struggle is agonising. Some of the episodes are a bit predictable, but even this is forgivable and the series as a whole is well worth a watch. The music, clothing and behaviour of the characters is nostalgic, touching, funny and sad all at once. Fabulous!