So where are those Auf
Jimmy Nail filming Auf Wiedersehen, Pet at Central TV’s Elstree Studios Reporter THIS weekend marks the 35th anniversary since Auf Wiedersehen, Pet first burst on to our TV screens.
Three Geordies, a Brummie, Cockney, Bristolian and a Scouser were living in a hut on a German building site as they escaped unemployment in early-80s Thatcherite Britain.
There would be a further three series – and a TV special – over the following three decades.
But it was the ITV series one, set in Dusseldorf, which best captured the imagination of the TV public.
Central to the group’s on-screen shenanigans were a trio of Geordies – bricklayers Dennis, Oz and Neville – brilliantly played by the relatively unknown Tim Healy, Jimmy Nail and Kevin Whately.
The other major characters were Barry, Wayne, Bomber and Moxie, played by Timothy Spall, Gary Holton, Pat Roach and Christopher Fairbank.
The TV-viewing nation would quickly take them to their hearts.
Some of the action was filmed on Tyneside – although nearly all of the first series was shot in Germany and at Elstree Studios, Borehamwood, in Hertfordshire.
Here we follow their career paths from their early days to where they are now.
Tim Healy – Dennis
Healy was a welder in a factory and served part-time in the 4th Battalion the Parachute Regiment (Territorial Army) before embarking on his acting career.
He struck fame when he played Dennis Patterson in Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, and is still a firm favourite on our screens.
In the early days his roles included Barney Bodger, the blundering handyman in the Children’s ITV series Tickle on the Tum, appearing in Phoenix Nights and then playing Jackie Elliot in the West End musical Billy Elliot.
In 2009, he featured in the BBC drama Waterloo Road as a security guard, Dave Miller, a love interest for Steph Haydock, played by former real life wife, Denise Welch. Healy starred in the third series of the ITV comedy Benidorm playing a cross-dresser Lesley. He later became a regular in the fourth series in 2011.
Healy still plays Gastric in Still Open All Hours and co-founded the Sammy Johnson Memorial Fund, established to support young talent in North East England.
Jimmy Nail – Oz
Nail is an actor, singer-songwriter, film producer, and television writer. He is known for his role as Leonard “Oz” Osborne in Auf Wiedersehen, Pet , his title role in Spender, and his 1992 number one single, “Ain’t No Doubt”.
In 2000 he began work on reviving the Auf Wiedersehen, Pet series, this time for the BBC. It was filmed in 2001 and aired in 2002, with audience figures of over 12 million. Another series saw the brickies holed up in Cuba, and the final two-hour instalment, set in Laos, broadcast over Christmas 2004 attracting over seven million viewers.
After the first two series of Auf Wied- ersehen, Pet, Nail found himself typecast before creating the detective series Spender, which he co-wrote with Ian La Frenais.
In 2008, Nail created and starred as Phil Parker in Parents of the Band, a BBC1 series.
He appeared with Madonna and Antonio Banderas in the film Evita (1996), directed by Alan Parker and adapted from the musical. Two years later, he costarred in the film Still Crazy. He played the role of gamekeeper Rabbetts in the film Danny, the Champion of the World, based on the novel of the same name by Roald Dahl.
His work has resulted in five BAFTA nominations, a Golden Globe nomination, an Ivor Novello nomination and numerous others.
Kevin Whately – Neville
Whately is primarily known for his role as Robert “Robbie” Lewis in the crime dramas Inspector Morse and Lewis, his role as Neville “Nev” Hope in Auf Wied-