Creators of the beloved time-travel sitcom starring Nicholas Lyndhurst say they would bring back the show

A cherished BBC comedy starring an Only Fools and Horses legend may be set for a return.

The much-loved time-travel sitcom, Goodnight Sweetheart, has been off air for a decade. The series ran on BBC One between 1993 and 1999, with Nicholas Lyndhurst portraying accidental time traveller Gary Sparrow.

Through a time portal, Gary maintains parallel lives with two women: his wife, Yvonne, in 1990s London, and barmaid Phoebe in 1940s London amidst World War II.

The show returned with a one-off special, Many Happy Returns, in 2016, as part of the BBC’s Landmark Sitcom Season, drawing nearly 5 million viewers.

Now, co-creators Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran have revealed they would resurrect the series for another standalone special to conclude the narrative – assuming they received a suitable proposal, reports the Mirror.

Laurence told The Sun: “If we were asked by the BBC, ‘Would you do a one-off?’ and we rang Nic and the girls, they would probably say yes. ‘But they’d want to know that they’re playing the ages they are. We would only do it if we had our cast.”

Maurice added, “If anyone on TV suddenly found a few million quid they want to find a home for, then we could make it.”

Notably, the writers already have material for another special, having penned the programme’s final episode as a novel. Due for release in May, Goodnight Sweetheart: Many Happy Returns picks up just before the events of the 2016 special, which took place in spring 1962, when Marilyn Monroe famously sang at President Kennedy’s birthday gala.

This creates complications for Gary: upon first meeting his wartime love, Phoebe, he had told her that the woman he’d left behind in Los Angeles was none other than Marilyn Monroe.

In addition to Goodnight Sweetheart, Laurence and Maurice have collaborated on The New Statesman, Birds of a Feather, and the comedy drama Love Hurts.

Maurice previously revealed that the BBC’s decision to commission the Goodnight Sweetheart special, marking 60 years of comedy, prompted him and co-creator Laurence to revive the characters, according to the Daily Mail.

He explained, “In 2016, we were asked to revive it. The BBC were doing a number of tributes to classic comedy. We found a way to bring him back again, which I thought was quite fun, and it was a good show; it was a well-received show.

“Unfortunately, the BBC decided they didn’t want to do a series of it, which was extremely annoying, because we had the whole cast and they were really up for it, Nick was up for it.

“It was great and it made us think that maybe we’ll do something in another medium because we had a lot of good ideas for it.”

SOURCE: WALESONLINE