Whistle season. the period detail is spot on (there are some cracking sideburns and rosettes on display) and the emotional impact varies from the warmly tender to the gently funny. A glorious winner.

(Brian Donaldson)

ALSO ON

Maclntyre Investigates lBBCl, Thu 25 Apr, 9pm) The intrepid Irishman returns to the front line.

The Gospel Of Gospel (Channel 4, Sat 27 Apr, 7pm) Mica Paris reveals the stOry of popular churchy music.

Rl:SE (Channel 4, Mon 29 Apr, 6.55am) Scots Edith Bowman and

k rsty Gallacher are among the presenters of tie new breakfast show. The Weakest Link: Music (BBCl, Wed 7 May, 8pm) Risking Annie's wrath are Lesley Garrett. Billy Bragg and Suzi Quatro.

Helen West (Scottish. Mon 6 May, 9pm) Amanda Burton stars as Francis Fyfield‘s feisty Crown Prosecutor.

I Film, music, theatre, comedy, clubs, art, books, gay life, travel, shopping, food, video, comics, internet & tv.

I Out fortnightly on Thursdays and weekly during the Edinburgh

COMEDY DRAMA SERIES AUF WIEDERSEI-IEN, PET 8801, Sun 28 Apr, 9pm 000

I’ve heard a vicious rumour that ITV - the original purveyors of the classic 805 series about English workies abroad - were offered this revival, only to repeatedly turn it down. Could this be something to do with their policy that any programme requiring more than a goldfish’s attention span is not worth commissioning? Or could it be the fear that classic revivals inevitably end up looking desperate and decrepit (see last year’s Only Fools And Horses Xmas outing)?

The Beeb, never proud, and currently lost in an arid comedy desert, snapped it up. The excuse to reunite the erstwhile Nissen-hut dwellers is predictably contrived. Having gathered the lads by issuing invitations to his own funeral, 02 (Jimmy Nail) unveils a dodgy scheme to dismantle and flog the Middlesborough Transporter Bridge.

In the intervening years, only Barry the Brummie (Timothy Spall) has prospered, while the others are still bemoaning the lack of opportunities for ‘artisans’ like themselves. ‘All the men around here wear hairnets and pack airline meals,’ complains Neville (Kevin Whately).

Fans may be disappointed. Wayne the cockney is now sadly deceased, to be replaced by his DJ son Wyman, the pace is slow and the fish-out-of- water premise is gone, making this reunion heavily reliant on our nostalgia for the archetypal team of characters.

Based on the first episode, the comeback retains the slightly melancholic air of the original, without as many of the belly laughs, though these may arrive thick and fast when the action kicks in later. (Allan Radcliffe)

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