Fans loved the return of Goodnight Sweetheart for its one-off special and want to see more
Viewers have urged the BBC to bring back Goodnight Sweetheart after the one-off return on Friday night was hailed a huge success.
Nicholas Lyndhurst reprised his role as time traveller Gary Sparrow in last night's revival of the British sitcom.
The special BBC1 episode – written by original creators Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran – beat the opposition in the ratings, gaining 3.7 million viewers (19.5% share) and a peak of four million.
Gardeners’ World on BBC2 was watched by 2.4 million, Lady C And The Castle on ITV attracted 2.2 million and Eight Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown on Channel 4 got 1.6 million.
Young Hyacinth, a prequel to the comedy hit Keeping Up Appearances, was broadcast straight after Goodnight Sweetheart and was watched by 3.4 million viewers, a peak of 3.5 million and a 17.8% share.
No decisions have yet been made about making a full series of Goodnight Sweatheart, commissioned as part of a season of one-off specials celebrating the heritage of BBC comedy.
Both shows received a warm response from fans following the return of Are You Being Served? which was panned by viewers, and Porridge.
John Challis, who is Nicholas’s former co-star in Only Fools and Horses, was among the viewers who enjoyed Goodnight Sweetheart.
John, who played Boycie in Only Fools and Horses, wrote on Twitter:
Comic Jason Manford also heaped praise on the episode.
Goodnight Sweetheart ran for six series on BBC One.
Nicholas last played Sparrow, a former TV repairman and accidental time traveller who leads an extraordinary double life, 17 years ago.
Other fans also called for the return of the show.
Viewers also praised the performance of Kerry Howard as a young Hyacinth in the prequel to Keeping Up Appearances.
Derren Litten, who wrote the return of Are You Being Served?, approved:
Earlier this year, Keeping Up Appearances’ star Patricia Routledge suggested that she was unimpressed with the idea of the corporation revisiting some of Britain’s best-loved TV series.
“Why are they doing this sort of thing?” the actress, 87, was quoted as saying. “They must be desperate.”
Kerry described her response as “sad”, saying: “I think she should be incredibly flattered that the BBC are paying homage to all these great shows.”
