Nicholas Lyndhurst's sitcom Goodnight Sweetheart being revived as a book
'Goodnight Sweetheart' writers Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran are bringing back the time-travelling sitcom - which starred Nicholas Lyndhurst - as a book.
A final episode of sitcom 'Goodnight Sweetheart' is being written as a novel.
The sitcom aired on BBC One between 1993 and 1999 and starred 'Only Fools and Horses' actor Nicholas Lyndhurst as accidental time traveller Gary Sparrow who uses a time portal to lead a double life with two women; his wife Yvonne in 1990s London and barmaid Phoebe in 1940s London as World War II rages.
The series ended in 1999 and was resurrected in 2016 for a one-off special, titled 'Many Happy Returns', as part of the BBC’s Landmark Sitcom Season, attracting almost 5 million viewers.
Now, co-creators Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran have launched a Kickstarter campaign to tell the final chapter in a book, which will also be called 'Many Happy Returns'.
In a statement, the writers said: "Of all the shows we have ever written, 'Goodnight Sweetheart' has the biggest and most devoted fanbase.
"We were thrilled at the audience response to the 2016 special. Like our fans, we want to know what happened next to Gary Sparrow and his two families. And now, Idiot Box are giving us and you the chance to find out!"
The book will pick up just before the events of the 2016 special, which was set in the spring of 1962, when Marilyn Monroe sang at President Kennedy’s birthday party.
The famous rendition of 'Happy Birthday' has ramifications for Gary as when he first met his wartime sweetheart Phoebe, he told her the girl he left behind in Los Angeles was called Marilyn Monroe.
Marks and Gran are responsible for writing some of Britain's best loved TV sitcoms, including 'The New Statesman' and 'Birds of a Feather' and comedy drama series 'Love Hurts'.
Maurice, 75, previously revealed it was the BBC's decision to commission the 'Goodnight Sweetheart' special to celebrate 60 years of comedy that inspired him and co-creator Laurence, 76, to come up with new ideas for the characters.
He said: “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.”
Marks and Gran are trying to raise £30,000 to write and publish the 'Goodnight Sweetheart' book.
