Auf Wiedersehen, Pet

Auf Wiedersehen, Pet (German pronunciation: [ʔaʊf ˈviːdɐˌzeːən ˈpɛt]) is a British comedy-drama television programme about seven British construction workers who leave the United Kingdom to search for employment overseas. In the first series, the men live and work on a building site in Düsseldorf. The series was created by Franc Roddam after an idea from Mick Connell, a bricklayer from Stockton-on-Tees, and mostly written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, who also wrote The Likely Lads, Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? and Porridge. It starred Tim Healy, Kevin Whately, Jimmy Nail, Timothy Spall, Christopher Fairbank, Pat Roach and Gary Holton, with Noel Clarke replacing Holton for series three and four and the two-part finale. The series were broadcast on ITV in 1983–1984 and 1986. After a sixteen-year gap, two series and a Christmas special were shown on BBC One in 2002 and 2004.

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Auf Wiedersehen, Pet
Created by	Franc Roddam
Written by	Ian La Frenais (1983–1986, 2002–2004) Dick Clement (1983–1986, 2002–2004) Stan Hey (1983–1986) Bernie Cooper (1984) Francis Megahy (1984)
Directed by	Roger Bamford (1983–1986) Baz Taylor (1983–1984) Anthony Garner (1986) Paul Seed (2002) David Innes Edwards (2004) Maurice Phillips (2004) Sandy Johnson (2004)
Starring	Tim Healy Kevin Whately Jimmy Nail Timothy Spall Christopher Fairbank Pat Roach Gary Holton Noel Clarke
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	4
No. of episodes	40 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Allan McKeown (1983–1986) Franc Roddam (2002–2004) Laura Mackie (2002–2004)
Producers	Martin McKeand (1983–1986) Roger Bamford (1986) Chrissy Skinns (2003) Joy Spink (2002–2004)
Cinematography	Tim Palmer (2004)
Editors	Dave King (2002) Les Healey (2004)
Running time	50 minutes (1983–1986) 60 minutes (2002–2004)
Production companies	Witzend Productions (1983–1986) Central Independent Television (1983–1986) Ziji Productions (2002–2004)
Release
Original network	ITV (1983–1986) BBC One (2002–2004)
Audio format	Dolby Stereo (1983) Dolby Studio (1984) Dolby Mono (1986) Dolby Surround (2002) Dolby Digital (2003) Dolby PRO LOGIC (2004)
Original release	Original series: 11 November 1983 (1983-11-11) – 16 May 1986 (1986-05-16) Revived series: 28 April 2002 (2002-04-28) – 8 February 2004 (2004-02-08) Christmas specials: 28 December 2004 (2004-12-28) – 29 December 2004 (2004-12-29)

In 2000, series 1, set in Germany, was ranked number #46 on the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes in a list compiled by the British Film Institute. In 2015, the 1980s series was voted ITV's Favourite TV Programme of all Time in a Radio Times readers' poll in order to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the station. The show was the subject of the first episode of the BBC documentary series Drama Connections in 2005.