Trivia / Auf Wiedersehen, Pet

• Actor-Inspired Element: Oz's grimy underpants actually belonged to Kevin Whately. He was washing his car with them at the set and producers thought that they would be perfect for Oz.
• Actor-Shared Background: Jimmy Nail had done a spell of manual work in Germany himself, before filming the series.
• Acting in the Dark: In "Home Thoughts From Abroad", the cast knew that Neville would be discovered working as a waiter in the Indian restaurant, but they didn't know that he would be wearing a turban and Nehru jacket; Oz's uncontrollable laughter was genuine.
• California Doubling:
  • Most of the scenes taking place in Düsseldorf were filmed in Hamburg (hence the Hamburger Hochbahn being visible in some scenes, and many cars having Hamburg (HH, for Hanseastadt Hamburg) licence plates. Scenes set at the construction site were filmed in England, but the German setting was meticulously recreated to the point that German bricks were imported for use on set because they were a different size from British bricks.
  • Many of the scenes shown in the second season set in Newcastle, Wolverhampton, Derbyshire and even one in Spain were in fact filmed in Nottingham.
  • For the final season, despite extensive negotiations between The BBC and the Cuban Government, it was not possible to obtain permission to film in Cuba, so it was actually shot in the Dominican Republic.
• Cast the Runner-Up: Jimmy Nail won the part of Oz after auditioning for a walk-on part in the show.
• The Cast Showoff: Jimmy Nail, a former nightclub singer who had had a UK hit single after series 1, was given a chance to display his singing in the second series.
• The Character Died with Him:
  • Following Gary Holton's death, Wayne's role in the rest of the series was filled by Noel Clarke as his illegitimate son, Wyman. The final episode of Series 2 opens with a spoken dedication to Holton's memory by Tim Healy.
  • Pat Roach (Bomber) was terminally ill when shooting began for the 2004 Christmas specials, and died that July. In the series, Bomber is said to have retired, and the other six raise a glass in his honour during a restaurant scene, toasting, "To Bomber!" A dedication to Roach's memory appears at the end of the final episode.
• Creator Backlash: Jimmy Nail wrote in his autobiography that he felt the second season lacked the gritty edge of the first. Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais agreed - on the DVD Commentary, Clement said the season was much more contrived in getting and keeping the gang together, and La Frenais said he felt the gang weren't trapped together enough. In particular, he felt the Spanish episodes were too luxurious for the gang, which reduced the impact of the series.
• Creator's Favorite Episode: Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais named "Marjorie Doesn't Live Here Anymore" as their favourite episode of the second season because it was "drab and grey looking", and "added some meat to Oz's character".
• Died During Production: Gary Holton (Wayne) died of a drug overdose during filming of the second season. He had filmed all of his outdoor scenes but had to be written out of some of the indoor scenes (generally by having a character remark that he was out with a girl). In other scenes, he was played by a double.
• Executive Meddling: According to early scripts, the second series was supposed to end with Oz winning the Spanish lottery. But ITV wanted the ending changed to one that was more dramatic like the hut burning down in series one.
• Inspiration for the Work: Franc Roddam got the idea for the show after he returned to his Teeside home to find that many of his friends were working abroad on German building sites.
• The Other Darrin: Two of the kids from Series 2 were recast for the Revival:
  • Neville's daughter Debbie was played by Kevin Whately's actual daughter Catherine, before being recast with Danielle Davison.
  • Oz's son Rodney was played by Barry Hollinshead in his one appearance in "Majorie Doesn't Live Here Anymore", before being recast with Mark Stobbart.
• Real-Life Relative: Some of the actors' families also starred in the series. Tim Healy's wife Denise Welch appeared as Jean, the new resident of Oz's flat. Kevin Whately (Neville) starred with his daughter Catherine Whately, who played his on-screen daughter Debbie in the second series, and with his wife Madelaine Newton, who played Dennis' girlfriend Christine Chadwick. Jimmy Nail's son Thomas Bradford-Jones also has a small part as Sir James and Celestia Palmer's son Henry in series two, as did his sister Val McLane who played Dennis' sister Norma.
• Recycled Title: The episode title "Another Country" was used in both the original '80s run and the 2000s Revival.
• Wag the Director: There was no love lost between executive producer Allan McKeown and Jimmy Nail. McKeown said that Nail was a 'nightmare' to work with during the second series and that Nail suddenly thought he knew everything there is to know about filming and would often demand his lines be changed and would tell the director how to film a scene. McKeown confessed that during the filming of the second series, he thought Jimmy Nail had become an "arsehole". The pair never spoke to each other from 1985 right until McKeown's death in 2013.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Caroline Hutchison was set to reprise her role as Dennis' wife Vera in series two but was forced to withdraw shortly before filming began after being diagnosed with cancer (which claimed her life a few years later). Her lines were hastily rewritten for Val McLane, who played Dennis' sister Norma, and her part in the later episodes was rewritten for a new love interest for Dennis, Christine, played by Madelaine Newton.
  • A third series set in Russia was planned during the 1980s but was cancelled due to Gary Holton's death. This premise was briefly used at the beginning of season four.

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