BBC Goodnight Sweetheart

BBC Goodnight Sweetheart was a BBC comedy starring Nicolas Lyndhurst that originally aired between 1993 and 1999. It came back for a one-off special episode in 2016 that focused on events after the shows original ending.

In the sitcom Nicholas Lyndhurst stars as time travelling Gary Sparrow. Gary stumbles across a time portal taking him back to World War 2 London. Over the original 6 series Gary travels between present day and war torn London and eventually ends up married to two different women on either side of the time portal.

The Royal Oak Filming Location

In the 1940’s parts of the series the show focuses on The Royal Oak pub run by Gary’s girlfriend and future wife. The external shots for the 1940’s parts of the show were largely filmed around The Royal Oak in Bethnal Green. The Royal Oak is still a pub in present day but very different inside. The interiors for the show were filmed at BBC Studio’s.

Take a Walk down Duckett’s Passage with Google Street View

The 1990’s Entrance to Duckett’s Passage

The modern day entrance Gary Sparrow used to under Duckett’s passage was off Shipton Street, and the passage is called Ezra Street as shown below.

Blitz & Pieces Filming Location

The exterior for Blitz & Pieces was filmed on Pitfield Street, London. The unit used is currently occupied by V.B. Stores as shown in the interactive map below.

Special Episode – Series 7 Episode 1

During the comeback episode, the portal to the modern-day has changed and see’s Gary now entering 2016, 17 years since he last returned in 1999, into the toilets of the Hoof and Claw cafe. The external shots of the cafe and of Gary getting confused by the change of use of telephone boxes was filmed at Hoxton Market shown below.

Later in the episode, after Gary discovers he has a daughter, he bumps into her at the bus stop. This was filmed on Arlington Square, with a temporary bus stop was placed next to the bin as shown in the images and virtual map below.

BBC Goodnight Sweetheart A walk back to the 1940’s

A few years back I went to visit The Royal Oak. Here are a few of the photos I took from around the area.

BBC Goodnight Sweetheart

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1 thought on “BBC Goodnight Sweetheart”

  1. The interiors were recorded at Teddington Studios, Shepperton Studios and MediaCity in Salford. Television Centre wasn’t used for this sitcom.

    Reply

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