After the huge success of the last Auf Wiedersehen, Pet series it seemed inevitable that creator Franc Roddam would want to bring the boys back for a fourth time

The creator of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet says the next series, due to be screened on BBC1 next year, will be the best. And, in case you doubt Norton-born Franc Roddam's prediction, bear in mind the faith he had in bringing it back to British TV screens after a 15-year gap.

He declared his hand while travelling back to London by train with other BBC executives, including BBC1 boss Lorraine Heggessey, after his Pet project was launched in Newcastle.

"They were all thinking, 'if we can get six million viewers, we'll be thrilled'. I was very blase and said 11 million. They all laughed at me," recalls Roddam.

"If you look at the two highest-ranking things on TV, Coronation Street and EastEnders, they're blue collar dramas. They're not about the emergency services, like the police or hospitals, which people think is the surest thing to put on TV.

"I thought we could get massive viewing figures like them with Pet, partly because audiences have been starved of the kind of dramas they want. Normally, it's all detectives and doctors."

Viewing figures proved him right, as the return of Pet attracted more than 11m viewers, representing nearly half the available TV audience at the time.

Now Roddam and Dan Waddell give an insight into the making of the series in a new book, The Auf Wiedersehen, Pet Story -That's Living Alright.

The series returned after the rights reverted back to Roddam. By coincidence, shortly afterwards he met Jimmy Nail, who made his name as Pet's Oz, in the street. Roddam revealed his plans to revive the series and Nail said he'd be in it. Eventually, all the original cast signed up, apart from Gary Holton, who died while filming the second series.

For Roddam, the revival provided an opportunity to take a more active role in the production than on the first two series in the 1980s. "I had the inspiration and put the team together. Then I was directing a Hollywood picture and had to concentrate on that," he says.

This time round he's taken a more active role creatively, and been on the set during filming. The two new series were also made through his company Eiji, which also makes BBC1's current Canterbury Tales series.

Roddam used his own experiences to shape the story that saw the Pet team's return in the third series.

"I had an idea about selling the Transporter Bridge in Middlesbrough, where I grew up, and I'd made a film about an Indian reservation. So I put those two elements together," he says.

He and Nail wrote a 160-page story "bible". Then original writers Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, who are now based in Los Angeles, came aboard to write the six-part series. When ITV turned down the project, the BBC snapped it up.

Given the high ratings, a sequel was inevitable. "TV has changed so dramatically now. They need recognisable brands if they're to have good budgets and sales," he says.

"Once you've established a 47 per cent share of the audience, which didn't fall below 42 per cent over the series, that's a phenomenal amount.

"It wasn't difficult at all. Dick and Ian got really inspired. When we did series three they were content for Jimmy and I to lead the way as we were still in touch with our English roots. This time pride kicked in and they said, 'we're coming up with the story'."

The new series finds the Pet team working on rebuilding the British Embassy in Havana in Cuba.

"Can you imagine Oz and Fidel Castro?," asks Roddam, who's keeping quiet about further details of the plot. "You have to have a bit of the North-East in the series but this new one is quite a surprise. I'm really knocked out by it."

The revived series has sold to Australia, New Zealand, Canada and - "for some reason" - to Slovakia, as well as playing on the BBC channel in America. "It's essentially a British thing, and watched by a lot of ex-pats abroad," he says.

"We did think of doing a series in Australia but, because we'd done America, it was too similar in a way. There are a lot of similarities between Geordies and Aussies."

Roddam is doubtful that a fifth series will happen. "Getting these actors to stay together for so long has been fantastic, but I don't know if we can do it again," he says.

He's recently returned to America, looking for finance for his next movie project, which is based on an African-set novel about the effect of war on children.

There's talk too that another very different series he created, Masterchef, may return to TV screens. The BBC dropped it after producing a revamped version presented by Gary Rhodes. "There has been some interest in bringing it back. It's another brand people love. It had phenomenal viewing figures for 11 years," he adds.

COMPETITION

The Northern Echo has copies of The Auf Wiedersehen, Pet Story - That's Living Alright (BBC Books, £16.99) for three winners of a competition. To enter, tell us what is the first name of the character Oz, Leonard or Lionel? Send your answer, together with your name and address, to Pet Competition, Features, The Northern Echo, Priestgate, Darlington DL1 1NF. Closing date is next Wednesday, October 15.

Published: 11/10/2003