DVD : Auf Wiedersehen Pet: The Complete Series 3 ( 2001) [1983]

Rating: - Ace
All three series of Auf Wiedersehen Pet were very much "state of the nation" stuff. The first series showed a country crippled by a socialist government, the second series the changes Thatcherism brought and the third one now shows a world changed completely by the post 1989 events. The lads have all fallen on hard luck: Dennis is reduced to chaufeuring a drug dealer around, Neville's marriage is on the rocks and his business is failing, Wayne is dead, Bomber is terminally ill, Moxy wanted by the police (nothing new there) and Barry is married to a two timing Russian gold digger. To regain their self respect (and some money) they embark on a business venture orchestrated by a shady ex-politician ( a thinly disguised Jeffrey Archer). But Auf Wiedersehen is not just about the "state of the nation" but also about men, friendship and loyalty. So although they don't actually make any money they get back together and find themselves. As usual some of it is very funny, most of it very witty but it also shows the modern world in all its uglyness. For example Neville tells an embittered Dennis: This used to be coal mining country. Now half the men have donned a hair net and package airline meals. This story of friendship and camadery of these different characters leaves you feeling good. I don't think that there has ever been anything on TV that shows the nature of man (as opposed to woman) better and with more understanding.

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Rating: - The lads return
When it was announced that Auf Wiedersehen Pet was returning to the screens after 16 years away, there was considerable anticiaption about whether it could reach the heights of the previous series. Thankfully the writers were able to create something that whilst firmly moving the guys into the 21st century also acknowledged the past and ensured that these were indeed the same people we had first met all those years earlier. The writing was also sharper than the second series and the plots were kept moving at a fast pace as is the norm for modern day drama. Wisely the character Wayne is not recast in the series and we are instead introduced to his son Wyman. Although Wyman is considerably younger than the rest of the group, his presence helps ensure that younger viewers will tune in and the series does not suffer from the problems of all teh cast being middle aged. The locations featured are also excellent.

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Rating: - The re-return of the magnificent seven.
Storyline and cast are excellent,we neatly catch up with the gang and once again there up to their necks in trouble.

If I had one quibble,the original series was shot on video-giving the viewer a you-are-there look to the show,here the new series has been given the film treatment,or video made to look like film at any rate,it sometimes can make everthing look a bit too grand,but other than that,this DVD was worth the wait.

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Rating: - Auf Wiedersehen Pet 3 Still Good after all these years!!
As a Geordie I found the third series of Auf Wiedersehen to be brilliant especially after all of these years, alot of programmes have tried and failed but the third series was very entertaining. When it was first broadcast on TV a powercut hit Tyeside and Wearside and it had to be shown again due to the outrage of missing it, so this must say something to the popularity of the programme. The Geordie Boys especially Wor Oz is as funny as ever and still makes the jokes aimed towards our wearside neighbours - sorree!. I strongly recommend you to buy this and keep this in your DVD Collection with Series 1 & 2!

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Rating: - Just Moxey. As in Moby, or � Mantovani �
Mixed reviews - some harsh but pertinent, some unjust. Just like the new STAR WARS trilogy, diehard fans of old can see Nothing Good when their heroes of yesteryear are given a makeover nearly twenty years later. It is futile to compare it to the original. It is a new product. And the target audience is different now. Let's face it, it is very hard - if not impossible - to please everybody, right?

Most of the harsh reviewers seem to have forgotten that the original AUF WIEDERSEHEN PET, shown in 1983, was the product of the truly grim and despairing climate of Thatcher's Britain, especially Up North (remember 'The Boys From The Blackstuff?'). It was a wry social comment set on a shabby building-site in Düsseldorf, and most of it took place around or after sunset; naturally it was mostly dark to 'suit the mood' of the time. Series Two was a lighter-hearted continuation, but set in southern Spain with sunny outdoor scenes - nice 'n bright, etc., again to suit the then-burgeoning mood of a society coming out of a bad recession.

Two decades later, the economy and social climate are a lot brighter again, although Series Three successfully incorporates several of today's bugbears: asylum-seekers, Russian mafia, and drug-dealing. Okay, so one of the actors died and his character cannot be around anymore - but I thought 'Wyman' was both a good successor and a Good Idea to inject some of today's spirit of youth. And, in remembrance, Wayne (Gary Holton) is mentioned at least once in each of the six episodes.

The old characters are still there, of course. Jimmy Nail, especially, obviously relished reviving the loud Oz - "reformed character" or not, his big booming gob is still Oz! Tim Healy still looks permanently constipated as disillusioned gaffer Dennis. Timothy Spall does a good turn as the self-satisfied nouveau-riche entrepreneur, but ultimately self-deluding and garrulous ... well, as 'our Barry! Indestructible 'Bomber' (Pat Roach) unfortunately reminds us that time takes its toll. Hassled-at-home Neville (Kevin Wheately) reflects much of Britain's 'industry' today: his and Brenda's company sell prefabricated houses manufactured abroad via the Internet. And eternally scratching-around Moxey (Christopher Fairbanks) still witters-on in a semi-fantasy world of lines from famous films, beautifully delivered in his Scouse accent.

The dry wit is still there, too. Moxey: "I sold me cello" and "I'm not stupid - just strange." And there was the almost heartfelt anguish of a Tranmere Rovers supporter, forever doomed to exist in the shadow of Liverpool and Everton.

That Eagle-of-the-North thingy is supposed to represent the new spirit of the North, right? (personally, I think that monstrosity looks like something that escaped from a Nuremberg rally) Well, so was AUF WIEDERSEHEN PET Series Three. When it was on TV in the spring of 2002, it was sheer delight throughout! I really think it would not work to have made Series Three grim and dour with a miserable socio-economic sub-message à la 1983, however light-hearted. As Neville succinctly remarked to living-in-the-past Dennis, "This whole area used to be pit villages. Everybody worked for the colliery. [...] Now all the men wear hairnets and pack airline meals. Everything's changed, Dennis - deal with it."

You gotta look ahead; you cannot keep making Model-T Fords, you know ...

Anyway, back to the DVDs. Must concur with Other Reviewers that the two discs are presented as the barest of minimalism - less than the Play All and Episode Selection options is virtually impossible. The odd trailer for Mark Knopfler's CD The Ratpicker's Dream is not even selectable; it was simply part of the last episode. There is NOTHING extra at all, not even the inlay leaflet with chapter listings. Very disappointing that there is, for example, no interview with, or exposé by the writers as to why they decided on this very belated Series Three. No cast interviews or comments. No comments from the Native Americans - how might they have felt to be part of a British cult TV series! Maybe there could have been some short documentary on the Transporter Bridge (which is still in Middlesbrough). Or perhaps just listings of what the actors have done during the past years. There definitely should be more.