Lost in the East End of London, TV repairman Gary Sparrow walks down Ducketts Passage, through a time warp into 1940. In the Royal Oak pub there, without either gasmask or identity papers, he is suspected of being a spy. His eye is drawn by the barmaid Phoebe, but she is a married woman whose husband is away in the war. In the cellar during an air raid he teaches the pub regulars some songs. He also helps Eric, Phoebe's father, who is injured during the raid. But what will he tell his wife Yvonne, when, and if, he gets home?
Ignoring Yvonne's advice, Gary goes for a promotion interview but does not wear a suit. His friend, Ron, hearing Gary's call to a radio phone-in program, is intrigued to know if he really did travel back in time. After another argument with Yvonne, Gary does buy a suit, though not quite what she had in mind. He returns to Duckett's Passage to see if he can go back to 1940, and what he found there.
Gary & Yvonne argue about her preoccupation with her OU degree course and his obsession with WW2. Warning Phoebe that the bombing will start early that evening, Gary takes her to Holborn Underground station to shelter overnight. When they return to the Royal Oak next morning, he is questioned by the police. Back in their Cricklewood home, Yvonne is worried when Gary fails to return from work that evening.
Gary asks Ron, who is a printer, to forge him some 1940s identity papers. Although he dresses for the part, Ron finds that only Gary can go back to 1940. While walking in a cemetery, Phoebe asks Gary to take her back to the 1990s with him. Back in the 1990s, Ron is angry, and Gary drives all the way to Huddersfield, where Yvonne has gone for her OU degree course, worried that Ron has told her about Phoebe.
Wanting to improve their marriage, Yvonne decides to share an interest with Gary. News of an old lady leads Gary to believe he must return once more to 1940. Ron goes to Lithuania to watch an England football match as a cover. Gary is knocked down and comes to in the hospital with Phoebe & PC Deadman by his bedside. With Gary's stay in 1940 extended, Ron decides to tell Yvonne that Gary has been held by the Lithuanian police.
Gary decides to make another visit to 1940, following an ultimatum from Yvonne. Ron forges some 1940s money so that Gary can make a killing on the Stock Exchange. PC Deadman brings news of the King's visit to East London and Gary arranges to visit the London Hospital. Gary takes Phoebe for a meal at the Savoy to say goodbye, and secretly books the Imperial Suite. Phoebe's father, Eric, brings her some important news. Gary gives Yvonne an unexpected present, and she points out someone who looks rather familiar in an old 1940s newsreel.
Gary returns to the 1940s to try to make a fortune using his knowledge of the future. He finds that there are some changes at the Royal Oak. When he makes an appointment to see the local bank manager, he gets a surprise.
In 1995, Yvonne is thinking about having a family, and wants to move house. In 1941, Phoebe meets someone tall, dark & handsome, and gives Gary a cool reception.
In 1941, Gary faces a court appearance after a drinking bout. It seems he will lose his driving licence and his job. When their marriage looks like it's falling apart, Yvonne decides to seek help. Meanwhile Phoebe is pining for Gary and feeling sorry for herself.
Phoebe invites Gary for a meal, and Yvonne makes plans with him. How can he be in two places and times at once?
When it looks Yvonne may be promoted at work, she wants them to move far away from London. Gary thinks of a risky scheme to get himself out of the situation.
Gary realises that life in 1941 is not what he expected. The water supply is interrupted by a bomb, and he is put on fire-watching duty. Phoebe is incensed to discover that her relationship with Gary is the subject of gossip. But how can Gary go home to 1995, when he has ""committed suicide"" there?
Yvonne becomes an amateur actress and lands a lead role, while Gary only gets a backstage role. Gary decides to do some ""import/export"" between 1941 & 1995 to make some money.
Gary goes back to 1941 to give a concert in Palmer's Green, but only returns home in the early hours. Wix wants to sign a contract with Gary to publish ""his"" songs, which Phoebe thinks is a good idea. When an air raid occurs, it prevents Gary from playing in Plaistow and from returning as he intended to make his theatrical debut? And what were those pills the doctor has prescribed for Gary's nerves?
Gary gets scared when Yvonne thinks they are going to become parents. When he goes to see Phoebe, she is about to go to Buckinghamshire to visit her orphan cousins. Yvonne arranges to make a weekend visit to her mother. Gary goes with Phoebe to Buckinghamshire, but meets someone else, while Phoebe is attracted to a handsome American airman.
Phoebe is told that the brewery have another tenant for the Royal Oak and that she has to leave. When Mr Harrison visits her, he makes a proposition. Building work starts in Ducketts Passage, and a Portakabin blocks Gary's way when he wants to visit Phoebe to wish her a happy birthday.
Gary buys a shop for his new business selling World War Two items, and Ron terrifies the protagonist when suggesting he might have influenced the Americans' decisions over Pearl Harbor. Thus to prevent putting a dint in history, back in the 1940s Gary tries convincing a senior American of the Japanese attack.
When Gary returns from the skiing holiday, he goes to see Phoebe, but makes an error in front of Mrs Bloss. This creates problems for Phoebe, but Mrs Bloss has a secret too. Stella Wheatcroft arranges a New Year's Eve party but doesn't invite Ron. Gary benefits from British Summer Time.
Gary is having some success with his shop, but this makes the unemployed Yvonne depressed, until she gets a job interview. Phoebe becomes broody. Gary makes a trip to Streatham bus garage, which leads to a revelation for PC Deadman.
Gary helps Yvonne with her OU work with a WW2 tale of a Nazi spy and counterfeit money. Ron and Stella are still causing each other grief.
The Ron and Stella saga continues. All seems well with both Phoebe and Yvonne, but while Gary's away the girls get up to things. Gary's nearly late as the belle of the ball. Meanwhile, in the cellar Reg is making a present for Frankie.
Phoebe's young orphaned relatives Sally and Peter return to live with her at the Royal Oak, and Gary has his arm twisted to help on the home front. Ron is still having problems with Stella, and despite Yvonne's unwillingness he moves in, but Gary begins to regret taking pity on him.
The famous entertainer George Formby arrives at the Royal Oak wanting to record one of Gary's songs. Gary has doubts about tampering with history. Stella has a deep discussion with Yvonne about the men in her life.
Yvonne pressures Gary to take a sensible job with her new company, and arranges an interview for him. Gary's life with Phoebe is threatened by a returning hero, so should he forsake the past and stay in the 1990s?
Having missed the interview that Yvonne had arranged for him, Gary pretends to have been taken ill and takes things quietly until Ron comes round to cheer him up. Phoebe becomes ill; can Gary transport medicine back in time? Yvonne has something she has to tell Gary.
Gary is put out when the Americans arrive at the Royal Oak. As Gary owes Ron a favor, he sets up a deal to import some American goods from 1942. An episode of racial tension requires Gary to take some drastic action.
Both Yvonne and Phoebe want to move house, but moving is the least of Gary's worries, as he is hit by bombshells in both his lives.
With both his ladies expecting babies, the demands on Gary's time become greater, but not as great as those on his wallet.
It seems that Gary may not be the only one who can go back to 1942.
Gary plans to go on holiday with Phoebe while Yvonne is away on Korea, but then he receives a visitor.
Yvonne's absence isn't making Gary's life any easier as Ron needs his help, and Phoebe's mother-in-law turns up at the Royal Oak.
Gary is in wartime Liverpool with Phoebe, where Ron's grandfather was supposed to have been a hero, but will the course of history be changed?
Gary is preparing for Yvonne's return from Korea, but an unexpected arrival at the Royal Oak could cause him even more trouble.
Yvonne swaps careers, Phoebe plans the wedding and Reg's domestic problems threaten his job.
Can Gary cope with two stag nights?
Will Gary be on time for his wedding to Phoebe?
Gary is rapidly running out of money.
Phoebe doesn't think Gary should be at the birth. Yvonne is about to launch a new health product. Gary is at a loss for what to do.
An unexpected wartime bomb hits Ducketts Passage and blows Gary and his son into to the present. Yvonne returns early from Switzerland, her holistic cosmetics business becoming increasingly successful, and Gary has to explain away the lad's existence when they bump into each other at Ron's. Meanwhile, Gary & Phoebe consider moving to Mayfair, which should be safer, and find they have a famous neighbor.
Gary is moving up the social ladder in both eras, though not smoothly in either. Noël Coward helps Phoebe to cope with living in the West End when she has trouble with the butcher, by showing her how to improve her accent. As Yvonne's business makes her a celebrity, she plans a new house, and is invited to the Woman of the Year awards, which is followed by a party at No 10 Downing Street. Gary and Phoebe get their revenge on the butcher.
Ron signs up with a dating agency. Yvonne makes a date with Gary, but when an unexploded bomb goes off in Ducketts Passage he has a problem. It is so serious that Ron misses his date to come to help. The two sides of Gary's life collide head on, and it appears that now others can travel between the 1940s and the 1990s.
Ron takes advantage of the new ability to use the time gate, and as Gary's supposed commanding officer can do anything he wants. Since Reg has been promoted to a position in Scotland Yard, Ron takes everyone to a West End club to celebrate, but becomes a huge liability for Gary. Unfortunately, Yvonne obtains complimentary tickets to a Chelsea soccer match for the very same evening.
When Gary runs short of money, he decides he must break his own rules to get out of trouble, and starts betting on the horses. Phoebe is distraught, as her father was a gambler, and repeatedly tries to dissuade him.
Yvonne continues to travel for Nature Boy Cosmetics. Gary takes Phoebe to the Cafe Royal, where his false wartime identity finally catches up on him, and he is recruited for a secret mission to the Isle of Wight. However, Yvonne also has a special mission for him. When he arrives at his destination in 1943, the Isle of Wight looks remarkably like France.
Gary realises that he is only being used as a ploy to fool the Germans. As the Gestapo closes in on him, he is captured and is to be sent to Berlin for torture, unless he can escape first. Ron stands in for Gary on an errand for Yvonne: meeting a top model, and escorting her to a product launch - but they get sidetracked.
Gary is very unsettled after his French adventure, and he feels like he's losing his mind: he can't tell whether he's awake or asleep, dreaming or experiencing reality. Then Rolf Harris appears in one of his dreams...
Yvonne is signing copies of her just published autobiography. Meanwhile, Gary finds out from the porter in the 1990s that the owner of his 1940s West End flat is going to be killed in a road accident - what is he to do? He finds a new occupier. Then, racked with guilt, he decides to cause a happier ending.
Phoebe wants to make a career of singing, and she wants Gary to write a new song for her. When he does, he has no idea what he's started. Ron wants Gary to help him with a personal ad. A visitor to the shop surprises Gary when he realises it's his son. Gary wants to go back and change the future for Michael for the better.
A stormy night in the forties turns Gary's world upside down. The problem is sorting it out, particularly when everyone is seeing double.
Yvonne throws Gary out of their Thameside penthouse apartment, which makes Gary edgy, which in turn makes Phoebe suspicious that there's someone else in his life. Ron has new girlfriend, Flic, who is so classy she's out of his league, and he is desperate to impress her, but Gary is more concerned about getting back with Yvonne.
Gary has to think fast when both his wives decide it's time to move to California. Phoebe's tenancy of the Royal Oak is up, and she wants to start a new life away from the shortages of Britain, but Gary persuades her to open a night club, The Blue Door, instead. Yvonne wants to be near the expansion of her Nature Boy cosmetics into the US market, but Gary convinces her to stay with him in London. Reg retires from the police force, but his leaving party is not a success, though he does he another job immediately, as a security guard at Gary's Mayfair apartment block.
Phoebe loses her patience when Gary backs out of a part in Noël Coward's new film, because he doesn't want to be recognised in it in the 1990s. She gets a part as an extra, but does she have more than a Brief Encounter on her mind? Gary thinks so, and barges in on the set.
Yvonne sells Nature Boy cosmetics for a multi-million sum. Gary travels back through the time gate in Ducketts Passage, arriving on a foggy night, where things don't look quite usual for the 1940s. At the Royal Oak, he finds it's the 1880s, hough the policeman and a music-hall singer look strangely familiar. He is accused of being Jack the Ripper when two murders occur close by on the two nights he's there. While escaping the mob, he meets the real Ripper...
When a workman arrives from the far future to mend a hole in the space-time corridor, Gary must decide where his future lies. He leaves the shop to Ron, who promptly sells the entire stock on credit to a strange young man.
A trip to northern France to entertain the troops forces Gary to play the hero following the sudden invasion by the Germans.
Gary and Phoebe have to deal with a protection racket, while Yvonne receives a rude surprise.
Gary must take drastic measures to ensure that a compromising photo from the Forties isn't seen in the present day.
With the war coming to an end, there are surprises in store for Gary, his two wives and Ron.
It is 1962, 17 years after Gary Sparrow got stuck in 1945 London, and Gary realises that he has the chance to see himself being born. But an encounter with himself catapults him back to the future - to 2016.
A Short BBC interview with Nicolas Lyndhurst on the set of Goodnight Sweetheart in Nov 1993
