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Auf Wiedersehen, Pet first touched our funny bones when it appeared on TV screens in 1983.

Featuring an intrepid band of British brickies trying their luck on building sites in Germany and Spain, the show was an instant hit.

It became the most successful British comedy drama of its time.

In the 2002 series, the team went to the USA

Geordie actors

Auf Wiedersehen made stars of its little known cast including Geordies Jimmy Nail, Kevin Whately and Tim Healy.

When the lads finally hung up their hods in 1986, it seemed unlikely that they would ever make another series.

But, after a break of 15 years, the lads returned with a new series.

The inspiration for the original series came from real life working men in the Thatcher era. There were 30,000 North Easterners working in Germany in the early 1980s.

This incredible statistic gave director Franc Roddam the idea for a series about a group of brickie mates.

The original cast was Tim Healy (Dennis), Jimmy Nail (Oz), Timothy Spall (Barry), Kevin Whately (Neville) and Christopher Fairbank (Moxey).

The special took the team to Cuba

Ex-wrestler Pat Roach (Bomber) and former rock star Gary Holton (Wayne) completed the line-up.

Anticipated return

The show was written by Newcastle-born Ian La Frenais and his writing partner Dick Clement.

Fast forward 15 years and the original cast got back together for a new series.
The gang were reunited to buy and demolish the famous Middlesbrough Transporter Bridge.

The 'Magnificent Seven' embarked on an incredible journey from Middlesbrough to Arizona.

The eagerly-anticipated new series attracted 12m viewers.

And following on from that success the team were back together again in 2004.

That time, their travels took them to Cuba and Thailand. Their task was to rebuild the British Ambassador's residence in Havana.