DVD. Pub: Revelation Films PAR61255. 340 minutes. 2 discs 11 episodes plus extras. Price: £19.99 (UK)). stars: Nicholas Lyndhurst, Derla Kirwan, Michelle Holmes, Victor McGuire and Christopher Ettridge and others.

check out website: www.revfilms.com

Things have moved on since the last series. Duckett's Passage is now a small shopping mall and Gary Sparrow rents shop three to access the portal back to 1942. Selling World War Two items from the shop provides an income for Gary while his wife, Yvonne, herself is redundant and has to seek a new job. If anything, the present seems to take more of a backseat to events in the past. I mean, how can getting a new job, considering changing home or wallpapering a room compare to a walk in the past?



In the past, Gary discovers a German spy, meeting Phoebe's husband, sorts out racism with the newly arrived Yanks and meets George Formby (an interesting side point here, if you've seen the new sit-com 'Breaking News' then you're seeing actor Phil Nice who played the East weatherman in an earlier role). I'll leave the climax of the final episode for next time or you can watch it for yourself. Even if this is not seen as a sit-com, playing true to the past has been this series greatest strength and this has been upheld with this latest season. It didn't let things sit on its laurels but changed as the war progressed, replacing one set of problems with another.

Except for the mid-90s references, which is beginning to make the 'present' a period piece itself, this series has lost none of its magic. Although creators Maurice Gran and Laurence Marks have taken more of a backseat with the scripting to writers Gary Lawson and John Phelps, the logistics that makes this series Science Fiction in the humorous vein still works. There are two audio commentaries and with the latter, Lawson and Phelps explain that the obeyed the principle of putting Gary on the spot all the time, the use of dumb characters and that the series was fertile for exploration. How many times have you heard that said about a sit-com? In many respects, 'Goodnight Sweetheart' does fall between comedy and drama which I think gave it a lot more strength than just being played for laughs. Although the writers thought they might have gone too far with 'The Yanks Are Coming', I felt it made an interesting statement about the level of racism back in the 40s.

The other extra is a rather delightful interview with actress Dervla Kirwan (Phoebe) who explains her inexperience surprisingly and being given bad advice to move on.

If you've followed the first two seasons release, then you'll be looking forward to owning this one as well. With three more seasons to go, now is as good as time to get hooked in. If you're ever given the choice between a used or new WW2 bomber jacket, check the shop you're buying it from.

GF Willmetts