‘First sight of the site...’
To celebrate 33 years of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet we got in touch with Stan Hey to get a first hand account of what it was like on the BECO Site at Elstree. Stan Hey wrote some of the finest episode from Series 1 & 2, ‘Home Thoughts From Abroad’ and ‘Cowboys’ to name just a few! Stan recounts his first trip to the ‘German’ site in Elstree, and how the set design was so brilliant and convincing, he thought he was in Germany. Copyright: The following images and text are copyright awpet.com. Acknowledgement: Text & Pictures Stan Hey Site Release Date: November 11th 2016Do you have something to add?
If you have something to add, whether it be pictures, a magazine interview or something else, we would love to have it
on the Fansite! Please use the Contact link above in the navigation bar and Email us.
Auf Wiedersehen, Pet 1983 - 2016
When I was called in to meet Allan McKeown on Saturday 12
February I knew nothing more than that he had a new project on the
go that needed another writer. He ran me through the set-up –
Geordie builders working in Germany – and popped in a video cassette.
What was shown was unedited footage of a large bloke – Oz – scrambling
around among piles of breeze blocks, moaning in loud Geordie.
The yellow Liebherr cranes and
strangeness of the site convinced
me the scene had been filmed in Germany, and I almost thought it was
documentary. I was gobsmacked when Allan told me it was at Elstree
Studios (TV not film) and that a German site had been built there – with
imported bricks, tools, cranes, diggers and so on. By Tuesday 15th, I was on
my way up to Elstree – ‘out of the station, down the high street, left at the
Carpet Moon shop’ (as seen in the credits when Bomber gets off a coach).
I’d been to the studios before – recording a failed pilot about two young
lads starting out as 60s pop duo – so knew some of the lay-out. But I was
soon being shown around the full site – huts; cement mixers; admin
building; scaffolding, bricks, cranes – all with German signs/labels.
It was very convincing and Ian Le Frenais and producer Martin McKeand
were pleased that I liked it – probably because they wanted me to start
writing asap.
During the script meeting that followed it became clear that the planning
was about using as much as the site as possible, as only a fraction of the
shoot was being done in Germany itself. So the first thing I had to do was to
keep new sets to a minimum – Bomber and Patsy’s living room in ‘Bristol’ for
example. And so it began – the site and the hut were the main stages; the
claustrophobia of both were replicated in my writing room as I got to know
my new ‘workmates’.
‘First sight of the site...’
To celebrate 33 years of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet we got in touch with Stan Hey to get a first hand account of what it was like on the BECO Site at Elstree. Stan Hey wrote some of the finest episode from Series 1 & 2, ‘Home Thoughts From Abroad’ and ‘Cowboys’ to name just a few! Stan recounts his first trip to the ‘German’ site in Elstree, and how the set design was so brilliant and convincing, he thought he was in Germany. Copyright: Images and text are copyright awpet.com. Acknowledgement: Text & Pictures Stan Hey Site Release Date: November 11th 2016
Do you have something to add?
If you have something to add, whether it be pictures,
a magazine interview or something else, we would
love to have it on the Fansite! Please use the Contact
link above in the navigation bar and Email us.
Auf Wiedersehen, Pet 1983 - 2016
When I was called in to meet Allan McKeown on
Saturday 12 February I knew nothing more than
that he had a new project on the go that needed
another writer. He ran me through the set-up –
Geordie builders working in
Germany – and popped in a
video cassette. What was
shown was unedited footage
of a large bloke – Oz –
scrambling around among
piles of breeze blocks,
moaning in loud Geordie.
The yellow Liebherr cranes
and strangeness of the site
convinced me the scene had
been filmed in Germany, and I
almost thought it was
documentary. I was
gobsmacked when Allan told me it was at Elstree
Studios (TV not film) and that a German site had been
built there – with imported bricks, tools, cranes,
diggers and so on. By Tuesday 15th, I was on my way
up to Elstree – ‘out of the station, down the high
street, left at the Carpet Moon shop’ (as seen in the
credits when Bomber gets off a coach).
I’d been to the studios
before – recording a failed
pilot about two young lads
starting out as 60s pop duo
– so knew some of the lay-
out. But I was soon being
shown around the full site –
huts; cement mixers; admin building; scaffolding,
bricks, cranes – all with German signs/labels.
It was very convincing and Ian Le Frenais and
producer Martin McKeand were pleased that I liked it
– probably because they wanted me to start writing as
soon as possible.
During the script meeting
that followed it became clear
that the planning was about
using as much as the site as
possible, as only a fraction of
the shoot was being done in
Germany itself. So the first thing I had to do was to
keep new sets to a minimum – Bomber and Patsy’s
living room in ‘Bristol’ for example. And so it began –
the site and the hut were the main stages; the
claustrophobia of both were replicated in my writing
room as I got to know my new ‘workmates’.
