Fridays at 10:00 pm
and Saturdays at 9:30 pm

TV repairman Gary Sparrow (Nicholas Lyndhurst, Only Fools and Horses) is more or less happily married to personnel officer Yvonne. She is studying for an Open University degree in psychology and has higher aspirations than a two-bedroom starter home in Cricklewood. While out on a job Gary gets lost in the East End of London. A policeman directs him down an alley to ask again at the Royal Oak pub. No one has heard of “Hugh Gaitskill House” and barmaid Phoebe, the landlord’s daughter, serves him a beer for tuppence farthing. But is it a 1940s theme pub or just a dream? The reality of a German air raid convinces him that he has truly walked through time — and as Gary learns how to travel freely between the 1940s and the 1990s, he finds himself increasingly drawn to the lovely, but married, Phoebe (Dervla Kirwan of Ballykissangel).

Series 1 • Series 2 • Special • Series 3 • Series 4

Episode Descriptions:

#101 Rites of Passage
Gary walks down “Ducketts Passage, E1” and into 1940 and the Royal Oak pub. Gary is suspected of being a spy as he carries neither gas mask or identity papers and has a pen made in Germany. He takes a fancy to the barmaid Phoebe, but she is a married woman with a husband away in the war. Down in the cellar during an air raid he teaches the pub regulars a few songs. He also helps Phoebe’s dad, Eric, injured during the raid. But what exactly is he going to tell Yvonne when, and if, he gets home?

#102 Fools Rush In
Gary ignores Yvonne’s advice and goes for a promotion interview but does not wear a suit. Ron, hearing Gary’s call to a radio phone-in, wants to know if Gary really did go back in time. Is time like a straight road or a winding river? After another argument Gary does buy a suit, but not exactly what Yvonne had in mind. He goes back to the East End to see if he can get back to 1940, the Royal Oak... and Phoebe.

#103 Is Your Journey Really Necessary?
Yvonne and Gary argue about his obsession with the 2nd World War and her preoccupation with her course. Gary warns Phoebe that bombing will start earlier than usual that evening and he whisks her off to Holborn Underground station to shelter for the night. When he and Phoebe return to the Royal Oak next morning Gary is taken in for questioning by the police. Back in Cricklewood Yvonne is worried when Gary does not return that night.

#104 The More I See You
Yvonne goes to Huddersfield for her psychology residential course. Gary asks Ron to print him some Identity papers. Ron dresses for the part but finds that only Gary can go back to 1940. Out for a walk in the cemetery Phoebe asks Gary to take her back with him. Back in the present Ron is on the warpath and a worried Gary drives all the way to Huddersfield in case Ron has told Yvonne about Phoebe.

#105 I Get Along Without You Very Well
Yvonne wants to improve their marriage and decides to share an interest with Gary. News of an old lady from Bethnal Green leads Gary to believe he must return once more to 1940. Ron agrees to go to Lithuania to watch the England soccer team as a cover, but Gary is knocked down and wakes in hospital to find Phoebe and PC Deadman at his bedside. As Gary’s stay in 1940 is extended Ron decides to tell Yvonne that Gary has been held by the Lithuanian police. A visit to Bethnal Green in 1993 clears up one mystery.

#106 In the Mood
After Yvonne’s ultimatum is issued Gary decides on another visit to 1940. Ron gives Gary some forged 1940s currency so he can cash in on the stock exchange. PC Deadman brings news of the King’s visit to East London and Gary arranges a visit to the London Hospital. Gary takes Phoebe for a meal at the Savoy to say goodbye and secretly books the Imperial Suite. Phoebe’s Dad brings her important news. Gary takes Yvonne an unexpected present and she points out someone who looks familiar in a 1940s newsreel.

#201 Don’t Get Around Much Anymore
It’s now six months since Gary last went back to 1940. Ron is still trying to persuade Gary to go back, invest some money and make them both a fortune. Returning to the Royal Oak, Gary finds that Phoebe is now running the pub alone. Her father, Eric, has been killed in the Blitz. Gary visits a local bank to arrange his investment and meets a few familiar characters. When he returns to the present, he discovers that the investment hasn’t had the expected result.

#202 I Got It Bad and That Ain’t Good
Yvonne is pestering Gary about moving to a better house. Returning to 1941, Gary finds that Phoebe has a new admirer. Ludo is a Czech national who has decided to become an Englishman. He’s already decided to call himself “Robert” but can’t think of a suitable surname. The jar of instant coffee, which Gary has bought for Phoebe, suggests a possible name. He has a scheme to make money and wants Phoebe to invest in it. Gary talks her out of it.

#203 Just One More Chance
Gary goes to court, charged with being drunk in charge of a motor vehicle. He loses his driving licence and, inevitably, his job. This puts his marriage to Yvonne under a lot of strain.

#204 Who’s Taking You Home Tonight?
Gary finds himself having to eat two meals more or less simultaneously with two different women in two different time zones. He comes up with a plan to enable him to be with Yvonne and Phoebe on the same evening.

#205 Wish Me Luck…
Yvonne has a chance of a better job, but it’ll mean moving up North. Gary comes up with a scheme to enable him to return to 1941 to be with Phoebe indefinitely. With Ron’s help, he’ll fake his own death and disappear from the present for good.

#206 As You Wave Me Goodbye
Gary is beginning to have second thoughts about the idea of living in wartime London. The shortages and endless queues for food (and everything else) are getting him down. Phoebe is worried that gossip about her and Gary will get back to the brewery and jeopardise her tenancy of the Royal Oak. Gary begins to think that it would be a good idea to return to 1995 — but how can he now he’s supposedly committed suicide.

#207 Would You Like to Swing on a Star
It seems that nobody in 1995 noticed Gary’s supposed suicide, so he’s now back at home with Yvonne. He talks Ron into pretending that Gary now works for him. Yvonne has been cast as the lead actress in a local amateur dramatic society production. Gary also gets involved. Gary comes up with a way of earning a living - buying gramophone records in 1941 and selling them in 1995. He also gets involved in a wartime talent show.

#208 Nice Work if You Can Get It
Gary is appearing in a variety show back in 1941. He gets his modern-day GP to give him some pills to calm his nerves. He’s under pressure to sign a publishing contract for ‘his’ songs. He’s reluctant, for obvious reasons, but Phoebe thinks it’s a good idea. After being caught in an air raid, Gary is late returning to 1995 for his acting debut. He’s also been overdoing the “nerve pills”, which has an adverse effect on his performance, to say the least.

#209 Let Yourself Go
Yvonne suspects that she may be pregnant. Gary is beginning to panic about the prospect of possible fatherhood. Back in 1941, Phoebe persuades Gary to accompany her on a weekend visit to relatives in Buckinghamshire. Luckily, Yvonne is going to visit her mother for the weekend.

#210 Don’t Fence Me In
The new area manager for the brewery, Mr. Harrison, tells Phoebe that she’ll have to give up her tenancy of the Royal Oak because the brewery would prefer it to be run by a married couple. He suggests that he can “fix things” so that Phoebe can keep her tenancy, provided she agrees to be “nice” to him. Back in 1995, building work has started in Ducketts Passage and it looks as if Gary’s route back to 1941 may be blocked. Yvonne is having to deal with a case of sexual harassment at work. This gives Gary an idea for dealing with the obnoxious Mr. Harrison.

Special: Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
A row of new shops now blocks Gary’s way back to 1941. He decides to rent the relevant shop and sell wartime memorabilia. Negotiations with Estate Agent Joyce bring problems when she takes a fancy to Gary.

#301 Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
In this 50-minute special, it’s November 1941 and Gary becomes convinced that he should warn American broadcaster Edward R. Murrow about Pearl Harbor. In the process, he meets Guy Burgess, T.S. Eliot and Jayne Mansfield. Meanwhile, in the present, a new shopping plaza now stands where Ducketts Passage used to be. Gary rents out the unit that can get him back to the 1940s, and opens up a wartime memorabilia store.

#302 It Ain’t Necessarily So
Gary is making a plan to spend New Year’s Eve with both his 1990s wife, Yvonne, and his 1940s girlfriend, Phoebe. He and Phoebe are caught by landlady Ms. Bloss sneaking out of his boarding house room, and he is given notice to move out for flagrant immorality.

#303 One O’clock Jump
Phoebe asks Gary if he has thought of having children, at which point he changes the subject. Gary and Yvonne go out to dinner with her prospective employer, Mr. Shik, and his wife. Gary rants about the Japanese, which amuses Mr. Shik since he is Korean. However, his wife, who speaks no English, is Japanese.

#304 It’s a Sin to Tell a Lie
Yvonne needs to write a short story for a course she is taking. Gary proceeds to tell a true story from his other life, about a barmaid called Phoebe, a policeman called Reg, and a young guy in intelligence called Barry who set a trap for a spy. Yvonne is thrilled.

#305 Don’t Get Around Much Anymore
Gary is feeling smug that his double life is going well, while his friend Ron’s life with wife Stella is a mess. However, when Gary goes to the Royal Oak, Phoebe informs him that he is taking her for granted and kicks him out. After talking to Yvonne, he discovers that both of his lives are troubled.

#306 Goodnight Children Everywhere
Ron arrives with a suitcase after Stella throws him out, and in his gratitude to Yvonne for taking him in, has an attack of conscience. He tells Gary that he can no longer keep Gary’s trips to the past a secret. Meanwhile, Phoebe’s orphaned cousins, Peter and Sally, have come to stay with her and she presses Gary again to start a family of their own.

#307 Turned Out Nice Again
Ron is irritating Gary and Yvonne, so Yvonne calls Stella to see if she will take him back. Stella confesses that she hadn’t been with a man since Ron left. In 1942, George Formby is interested in performing When I’m Sixty-Four, which Gary claims to have composed. Gary worries that history will be changed and he will be found out, but Ron believes an album entitled George Formby Sings the Beatles would be a collector’s item.

#308 There’s Something About a Soldier
Gary and Phoebe prepare to say good-bye forever when Phoebe’s husband, Donald, returns from the war. However, Donald confesses to Gary that he wants to return to his regiment. Gary stays the night with Phoebe to comfort her, missing the interview Yvonne had organized for him.

#309 Someone to Watch Over Me
Gary is caught in a double guilt trip — from both Yvonne and Phoebe. Phoebe is in the hospital with pneumonia, and the moment comes when Gary confesses his double life — but Phoebe falls asleep before he gets to the point. Back in 1996, Yvonne tells Gary that she is having an affair with Terry, her personal trainer, and asks for his forgiveness, as she reminds him that they had promised always to be truthful.

#310 The Yanks Are Coming
Gary learns that the Yanks have arrived in the East End. Meanwhile, he and Ron scheme to find a way to profit from WWII merchandise that they take from 1942 into 1996. A racist American, Billy Joe, is offended when blacks enter the Royal Oak and attempts to segregate the pub. Gary defends integration, toasts Martin Luther King, and knocks Billy Joe out.

#311 Let’s Get Away From It All
Gary learns that he is going to be a father both in the past and the present. He realizes that the child to be born in the past will be 20 years older than he is in 1996.

#401 You’re Driving Me Crazy
Gary finds that two pregnancies can be too much, especially when Yvonne feels romantic and he doesn’t, or he feels amorous and Phoebe doesn’t. Yvonne wants Gary to give up his shop and get a real job, but Gary needs the shop to get to the past. He searches for another source of memorabilia, but it’s not strictly legal.

#402 In the Mood
Gary is babysitting his godson, Arthur, when he disappears from the shop, and there seems to be only one place he could be. When he finds the lost boy in 1942, Gary discovers that time travel is not always two-way. Gary finds it difficult to explain Arthur to Phoebe.

#403 Out of Town
Gary’s father comes to visit for a jolly week with his son while Yvonne is in Korea. Gary is shaken when his father takes him to an East End pub and tells him a story about when he was a young man and wandered into a time-warp.

#404 And Mother Came Too
Phoebe receives news that her husband, Donald, was killed in Egypt, which means that she and Gary are free to marry. When Ron is arrested for beating up his wife’s lover, Gary bails him out of prison and lets him stay at his house.

#405 Leaving Liverpool
Gary goes to Liverpool with Phoebe to meet her grandmother, who takes a keen interest in Gary and Phoebe’s sex life. Gary also meets Ron’s grandfather, Albert, who steals his wallet, and presents Gary with yet another dilemma about destiny.

#406 How Long Has This Been Going On?
Yvonne has a miscarriage on the way home from Korea and is in the hospital. Gary mistakes Yvonne’s mother for someone else. He finds the past and future of his marriage under the microscope.

#407 Easy Living
Yvonne tells Gary that her sick leave is permanent, and she intends to devote herself to marketing alternative therapies. The new arrangement will make it difficult for Gary to get back to the past to help Phoebe with wedding arrangements.

#408 Come Fly With Me
Gary has a boys-night-out in both the past (with Reg) and present (with Ron), as his marriage date nears. Phoebe has her own night out, and can’t help Gary when his drunken boasting gets him in trouble — a flight over Germany in a Lancaster Bomber and a close encounter with the English Channel . . . and he’s getting married in the morning!

#409 Heartaches
On the day of the wedding, having barely survived a bombing mission over Germany, Gary oversleeps. When he gets to the church, Phoebe has gone home in despair, and refuses to speak to him

#410 Careless Talk
Phoebe is upset that Gary has not provided the baby items he promised, but his wallet is bare of wartime currency, and Ron has lost interest in printing more. The only way to get the money is to arrange a date between Ron and Yvonne’s friend, Kate. While Kate thinks Ron is a bore, her ears prick up when he tells her Gary’s secret. She and Yvonne set a trap for poor Gary.

#411 The Bells Are Ringing
In his distraction over Phoebe’s imminent labor, Gary misses the implications of Yvonne’s investment plans and the fate of Ron’s printing works. As the baby is born, and the church bells ring, Gary is unaware of the disastrous news he will learn upon his return from the past.