Latest news with #LaurenceMarks
The Sun
11 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Goodnight Sweetheart fans will finally discover what happened to Gary Sparrow after show's controversial axe
GOODNIGHT Sweetheart fans will finally get the answers they have been searching for thanks to a brand new project in the works. Viewers of the programme will learn the fate of Gary Sparrow after many questions were left unanswered following the show's controversial axing by the BBC. 3 3 The programme, starring Nicholas Lyndhurst of Only Fools and Horses fame, originally ran from 1993 until 1999. Fans were left over-the-moon when it made a one-off comeback in 2016 with many who worked on the show hoping that it paved the way for another full-length series but the BBC failed to commission it for anything else. Now, the show's writing duo, Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran, have teamed up to pen a new novel to explore what happened to Gary after the end of the TV programme. But the pair have already been forced to call upon fans help. The writers are aiming to raise £30,000 via a crowd-funding site in order to bring the book to life. At the time of publication, this petition had already amassed a whopping £11,500 in donations from 211 supporters. The book will only be published if the fund manages to reach the target amount. Teasing what is to come in the novel, a synopsis reads: "The new book will begin a little before the events of the 2016 televised story, Many Happy Returns, because though Gary's life since the end of the war has been mundane, in the spring of 1962, things are starting to heat up when Marilyn Monroe sings at President Kennedy's birthday party in that skin-tight dress. "When Gary first met Phoebe, he told her the girl he left behind in L.A. went by the name of Marilyn Monroe. "It was just his little private joke. It had never occurred to him that he would be living in the past, married to Phoebe when Marilyn became an international sex symbol in the 1950s. The Nineties sitcom Goodnight Sweetheart returned for a one-off special set in 1962 "For years, every time Phoebe's seen Marilyn on the silver screen, her insecurities have overwhelmed her. "What if Gary were to go back to Hollywood to regain the love of his life? "That is, until Marilyn's shock death at the age of 36, which brings all of Phoebe's old feelings back to the surface." Speaking of their decision to pen a new book and their hopes for its publication, authors Laurence and Maurice said: "Of all the shows we have ever written, Goodnight Sweetheart has the biggest and most devoted fanbase. "We were thrilled at the audience response to the 2016 special. Like our fans, we want to know what happened next to Gary Sparrow and his two families. "And now, Idiot Box [publishers] are giving us and you the chance to find out!" The TV show's premise followed Gary Sparrow as he lived a double life being able to time-hop between 1990s London and the Second World War in the 1940s.
BBC News
28-02-2025
- General
- BBC News
Remembrance service marks 50 years since Moorgate Tube crash
Commemorations have taken place to mark 50 years since the Moorgate Tube crash which killed 43 people and injured London Fire Brigade (LFB) joined Transport for London (TfL), emergency service partners and families of survivors at Moor Place, where a memorial is located to those who lost their lives, for a service of disaster is considered to be the worst peacetime loss of life on the London Underground when a Northern City line train failed to stop at Moorgate Tube station and crashed into a dead six days, London Fire Brigade led over 1,300 firefighters, 240 police officers, 80 ambulance workers, 16 doctors and volunteers in the rescue and recovery operation. As part of the memorial service, the names of the crash victims were read aloud, followed by a moment of silence and reflection. Floral tributes were then placed at the memorial on behalf of the LFB, TfL and family members. The crash site was located over 20m (65ft) below ground, meaning all equipment had to be carried down to the platforms via the station stairs, according to the crews were forced to work without their protective clothing at times to avoid heat exhaustion, the brigade added. A makeshift operating theatre was also established on the platform by medics from The London Hospital, providing immediate emergency care, as paramedics worked to triage those rescued from the wreckage. Laurence Marks was a 25-year-old journalist when he was asked to cover the biggest catastrophe in the City of London since the assigned to the story, he did not know his father had been killed instantly in the Marks told BBC London: "It wasn't until later this afternoon, 50 years ago, that my stepmother phoned me and said, 'I think your dad may have been on that train'."It wasn't really until nine o'clock the next morning, when I was in my council flat in Finsbury Park, when there was a knock on the door and a policeman was standing there and said, 'We're very sorry to tell you your father was removed from the second carriage this morning, and would you come down and identify his body?'"He has since written many stories about the crash. 'Unbelievably lucky' Javier González, 71, also attended the service on recounted his memories to BBC London: "I remember pretty much everything."I was sitting down next to the double doors, the train moved a lot brisker than usual and I saw the lady sitting opposite me and the moment I saw her eyes, the lights went out and the glass smashed and the metal started crumbling. "Everything happened so quickly, there was no time for anybody to react, to scream, to press any alarm. "I don't think the lady opposite me survived sadly."After being found face down in the carriage, he was carried to safety by someone called David, who he would like to track down and thank. "I am unbelievably lucky to have been through that and survived," he added. Assistant Commissioner Pat Goulbourne, from the London Fire Brigade, said: "Fifty years ago, the lives of so many families would be forever changed in a matter of minutes, and it's important we never forget that."We also remember the dedication and determination of the firefighters, emergency responders and volunteers that attended the crash. "The response they provided is a testimony to the service we all still provide to London in an emergency."Chief operating officer for TfL, Claire Mann, said: "Our thoughts remain with all of those impacted by the loss of life and injury at Moorgate station 50 years ago. "We are grateful to be here to remember those people and to celebrate the heroic efforts of the emergency services and volunteers who worked tirelessly in the most difficult conditions for several days after the crash."
