It was entirely invevitable that after being obsessed with Crocodile Shoes, I’d have to give Auf Wiedersehen, Pet a look. People have recommended this to me before and I’ve just never got round to it, but the first two series are available to watch on ITV streaming, so it was worth a look.

I LOVED IT.

This mismatched group of lads, away from home and just trying to scrape together a living, it’s a wonderful premise that delivers a lot. You’ve got the individual dramas, you’ve got the intensity of a group living under each other’s feet, and then you’ve got the various storylines on top as well. In the first series, there are romances and brushes with the law, drinking as much as possible of an evening, whilst trying hard to keep their jobs on the building site.

The second series takes the boys away from home again, covering a few different locations - Barry’s house, the Barley Mow pub, and Marbella in Spain (echoes of the Brinks-Mat robbery in the Spanish villains, which is another obsession of mine). More shenanigans throughout and the lads just growing in depth of character and backstory. Glorious.

I was hoping to fall in love with Oz, but he’s quite a brash character who is hard to fully embrace. Great comedy though, when you can understand what he’s saying. The accent just seems to get stronger, the further away from home he gets. The clash of personalities is on show right from the start and is totally joyous - Neville’s home-sickness, Dennis just trying to keep everything together, Wayne’s womanising, Moxie and Barry with their different accents and anxieties, and gorgeous Bomber the gentle giant who refers to himself in the third person. Bomber’s away!

Obviously I want to watch the remaining series, which I’m sure turned up on the BBC iPlayer at one point but are no longer there. Hopefully they’ll come back soon. And in the meantime, there’s still more to feed the fixation. There are novelisations and autobiographies. There’s a new official celebration book going to be released this year as well.

I’m late to the party celebrating these Geordie lads, but I am by no means alone in loving their stories!