Nicholas Lyndhurst fans donate thousands of pounds after brutal BBC axe

Nicholas Lyndhurst had fans donating thousands of pounds to get his BBC sitcom restored after it was brutally axed by the network. The Only Fools and Horses star has seen fans taking drastic action after BBC bosses refused to commission a new series of Goodnight Sweetheart despite intervention from series writers Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran.

Now Marks and Gran have launched a Kickstarter campaign to get funding for another sequel to the classic time-travel comedy series. Following the life of Gary Sparrow - played by Lyndhurst - the series sees him travel between the present day and Blitz-era England. Its last reunion episode aired in 2016, and fans have spent almost a decade wishing for more.

The Kickstarter campaign has a goal of £30,000 and has raised £13,557 at time of writing, with 32 days left to go of the campaign.

This time, Goodnight Sweetheart will take the form of a novel based on "the unmade seventh series" of the show. Titled Many Happy Returns, the novel catches up with Gary, who has been trapped in wartime with his wife Phoebe and their son Michael.

The book is set "a little before" the events of the 2016 special, and sees Gary grappling with living a double life with a long-lost daughter in the 21st century and a complicated relationship with The Beatles. It's penned by BAFTA winners Marks and Gran, and produced alongside Idiot Box Books.

On Kickstarter, fans have been told: "But the book can only be published if enough fans support the project on Kickstarter. So, if you've been shouting at the TV for the past decade, willing the series to return, now's your chance to support the project and help to bring back Goodnight Sweetheart."

Fully licensed by production company Fremantle, the book says it will cost £22 to purchase - but anyone who donates £15 online will receive an eBook copy on publication day. A £50 donation gets you a paperback copy signed by the authors - and your name printed in the patrons section at the back of the book.

If you're willing to spend £100, you get a character named after you in the novel, and for £250 the writers are available for a meet and greet.

The highest pledge of £1,000 gets you dinner for two with the authors in London, along with a signed copy of the 2016 TV script and three signed paperbacks.