Plot Summary
Gary Sparrow is a somewhat disillusioned TV repairman, in a drab marriage with his ambitious wife Yvonne, and best friends with Ron, a printer whose marriage is on the brink of breakdown. While on a TV repair call-out in East London, Gary accidentally discovers a time portal which leads to war time London. There he meets Phoebe, a pretty barmaid who works in the Royal Oak pub, and Reg Deadman, a dim-witted but friendly policeman.
Gary strikes up a friendship with Phoebe, and makes repeated trips through the time portal, gradually establishing a second life for himself in the 1940s. In this life he claims to be both a secret agent (aided by his knowledge of future wartime events) and a singer-songwriter, in fact passing off modern day pop songs as his own, particularly by The Beatles. He impresses Phoebe by bringing her goods which are widely available in the present day, but were rationed in wartime Britain, such as chocolate and bacon, and they begin a romance.
Throughout the series Gary flits between both time periods, struggling to balance his two lives and keep Yvonne and Phoebe happy, getting tangled in webs of lies and deceit as he invents cover stories to explain away his constant absences to both. Most episodes centre on a dilemma for Gary caused by his dual life, often having to choose between letting Yvonne or Phoebe down. Ron is the only other character who knows of his double life - he helps Gary by printing 1940s five pound notes and ID documents for him - and it is to him who Gary usually turns when in a predicament, even if helping him is to Ron's detriment.
As the series progresses, the characters are developed further. Gary and Phoebe eventually marry and they have a son, Michael. Yvonne also becomes pregnant, but suffers a miscarriage. Gary opens a shop in the present day, named "Blitz and Pieces", selling goods he acquires in the 1940s as rare memorabilia. Ron and his wife Stella separate and divorce. Gary and Phoebe move to a luxury flat in Mayfair, where they befriend Noël Coward. Yvonne becomes a millionairess with a successful organic beauty products company, and a personal friend of Prime Minister Tony Blair and his wife Cherie. In the final episode, set on VE Day, Gary finds that the time portal has closed, trapping him in the past for good, leaving Ron to explain the truth to Yvonne.
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