'No sex...but lots of sauce' That's what made Duty Free such an unlikely hit, say its stars Keith Barron and Gwen Taylor and now it’s coming back on the stage

• The famously abstinent show, Duty Free, is to return to our screens
• The new series Last of the Duty Free will pick up the story 30 years on
• Nicole Lampert catch up with two of its stars

By Nicole Lampert for the Daily Mail

Published: 17:30 EDT, 11 April 2014 | Updated: 18:08 EDT, 11 April 2014

Keith Barron & Gwen Taylor are to star in a new stage version of the hit TV show of Duty Free

A reunion after nearly 30 years is always going to be a nostalgic event, but I didn't expect this.

Gruff Yorkshireman Keith Barron is sitting in front of me, big fat tears rolling down his face, as he talks about when he first realised the 1980s sitcom Duty Free was special.

'It was one of the first scenes we did, when Gwen (Taylor, who played his shrewish wife) pushed me into a pond,' he says, misting over. 'And as I was under the water I was smiling to myself thinking, "This is good, this is really good."'

Gwen, who's sitting next to him, smiles and pats him on the knee. It's been a bit emotional all round. Duty Free only ran for two years, from 1984 to 1986, but was one of the biggest comedies of the decade, regularly attracting 12 million viewers.

The show was a farce about two working-class Northerners, David and Amy Pearce, enjoying their first trip to Spain. There they meet posh Southerners, Robert and Linda Cochran, and David and Linda decide they're in love, mainly because he pretends to be a lot more worldly than he really is.

There's lots of hiding in wardrobes and romantic interludes rudely interrupted, mostly by Amy who's determined to keep David from straying by constantly outwitting him. All the while Robert remains blissfully oblivious to the whole thing.

The show's still regularly aired on various satellite channels, and Keith says he gets stopped at least four times a day by people who want to talk to him about it. 'And I'll get people in the supermarket joking, "Are you going to pay for that in pesetas?"' laughs Gwen.

She says the show struck a chord with so many because the couple had the same flaws as real people. 'Women would stop me in the street and say, "David's just like him" about their husbands.

The fibbing and the sucking in of the stomach when the ladies walked past, the pretending to be sophisticated with wine. Amy always knew that once she got him home he'd be back to normal - he'd just had his head turned.

The thing about the show was it was always on the verge but you never saw any sort of sex. They were always thwarted by a donkey, or a monkey... but mainly by me.' 

The original cast of Duty Free in 1984 Keith Barron, Gwen Taylor, Joanna Van Gyseghem and Neil Stacy

Keith laughs and adds, 'Taxi drivers used to shout at me, "Have you got your leg over yet?" And I'd say "No" - we all knew if I got my leg over there'd be no show. It was all about the pursuit.'

No wonder then - hot on the heels of the rejuvenated sitcom Birds Of A Feather - a new stage show is bringing Duty Free back to life. 'When they first approached me about it I thought, "What took you so long?"' says Keith, 79, who's been popping up in everything from DCI Banks to Benidorm ever since. 'We enjoyed the success of it so much.

I just thought, "I have to do it."' But Gwen, 75, who was given her own sitcom, Barbara, after Duty Free finished, almost turned it down. Joanna Van Gyseghem who played Linda, the object of David's affections, was unable to do it because she'd just become a grandmother to twins.

But she's been replaced by Carol Royle while Neil Stacy returns as Robert. 'I was worried that without Joanna the whole thing would be unbalanced but Carol is wonderful,' says Gwen.

We meet just five days into rehearsals. 'The first week has been a bit awful,' says Keith, lowering his voice. 'It's been a bit messy,' adds Gwen.

'People assume we don't need to bother getting to know the characters but it was 30 years ago. And there's been a fair bit of crying,' she adds. 'Getting back together has been really moving; this show meant so much to us. It made us household names and that's an amazing thing.'

The new show, Last Of The Duty Free, picks up the story 30 years on.

Surprisingly, given that they've barely seen each other for 30 years, their easy chemistry makes Gwen and Keith seem like they really have been married for decades. 'We've spoken a bit but not really stayed in touch.' says Keith, 'That's the odd thing about the business. You take up where you left off. It's strange.'

The new show, Last Of The Duty Free, picks up the story 30 years on. David has bumped into Linda at a train station in England and the two have planned a secret rendezvous at the Spanish hotel where their frustrated love affair first started.

But then their spouses find out; and all four find themselves back in Spain. Three decades on means 30 years older though, and at the rehearsal studio today both are carefully avoiding the low sofa -

'You'll never get up from that,' Gwen warns Keith. 'Oh, it's terrible. We're old now,' says Keith. 'Yes, we've got aches in our knees and our hips,' adds Gwen. 'When I see old episodes of the show I look so beautiful and young that I can't bear it.'

The play has been penned by original Duty Free writer Eric Chappell, and he knows his leading pair well enough to incorporate some of their own characteristics into it.

'I can be a bit rude at times,' says Gwen, who's married to playwright Graham Reid in real life. 'I do come out with things and then think, "Oh no, I shouldn't have said that."' Keith, who has two sons with his stage designer wife Mary Pickard, admits he empathises with David's constant fibbing.

'I think most men lie,' he shrugs. 'It's the quest for something better in life. I think David would like to be staying at the Ritz - if he'd heard of the Ritz; he's always trying to climb out of the situation he is in.

'Our characters were from the common herd. We are everyman and everywoman and people used to like seeing us getting one over on the posh people. It was a show families would watch together because there was never any sex in it. They don't really make sitcoms for families now.'

The show required a certain amount of suspension of disbelief; essentially the group were on the same holiday for over two years. And the series never actually made it to Spain (although one Christmas special was partly filmed there) because of budget constraints.

The resort was replicated at Yorkshire Television Studios - money was so tight there was only one bedroom with curtains and soft furnishings being changed between scenes depending on who was supposed to be sleeping there.

With the success of sitcoms like Rev and Miranda, could a TV comeback be next for Duty Free if all goes well on tour? 'I say yes, but quietly,' says Keith. 'At the moment I'm more concerned about trying to get ready for the tour.'

'I'd be worried about high-definition,' adds Gwen. 'It's so cruel and shows every flaw. Even the most beautiful girls look flawed on it.' Keith grabs Gwen's hand as if they'd skipped over 28 years in a heartbeat, 'Oh, but darling, you look lovely.'

The UK tour of Last Of The Duty Free opens on Tuesday at the Theatre Royal, Windsor. For more information and tickets, visit www.kenwright.com