BBC chiefs are already looking at commissioning another series of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet because its return after almost 20 years has been so successful, it was revealed yesterday.

The first episode of the new series, which saw the six surviving cast members reunited, proved a massive ratings hit, attracting 11.6 million viewers on April 28.

The show's co-writer, Dick Clement, was reported as saying yesterday that another series was planned. "It would be crazy to get them all back together and not get some mileage out of it," he said.

"We're now trying to work out a good reason for keeping them together."

The new series, much of it filmed in Newcastle and on Teesside, sees the lads embark on an unlikely plan to dismantle Middlesbrough's Transporter Bridge in order to sell it to native Americans in Arizona.

A BBC spokesman said it was likely that a new series would be commissioned. "We can't confirm it yet but negotiations are going on and there is a strong possibility of it."

* The BBC has ordered a second series of Sunday night drama Born And Bred starring James Bolam. The show, about father and son GPs Arthur and Tom Gilder, is set in the 1950s.